London Sounds.

[southall-1998]

Anyone here sent their audio equipment to London Sound? Is their work good?

Merry Christmas!

[walpurgis]

Yes, I've used London Sound a couple of times. Mike Solomons who runs it is a chatty bloke, he's usually pretty busy though and his work is not cheap.

[southall-1998]

Yes, I've used London Sound a couple of times. Mike Solomons who runs it is a chatty bloke, he's usually pretty busy though and his work is not cheap.

Yes, have heard his work is a bit pricey!

[RobbieGong]

I've comunicated with him a few times. Very learned indeed and I believe he can definately repair all sorts of stuf particularly vintage. Again, I 've heard he dont come cheap. He passed me on to a guy saying he had far too much work on to deal with the repair of my amp this summer. The guy, Phillip I think his name was, quoted me around the £300 mark before he'd even looked at the thing - Technics SU VX800 Integrated. That put me off.

[southall-1998]

I've comunicated with him a few times. Very learned indeed and I believe he can definately repair all sorts of stuf particularly vintage. Again, I 've heard he dont come cheap. He passed me on to a guy saying he had far too much work on to deal with the repair of my amp this summer. The guy, Phillip I think his name was, quoted me around the £300 mark before he'd even looked at the thing - Technics SU VX800 Integrated. That put me off.

Yes, that would make me feel funny/strange!

[DSJR]

I've known of Mike for decades now and he's fine, and able to re-calibrate old vintage Top End tuners properly. Due to places like this, good engineers are being deluged in work now the new market has collapsed. A far cry from ten years ago when mid to upper end Jap gear of good quality was being dumped by the skipload when it went wrong...

[walpurgis]

I remember Mike Solomons having a shop in Eastcote over thirty years ago. I lived just down the road and used to pop in for a look around. Then he had a little shop on Harrow on The Hill. I bought an ancient Ortofon S15 TE from him there, one of the best sounding cartridges I ever heard (especially after I removed the built in transformers and used a proper SUT). Since he moved to Rayners Lane, he has carried out a couple of amplifier repairs for me. He does like a chat!

[southall-1998]

I remember Mike Solomons having a shop in Eastcote over thirty years ago. I lived just down the road and used to pop in for a look around. Then he had a little shop on Harrow on The Hill. I bought an ancient Ortofon S15 TE from him there, one of the best sounding cartridges I ever heard (especially after I removed the built in transformers and used a proper SUT). Since he moved to Rayners Lane, he has carried out a couple of amplifier repairs for me. He does like a chat!

I can picture you ''having enough'' of him :D

[DSJR]

Rayners Lane - Is the Silver Dollar pizza place still there (near the station IIRC)? Wonderful pizza memories but SO long ago now :(

[walpurgis]

Rayners Lane - Is the Silver Dollar pizza place still there (near the station IIRC)? Wonderful pizza memories but SO long ago now :(

I used to go in there after an evening in 'The Clay Pidgeon' or 'Manor House' pubs in Eastcote or the 'Northwood Hills Hotel' in Northwood Hills obviously. I'd imagine the Silver Dollar is long gone. The pizzas were great though, the real thing!

By the way, Merry Christmas Dave and to everybody else! (I'm still wrapping presents)

[Lodgesound]

Repair of electronic equipment is an extremely skilled profession which was up until the massive revival of aquisition of vintage gear becoming ever more belittled as being somehow the proviso of sad techy geeks.

To give you an idea - in the professional field to get an engineer even to come out to look at and initially assess a piece of sound or video recording machinery you are looking at around £500 plus labour plus parts.

These prices will rise as this equipment becomes older and more difficult to maintain. This is leading to former professional gear that is twenty plus years old once more to becoming way out of the reach of the domestic user.

A very strange turn of events - one that even working in the industry as I did many years ago one could not have forseen.

Given the credentials of the person mentioned in this thread I would say his prices although high are reasonable if he can get the job done.

[snuffbox]

I bought my first proper system from mike when he watson West St on the hill
An Armstrong tuner amp and b&w speakers.
The speakers are still going strong,can't remember which ones,they have three units in them.
The amp died and was resurrected by mike,he was in Rayners Lane by that time.
The Silver Dollar is still there

[ninedecks]

He is a very chatty guy.:)
I asked for a quote to work on a vintage Quad valve tuner.
He reckoned somewhere in the region of £300.
As it only cost me £45 I didn't progress it any further and moved it on through Ebay.

[Reffc]

I was put off for life using Mr Solomons and unfortunately have a very low opinion of him. As others have said, he is very chatty. He talks a lot.

Initially I was quoted a sensible low-ish figure for the work by London Sounds but eventually billed £540, more than twice what was originally agreed. I was furious. I had a competent engineer recommended to me after that and had him assess Mr Solomon's handywork. He was appalled to find second hand and in one case entirely inappropriate components substituted as "service parts" and that the real problem and reason for the repair originally was a simple broken wire (for which I was effectively charged £540).

I have not trusted any of my kit to him since then and most straightforward servicing or repair I now do myself with more complex work going to an electronics engineer whom I know to be competent. Others can and have spoken as they have found. In my case, I consider that I was ripped off by someone who's standards of work and working ethics were far from ideal. Would I recommend him? No.

[RobbieGong]

I was put off for life using Mr Solomons and unfortunately have a very low opinion of him. As others have said, he is very chatty. He talks a lot.

Initially I was quoted a sensible low-ish figure for the work by London Sounds but eventually billed £540, more than twice what was originally agreed. I was furious. I had a competent engineer recommended to me after that and had him assess Mr Solomon's handywork. He was appalled to find second hand and in one case entirely inappropriate components substituted as "service parts" and that the real problem and reason for the repair originally was a simple broken wire (for which I was effectively charged £540).

I have not trusted any of my kit to him since then and most straightforward servicing or repair I now do myself with more complex work going to an electronics engineer whom I know to be competent. Others can and have spoken as they have found. In my case, I consider that I was ripped off by someone who's standards of work and working ethics were far from ideal. Would I recommend him? No.

Sorry to hear that Paul, No responses thus far probably because it's left folk speechless. Dont know the extent of the work carried out but £540 sounds a serious amount of money so i can only assume some serious work was done etc. Either way, as i've said in earlier post to this, The guy Mr Solomons past me over to quoted me saying I was looking in the region of around £300 - £350 before even looking at the amp in anyway whatsoever. He spent most of the time convincing me that the guarantee that I'd get for the work made it all worth it. The whole vibe just felt wrong to me. I mean whatever happened to ' bring the amp to me, I charge x per hour to look at it and will let you know what i find'. He could have taken £300 for a drop of solder and the replacing of a minor part for all I know. It's a pity some of these guys have us over a barrell :(

[Wakefield Turntables]

It's a pity some of these guys have us over a barrell :(

If you have a little time and are prepared to learn its surprising what you can do yourself. I also think it very much depends upon how much you love your equipment and if you think its worth the investment. I have a simple outlook to this. If I buy anything new i leave it alone until the gurantee expires. I dont generally mess with any new kit either. Second kit is different, if I've only paid peanuts for something I dont mind having a go at repairing myself, if I screw it up I can always buy another.

[DSJR]

What a shame and I'm so sorry...

[Macca]

Shocking stuff. You have to guesss that they have so much work on they can quote figures out of the air and if they get a bite so much the better.

The pro shop by me took in my duff Sony CD player, found the fault, fixed it and fitted a new laser mech (that I supplied) - cost? £20.

It would seem to me that with something straight forward like Robbie's Technics amp that to find the fault (or not) would take at most 2 hours. Even at £20/hour that is ony £40 - so where are they getting £300 from, sight unseen? Ridiculous.

[Audioman]

Sorry to hear that Paul, No responses thus far probably because it's left folk speechless. Dont know the extent of the work carried out but £540 sounds a serious amount of money so i can only assume some serious work was done etc. Either way, as i've said in earlier post to this, The guy Mr Solomons past me over to quoted me saying I was looking in the region of around £300 - £350 before even looking at the amp in anyway whatsoever. He spent most of the time convincing me that the guarantee that I'd get for the work made it all worth it. The whole vibe just felt wrong to me. I mean whatever happened to ' bring the amp to me, I charge x per hour to look at it and will let you know what i find'. He could have taken £300 for a drop of solder and the replacing of a minor part for all I know. It's a pity some of these guys have us over a barrell :(

Most repairers have say a £50 fee to look at it and give you an estimate and tell you what parts need replacing. They give you a quote which you can accept or turn down. All this sounds very odd.

[chelsea]

The chap i sometimes use has a £20 deposit.
He has serviced quad and naim amps for me at around £80 each.

[Reffc]

Sorry to hear that Paul, No responses thus far probably because it's left folk speechless. Dont know the extent of the work carried out but £540 sounds a serious amount of money so i can only assume some serious work was done etc. Either way, as i've said in earlier post to this, The guy Mr Solomons past me over to quoted me saying I was looking in the region of around £300 - £350 before even looking at the amp in anyway whatsoever. He spent most of the time convincing me that the guarantee that I'd get for the work made it all worth it. The whole vibe just felt wrong to me. I mean whatever happened to ' bring the amp to me, I charge x per hour to look at it and will let you know what i find'. He could have taken £300 for a drop of solder and the replacing of a minor part for all I know. It's a pity some of these guys have us over a barrell :(

That's exactly how it went when I approached him first off. I was quoted £250 to £350 before he knew the amp or the problem and told that it was worth it for the no quibble 12 month warranty (never mind the fact he charged £50 to post the amp back when it only set me back £28 to send it to him!). I didn't have the time to strip the amp myself at the time as I'd started a new job and had just moved house so had too much on, and decided to entrust it to a "recommended" repairer.

When I eventually managed to get a word in edgeways when first calling him, trying to explain that I thought it was a minor problem on the Lv side of the circuit (which it turned out to be) so all I wanted was the chassis taken apart, the fault traced and the component(s) replaced. I reckoned on 2 to 3 hours work tops. I thought that £250 including postage and all labour/component costs was worth it when he said he'd give it a health check and service whilst he was at it. He called a month later (after having it in his possession) demanding £540. I had to take his word for what had been done but requested a complete breakdown of labour and parts.

What I actually received was a 4 page diatribe blow by blow account of what he thought the issue was, how it was taken apart, what was done plus "a 48 hour bench test"...presumably meaning it was left switched on with a load connected). I was told that almost a weeks work had gone into it and was shocked.

The amp lasted less than a few months (perhaps 50 hours playing time?) before it went up in smoke so I had an independent expert (the original designer and builder, Ben Carter) check it out. Ben ended up rebuilding it from the chassis up for less than Solomons charged for his "repair". He found old caps/resistors which shouldn't have been in there, things moved and glued to the chassis away from their original place with no obvious merit, wiring used being old BT wiring and what's more, most of this on one channel. The original fault was traced to where some messy soldering on the LV supply to the preamp stage on the left channel was complete and resplendent with its BT wiring. Ben reckoned a few minutes work would have sorted the original issue. The amp bias wasn't set properly hence it burnt the power supply out. That, in fairness, was my fault for not checking it. Mr Solomons may be a very decent and nice chap to speak to and very friendly to those who know him well but I wouldn't entrust anything hifi to him after my experience.

[RobbieGong]

That's exactly how it went when I approached him first off. I was quoted £250 to £350 before he knew the amp or the problem and told that it was worth it for the no quibble 12 month warranty (never mind the fact he charged £50 to post the amp back when it only set me back £28 to send it to him!). I didn't have the time to strip the amp myself at the time as I'd started a new job and had just moved house so had too much on, and decided to entrust it to a "recommended" repairer.

When I eventually managed to get a word in edgeways when first calling him, trying to explain that I thought it was a minor problem on the Lv side of the circuit (which it turned out to be) so all I wanted was the chassis taken apart, the fault traced and the component(s) replaced. I reckoned on 2 to 3 hours work tops. I thought that £250 including postage and all labour/component costs was worth it when he said he'd give it a health check and service whilst he was at it. He called a month later (after having it in his possession) demanding £540. I had to take his word for what had been done but requested a complete breakdown of labour and parts.

What I actually received was a 4 page diatribe blow by blow account of what he thought the issue was, how it was taken apart, what was done plus "a 48 hour bench test"...presumably meaning it was left switched on with a load connected). I was told that almost a weeks work had gone into it and was shocked.

The amp lasted less than a few months (perhaps 50 hours playing time?) before it went up in smoke so I had an independent expert (the original designer and builder, Ben Carter) check it out. Ben ended up rebuilding it from the chassis up for less than Solomons charged for his "repair". He found old caps/resistors which shouldn't have been in there, things moved and glued to the chassis away from their original place with no obvious merit, wiring used being old BT wiring and what's more, most of this on one channel. The original fault was traced to where some messy soldering on the LV supply to the preamp stage on the left channel was complete and resplendent with its BT wiring. Ben reckoned a few minutes work would have sorted the original issue. The amp bias wasn't set properly hence it burnt the power supply out. That, in fairness, was my fault for not checking it. Mr Solomons may be a very decent and nice chap to speak to and very friendly to those who know him well but I wouldn't entrust anything hifi to him after my experience.

Again Paul, sorry to hear this, I really am p'd and sad that you had to go through this nightmare. Looking at it and based on my own experience, albeit linked indirectly to him it stinks plain and simple. I just cant see why it would cost £540 to fix your amp (thats a lot of money no matter how you look at it), unless of course the man hours and parts where a good chunk of that, I just dont know but somehow I'm not feeling it at all. Is the amp seriously high end, exotic with parts that genuinely match that ?? Somehow I doubt it. This would have left me in a very stressed state as I would find that money very hard to come by if at all. Personally I'm glad it's been highlighted so people like us here who are very serious and passionate about our hifi and everything related to it (including repairs and money spent) can then make our minds up. I know what I think but thats me. I'd never say this guy hasn't done good work for some and he does appear to have a fairly good rep' for repairing the 'vintage', that said the common remark attached to the favourable comments has always been' he dont come cheap though :rolleyes: ) In all fairness the amp bias issue wasn't his fault - And I really hate to mention the initials DC but there have been and will be those who do or at least have had favourable things to say about him at least until they saw him in a different light after certain behaviours were exposed. Yes, let the good bad and ugly be exposed so we the guys who truly love the relationship of music and hifi and the joy it brings, spending our hard earned dosh in relation to that, remain awake and aware regarding exactly what's going on. Caution is the key word here for us, 'What do you charge and for exactly what, what are your rates, any hidden charges etc. If it dont sound or feel right, we walk away. (Too many sharks in the water and I'm fed up of 'em thinking we cant see them !!)

[John]

I also had a bad experience with Mike
I had a Lenco in for maintence and to fit a Zeta and slate plinth. I paid up front
Unfortantly Mike got ill and I said I wait, a year passed and found out he was taking in work but not doing any work to my Turntable so in the end I demanded my money back which he gave back
By this time I had a VPI and lost interest in getting the Lenco up and running so sold the slate and arm and gave away the deck

[Reffc]

Again Paul, sorry to hear this, I really am p'd and sad that you had to go through this nightmare. Looking at it and based on my own experience, albeit linked indirectly to him it stinks plain and simple. I just cant see why it would cost £540 to fix your amp (thats a lot of money no matter how you look at it), unless of course the man hours and parts where a good chunk of that, I just dont know but somehow I'm not feeling it at all. Is the amp seriously high end, exotic with parts that genuinely match that ?? Somehow I doubt it. This would have left me in a very stressed state as I would find that money very hard to come by if at all. Personally I'm glad it's been highlighted so people like us here who are very serious and passionate about our hifi and everything related to it (including repairs and money spent) can then make our minds up. I know what I think but thats me. I'd never say this guy hasn't done good work for some and he does appear to have a fairly good rep' for repairing the 'vintage', that said the common remark attached to the favourable comments has always been' he dont come cheap though :rolleyes: ) In all fairness the amp bias issue wasn't his fault - And I really hate to mention the initials DC but there have been and will be those who do or at least have had favourable things to say about him at least until they saw him in a different light after certain behaviours were exposed. Yes, let the good bad and ugly be exposed so we the guys who truly love the relationship of music and hifi and the joy it brings, spending our hard earned dosh in relation to that, remain awake and aware regarding exactly what's going on. Caution is the key word here for us, 'What do you charge and for exactly what, what are your rates, any hidden charges etc. If it dont sound or feel right, we walk away. (Too many sharks in the water and I'm fed up of 'em thinking we cant see them !!)

The amp wasn't that exotic it was rare though....an ST40 Lumley designed and built by Ben Carter for John Jefferies in 1994 (John had the Lumley brand) The ST40 was ironically one of the ones not famed for going up in smoke!

The money was not justified as I know enough about electronics to realise had I spend a few hours with the amp and a soldering iron, I could have repaired it myself. Therein lies the lesson for me. I always carried out most of my repairs from that time on, but the Lumley had so obviously been messed with unnecessarily that it was better (following the power supply failure) to have it rebuilt as it was over 20 years old by that time. It was as good as new when done, probably better as decent components had been used for the Ben Carter rebuild. I really should not have paid Solomons the money, and just given him what was agreed in writing or taken him to court. It hardly seemed worth the time and stress to do that at the time. Its a warning for anyone else thinking of using him but as others have mentioned he may be (an expensive) resource for fettling old Rogers Cadet amps. Would I give one to him to do? No way. There's far better designers and engineers out there who'd do a better job more reliably and far cheaper.

[southall-1998]

I also had a bad experience with Mike
I had a Lenco in for maintence and to fit a Zeta and slate plinth. I paid up front
Unfortantly Mike got ill and I said I wait, a year passed and found out he was taking in work but not doing any work to my Turntable so in the end I demanded my money back which he gave back
By this time I had a VPI and lost interest in getting the Lenco up and running so sold the slate and arm and gave away the deck

What a prick!!! Sorry to hear this:(

[John]

Well I made a good friend selling the slate plinth so not so bothered