I’d be happy to provide an estimate once we’ve determined precisely what’s gone wrong and why.

Electronic equipment failures are typically ‘black box’ scenarios, meaning there are usually no obvious visual signs as to what has gone wrong. Contrary to what many imagine, red flags like “bulging capacitors” are a largely forum-created meme in hi-fi gear.

Failed components usually show no external signs of having failed, and opening up a failed piece of hi-fi equipment like a power amplifier shows what most would expect – a power amplifier with everything appearing ‘normal’ to the untrained eye.

Assessment

Progressing from failure to successful remediation is where skill and experience make the difference. Technical testing and assessment using the best test and measurement equipment helps us get there, guesswork does not. The only solution is to test, measure, and get to the root of the problem/s.

Asking a technician for a quote before they’ve looked at a piece of equipment is pointless because it’s asking them to guess what’s wrong, what parts will be needed and how long the repair will take when they have none of that vital information.

It’s like asking a mechanic for a quote over the phone to fix a car with unknown problems or asking a surgeon for a quote on surgery before they’ve seen the patient. It’s pointless, but more importantly, it highlights a lack of understanding around what complex technical repair work like this involves:

Six Steps

The correct approach involves a logic-based assessment of the equipment and its faults involving six steps:

1. Collection of evidence
2. Analysis of the evidence
3. Location of the fault
4. Determination and removal of the cause
5. Rectification of the fault
6. Checking, adjustment and calibration

Steps 1 to 3 comprise the assessment phase and generally have to be completed before a cost estimate can be offered. All steps require hands-on work with the equipment.

Other issues may become evident once work has commenced, which is why reputable repairers typically provide cost estimates.

Pretenders

So, why would anyone pretend to know what’s wrong and how much a repair will cost without first inspecting and testing the equipment in question? Because they want or need the business, and they’re prepared to potentially mislead people to secure it.

Some folks expect sight-unseen quotes, and less ethical repairers enable this expectation because it brings in work. I don’t need the work, I work ethically. It’s that simple.

I could never have guessed what was wrong and the hidden last fault with this Krell KSA-100S I repaired, for example. Similarly, an Accuphase E-303 that I repaired contained five unrelated, unguessable faults.

Pretenders do work like we see with this beautiful Gryphon DM-100 class-A amplifier. BEWARE!

More…

Information regarding general service and repair costs can be found in this FAQ. Find out more with these repair-related FAQs:

• Liquid Audio’s charging structure
• Why equipment inspection is so important
• Why some equipment shouldn’t be repaired
• Why we are often fully booked