Austin AudioWorks Review

Mike does excellent work. I've had him service two vintage integrated amps for me so far and I've been nothing but happy with the results.
I know there are other places I could take my gear, but I really appreciate the comprehensive approach he takes, that he goes completely over each component, leaving no stone unturned. "Stem-to-stern", as he says.
I'm guessing I won't need a full service on these pieces for another 30 to 40 years, and they sound better than ever. I don't know what Austin will do when he retires. Gotta love someone who has been doing this for many years and knows the components inside and out (literally). That is expertise worth paying for!

Mike is the guru and his expertise is unmatched! I found a vintage record player at a garage sale and having no knowledge of them Mike helped me get it going again. He might be backed logged with other work, but that's only a testament to his ability!

Recently had my Sony record player fixed. Mike was incredibly thorough with detailing his initial estimate and prompt with service.

I love that this place is able to explain the electronics in a language I can fully understand and also the option of waay more information than I can compute.

I'm a customer for life!

Mike has fixed a number of things for me over the years. He is fast, fair and knows this gear better than anybody I've ever met. I totally trust these guys to take care of my valuable stereo gear. Highly recommended.

I took my Realistic turntable in to Austin Stereo for service. The turntable was purchased in 1984. The reason I picked them was because of all the rave reviews and that's why I'm adding my rave review. The 2 gentlemen knew immediately what was wrong. The cartridge was replaced, turntable oiled, cleaned, and leveled. They played several songs to make sure it was operating. I could have been in and out much quicker but I was enjoying our conversations. All that and for a reasonable amount and on the same day. I thank God for their service and I wished every professional would give this type of service. What a blessing!!!!! Their front door is facing Shoalmont Dr. off Burnet Road. Took me a moment to find them. Thank you guys!!!!

Great store with good variety, big fan and always excited to see whats new

Love this place. Great service, equipment, and advice.

Just purchased vintage Polk speakers and am IN LOVE. We were able to test them out in-house and ask a million questions. THANK YOU!

Fast service,professional, knowledgeable staff. Explain questions & inquiries in detail. They believe in their customers to be knowledgeable consumers.

I can't say enough good things about Mike Manulik and Austin Stereo. Seven years ago, I bought a Marantz amplifier on EBay which was described as "a great example of classic vintage equipment"; what a stretch that turned out to be. It was full of dirt and bugs- it would power up, but that was about all.
My first inclination was to toss it, but Mike suggested it might actually be salvageable. It took a little while, but when Mike was done, I did, absolutely, have a great example of classic vintage equipment and that resurrected Marantz 1152 DC amp has been the backbone of my sound system ever since. Great work- thanks!
Oh, yeah- and if you're looking for top-of-the-line analog audio components, they have a pretty nice selection of just about everything.

I have used this place several times over the years and have always been 100% happy. I bought a Yamaha receiver here several years ago and I love it. It sounds amazing. Recently it's been having some issues, so I had my girlfriend drop it off. They told her that they only work on 100% analog equipment and can't help me. Okay, that's cool, just disappointing. I've always liked the older gentleman and the work he does.

My first experience with these guys was a phone call I made to outline my dilemma of connecting my REL sub woofer to my Naim amp. I was weighing a couple of options - neither of them especially simple - to optimize the performance of the sub woofer. I was impressed with Mike's knowledge and his questions indicated he was listening closely to my description of my connection challenge so the next day I drove to the Austin Stereo store. I brought my REL connection cable and owner's manual. Ryan, Joe and Mike all looked closely at the REL owner's manual, cable, and pictures I took of my room and system. After discussing multiple connection options, they recommended a simple but effective connection at the speaker instead of the amp. They adjusted the sheath on my sub woofer cable and butterflied the wires so I could make a connection to each speaker w/o buying a new cable. And they didn't charge me for their work, input or time! I would highly recommend Mike, Joe and Ryan as expert audio resources and great guys to do business with.

Had Marantz receiver restored there. It sounds fantastic! Very knowledgeable staff and also some nice vintage equipment for sale.

I first went to Austin Stereo in early 1995, to get a pair of Dyna Mk-3 tube monoblocks they had advertised for a good price. Mike was real nice, listened carefully, and reluctantly steered me away from what he had on the shelf, to a Harmon-Kardon Citation-2 in the classified ads, because he knew the amp was better for me, and was in good condition, since he had recently gone through it.
Mike and the shop are about the same as they were then. It's the only place to go for vintage tube gear and repair.

Recently had a 40 year old Hafler amplifier recapped. Although it took a long time because the shop techs are perfectionists the amplifier sounds great! I am very pleased with the job they did.

Austin Stereo extended the life of my vintage 1974 Dual 1214, and at a reasonable price. Highly recommended!!

Super fast service for a cartridge upgrade on my new turntable! The Ortofon Blue sounds amazing. Austin Stereo will definitely be my go to shop for maintenance and upgrades...I highly recommend!

Would give 0 stars but had to select 1. After visiting there website that tells all how great they are at "total restoration" of mid century audio gear, especially tube powered gear, i took a receiver with the original schematic to them for a recap. The only damage to this unit was cosmetic. The clerk was nice enough to get the owner to come out of the back and look at it. After about two seconds he said " oh no way, that things too rough." And then they tried to sell me unit for $600 that looked like some of the things i get from Godwill for about $9. I was willing to pay good money to have my receiver restored since it has been in my family for over 50 years. I also have many others that i would have had restored at a later date as collecting vintage audio equipment is one of my passions. I will find a real specialist to do the job , i was just impressed by their self touting website. Big mistake.

I have a Kenwood receiver that s been in our family for over 50 years. They meticulously went through it and replaced all the capacitors and breathed life back into it. It sounds sooo good! Highly recommended.

Excellent customer service and the owner was able to get my record player fixed and back to me in less than three days!!!

Cool place. Great vintage electronic smell! 30+ years of service!

The owner is a great guy and knows more than I could possibly ask about the equipment in his store. Picked up the same model of speakers my dad had at my age and they've been good to me. Couldn't recommend this place more.

This is the best place you could go in town for vintage audio gear! These guys are awesome and are incredibly knowledgeable about anything you would want to know! I would send any of my friends here if they wanted vintage equipment or advice. Not to mention they can repair almost anything.

The people on here that are being negative seem to either be to stingy to have a good service done by a local company. Or think they know more than these guys (which in my opinion is impossible).

Great place for vintage speakers and vintage equipment!

Can't say enough good things about Mike and Austin Stereo Service. Before I moved to Austin, the FM tuner on my aging Rotel receiver had crapped out. Took it to a local shop where I was living and they couldn't repair the tuner (despite trying on two separate occasions.) Fast forward a couple of years and I've moved to Austin for school, and now the balance knob on the Rotel goes screwy. I take it to Austin Stereo Service and Mike not only fixes the knob but gets the tuner in working order as well - all within a week. A couple months later, the treble knob begins to show the same symptoms as the balance. I take it back to Mike, he fixes up the treble AND bass controls, has it back to me in ONE DAY because I'm leaving town (having now graduated) and, as if that weren't enough, at NO CHARGE. Seriously, if you need stereo repair and you live in the Austin area, go to these guys. Period. Great service, no attitude and no bs.

Great restoration of my Marantz receiver and Dual turntable.

I needed some work done on my Technics SL-23 turntable. Went I showed up, the owner explained to me that it would be at least a month before he could work on it, because of how backed up he was with other work orders. When I said that I understood and explained what I thought the issue was, he asked me, "do you have a few minutes?" When I said that I did, he got out some tools and for the next hour or so,walked me through the process of how to fix it myself, right there on the spot. After I was done, he only charged me for a new belt and a small amount for labor. He is the most knowledgeable person I have ever talked to about vintage electronics. I cannot recommend this place highly enough.

Received great service on my Technics turntable here. I think I'm going back for some tube gear. Highly recommend Austin Stereo Service.

Austin Stereo Service is an analog purist's heaven, and its head angel will place you in a centrally located chair for the greatest audio effect that can be achieved from a sparkling clean piece of vinyl. Every metropolitan area in the US manages to support one or two vinyl stores, and this is where you want to go to find the appropriate hardware on which to play the vinyl. I noticed, for example, that, between the cuts of the Peter Gabriel album that I sampled, there was absolutely no surface noise, and the equipment's response to the music was close to perfect fidelity. On the shelves are an assortment of high quality audio equipment from pre-digital days. Meters, smooth turning knobs, and decisively flipping switches define the fronts of the equipment, like that gleaming Marantz amplifier.

It's just perfect as usual. It's a great place to buy or repair classic stereo equipment.

Dont Go here. This shop repaired and replace equipment that was not necessary or approved. I brought the record player in for a lube repair. Over charged and over priced. AVOID AT ALL COST!

If equipment needs repaired that was not apart of the original estimate then they should have called!

Took a Marantz 510M in with a dead channel. Took less than a month to get back and they saved all the parts replaced as asked. Only 2 weeks on repair and sounds great so far. I was leery of leaving it with them as I am over an hour away, but they did a great job and I will take my second 510M in when it's time to get it serviced. Price came in higher than original quote but turn around was quick and was told they will stand behind their work, so I am okay with it and I realize they put a lot if bench time into the unit. Good customer service, friendly. Highly recommend.

Bought a Sansui AU D11 Integrated Amp from here and the sound is incredible. I also dropped off an old Pioneer receiver for restoration. Incredible products and service... I highly recommend going here and if you enjoy vintage audio...

These guys are great at reviving stereo equipment, especially the older stuff. And where else could you find something like this?

I've have nothing but top notch work done here. I've brought in my Parasound amps and had them reconditioned to better than new levels of performance. I had a LaserDisc player fixed here (did I say I've been coming here for sometime?) and other components. I always tell my audiophile friends to bring their amps here for bench tune ups.

Before I left Grapevine I had a 1970s Technics turntable repaired. The vinyl sounded OK but something wasn t just right I figured my analog ears were out of tune after years of digital and, now, streaminng music. A short while later one channel disappeared. After arriving in Austin I fortuitously drove by Austin Stereo and, later, brought the turntable by for a look-see. Turns out 13 capacitors were in need of replacement. Had the original repair shop found these, I could have saved at least a hundred bucks. Doesn t matter anymore: Austin Stereo repaired and the turntable sounds amazing. The issue wasn t my old analog ears but old, failing equipment in need of repair by someone who knows what the heck he s doing.

My advice: Spend a few minutes visiting with the owner (if he ever comes out from the back of the shop) and the super-knowledgeable help (sorry, names escape me). You ll be amazed what you learn about equipment you own and may want to repair or vintage components you may want to purchase as well as today s box-store equipment. You ll also learn how they approach repairs, which certainly would have helped the one-star reviewer here. After reading the thrashing, and before reading the owner s response, I already knew what the owner would say. Sure enough, had the disgruntled customer listened, he would have known why his repair was rejected. I bring this up for this reason: I trust the experience and opinions of Austin Stereo from my first-hand encounters with them. This extends beyond repair to understanding older equipment, sales (what they sell), and pricing.

My analog ears are happy again.

Always provides the best service, information, and products. Been coming to Mike for years now.

Mike and Joe are awesome. I went to Austin Stereo Service so they could inspect my stylus. They were great and corrected some minor issues with my turntable. Totally exceeded my expectations. Highly recommend these guys for any hi-fi equipment services! Thanks.

This place could be not be any better. Talked with the owner for a couple hours when I went to pick up my reciever that was getting fixed. Genuine awesome guy. I'd rate it 6 stars if possible!

I took in a Marantz 1060 that I had purchased online, and one of the channels was blown, and the power button was sticking bad, among other things. I was given a quote for a full restoration and I spent some time thinking about whether I wanted to invest in getting it fixed. In the meantime, I asked around and did my research. Everyone I asked told me that Austin Stereo Service was the best place to go. In the end I took my 1060 back in for restoration right before Thanksgiving, and I got it back right before Christmas, as was promised. Everyone there was very friendly and honest. My Marantz sounds good as new! Mike, the owner, was a pleasure to work with and I wouldn't hesitate to go back to them if I needed any future work on my other Marantz equipment. Thank you Austin Stereo Service!

I just took a old receiver in to get repaired and had a great experience! He is very knowledgeable and straightforward. I plan on visiting again, if I ever need a new speaker or any other repairs!