Inner Sound

I took my old synth in for repair approximately two years ago, a Kawai SX-​240. I should have known when the guy behind the counter said «Cool! We don’t see many of these.» that it might not be a good indication but they are listed by Kawai as a place certified to fix their equipment. Around a week later I get a call and I was told that these are old synths, there are a lot of things that could be wrong with it but that they weren’t able to figure it out with the time allotted for the $ 100 initial checkout. The guy said if I was willing to pay «…what could be the equivalent of a used car» they could keep working on it but there was no estimate. He suggested I part it out since it is a fairly uncommon synth and the parts could be useful to other people.
I picked it up and didn’t have the heart to part it out, it was in really good shape physically and it turned on, it just didn’t work right. It sat in my studio until recently when I decided to get one more opinion. I took it to a shop that was right down the street from their old location. The guy didn’t charge me a thing to look at it. I get a call later that it was fixed and ready to pick up. The total bill was less than Inner Sound charged me just to tell me they couldn’t find the problem. I asked the repair guy what the problem was. He said that the power supply wasn’t giving a proper 5V to the rails. He rebuilt the power supply and changed out the battery and it worked perfectly. I don’t know how a repair shop couldn’t have seen an issue as simple as what the power supply is putting out. I’m giving them a bonus star because they are polite and they run a clean shop but I will not be taking any more gear to them.

So few shops around that do what these guys do! They’re all knowledgable, friendly and great at what they do and know their stuff! They’ve got some really cool pieces in their shop and know how to get things fixed. They saved me from just tossing some really nice equipment that I was just too stupid to know what it was. Thank goodness for the guys! Stop by if you need the best of the best in the business.

Top notch service, great guys. I’ve taken in a ton of items to get repaired and it is always done well. Way better than buying replacement electronics! And they are authorized to handle warranty issues on many brands. Not to mention the gear they have for sale is always a fun treat to look over as they frequently have vintage turntables and amps.

Not cheap, not fast, but they do a good job. There’s something to be said for doing it right the first time.
If you have professional-​grade or home sound equipment that needs repair, I’d recommend them in a heart-​beat, with the following caveats:
1) It’s a pain to find. They’re buried at the back of a business office park with absolutely no signage. Go to the rear corner nearest I-​205 and you’ll see a small neon sign saying «Open». Congratulations, you’ve made it!
2) Payment is up front. Expect to pay $ 60-​$ 100 up front just to look at the equipment, and more up front a week later when they order your parts. When you do pick up your equipment, expect to pay still more for labor.
3) Hours aren’t what you’re used to from a retail storefront. Most weekdays, they close at 1PM. (The Unilocal hours are wrong) While they are open later on Tuesday, you’re probably going to have to wait until Saturday morning to pick-​up or drop-​off your equipment. Expect a lot of phone tag if you work days and need to discuss repair options.

Their web site is somewhat misleading as to the cost to repair things. I shipped my speakers to them, and waited 2 weeks for an estimate (too long). The estimate was much more expensive than expected when compared to other shops. Then it took another 3 weeks to repair apparently because they do not stock parts and had to order and wait for parts. During this time, there was no communications or estimated time.
Overall, a bit too time-​consuming and pricey.

Awesome shop. They fixed my Vox AC-​30SVR pretty quickly and were really helpful. Vox was being difficult with providing the schematics for the amp because it’s so new, so it took a little while to get that information from them. But once Inner Sound did, it was quickly repaired. I recommend them for solid state amp repairs and will go there again! Thanks!

Inner Sound, Portland, Oregon. I took in a brand new Vox amp that burned out. They told me the repair was covered but tube parts were not. During the course of the repair I let on about how I unplugged one speaker right before the burn out. Around that time I started hearing grumblings about how the tech shop wouldn’t be paid for their work. A short time later they called to tell me the amp was ready. Upon working with a client I discovered it was not repaired, likely so I would bring it back in and they could tell me about my NEW bill and OLD recalculated bill. I did and they did and I got the amp back, finally.

I usually dread having to get anything repaired, but these guys did a great job, I’ll go to them for any future audio gear repairs. It isn’t cheap, and you may have to wait a week or two (for understandable reasons), but they are knowledgeable, friendly, and very good with the gear

Replaced an idler wheel for a Nakamichi tape deck twice.
Not ready when promised. The first time, the idler wheel stopped functioning shortly after the 90 day warranty expired. Had it repaired again and charged again for the repair ($ 95/​repair). When I mentioned the cost seemed high, they said replacement of the wheel was labor intensive. The second replacement by Inner Sound stopped working after 7 months of light use. The last repair occurred a couple of years ago or more, so if there’s new management since then, maybe they’ve improved their policies. The experience has always just rankled and I haven’t been back.
I subsequently found that the part can be ordered online (
…) and installed by someone with no experience in doing so in 15 – 20 minutes. I replaced the wheel myself for the cost of the part ($ 9.95). It comes with a five year warranty.