Am I happy with The Loudspeaker Store? Hell, yes!!
I found Paul through his ads on Craigslist for re-coning, and thought I'd call and see what he was about. (FYI - you will need to call for the actual address of his shop, the address on Yelp is his mailing address.) His approach to repairs doesn't just fix a speaker but matches it to original factory specs. That way if only one speaker needs re-coning it will sound exactly like its mate. Paul uses OEM parts or parts which he personally tests sonically to ensure they match the originals. And his rates are very, very reasonable. Not only does he know how to repair speakers the right way, he's also a fount of knowledge on what makes for good sound and will recommend various speakers to seek out on the used market.
He encouraged me to call or e-mail with further questions, which I did several times in the course of my search over the next several months. He was generous with both his time and his ideas. Finally I found a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls for cheap, due to both 15" woofers being blown. The cabinets were in rough shape as well, they looked like they had bad water damage. I e-mailed Paul with pics, and he assured me the cabinets weren't as bad as they looked. He quoted for re-coning each woofer, but also said at their asking price that I had better buy these speakers or he would! So I did. He repaired them in a little more than a week, having had to order OEM-spec cones from the same manufacturer Klipsch uses.
How do they sound? Fan-freaking-tastic. Vocalists never sounded better in my two-channel rig, from Eva Cassidy to Howlin' Wolf. P-Funk basslines? Ultra-funky. I could hear the reed on a sax, the plucking of an upright bass, and everything in-between. Cornwall 1's typically sell for $800-$1,000 used. Thanks to Paul's good work, I now have a pair in excellent shape which sound fantastic for half that amount. BTW, Klipsch sells the current model, the Cornwall III, for $2,200 *each*.
It gets even better. I scored a set of three industrial Heresy speakers, but one of them had a blown fuse and a damaged fuse holder assembly. Paul found a replacement, soldered in the new assembly and again I happily paid a small amount to repair an excellent speaker for fraction of its cost new.
Just this past week I put all five of these fine, old speakers into our home theater set up. Paul had advised me that as sweet as the Cornwalls sound in 2-channel, their dynamics are an even better fit for home theater. He was right, from final horse race in "Secretariat" to the D-Day sequence in "Saving Private Ryan." After a couple more tests we watched the new Star Wars movie on Blu Ray and it sounded as good as what we heard at the Cinerama in Seattle. Our "new" setup is unlike anything we've ever heard - even a silly movie such as "Galaxy Quest" is elevated to new levels of enjoyment.
The only problem is, now I need another pair of speakers for my 2-channel rig. Thankfully I know who I can count on for work on my future speaker purchases! read more