A Tale of Two Turntable Shops
In order to start enjoying my old vinyl albums, I had to visit two shops. In order to review Affordable Hi Fi, it is necessary to share the entire story.
Stop One:
I really wanted to like the Turntable Shoppe. I started here to shop for a vintage turntable, only to find a single vintage model and one newer DJ-style model for sale. Roy, the owner, said the holidays had cleared his inventory and I should try back later. New to the hobby, I asked him about a certain Pioneer model that I had read about and he agreed it was a solid unit. I told him I was also shopping online and I would like to email questions to him if I found anything. He agreed, gave me his card and I left quite happy.
Not long after, I found the model in question for sale online and sent Roy a list of its needs. He generously responded, explaining which items he could help with and which he could not. He would probably be able to find a replacement dustcover, but it would be expensive. He also might have replacement feet (Pioneer rubber feet were notoriously rot-prone). He said not to worry much about the tonearm clasp, as these break regularly. Finally, he could provide a new cartridge and do a full set-up of the turntable.
Emboldened by his confidence, I snapped up the turntable, but when I tried to drop it off, Roy looked at it and said, "That's really rough." Thinking he was joking, I laughed and said I thought it was gorgeous. Without smiling, he snarked, "Oh yeah, which part?" I didn't know it yet, but things were about to get weird.
As he looked it over, he seemed to forget his earlier offer of help. He said my dustcover and feet were nearly impossible to find. He pointed out damage to the audio cables and said it "probably doesn't work." I told him the mechanicals seemed to work when I had plugged it in, but I agreed that I didn't have a way to test audio. At this point, he announced the turntable was simply too far gone and he was not interested in working on it. Just like that. I asked what he meant, but he only shrugged and said he didn't know; he would not or could not offer any details. When I asked if there were any online resources he could recommend, he said he didn't know and proceeded to stare at me for several seconds. He obviously wanted me to leave, so I left.
Stop Two:
Panicked, I called a well-known vinyl shop in Broad Ripple and asked if they could help. They didn't do the work I needed, but suggested two places: the Turntable Shoppe; and "that new place, Affordable Hi Fi." I immediately called Affordable Hi Fi and spoke to the owner, John. He said he absolutely could help and I drove straight there. John talked me through the whole process and provided a ballpark estimate. As promised, he took about two weeks to complete the work, but it was worth it and here is why.
First, John knew his stuff. He was familiar with the Pioneer disintegrating feet syndrome and knew that a certain Music Hall model had similarly tall feet that could be substituted (and they looked great). Not even Google knew this. Next, he installed a new tonearm rest - complete with clasp, re-damped the tonearm lift, replaced the broken headshell with a matching one and aligned it. He also pointed out that my old Shure cartridge was still alive; it just needed a new stylus. Most importantly, he was able to upgrade the damaged audio cables with customized jacks. This allows me use my own high-end phono cables instead of the hardwired '70s era factory cables. All this work for less than $100, plus my old parts were returned nicely wrapped up. A new dustcover ($100 online) will have to wait until Father's Day. When I got it home, it sounded great, of course. My family and I spent the week rocking out to vinyl, old and new.
To this day, I am not sure why the first shop couldn't or wouldn't help me. Maybe Roy didn't like the way I looked or the car I drove, or maybe he just wasn't sure how to affordably repair my audio cables. Regardless, he did me a favor by refusing my business. My big takeaway from this ordeal was John's Zen-like attitude and his outlook on the turntable scene. In addition to being fully capable of passing a Turing test, he emphasized that researching turntables, parts, techniques, etc., was well and good, but that it was important to spend more time listening to music than trying to make it sound a little bit better. He seems like a very wise man and I am happy to have met him. read more