Gene’s Sound Service

An absolute perfectionist, Gene came to my home to repair and refurbish my old Dual turntable and stayed as long as it took to do the job just right. When he ran overtime he didn’t gripe or try to raise his quote, just worked patiently until the old machine purred. Gene’s honest, resourceful, and a bit of a miracle worker like Star Trek’s engineer Scotty. Couldn’t be more pleased!

5 star service. Done much more than I expected for really cheap, such a nice guy too! Id definitely recommend Gene for anybody who has any problem with their record player! I’ll 100% use his service if I encounter anymore problems

I discovered Gene through Unilocal and recommend him highly. He came to my home in Marin and refurbished a 1950’s record player/​radio from the UK. It was my father’s (purchased with his demob money from the RAF) and I have very find memories of playing Glen Miller, Beatles and other vinyls as a child. My father passed away in 2006 and I’d always wanted the player. My mother gave it to me earlier this year and i carried back to CA. Hearing the tuner and listening to the radio was so heartwarming. Gene also got the automatic turntable mechanism to work (although unfortunately, it’s a 50z unit so he could not calibrate it on 60z US power). Gene helped me order a new needle and helped me find a site online to ask for assistance with the power issues.
Gene is incredible knowledgeable, patient and detail oriented. He painstakingly took apart the player, cleaned, lubricated and tested everything to ensure it was all working. I am so grateful to have the player back in working condition and look forward to solving the power challenges so I can again play records and recall those special memories with my father. Thank you Gene!

A+++. Gene showed up and immediately went to work cleaning up my amplifier. His services are well worth it. No reservations whatsoever with Gene.

Gene is the best!
My 35-​year old amp barely worked for many years, but couldn’t afford the money to replace it or the time without it to put in in the shop.
In one visit Gene solved all this for a very fair flat rate that included the most thorough (and kind, thoughtful, and patient) service I’ve ever seen. Not only did he fix what was broken, he tuned up to like-​new every part of the amp. Given the age of the amp getting replacements of the TWO bad parts wasn’t an option, and I’m astonished by Gene’s ability to meticulously restore both bad parts to like-​new condition.
And when this was done and the problem solved, he was nothing but pleasant about going on to put in three replacement bulbs I’d ordered so the buttons light up again.
I’m overjoyed!

Seriously, Gene is it — if you love your hi-​end equipment and run into the occasional metaphysical anomalies (stuff gets screwy!), turn to someone who is ready/​willing/​able/​happy to help and who educates you along the way. He’s got a great range of understanding, is extremely calm and focused and just an utter pleasure to work with.
I had asked him to redo a botched rewiring job on my swing-​arm (my own handiwork) and he went on to further identify and address grounding issues, offer advice on where I went wrong and how to correct my course next time, and he does it all with total grace and dignity.
Gene makes house calls, so it’s key to set aside a bit of space where he can get into the project at hand and have the ability to move around whatever unit he’s working on (example: he was helping me align my TT cartridge and that requires being able to look at things from multiple angles).
I will always seek Gene’s services for my electronic needs!

Gene is the man! Call this guy before you call anyone else. Personable, affordable and experienced.
He came out to service my old 75′ receiver and turntable in Berkeley and got me shaped up in a few hours. Good guy, highly recommended.

Found Gene here on Unilocal,and the his 5 star reviews are completely accurate. He offered me a next day appointment, and arrived on time. My Dual 1211 turntable tone arm was running completely wacky. He gave everything a thorough cleaning and once-​over before looking into the deeper issue of the tone-​arm. The issue was not an easy fix, but Gene did not give in. He innovated a fix sans an available part, and after dedicating 5 hours to this project the result is a perfectly functioning tone-​arm. He also took the time to educate me on his process, and offer suggestions for cleaning and upkeep of my Sony compact stereo. Thank you, Gene, for your professionalism and dedication to get my machine running smoothly again!

Reliable, reasoned, reasonably priced, and, simply, real. In many ways, Gene is an old world craftsman. After being referred to him from the premier high-​end A/​V retailer in town for a «tune-​up» of my Ariston RD80 «Transcription Deck» turntable (about to be redeployed after 15 years of inactivity) and a few calls during an August vacation month for him, Gene followed up on a voice message and we set a date for him to drop by. Due to a medical emergency in the family, I needed to reschedule.
One month later, per our impromptu rescheduling, like the professional he is, I received a confirmation call from him the night before. He arrived on time and deliberately went to work, cleaning, calibrating, and attending to the needs of my turntable. In the end, he also threw in a quick consult regarding a vintage NAD receiver issue, readily restoring it, too, to functionality.
Hints: He’ll need a workspace in your home. Don’t worry about reaching voice mail most of the time. He will return your call, but on his schedule. Being a physician, I understand fully that there are no A/​V emergencies. His equanimity is refreshing. Once you understand that he’s there simply to help your A/​V disability if he can, you might just realize that you took a step back in time to where patient craftsmanship reigned.
I have no reservations in recommending him for your A/​V work.

He came and fixed my stereo, and was wonderful! Taught me how to adjust the record player, and all the little trucks. Super nice, can’t say enough good stuff about him.

Gene was great! I own a 25 year old Carver receiver that I was very happy with, but over time one channel went out. I decided to call him after seeing his name on a few HiFi blogs about audio repair. Gene was friendly, professional, and arrived on time. He started working immediately and was able to diagnose and fixed the problem in 2 hours. His prices are also very fair and reasonable for the services he provides.
Pertinent information:
— Leave a message if you call the number and he doesn’t answer. He will call you back to schedule an appointment (despite what another reviewer wrote).
— Gene’s fee is easily half of what any other repairman would charge. In my case, he saved me $ 300 from another quote that I received.
— As far as I know, he only does house calls. He brings all of his equipment with him in a backpack and needs a decent size table to set up on.

Gene is a man of his word. Another repair was needed and he covered it for free, per the terms of his service commitment. His service was so good that I’m okay with paying him more, however.

Gene is great. Came out, fixed the problem, highly recommended. Such a nice guy! Thanks Gene!!!

Created a Unilocal account just to share this. Gene is absolutely fantastic. If you have vintage stereo equipment, reach out to Gene to get your machine tuned up today!
I have a mid seventies Marantz 2250b receiver that had a bad power switch and a lot of burned out tuner and display lamps that I wanted to replace with LEDs. Beyond that I just wanted to have a professional give it a thorough once over. After scheduling a consultation, Gene came to my apartment and diagnosed the issues. I order parts and he returned to repair the switch and install the LED bulbs.
What’s great about Gene:
— Friendly, passionate and knowledgeable.
— On time and easy to get ahold of
— Great and thorough service
— Followed up with me to ensure everything was working well
— Very reasonable rates
— In home service
— Motorcyclist

Gene responded to my voicemail very promptly and a house call was set up quickly. Gene arrived on time and set to work diagnosing the issues I had with my turntable. In no time he identified the problems and set to work rectifying them. Turntable now better than ever. Highly recommended.

Gene is as pro as you can get! I had a Garrard Lab 80 that wouldn’t even spin, and Gene came by and made it sound phenomenal. I’m no expert when it comes to turntables, so to my untrained ear, he had already made it sound great about ²⁄₃ into his visit. But Gene, being a perfectionist who truly cares about what he does, kept working until he got it to a level he personally deemed respectable.
He is also a really nice guy, very soft-​spoken, sweet, and passionate. It was a real pleasure to see him work, learn from him, and watch the awesome transformation of my turntable.
The guy is an old-​school, ‘get the job done’ kind of guy. And at the same time he vibes coolness in every direction. Combine all of that with his insane level of technical knowledge and passion, and his prices are incredibly reasonable. I don’t recommend you go to him, because I want him for myself! But seriously, you gotta meet this guy, and get his help, because he knows his s!#t.

Gene is such a rare gem in the City of San Francisco. He is the only person to call if you have an older stereo and you want it running in it’s best condition. He calibrated my turntable, adjusted the pitch, cleaned, and replaced the belt, and even gave me a lesson in how to maintain the setup for the future, and which products to buy to keep my records and needle clean. He was kind, courteous, and knowledgable, not to mention reasonably priced. I would highly recommend Gene if you have any needs in this regard. You won’t be disappointed!

Having read stellar reviews here on Unilocal about Gene — I called him to help me set up my vpi Scout turntable. As it is — I’m pretty dense when it comes to turntables and cartridges and such. And these vpi Turntables seem even more complicated. Not much out there on the web about set up — not even from vpi. So I called Gene to see if he could help. He was prompt in returning my call and we immediately set up an appointment.
The day came and Gene arrived. A little less than two hours and I’m now enjoying my turntable to it’s fullest extent. Gene is very thorough — pointing out that I needed to have the turntable balanced — so he worked on getting that right and then proceeded to set up the turntable, adjust tracking for the cartridge, etc.
Gene is a GEM!!! A real FIND!!! and am glad to have found him to address any electronic audio needs. The guy is brilliant and focused. And completely trustworthy.
Will not hesitate to contact Gene in the future should any further audio needs arise.
A++++++++

All my wife wanted for her birthday was a way to enjoy our vinyl again. We had a terrible need for turntable repair for our nice (but very old) Pro-​ject turntable, but everyone I called in San Francisco and Berkeley wouldn’t touch it. The second shop trying to talk us into buying a new (or used) turntable from them finally sent me to Gene after I insisted on repair instead of a replacement: «Well then, Gene in the City can fix it for you.»
And they were quite correct. Not only did Gene fix our main turntable issue (a platter that was scraping and terrible warped sounds from our LPs), but he cleaned the needle, reset the balance on the arm, and caught issues that AudioVision caused when soldering the connections in the cartridge we bought from them. And he re-​soldered three of those connections.
The Pro-​ject sounded so great that I had him look over the rest of our system. He swapped out our speaker cables for a larger gauge set he had on hand, lubricated the dials and replaced three dead lights in the display of our Harman/​Kardon 330c, and after considerable effort because of the mechanical challenged involved, repaired the troublesome CD door in our ’87 dbx DX5 CD player.
Gene had all of the extra parts and tools he needed with him, and did all the work in our home. He was very supportive and instructive about further care and treatment of my system, and worked his art openly and transparently. His fee for his whole job on all three components was very reasonable – and a fraction of what it would have cost to replace our turntable.
Our stereo has never sounded as good as it does now after Gene’s visit. He’s clearly a master at what he does, and I would recommend him for any turntable repair job you might have. Thanks again Gene for coming out to Sausalito just in time for my wife’s birthday!

I can’t recommend Gene highly enough.
I had actually brought my turntable down to Harmony Audio Video in West Portal. They quoted me $ 225. Gene came to my house and fixed my Music Hall MMF5 turntable for only $ 85! Regretfully, I’m out a $ 50 «quote fee» from Harmony. From now on, I’m using Gene for all my stereo repair. Here’s why:
*He makes house calls.
*He has a passion for what he does
* He works diligently and quickly.
*Did I mention he makes house calls?