Shout-outs for excellent service and results

Posted by Jeffrey Lee (A) on July 25, 2016 at 13:38:39

I recently went through a bad run of luck with my Clearaudio Concept turntable and Eastern Electric MiniMax Phono stage, or so I thought in the latter's case. But everything turned out better than fine thanks to Musical Surroundings and Tom Tutay.

The Concept went nuts on me when I was trying to adjust the speed, first ramping up to triple-digit RPMs and then dropping to the low double-digits. It was my fault; I was using a tool that had been made obsolete after a design change but was unaware. I labored over that thing for three months off and on and could never get it fixed so I sent it to Mike Fajen at Musical Surroundings.

Even though it was out of warranty, Mike replaced the motor and electronics for no charge and even paid for return shipping. I'd always heard that Clearaudio's customer service was outstanding but this was exceptional. Mike kept me updated at every turn and was never less than a total pro.

While the Concept was acting up I'd started using my old Roksan Radius, which I love, but after a while the right channel started disappearing. I went through the standard routine of swapping out cables, phono stages, etc., and the problem always followed the Eastern Electric so I was put in touch with Tom Tutay, who is familiar to many here at AA.

He was great to talk with and quickly determined that the EE was absolutely fine (which leads me to believe I have some bad tonearm wiring that miraculously only went haywire when the EE was around). But since the unit was already in Florida, Tom asked if I'd be interested in his highly regarded EE mod.

For $250, I thought 'What the hell.' Talk about a cost-effective upgrade. The dynamics and bass are much improved, not maybe-it-sounds-better-but-who-knows improved, but more like "Holy shit!" improved. The bass is much deeper and tighter -- my Spendor SP/1s never knew they had this much bass, even on some demanding reggae records -- and everything sounds more effortless. The EE's very friendly midrange was unchanged, which is good. I like a friendly midrange.

So major props to Tom and Mike, although I hope I never need to talk to Mike again unless it's to upgrade.

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Topic - Shout-outs for excellent service and results - Jeffrey Lee 13:38:39 07/25/16 (8)

RE: Shout-outs for excellent service and results - MannyE 18:31:15 07/25/16 (6)

RE: Shout-outs for excellent service and results - Jeffrey Lee 06:44:14 07/26/16 (3)

RE: Shout-outs for excellent service and results - MannyE 10:29:33 07/26/16 (2)

RE: Shout-outs for excellent service and results - Jeffrey Lee 10:41:47 07/26/16 (1)

RE: Shout-outs for excellent service and results - MannyE 12:27:48 07/26/16 (0)

Last I knew Musical Surroundings was in.... - Cougar 19:02:10 07/25/16 (1)

Their websie lists contact numbers in the East Bay area of California. /nt\ - Opus 33 1/3 03:59:48 07/26/16 (0)

RE: Shout-outs for excellent service and results - Travis 16:15:10 07/25/16 (0)

Shout-outs for excellent service and results

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