Telstar Services

Restored my Bang & Olufsen Turntable back to pure perfection, AAAA++++. Highly Recommended…

I recently brought my GE Trimline 500 record player to this shop for service. When I brought it in, everything was functioning, but it sounded to me like it was running a little bit slow. All other functions were good (drop-​down, auto-​reject…). I was informed of the $ 50 deposit and told that it was likely that since everything was functional, the repairs may not go much over that $ 50. I was aware that this was just a guess though as the unit had not yet been evaluated.
I received a call a week or so later and was told that basically nothing was functional and an overhaul would cost $ 200 — $ 300. I asked why nothing was functional when I brought in a working unit and I was told that they hadn’t done anything to the unit to cause it to lose functionality, but nothing was working. Not being able to afford the repair cost I said that I would come and pick it up soon.
A few days later I picked it up and brought it home. I was immediately disappointed to see that while they were evaluating the unit they didn’t appear to have even cleaned it. For $ 50, I was expecting to at least have the interior dust removed while they had it open. Guess not.
I plugged it in and immediately heard a buzzing noise that it hadn’t made previously. Upon further investigation it seemed that NOTHING was working at all. The table didn’t even turn! As I was checking it out, at one point the table dropped down slightly into a lower position and voila… EVERYTHING worked again! Was this unit evaluated while the table was somehow out of position and that’s why the repair estimate was so high? I am in no way an expert and I was able to restore full functionality in under 10 minutes from plugging it in.
So the bottom line is for $ 50 I’ve got the same unit (dust and all) with the same functionality and it was not even evaluated properly for the original problem (slow playback).
I sent an email to them as feedback and received a defensive, non-​apologetic email in response. Apparently it is their policy to not even clean a unit that they’re «evaluating» unless the repairs are purchased. How pathetic. Avoid this place!

I had a pair of headphones for soldering.
I know exactly what’s wrong — there are 2 wires loose at the connector, an aftermarket screw-​on. It’s easy to see the fault.
When I dropped off the headphones, I was told the minimum charge was $ 30. I asked the guy if this was the cost to repair, and he confirmed for a small soldering job that would be the price. He told me I’d hear from them in about a week.
So, I paid the $ 30. About a week later, an older man called and said the charge would be $ 95. The $ 30 I had already paid would go towards this.
I asked why so much for a simple soldering job — we are talking 2 or 3 wires, easily accessible. He told me this is just what it costs for the technician’s time.
I explained that was more than the headphones are worth and I’d understood the $ 30 to cover the whole cost. He told me I’d misunderstood and that, while I could come and collect the headphones, I would not be able to recoup my deposit.
When I collected the phones just now, they had a sticker on the headband. As I peeled it off, it took some of the old rubber with it.

My almost-​vintage 1984 Sony amplifier got fried in a lightning hit to our house (we forgot to unplug the system). Met with the owner Matt and handed over the unit (along with the $ 65 non-​refundable estimate fee) but I was pretty skeptical that my amp would ever work again. About two weeks later, I picked up my amp from them, plugged it in and tried out just about every possible connection. The unit works and looks like new! I am sold on Telstar and would heartily recommend them to anyone in need of electronics repairs.
Cash or check only.

OK, so I’m not Howard Stern (don’t wanna be), and I’m not «The King of All Media». But I DO want to be able to PLAY all types of media, even the Vintage formats. So, besides all the «modern» crap (CD /​DVD /​HDTV, etc.) that’s supposed to be «better» (not gonna debate that here), I need the «old school» stuff too: Phonograph, Cassette, VHS, etc. I DARE you to bring something over that I can’t play! OK, can’t play 8-​Tracks, but I AM equipped to play ATRAC’s (ah ha! gotcha; what’s THAT?); far superior to MP3’s.
Anyway, my «old» Cassette Deck bit the dust at an inopportune time, while I was in the middle of converting some old tapes to .WAV files, so I could burn a CD. CROAK! And it was gone.
Had I KNOWN this was gonna happen, I WOULD have bought the Nakamichi deck I stumbled across at Austin Stereo a coupla weeks earlier, but NOW, when I called, it was gone, and all they had was a Nakamichi Dragon. NICE piece of Vintage gear, but more than I wanted to spend ($ 1100, and not a bad price for what you’re buying). I might want to play all media, but ya also gotta ask yourself just how much you’re gonna USE a cassette player these days, and what’s it WORTH to ya. I do kinda regret not pickin’ it up (the Dragon); that’s a true Collector’s Item, for sure, and getting more rare all the time. But, oh well…
So I did some calling around, and found something just up my alley: a Harman/​Kardon CD 191 Cassette Deck, at a fair price ($ 140 + Tax). Harman/​Kardon is known more for Receivers (I have two of those) than Cassette Decks, but they made a very good Cassette unit. Nakamichi was the «Cadillac» at the time, but HK was considered to be a very good «mid-​level» unit, and good enough for MY needs, today. HK ain’t no Radio Shack piece o’ crap! Which, embarrassingly, IS what my former unit was; please don’t tell anyone.
If you’re not familiar with Harman/​Kardon (most folks aren’t), THEY INVENTED STEREO «back in the day», are still in business, and are now a division of JBL, or vice-​versa. They still make EXCELLENT Receivers, up to and including really high-​end systems. If you’re shopping Audio gear and you DON’T check out HK, yer missin’ out! The best is NEVER the most advertised; hey, when’s the last time you say a Lamborghini commercial?
So, where did I get my wonderful «new» (OK, it’s old too) HK Cassette Deck?
You already know: Telstar Services.
I’ll post a picture later of my ONE item I’ve purchased so far, but the pic’s there will illustrate that they DON’T just deal in Vintage gear; there’s an HDTV Camcorder pictured, among other things. For now, I’ll just say that this Deck looks like it just came off the Assembly Line. Not a scratch on it, and it plays beautifully. I’ve dealt with Audio gear long enough to know when I’m dealing with a QUALITY FACILITY, and Telstar definitely falls comfortably into that category.
HOWEVER:
After reading Jack Bowower S.‘s review, I guess I should say that I had called once in the past, regarding an ancient Fostex unit I have, was TREATED VERY RUDELY by the Owner, and SWORE I’d only use ‘em as a last resort.
BTW, I wouldn’t mess with Jack Bowower S; name sounds too much like «Bauer», and we all know what happens when Jack BAUER gets mad! Just sayin’…
When I bought the HK unit mentioned, I didn’t realize I was dealing with the SAME business! But since I couldn’t find what I was looking for anywhere else, I guess it could be considered a last resort. Jack’s review, and my own negative experience on another occasion, have caused me to lower my rating somewhat, but I DON’T recommend avoiding these guys, if you have the need.
My second experience, buying the HK unit, was positive.
They also do REPAIR on new and Vintage gear.
larrythediner
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Matt at Telstar is AWESOME. I had a sound guy knock my Panasonic DVX 100B over. I thought it was not going to be able to be repaired. So happy I found Telstar. Took it to them and with in a week they had me fixed up like new. The price was right. Less than half of what I expected to pay. Matt is always in a good mood, busy, but excited to show me around the shop. I have and will continue to recommend Telstar to people with electronic repair needs. About to take an old record player to him for a major tune up.

Don’t take your equipment here if you’ve tried doing some work on it and need someone to diagnose and fix the problem. I’m sure they do great work on full recaps and restores.
I put a lot of paperwork together, including every part I replaced, what the problem is that needs to be fixed (low voltage on a potientiometer), and the service manual with the schematic. I thought this would at least help the tech figure out where to start. Wrong. They told me that because I had performed work on the equipment, that it had «major issues» and would be «a lot of work» to fix. They then told me that they would basically have to do a full recap because they can’t trust my solder work (even though you can easily test this above the board). Regardless, I asked him to look into fixing a specific problem and they ignored this. I requested a refund and they refused to give it to me. I basically paid a $ 65 diagnostic fee for them to tell me that they don’t know what’s wrong with my unit and would need to perform a ton of work because I messed with it (i.e. they did nothing to diagnose the problem further than what I had already told them), which makes no sense at all. They even said that they shouldn’t have taken my unit in the first place, which further justifies why I should have a refund.
I know other places have longer waits than Telstar, but I will definitely take my equipment elsewhere in the future.
I sure hope that $ 65 was worth the business that you’ll lose because of this review.

Matt, Claudia, and Kim are state-​of-​the-​art electronics whizzes!
My six year old LCD tv went to a blue screen, so I took it in for diagnosis.
Had it back in under a week for less than $ 200.00.
Five other tv repair places I called said they charged more for diagnosis and warned me that repair would likely cost the same as a new set.
I would recommend this place to anyone needing electronics repair, as I also learned that they do work for other repair businesses!

I was the proud owner of an early 1980s Panasonic home stereo system… until it stopped working one day. This was a one-​of-​a-​kind faded pink record/​cassette/​radio player… I knew it needed to be rescued! Enter Kim at Telstar. She took my baby and brought it back to life. Not only did she/​they re-​solder the entire system, she painstakingly cleaned it with a Q-​Tip and made it look brand new. When I picked it up weeks later, it sounded AMAZING. I tested it out at my house party that night – to many impressed guests. Now my Bee Gee’s records are finally getting the love they deserve.
Notes: They are hidden in the U-​Haul offices off of Burnet.
Cash only.
Weird hours… call ahead.
You gots to put down a $ 50 deposit.

If Unilocal let you give a business 10 stars, I’d definitely give Telstar all ten. And a half.
The one good thing another business did for me was refer me to Telstar for repair of a camcorder. I heart Kim. She was patient and thorough and could teach a LOT of places some thangs about customer service. Other things I appreciated about Telstar is that they didn’t talk down to me and they didn’t try to sell me a bunch of unnecessary stuff.
I highly recommend Telstar and Kim!