Words fail me!! I cannot recommend Sheldon and Champlifier HIGHLY ENOUGH!! This is the SECOND time they have come to my home and transformed my system (1st time was way pre-pandemic). I am not a knowledgeable audiophile (just a music lover), but my music system plays 16 hours/day and keeps me happy. When it goes wrong, I panic. Champlifier's response was way speedier than the other shops I called/emailed (from NONE OF WHOM did I receive a response, BTW), and he was out to my home within a week. He brought gorgeous [not cheap, true] alternate components for me, and fixed all kinds of little wiring things. My stack system now sounds better than ever!! As my former mechanic used to say, "You want it cheap? Good? Quick? Pick 2 and call me back." Well, although it wasn't cheap, I (and my gear-head cousin) feel we got a VERY GOOD DEAL, and it couldn't have been faster or better, so I think I got all 3. HIGHLY recommend Sheldon and Chanplifier. Great communication skills and superior technical expertise. read more

They are amazing and honest. I bought a Concept 3.5 receiver that was fully restored from them and it sounds amazing! I learned so much from talking to the engineer Sheldon. He is a very wonderful, honest man with a ton of knowledge. Don't expect overnight repairs or service from him because he does it right and never rushes a job. My wife and I love our system so much! Thank you Kay and Sheldon! Jason read more

Avoid at all costs and the costs from Sheldon will be significant and artfully packaged as value, but the only value is getting more suckers in the door, hold their property for months and charge just under the Felony Fraud threshold of $1k. In my case, Sheldon exceeded the threshold by placing oily fingerprints on new and backup vacuum tubes. The issue is that all tubes will fail once the oil etches into the hot glass of the tube. Tube could explode or just die an untimely death, good work Shelly. I took an amp and preamp to be inspected for loss of signal. No work was done, just BS charge. Turns out that the issue was my DAC. I called Sheldon the day before I picked up my units and he clearly stated that he hadn't had time to check it out., but his invoice tells a different story of 48 hours spent in testing... fabrication. You will be offered a service agreement and in my case, over $3,000 would be needed along with not having music in your home for months and months. Complete fraud that even several HiFi manufacturers thought the contract was a joke and well... it is. If anyone encounters the same nonsense... contact me, I can help navigate an honest outcome. read more

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- slow email communication - complicated application process that requires you to fill out and scan a PDF - mandatory non-refundable $200+ deposit. For my paired amp/pre-amp combo, I would have had to pay nearly $500 upfront. Zero promises from them to fix or find anything - long lead and wait times. They promised me an estimate 4-5 months from when I emailed I got so frustrated with this arrangement that I found another repair shop in SF. Within a week, he diagnosed and fixed a relatively simple issue in my pre-amp then charged me considerably less than Champlifier's non-refundable deposit for one unit. I'd advise that you do the same. read more

If you need service for your audio gear I highly recommend Sheldon at Champlifier. I had an issue with a several-year-old Onkyo CD changer and called other repair shops to try to get a rough estimate of what it might cost to repair. Most shops required a diagnostic fee before offering a general opinion on whether these units were worth repairing. I think they make more money on estimates than actual repairs. I called Champlifer and Sheldon was great: He talked me through the most likely issue with my Onkyo, explained that you could no longer get the OEM parts that would be needed and suggested that I buy a new one. He even steered me to the best brand for the money (Yamaha rather than the Onkyo). I thanked him profusely and he said he treats people the way he would like to be treated in their situation, and it's true. I will definitely call him the next time I need electronic service. read more

I had an issue with the process of leaving my amp and waiting for it to be serviced. I sent a few emails, with no response. But.... After a few days. I got an email response and Sheldon called several times until he spoke with me. He told me my amp fell through the cracks. He is going to look at my amp himself and he apologized for the delays and problem. I am glad they responded quickly when I started freaking out in my head. read more

I called Sheldon to talk about vintage stereo receivers and he was kind enough to give me a 101 class on these components. I didn't realize that I could be spending $150 on a used unit just to find out that it needed another $150 in repairs. He was very helpful and I highly recommend Sheldon and his shop. read more

My Polk Audio speaker started making a weird buzzing sound. I reached out to Sheldon and had a good conversation with him about these speakers -- he was familiar with the model. He said he was booked into March 2022, and could expedite for an additional fee. I paid the deposit and the expedite fee when I dropped it off - and had another lovely conversation. He communicated with me pretty quickly about the root cause of the speaker issue: the sub woofer was fried. He recommended replacing subwoofers in both speakers, and after complete transparency on the cost of the parts and labor -- we made arrangements for completing the work on the first speaker and dropping off the second speaker. Now, I have two perfectly working speakers (with a sub-woofer that can take a higher wattage) and also bought a refurbished 5 CD carousel from him (mine was malfunctioning). I'm pretty happy with his communication and explanations of the pricing structure. He is a friendly, knoweldgeable professional whose services and skills that should be valued. Thanks again for the excellent work! read more

The deposit was $275 just for them to look at my amp. The result was that there was no problem with the amp, but problem still occurring. And they still charged me $275. I do not recommend using them as the deposit is so unreasonable. Sheldon was not responsive and kept the amp for 4 weeks. read more

Review update I need to start off by writing that if you are looking for a quick fix a flat service, please DO NOT bring your stereo equipment here. If you don't fully understand what it takes to get and keep vintage equipment just go to Best Buy and get a big Bluetooth speaker and Bluetooth Amp that will be a better match for you(lol) Sheldon took the time to properly diagnose the problem with my turntable and he didn't do a quick patch job and my turntable is running and sounding a lot better. The money spent was well worth it, remember good work is not cheap and cheap work is NOT good. read more

Sheldon is the man. His knowledge of sound systems is insane. First time I stepped into his shop I was amazed... wall to wall old school and new school speaker systems. I took my 90's era NHT speaker system to get repaired and he told me to never ever sell these speakers because they're not made like they used to be. I've taken that advice to heart since and a lot of these "fancier" speaker systems my friends spend all this money on still don't sound as good as the NHTs. read more

$450 deposit should have been a huge red flag for me. Lesson learned :( Better off finding and buying an amplifier that has be refurbished already on Reverb or marketplace . Get an upfront estimate or pricing, otherwise keep it moving . read more

I was starting to fall out of love with my 1975 Luxman l-100u integrated amplifier. This was the flagship of Luxman in its heyday, and it sounded sweet. But then it started to develop a bit of noise and crackle in the right channel, which gradually got worse. I had another shop take a look at it, they claimed to fix it, but no. Then I took it to Sheldon. We was extremely patient and thorough as he described his process and what decisions I could make as to resolving the issue. He gave me the confidence that he really cared about his work, and the resulting music. The problem was super tricky - intermittent, with all of the components testing in spec. To make matters worse, this is a, extremely complicated amp to work on. After picking it up, I noted that the problem was almost gone, but not quite. The gremlin came back! Sheldon helped me troubleshoot over the phone and asked to take another look at it. I picked it up today and have been listening to it for hours, and cannot believe how great it sounds. A completely black and transparent background, and sounding better then it ever has before! Sheldon was fair and transparent with me on the price. In fact, I know for a fact that he put in many more hours of labor than he charged me for, and a full list of the replaced components along with pics of everything along the way. Seriously, he is the real deal. A "transistor whisperer" and one who takes the utmost pride in his work. If you want your forever stereo to sound as good or better than the day it left the showroom, Champlifier is a worthwhile investment. read more

Champlifier Audio Services - Luxman l-100u better than the day it left the showroom - Electronics Repair Near Me - Alameda, California

I called up to get some advice about handling a repair. As I had expected going into the conversation, they couldn't help. But even with that, they stayed on the phone with me and told me the ins and outs of why the service would be very difficult. Explained in understandable plain English. I really appreciated their ability to understand my issue and then also take the time to fully explain the problem and what to do next. Thanks much! -Kyle read more

Sheldon is a solid old school electronics repair guy. He fixed the buzzing issue on my JLB2328 studio speakers. read more

Champlifier Audio Services - Electronics Repair Near Me - Alameda, California

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Sheldon is a rare bird. He is exceptionally knowledgeable, extremely conscientious, and he cares for each piece of audio equipment as if it were his own. That all said, know that you will be paying a premium price for a premium service, and you will be waiting patiently for this service to be completed. You will get your money's worth, but this kind of meticulous service isn't and shouldn't be cheap or rushed. My vintage Yamaha CR 2010 receiver went from barely working, to indistinguishable from brand new. I look forward to many more years of listening pleasure that I was afraid I'd lost and could never recover. read more

I had scheduled an appointment for today Monday February 19th 2024 I showed up at 11:30 a.m. and the door was locked, I called them twice and no one answered the phone I also knocked on the door twice and no one answered. Great way to run a business. They were terrible at responding back to my emails it took them weeks to finally get a hold of my after I left them a voicemail. Ridiculous! I'm only giving them one star because I can't post it without selecting a rating read more

I gave two dj speakers to Sheldon. he had them for 29 days before I heard back from him but when I dropped them off he told me it would take 2 weeks, As a client that makes feel like he mAde a false promise just so I would be another one of his new clients who gave him $140 + $140 = $280 of deposit money, that's just how I feel. I pointlessly wait 29 days only to find out that one of the speakers can't be fixed he says QSC won't sell him a part needed. then on top of that he only gives me back $70 of the $140 deposit. his excuse was that "he didn't know". People, Is it not his job to know? And if he doesn't know something isn't it his job to find out before taking anyone's money? If he doesn't find out until later then isn't the client intitaled to a full $140 refund? Sheldon says he keeps the $70 of $140 because he spent labor workin on it but that's his job as a pro to spend labor to learn what it is that QSC won't sell him and the client shouldn't have to bare the brunt of his ignorance cmon people I'm just saying Hi kept $70 from a speaker which he couldn't even fix so I asked if I can apply that $70 towards the second speaker I gave him and guess what, he says no. It's as if he's not his own boss, as if he can't just snap his fingers to meet the client at some kind of middle ground or moral settlement. The regular stereo guys I take my speakers to would have already had the speaker done in 29 days and the deposit would have only been $95 per speaker. If I leave the one speaker with Sheldon then who knows how mucH longer he wIll take on top of the already 29 days? I've counted my total loses which is 29 days and $210 dollars And took my speakers to someone Ive known all along who will get it done right and promptly. read more

Second visit to Champlifier. The first time was years ago for a girfriends Marrantz receiver damaged in shipping from New York which needed much TLC. It was returned in flawless, I dare say, better condition than it had ever been before. Pretty Amazing actually... Today, I arrived with a Marrantz 6100 turntable with no apparent signal output. Thankfully, I was educated regarding "operator error". lol What I didn't realize is that Sheldon has some beautiful rehabbed units in stock. To summarize, I was well advised on the turntable non-issue and I spotted then purchased a stunning (pre-pioneer) 1970's Marrantz 2252b receiver. No, I didn't get a steal of a deal however, considering Sheldons work ethic and expertise, I am now hearing my LP collection like I never have before. Worth every penny paid! Thank you Champlifier. read more

Horribly crooked & dishonest business. Please do not support this business , on top of the worst experience I had with Sheldon in his shop as a crooked human being the work he overcharged and was not truthful about his work that he performed was as equally disgusting!! As you can see from the photo below the different color lights he tried to make me pay ,what was once a Beautiful receiver had multiple colors that was never asked to replace in the first place, this is what you get from Champlifier so take my word and just stay read more

Champlifier Audio Services - Electronics Repair Near Me - Alameda, California

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Fantastic job repairing my vintage pioneer sx9000. Glad I made the drive, defenetly worth it. read more

Champlifier Audio Services - Pioneer sx9000. Back in action!! - Electronics Repair Near Me - Alameda, California

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While Champlifier did ultimately fix my vintage 1970s-era receiver, my experience with them turned into a somewhat frustrating, lengthy, and exhausting saga. After waiting four months for Sheldon to diagnose the receiver after I left it with him (he originally said it would take 6-8 weeks and that he was backed up due to Covid-related issues), he called me with the estimate, which seemed exorbitant (compared to what places like the Sound Well used to charge). But since he'd already had it for so long, and since I'd paid the non-refundable fee for him to diagnose the receiver, I begrudgingly went ahead with it. Less than a week later, my receiver was ready for pickup, and he seemed to have done quality work fixing the numerous issues that plagued it. But I soon discovered that a new and fairly serious issue had developed, which hadn't existed before the repair, so I took it back to him. I wound up having to bring the receiver back to him *two* more times in an effort to fix this new problem, which he for some reason was unable to hear or replicate in his shop. All the while, he was calling me (sometimes at odd hours, late into the evening) to essentially brush the issue off, suggesting it could be down to external factors or that it was not something he could fix. I eventually got him to hear the problem when he had me come back to his shop a fourth time (at 9 PM on a Saturday night, during which I had to wait out in the car for 45 minutes while he tended to another customer), and he *finally* fixed it by replacing the power transformer. But after getting it back home, a second, new issue had developed, which was so severe it rendered the receiver unusable. So, I brought it back to him yet again. Fortunately, he knew how to fix this particular problem. However, while my receiver was in his shop on this occasion, an accident occurred that caused the circuit board to crack and break. He was totally upfront and honest with me about it, which I appreciated, and I chalked it up to an honest, human mistake. But this meant that repairing my receiver would now require a massive and hugely time-consuming operation, which I think Sheldon wanted to avoid. So, he offered to give me another receiver he had from a different manufacturer instead, which was comparable to mine in age, wattage, features, performance, etc. I'm sure that receiver would've been fine, but I really just wanted *my* receiver back in good, functioning condition, and I honestly didn't think that was an unreasonable request. He did eventually fix all the issues and get the receiver back to me in good, working order, but the fact that it required half a dozen trips to his shop, as well as several late-night phone calls (in which he kept trying to downplay the problem or blame it on external factors), and it cost me a massive amount of money (*far* more than the unit is worth, and more than what a comparable modern unit would cost today brand new), I'd hesitate to recommend Champlifier. Bottom line: If you're going to charge that much for labor, I honestly feel the unit should be in perfect working condition when the customer gets it back, without any new issues that hadn't existed before. In the end, I do think Sheldon generally knows what he's doing, but he could be a bit more transparent about his fees and more thorough with his diagnoses, especially when it comes to older vintage gear. read more

The estimate we received was way less than the final invoice. We ended up spending more than the amp was worth for the "repair." It worked for about a week and has been pure static ever since. We spent $1200 for the repair. This was a few years ago, I'm just still mad about it. read more

After giving Champlifier half of a year to make a repair and no work was completed, Champlifier was unfortunately a huge letdown. When I found Champlifier to fix the cracked mesh on my speaker grills, I was excited by their good reviews and work portfolio. When I initially contacted owner Sheldon, he seemed confident and professional.  However, after I dropped off the speaker grills, things became strange.  First, when I asked Sheldon to provide a quote for the repair, he was extremely reluctant to provide it, saying that it would take him a lot of time and that he would need to charge me for it.  After some time and multiple conversations, and me promising him that I understood that prices in quotes fluctuate, he finally wrote one.  It was a simple quote with two items and a total estimated price - nothing special.  It's baffling that he would expect customers to agree to pay for a repair without a written price estimate and then generally insist on charging a customer for a basic one. Fast forward six months later, Sheldon had not done any work on the repair and never even proactively provided me with an update.  After sending him emails and calling him, and him dodging me and providing excuses, I decided to pick up the speaker grills.  That day, Sheldon told me that he needed more time.  It does NOT take over six months to source mesh material and glue it on speaker grills.  I used to do model making, have worked on cars, sanded a car to bare metal and consider myself pretty handy overall.  I wanted to save myself some time and support a local business, especially during the pandemic, which has been a challenging time for businesses. I am very sensitive to the fact we're in a pandemic and businesses are experiencing many challenges.  At minimum, Sheldon should have provided me with updates without me having to chase after him and been honest about his inability to do the job when he realized he couldn't or wouldn't do it. The worst part is that when I finally picked up the speaker grills, he refused to return my deposit despite the fact that he had not done any of the repair in the entire six months he had my grills.  This forced me to contact my credit card company, after which I was informed by a representative that he had told them that the repair was ready to be completed the day I picked up the speakers.  Sheldon lied in order to keep his deposit. Stay away from Champlifier and save yourself the time, money and hassle. read more

Sheldon is the best vintage stereo repair man ever every knowledgeable. I have a vintage Sansui 9000 DB it had not worked properly for years channel distribution then the channel cutting out very annoying. Before Sheldon I took it to a shop in San Jose they worked on it for five months. After bring it home it worked ok for a few days then started malfunctioning again. I was not happy with that shop no communications and turn around was terrible, I was not going to go through that again. I then did what everyone does "Googled" found Champlifier read reviews felt confident about them cause of the customer satisfaction. That is when I called Sheldon I told him about all the above mentioned info we set appointment took my Sansui in and meet Sheldon and a few of his crew and even customers, bring and picking up vintage equipment we all spoke and enjoyed talking about where they got our equipment and where I got my receiver. Sheldon then told me that it may take him more time to figure out what the other guy did, I understood that because it is logical. Well Sheldon called me in a couple days and gave me an update. I gave Sheldon the go ahead. He called me again and I thought it was more problem, it had only been about ten days he told me it would be ready this afternoon. I was excited I went to the shop and heard my Sansui 9000 DB it never sounded that great in a while. Sheldon takes his work personally he has called me several times to check on my satisfaction. I am, so happy with the performance it has not performed like this since it was band new 1978. I will recommend anyone with vintage equipment to Champlifier. Thank you, Sheldon your the man. read more

Champlifier Audio Services - Sansui 9000DB - Electronics Repair Near Me - Alameda, California

PLEASE READ BEFORE MAKING YOUR DECISION TO USE THEM!!!!! I reached out to this company due to the fact that fed ex severely damaged a set of speakers and the only way i could get any amount of money in return is if i got an estimate. If you have dealt with fed ex claims before you know that they will fight you tooth and nail trying to avoid paying you any money but this post is not about fed ex rather about the way this company tried to shoot me when i was down. I explained my situation to them about how I needed an estimate just so i could move forward with the Fed Ex Claims department. AND THIS WAS THEIR RESPONSE. I'm sorry that this has happened. We will do our best to create a different experience for you. (At present we are at capacity and is scheduling all regular services for January 2022, however I have spoken to our engineer and he has agreed evaluate this unit for you pending your agreement and authorization of our SOP. Unfortunately, we would not be able to look at pictures to complete this evaluation, nor are we able to provide an estimate or guesstimate without checking out the unit first. Our SOP ( standard operating procedure ) When the unit is dropped off there is a non refundable deposit that goes towards the overall cost of the repair. We contact you with our findings, an estimate and talk about how you would like to proceed. The deposit are $140 or $210 ( per unit). The deposit for this make and model would be (140 per unit) SO NOW WE ARE AT $280 JUST FOR THEM TO PUT MY SPEAKERS IN THEIR STORAGE ROOM Regarding claims : we also offer a written estimate. My of our clients That are in your shoe choose this written document as their supporting evidence for your claims. This written estimate includes our findings and is normally accompanied by pictures of the damages. If you choose to acquire a written estimate, the fee is $150 ( per unit ) . NOW THE TOTAL COMES TO $580 AND I CANT EVEN GET AN ESTIMATE YET! With our current commitments, we can only take this unit in as an expedited service. Expedited services have a complete turn around of 3-4 week and has a fee of $105 ( per unit) . For our regular services we ask minimum of 6-8 week to get to your unit. NOW THEY ARE FORCNG ME TO PAY AN EXTRA $210 BECAUSE THEY FEEL LIKE IT SO THEY ARE TELLING ME THAT IF I WANT AN ESTIMATE IN A TIMELY FASHION I WILL HAVE TO PAY THEM A TOTAL OF $790. IT IS EXTREMELY SAD WHEN YOU DEAL WITH THESE KIND OF PEOPLE THAT TRY TO JUST TAKE ADVANTAGE OF A SITUATION. JUST THOUGHT IT LET PEOPLE KNOW REALLY WHAT KIND OF COMPANY THIS IS! read more

Love this place! They always take good care of me. Quality service, very knowledgeable, decent prices, honest, and good folks!

I had Sheldon check my CD player (skipping) and amp (hum on both channels) which had been previously very lously modified, although with good sonic results. While I completely agree with everybody else about Sheldon work ethic, I am unhappy regarding his competence, as I discovered once I decided to put time and effort redoing the job myself. On the CD player, he recapped the unit (always a good step after many years of operation, but not in my case) claiming that voltage supply was the reason of the CD skipping problem. Wrong, after a short time the CD was skipping again and only after I replaced the transport unit with a new one (for $50) I solved the problem. In addition I later discovered that a couple caps he had replaced on the regulators outputs were 47uF instead of 470uF, which also caused occasional skipping. He also took out a couple caps (from the previous mod) on the main supply for no reason. Additional large caps can only further stabilize the supply and improve overall perfomance. Finally I discovered a ripped off cable from the supply transformer to the main pcb which resulted in only half rectified wave....not good! On the amp I did not see any problem, actually he did a good job, again at recapping the whole unit, which is rather standard operation. He did not venture into remaking a horrible modification (B+ supply regulator for the tubes), which I did myself later on. He convinced me to eliminate an extra shielded AC cable as part of a previous modification though now I doubt wether that was a good call. The amp has been working fine since then. Now what bothers me is that Shedon is expensive, as any qualified service provider in the Bay Area, after all. I paid him several hundred dollars hoping to have a peace of mind. Unfortunately that was not the case. I still think Sheldon can do a good job as long as it's some standard repair procedure. If you have some more complex problems, probably not. read more

Sheldon is a rare Bay Area gem in the world of hi-fi electronics repair. Not only is he incredibly knowledgeable, he has uncanny attention to detail for both the performance as well as the aesthetics of vintage equipment. He took incredibly great care of our Pioneer receiver, the repair of which was a gift to my daughter. He even replaced the old burnt out incandescent lights with warm LEDs that will last a lifetime. The finishing touch was his very sweet gift of The Harder They Come soundtrack, German press on vinyl, for my daughter and a giant bow on the receiver. read more

Champlifier did a great job in restoring my father's late '60s McIntosh MA5100 amp. It had never been serviced and the controls were corroded, leading the sound to cut out when changing settings. Sheldon only did the more basic restoration on the unit, just cleaning up the pots and replacing some internal components that had worn out, but the results were great. When I went to pick it up he connected it to his system in the shop to demonstrate the amp's performance now that it was back in good working condition. Not cheap but well worth the expense for your high-end equipment. He also got it turned around ahead of schedule. Honest, professional guy and quality results, highly recommended. read more

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I've been waiting for Sheldon to repair my audio equipment. Years. No kidding. Here's what was delivered to my new friend recently - based only on his Yelp reviews - and have been enjoying ever since they were delivered back to me: Marantz 2245 - LED lamp upgrade and service. It's so legit now. Yamaha CR 820 - LED lamp upgrade. Marantz 6100 - Sheldon upgraded my cartridge because he accidentally damaged the needle on the cart that was on the table when I brought it to him. New belt and RCA outs. YEP - legit. JVC Sea 80 - Service and was honest with a portion of the repair that wasn't worth my time. Why did I wait years to repair this equipment? Because I was waiting for Sheldon. Have you read the other electronic repair services' Yelp reviews? Anything less than 5 stars isn't worth it. Sheldon is a rarity in the electronics repair world and I'm glad he is in business. Bring in your equipment, give him the space and the time to work on your treasured items, and be prepared to be amazed by customer service and repair expertise that you thought wasn't available. It is. read more

Champlifier Audio Services - Yes. - Electronics Repair Near Me - Alameda, California

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He is not honest, with what he quoted he charge me $ 700.00 plus to fix my record player , he led me to think that it was going to be around $ 350'.00 he had my record player for a year, he may be a good mechanic . but as a Business man he is a CON,, I thought I was dealing with an honest Person, Two face thief.. thanks read more

My goto spot for having audio gear repaired. Definitely recommended! I recently brought in a vintage Pioneer integrated amp (SA-6700) that had a grounding issue. After bringing it to Sheldon at Champlifier he was able to diagnosis the problem and presented me with options on the repair work (within a week's time). The unit needed new caps for the power and something else which I can't remember. In the end I opted for the more budget friendly option which was to replace what was needed rather than a full restoration which would have costed a few hundred more. After the work was completed, which Sheldon was able to do rather quickly since I was willing to pick up the unit later that evening (around 9pm), Sheldon showed me what was replaced and demo'd my amp for me to show that it was 100% up and running! I'm definitely happy with the results although it will be a few months before I bring in my next piece of equipment as I'll need to save a few bucks for the upcoming repairs. Overall Sheldon was nothing but stellar. Honest, straight forward, very friendly, and a nice guy. What more can you ask for. If you have audio gear that you cherish and want to have its life extended for a repair of full restoration, I definitely recommend Sheldon at his Champlifier shop in Alameda. read more

Initially bringing in my Marantz receiver Sheldon indirectly told me that his rate/ what he would eventually charge me would be much more than the worth of the unit itself..maybe a warning for how overpriced it was going to be? Sheldon held on to my Marantz receiver for about 9 months before even starting to work on it. At times I felt my receiver was gone because I wouldn't get a response.. I had to email and call several times to reach him.. Once I did reach him he was full of excuses.. Eventually sometime after that I picked up my receiver and paid a large amount..(on top of the original deposit) only to find that it was still not functioning properly.. at this point I expressed my frustration with Sheldon which he responded very defensively. Eventually, after going back and forth on the phone, my unit was brought back in to complete the repair properly for an additional charge. Over all Sheldon failed to display basic good customer service skills- Instead he continued to stay defensive. I agree with the other 1 star reviews on here- notably: overcharging, prolonged wait (well past his intake forms time description) dishonesty & poor communication. I almost never leave reviews online about any business even if I had a bad experience.. I prefer to share experiences like this verbally in person to friends and strangers if it applies which is what I will continue to do for Sheldons "champlifier". Anyone I come across who shares that passion of music listening and vintage audio gear who is in need of help to repair their audio gear will know from me not to go here. One last note: my receiver came back with multiple small mis aimed drill marks on the body/ shell near the screws and scratches on top that were not previously there. My receiver was no longer in near perfect cosmetic condition.. That is poor attention to detail. Go here if you have money to throw away. read more

Highly recommended! I have an old "Holographic" receiver by Carver that I dearly love and have used since I bought it new in about 1998. It recently stop working and I found Sheldon at Champlifier Audio Services. He was able to bring it back to life, clean the tons of cat hair that had accumulated in it, and has probably given it another 30 or so years of service. Very professional, and he really went the extra distance to bring it back to optimum quality. read more

Sheldon did an amazing job restoring and upgrading my Marantz 2270 receiver. It sounds just fantastic now and the new LEDs and black faceplate make the system look brand new, fresh and modern. I enjoyed doing business with him very much and will be back for any and all my future audio electronics services. read more

Champlifier Audio Services - Electronics Repair Near Me - Alameda, California

I am writing this review on behalf of my husband who is an electrician and needed a second opinion for his customer who was trying to find out what caused a problem with a Yamaha receiver. Sheldon was super busy but squeezed my husband in because my husband was facing an upcoming project deadline. He is so knowledgeable, experienced and down to earth. The fact that he went out of his way to help another local business is so commendable. Also, the way they set up their workflow during Covid-19 was very impressive. It was super safe for them and the clients. Amazing all around! Absolutely would use them again and would recommend! read more

Sheldon and Champlifier were the most responsive, attentive and helpful with my attempts to get my stereo system in proper order to play LP's. Also, the wood speakers which he personally restored and repaired look and sound absolutely great. Personal and attentive service at fair and reasonable prices. Well done! read more

Sheldon always knows how to take care of things. He knows and loves his work. He is kind and polite, dedicated to keeping your audio running. I have had him work on at least 6 different solid state components, always with great results. read more

I can not on good faith recommend Sheldon to anyone seeking repair for their amplifiers or speakers. He does not respect his customers time nor is transparent with pricing which is unfortunate because his technical skill Is great. I brought in a vintage receiver that needed some minor repair. After 6 months of several calls to him he finally looked at the unit. Not once did he call me to let me know he wasn't going to meet his projected timelines. Sheldon said he couldn't do just that one repair he had to attend to the whole unit. Said it would be either 700 to repair it or a full refurbish (which it didn't need) at over 1000. He couldn't give me an estimate on parts because it would "take too much time" which is just shady. if you're a professional you should be able to give an estimate / range on parts just like an auto mechanic does. No surprise the bill on parts was exorbitant pushing the total bill to over $1100. Some of the work I did not approve or ask for - like the addition of lights - but was charged for. Like I said I came in for ONE minor repair. When I came to pick it up, it was not ready. I came back and he had altered the lighting system without informing me and he had to re-do it. I had to drive out to Champlifier three time before we were all squared away. Frankly it is unethical that Sheldon won't give out written estimates because "it takes too much time." Actually, it's because if people were informed they would eventually be charged over a grand when coming In for one repair they'd go elsewhere but once you put down the deposit you get hooked. I respect the artistry and labor that goes into repair especially of vintage pieces. I wanted to love working with Sheldon, but his lack of transparency around his time capacity and his pricing make me sadly unable to recommend him. read more