Long time overdue for this, and my apologies to Randy and the gang at Interwest Electronics for the delay in writing this review. A little background first. My oldest brother was in the army, stationed in Hawaii, back in the mid to late 70's. While there he built up a decent stereo setup. Of which, this turntable belonged to. This model, a Kenwood KD-2077, made it through that entire process, a return trip back to the mainland, through the 80's and most of the 90's before being retired. I inherited this turntable last January of '18 while traveling through Dallas. The turntable had been through quite a bit, between all of the decades of relocation, combined with an adult beverage (or other adult activity) being utilized at the same time. So, it certainly had seen better days. This unit was in storage for at least 15 years, by the time I got a hold of it. And, as you can see in the picture, it shows. From the cracked and badly scuffed dust cover, the cue lever simply dropping the tonearm, a broken tonearm rest, the direct drive motor not being able to hold a speed and several other cosmetic issues, most people would have probably sold this as parts, or even tossed it in the trash. But, for me, it held a fair amount of sentimental value and I knew that, for the time period, this was a darn good turn table in it's day. And frankly, with the features it has, it is still a darn good turn table even compared to most of today's average offerings. Plus, I suppose that I'm just not smart enough to go buy a new one, as I seem to usually take the "less direct" route. At any rate, I decided to bring this unit into Interwest and see what Randy and the good folks there could do. They had the unit a while and I was very clear with Randy what I was wanting to achieve, and that I was also in no hurry at all. When it was all said and done, they had the unit for about 4 months, which was just fine by me since I had another turn table, and I was putting together a media room to utilize this unit in, for the main purpose of converting about 500 albums to digital format. Needless to say, and as you can tell by the picture (which genuinely does NOT do justice) they did an AMAZING job of not only repairing every little detail that wasn't right but, also doing a complete restoration on the unit. Besides the unit not only looking like brand new but, the speed of the platter is spot on perfect. The tone arm raises and lowers, as it should, via the cue lever. The new Grado cartridge and stylus tracks perfectly and sounds amazing. The guys at Interwest went way beyond what I expected and having used them many years before, I knew this was the place that would give my turn table the TLC needed to bring a new life to it. This experience has even more removed any hesitation that I might have in the future, as to where I would bring my components for repair. Thank you Randy and to all of the crew at Interwest Electronics for having an unbelievable level of pride in your work and for just simply doing an amazing job! You guys are the best and you will have my work and recommendations for life! read more

These kind of electronics stores are becoming increasingly rare. To find people who excel at their craft is hard to find, especially in this throw-away day and age, that's why it was so refreshing to find a whole group of people with 40 or more years experience under one roof. My experience began in a search for a well built and well restored turntable, with so many makes and models out there I needed to find an expert, That's what drew me to Interwest. Randy was patient and full of knowledge, which was especially pleasing to see in a business whose heyday is well past. Randy pulled out a couple of turntables from storage just for me. i picked one and over a 2 - 3 week period, he and his fellow craftsmen worked this fine piece of equipment over with a fine tooth comb. When I got it, it was better than anything I could have gotten brand new, a truly beautiful piece of workmanship. I also asked Randy and his staff to look over a vintage stereo receiver to clean up and possibly fix. I fully expected to wait a week or more to get it worked on, but Randy and another craftsman opened it up and worked on it right in front of me. It was a true pleasure to watch them work this older piece of electronic technology over with their well experienced hands. In my opinion, it's well worth it to spend a little bit of money to buy a piece of equipment right from Interwest or buy one not quite fully restored and have Interwest work on it. The piece of mind alone is worth the price. Randy's meticulous attention to detail was amazing, the lengths that he went to in his effort to create the best piece of equipment that he could was fantastic, he even pulled out and old trick involving wood and a steam iron, ask him about that. I plan on speaking to Randy about any and all questions regarding electronics. read more

My cherished, vintage Dual 1219 turntable, which I purchased new in Germany in the fall of 1969, was recently seriously damaged when it fell onto a concrete floor while being moved to a new location. I took it to Interwest Electronics, hoping it could somehow be salvaged or repaired. I was absolutely amazed by the results. Far beyond mere repairs, Interwest simply restored this turntable and its base to original, new condition. In fact, I would say it is now actually better than when I bought it new. They restored the base, which had been pretty much destroyed by the fall, to new condition by rebuilding the base, using all of the undamaged parts of my base, and parts from other original Dual bases that they were able to locate. They replaced every part of the turntable mechanism that could not be repaired with original Dual parts that they were able to find by thoroughly searching everywhere, including places in Canada. During this process, they also replaced parts that were simply worn out from 50 years of normal use or had deteriorated due to their age. The result of Interwest's work is spectacular! This turntable is absolutely perfect again! Their attention to every detail in restoring my turntable was simply amazing. Interwest Electronics is the very best!! I simply cannot adequately describe the superlative work they did. I'd give them ten stars if that were possible! read more

We took our vintage Pioneer receiver in to Randy to see why it was cutting out on the speakers. He gave us a quote on what it would cost to clean it all out and replace defective & weak parts: better than OEM with todays parts. We were waffling between having it gone through or just getting newer equipment. While we were talking to him about the pros and cons of getting it serviced, he opened it up and started cleaning dials and switches. He didn't hard sell us to get it serviced, he just said cleaning and lubing the dials and switches may buy some time on the unit. After talking with him for several minutes about our receiver and other audio topics, we could tell he is a true audio professional. He is passionate about providing outstanding customer service and high quality service. We decided to leave the receiver to get serviced. While the receiver was in getting serviced we purchased, on line, a bluetooth adapter so we could stream music over the receiver. We picked up the receiver today and it is basically brand new. It is amazing how nice it sounds and that we can stream music on it. We are glad we went with Interwest Electronics and would recommend them to anyone. Randy and his team of technicians are superb. read more

I was Extremely pleased with the workmanship by the technicians at Interwest Electronic. I took in my circa 1960s turntable for a complete overhaul. The first step was to set up a date and time for drop off. This enables them to ensure a reasonable turn around for your product. Be prepared, as they are in high demand and have tons of different items and equipment to work on. In my case I met with Randy who first looked over my turntable and then prepared the work order and provided me with the estimated costs. Being close to the Christmas holidays, he projected a turn around time of 4 to 6 weeks. And I was fine with that. I would rather someone Take their time and do it right than rush through and do sloppy work. To my surprise, it took less than 2 weeks. I was able to pick up my reconditioned turntable just in time for Christmas. Not only did Randy do the technical work as discussed but he also did some minor cosmetic reconditioning at no extra cost! How sweet is that?!? Bottom line: if you are passionate about maintaining your electronic equipment up to specs Interwest Electronics is the place to go. Not only can you expect the finest workmanship, you will find the good old fashion customer service of yesteryears. read more

Randy is a master of his craft with an incredible attention to detail and a true passion for tech repair. He put the utmost love and care into my Panasonic RX-4920; the main issue I encountered before I came in was a broken belt. Not only did he find the perfect belt for my model, but he repaired abrasions on the side of the unit that an amateur repairman had made before I found Interwest Electronics. When he couldn't reach me by phone because we had communication issues, he actually travelled to the address I provided to leave a note that he had completed the repairs. This Panasonic had probably never been serviced, and it looks brand new. The tape window is shining. Skills like these are a dying art and it is so refreshing to find a local business with an owner who truly cares about the items he is repairing- he told me started on TVs when he was eight years old. If you need your cassette deck, boombox, or other antiquated media player repaired- this is your man. If you're into this kind of thing, he would be the perfect person to apprentice under. He is kind, gives a fair price, and is meticulous in his quest to make old tech shine. Randy-- I love my boombox so much and my heart is so happy to have her home. --Siena read more

Earlier this year I took my Marantz 2230/2 channel Rcvr to Randy at Interwest Electronics for restoration. I was gifted the receiver from a close friend who had not keep it up so it needed help. I have used Randy's shop for years and knew he could bring it back to sounding the way it was designed. After evaluation, Randy layer out a game plan for the repairs needed to bring it back to spec. He then helped me take the Marantz to the next level of appearance and sound quality! I listened to his ideas and asked many question which were answered with his usual expertise and enthusiasm. After the detailed evaluation and repair/restoration details were ironed out I was told it could take as long as three months to complete this work. I trust Randy and his shop and knew he would do a great job! 2+ months later it was completely restored to better than manufactured specs, as the pics will attest to! He also copied the owners manual for me! As you can see it was worth waiting for!!! Call Randy for the restoration details if you're want more details. Thanks again Randy for your service, I'm glad had your help as always! read more

My Akai turntable had been running fast since I got it for Christmas about 3 years ago. It made the music sound strange and after awhile I couldn't stand listening to my favorite records anymore. I Googled an audio equipment repair place, and Interwest Electronics came right up. Randy took one look at my turntable and said it was running 4 times too fast in both the 33 1/2 and 45 speeds. He hadn't seen an Akai brand in about 15 years as they are mostly sold in Europe and Asia, but he was familiar with the product due to his many years in the business. I left it in his care for about an hour and he got it running at the right speed and even cleaned the cover with a special polish. I was so appreciative that when he put on a Barbara Streisand song for us to listen to, it brought tears to my eyes. Her beautiful voice, along with the hope of listening to my wonderful record collection again made me emotional. Randy is a master repair man, and did a wonderful job on my player. We had a very lovely chat too. I would highly recommend bringing anything you're having a problem with to him for repair. read more

The short version: My experience with Randy at Interwest was fantastic. The longer version: I called a few weeks ago about my 17-year-old Rotel RB-981 Power Amp that was not functioning. Randy gave me some great trouble shooting tips which confirmed that the amp was the problem. I finally brought the amp in today and Randy took the thing apart right there after a few seconds found all four fuses were blown. He found replacement parts, threw them in and bingo: amp is fixed. I am skipping a very important part, though, which is that he took his TIME to make sure it was right. He was patient and methodical and confirmed that the fuses were all the same 'brand' and that the clips were tight. No one does that level of detail and service any more . . . except Randy, I guess. He buttoned the thing up and would only take a handshake for payment. Seriously. I am most grateful that he spent his time giving me ideas of why it blew in the first place and what we can do if the problem reoccurs. Randy was fantastic and I am grateful for his service! Take your stuff there and it'll get done right. read more

I had them do repair work on my Akai GX-M50 Cassette Deck. Original specs from factory have it rated at 0.8% distortion for Type 1 cassette playback and an upper frequency up to 15kHz for recording on typical quality Type 1 cassettes. After they repaired, serviced, and re-calibrated this deck, the specs were unbelievable. Type 1 cassette distortion is now only 0.6% and amazingly they got it to record with an almost flat frequency response up to 20kHz! That's right, flat to 20kHZ on a TDK-D cassette! Obviously recording for pretty much all Type 2 and Type 4 cassettes sounds fantastic. Only some of my tapes required a small manual bias adjustment (Fuji, Memorex, and JVC). Most of my tapes from TDK, Maxell, and Sony needed no adjustment at all after they serviced it. If you have nice vintage audio equipment and it needs some work done, take it to these guys. It will cost you a bit but it's well worth it. Their expertise and attention to detail is extremely hard to come by these days. I couldn't be more satisfied. Great job! read more

Randy painstakingly restored an old and rare turntable that I inherited and that hadn't worked in years. He reached out to his network to locate hard to find parts and the turntable is now in excellent shape and working perfectly. Randy is very professional and personable and is always willing to take time to answer questions and explain things. When I picked up my restored turntable, Randy inquired about my other system components and then offered good advice on how I could optimize my setup and listening options. I ran into another issue and brought back my turntable and pre-amp for Randy to check out. He diagnosed and quickly fixed the (minor) problem within a few minutes but then took time to perform a mini-tune up on the pre-amp at the counter and would not accept payment for his time. I've called him a couple times with additional questions and he always takes time to listen and provide sound advice. So nice to have a great resource like Randy in Salt Lake. read more

Interwest is amazing. I took in an old Marantz 2230 manufactured between 1972-1974 that my grandfather owned, and then my father, and now me. This item is from the early 70's. It was missing some items to make it work properly. I had them go through it and clean it and change anything that needed it. They used factory components and did an amazing job. This unit had a lot of smoke damage and dirtiness from being in houses with a few smokers (my dad, grandma and uncle) along with swamp coolers over the last 50 years. I can't recommend Interwest enough. Randy is a great guy to talk to and turn around time was 5 weeks on something that needed some TLC. The technician at Interwest is extremely experienced. They even found a factory manual for the unit. They replaced everything from caps, to lamps, fuses, switches and power cord amongst other things. If you need something done right and with care, you can trust Interwest! read more

I was referred to Randy when my eBay sourced High-End, Vintage VHS VCR was more than "slightly used" as advertised... It was not properly loading the VHS cartridge upon inserting it into the VCR. He was very transparent and strived to set the proper expectations regarding all aspects of the repair process such as cost, the potential delays due to unknown parts availability, etc. Having procured the required gears and pinch roller, the reported problem was repaired to perfection. Back at home, upon testing the VCR, play-back quality and sound were as good as new, but a new gremlin reared its head; the high-speed rewind function was not working, so Randy asked me to bring the VCR back for an inspection. The VCR is back at home, free of charge for the second repair, flawlessly playing back the family's VHS library. Highest marks for both Technical and Customer service. Highly recommended. read more

I recently inherited a 70's vintage Pioneer PL-41 Turntable. It had been sitting in storage for 20 years, so I took it Interwest to have a new belt installed. Randy's eyes lit up when I set it on his counter and he started taking it apart to show me what needed to be replaced. I agreed to the rebuild and after a few months, he phoned to let me know it was finished. They made their own bearings for the turntable and replaced the stylus with a top of the line model. They even oiled the wood platform and polished the plexiglass dust cover. It's difficult to find anyone who knows how to set a vintage turntable up, but these guys got it adjusted perfectly! It looks brand new and sounds amazing! These guys really know their stuff, especially when it comes to vintage electronics, they have a great inventory of vintage parts, and they are very passionate about what they do. read more

I went to this electronics repair shop because I needed help getting my record player to work and figuring out how to properly connect it to my speakers. I was also missing a stylus, which needed to be replaced. Randy, the shop owner, told me they had quite a lot on their plate, but he still took the time to help me on the spot, and that meant a lot. He carefully checked every single setting on my record player to make sure everything was set up correctly and working as it should. I'm grateful for his patience, knowledge, and willingness to help a complete stranger. It's rare to find that level of service and kindness these days. I'd recommend this place to anyone. Ps - Randy called me several hours later to ask if I was able to get my record player to work by myself. Which I was, thanks to him. Truly so happy I ended up in his shop. Thank God read more

I can't say enough good about Interwest Electronics and the owner, Randy. I inherited a 1950's turntable from my uncle. It was in sad shape, but I was committed to getting it refurbished. Randy and his technicians did an initial diagnosis, determined it was worth repairing, and got to work. They completed the work when it was promised and did a very thorough job. This said, when I got the table home the cartridge had worked loose and wasn't tracking properly. I called Randy and he happily took it back and completed the second repair in a matter of days. Now, it sounds amazing and should give us years of service. Working with Randy, it is clear he takes great pride in his work, is unquestionably honest, and loves what he does. I highly recommend Interwest and Randy and will certainly go back if I ever need his services again. read more

I have a Pioneer SX3700 Receiver that my dad bought in 1981, he handed it down to me me last year. Recently it wasn't functioning quite right so He told me to take it in to Interwest. Randy at the shop was as excited as I was about my equipment and I was relieved to find that the receiver could be serviced and returned to like new condition. The price was fair and the service was better than promised. These guys love their work and it really shows in the quality of the service and attention to detail I received. I was happy to get my job completed in less than a week, even though they said it might take 6. The shop smells of capacitors, resistors, and flux and you just know they perform a little magic inside. If you have any electric treasures on the blink this is the place to bring them back to life. read more

I brought my McIntosh 2100 amplifier and C24 pre-amp in to Interwest Electronics a few months ago and Randy took a look, scratched his head, and said, yea we can fix this. These units are 55 years old and needed new inputs due to oxidation and numerous other internal upgrades. He reached out all over the country to find certain parts and his level of detail and dedication was outstanding! When I picked it up he had it set up on the counter hooked up to speakers (we cranked it!). We spent an hour going over all the work he put in to it. He was showing off his work to other customers coming in! I can't thank Randy enough for the work he put in to bringing these historic components back to life. I would highly recommend Interwest to anyone needing quality stereo repair work!! read more