Because anything else involves guesswork based on incomplete information and that’s not how we gained the trust and respect of the hi-fi community.

I’m immensely proud of our reputation and the trust people have for Liquid Audio, but it’s no accident. Diagnosing what a piece of equipment needs is part of our process and creates happy customers and guesswork plays no part in it. Everything we do is determined by careful, hands-on assessment, testing and measurement. That’s how it should be done.

Guesswork

Say your amplifier won’t turn on. Why not? There is no way to know without inspecting it. The repair costs vary enormously depending on the failure mode so this isn’t something you’d want to guess about. What if your turntable won’t play records? Does it need a new idler wheel, belt or repair to the drive circuit? Who knows, but know this – nobody can know without seeing it.

How would you feel if you threw away a perfectly repairable piece of equipment because of an incorrect guess? Well, that’s exactly what happened with this Sansui AU-317 integrated amplifier:

The same technician deemed a Marantz CD-52 I recently repaired “Unrepairable and should be thrown away”. Both repairs were technical, though straightforward and affordable, saving both pieces when they were going to be thrown away. Nobody knows exactly what your equipment needs without inspecting it. Some folks don’t know even when they HAVE inspected it!

Estimates vs Quotes

Despite this logic, some expect blind quotes (rather than estimates) before a technician has assessed a piece of electronics. Delivering the lowest ‘quote’ on work one hasn’t even seen, to customers who will go elsewhere unless you do, is highly problematic and a driver of poor work across all sectors.

By definition, work driven by the lowest cost will deliver corner-cutting, poor workmanship, and poor results. Those driving this quest for the lowest price will ironically be unhappy when cut-price work hasn’t been done properly. This low-quality death spiral is entirely avoidable by simply understanding that there are far more important considerations.

Despite the silliness of blind quotes, businesses provide them because they bring in work with a certain type of client. I’m in the fortunate position of never needing work, partly because I do not cut corners, an irony that I hope is not lost on readers. On principle alone, we never provide blind quotes and because of our focus on quality, we are better served assisting customers who don’t expect them.

Estimates are quite different. They allow for the variables that affect the cost of a job including discovery factors like condition and service history, fault analysis, customer requests and parts required in each unique case.

We provide estimates where requested, usually after having assessed the unique requirements of a piece of equipment, and its owner. Customers trust us to charge fairly for the work we do, something we are known for.

Mike … you, of course, are a gem. We are so lucky to have someone as passionate, intelligent, ethical and hardworking in little ol’ Perth.

David H

More…

Find out more with these repair-related FAQs:

• How much will my repair cost?
• The six steps to fault finding and repair
• Why some equipment shouldn’t be repaired
• Why we are often fully booked