Thousands of repair records: what vintage audio actually fails.
Hum, power supplies, tube bias, speaker foam, turntable caps. The first public pass over our repair database, with the numbers to back it up.
Bench guides
The bench, in writing.
Component-level guides to the failures we actually see, across the brands we know. Grounded in real repair patterns and bench work, not forum rumors.
What we actually see on the bench.
Each guide starts from real repair patterns across hundreds of brands. No parts-swapping shortcuts, no invented prices. If a fix needs a bench, we say so.
What actually fails on McIntosh.
1,627 repair records, in counts: the tubes that get blamed, the bias that takes the fall, and the output transformer that almost never dies.
What actually fails on PS Audio.
Power regenerators run hot by design: the supply inside the supply, the hum and buzz reports, and the fuses that finally give up.
What actually fails on Pass Labs.
Class A runs hot by design: bias drift, the big supply rails, and the hum that turns out to be grounds, not tubes.
8 min read
What actually fails on Krell.
799 records, in counts: bias is the signature (the highest share of any major brand), and the enormous supply ages first.
What actually fails on Marantz.
659 records, in counts: hum is the house signature — 187 records of it — plus the tube classics and aging coupling caps.
What actually fails on Luxman.
651 records, in counts: the tube heritage is real — 72% tube-tagged — and bias matters less than you'd think.
What a recap actually costs.
Board-level recaps from $75, receivers and amps from $200, a typical full receiver recap in the $200 to $500 range. What drives the price, what the quote includes, and the mail-in option.
Published 2026-10-08
Is a recap worth it?
The honest decision guide: when recapping is the right call, the legitimate "don't recap it yet," and the recap-vs-replace math in plain language.
Published 2026-10-08
More guides land as the bench data grows. Have a specific model or a strange symptom? Ask the Wizard before you ship anything.
Everyday tech, decided straight.
The laptop, phone, and data questions we answer at the counter every week, written down: real costs from the bench, and the calls that aren't worth the money.
What a laptop repair actually costs.
Real laptop repair costs from a Longmont bench: screen replacements, keyboard fixes, battery swaps, motherboard repairs, and the jobs that cost more than the laptop is worth.
Data recovery: what's possible, and what it costs.
Honest data recovery guide from a Longmont repair bench: deleted files, dead drives, water damage, encrypted drives. What we can get back, what we cannot, and what it costs.
Common laptop problems, by brand.
The laptop failures we see most on the bench, organized by brand: Dell hinge cracks, HP thermal paste, Lenovo keyboard failures, Apple butterfly keys, ASUS GPU issues.
Phone repair vs. insurance claim.
Honest comparison of smartphone repair costs vs insurance claims: AppleCare+, carrier insurance, Samsung Care, and third-party repair. When to fix, when to claim, when to replace.
How to choose a repair shop.
Honest guide to choosing a computer or phone repair shop: questions to ask, red flags to watch for, and what separates a good shop from a bad one.
Thousands of real repair records behind every guide
Hundreds of brands of failure patterns
Component-levelno board-swap shortcuts
Freefirst-pass diagnosis, the Wizard
Not sure what's wrong?
Describe the symptom to the Customer Service Wizard. It's trained on real repair patterns and will tell you what to expect: likely fixes, effort, and whether it's a bench job.