Barracks Trading Post — Local services in Maple Shade Township

Was in New Jersey visiting family when I saw a youtube video of this store with tons of vintage audio gear. Having an interest in that sort of thing, I looked to see where it was. It was just a few miles away so I drove there. Really just to check it out.

What a totally cool place. Jay, the owner, is a great guy. He told me he grew up there. It was his dad's store. He had grown up there since age four.

Jay and his crew are fun to hang with. The place is worth seeing, whether looking for gear or not. But of course I'm always looking. And though it's insane to even think of buying something to transport 3,000 home to the west coast, he had a Fisher tube amp that sounded great, the price was fair (given what this stuff goes for these days),, and the fact that the entire experience of acquiring a piece of gear becomes a part of the fun of owning it, I decided to pull the trigger.

Jay helped build a box that would allow me to carry it on an airplane. Got it boxed up really nicely. When talking to my wife that night, I mentioned that I bought a receiver. I could feel the eye roll but she's very kind, allowing me to indulge my crazy hobbies. When I told her how much I had spent, there was a bit of a stifled gasp. But she was sweet about it, as she always is. Here's the cool part. When I managed to get this thing home, I hooked it up and played her favorite song. In that moment, she got it. She closed her eyes and began swaying. We sat on the couch together for the next few hours, holding each other, listening to music. Heaven.

We listened a lot that day and the next. So it was a bummer when, close to bedtime, I went to turn the machine on one last time, something went "pop" and it was dead. Honestly, with all I'd gone through to get it home, I felt sick. But I called the store the next morning and, when I got hold of Jay, he said, "No worries. Get it back here and I'll make sure it's fixed. No charge." I explained that I might not be back within the normal 30 day warranty window. He said it was no problem. Given the circumstances, I should just bring it back next time I was there.

Of course the notion of lugging 50 pounds of amplifier across the country twice more is not an appealing notion so I brought it to my local tech guy to ask him to evaluate. If it was a major repair, I'd pay him the $35 to evaluate and bring it back to Jay. But if it was a small repair, I'd just have him do it. Was a failed diode, which he replaced, along with its twin, which still measured alright. Took him a couple of hours to trace the problem and fix it. Took a couple of photos, paid him the $70 he charged me. Then I reached out to Jay, told him what happened, sent the photos. He reached out to his tech guy, found out the repair would have cost him $50, and offered to send me that. I thought that very reasonable. The man stands behind what he sells and has to balance the need to run a business, pay employees, rent and expenses, and feed his family.

I will definitely visit again. Don't know if I'll be crazy enough to lug another piece of gear 3,000 miles but, knowing myself, I'd not be shocked. Neither would be my wife.

PS: The Fisher, now working, sounds incredible again. I'm grateful. Tube gear isn't as reliable as solid state. It will require periodic maintenance. I'll have to cover the cost myself. But if you have a taste for it, it's a whole new level of addiction. This Fisher has displaced my gorgeous Marantz 2270 (an amazing machine, among the most iconic of the 22XX line). Mine has the rare engraved face plate. But it's just sitting now. Unless I sell it, the thing will continue to sit. That's the amazing thing about this hobby. You never know where it will take you, what passions it will ignite. Jay may have the best job in the world, immersed in this world, guiding people as they take their next steps on their journey. He's a good man. If i lived in the area, I'd invite him over to come hear the Fisher, in my family room, hooked up to my...

After going to 6 different places looking for a replacement plug to an old big screen projection tv and finding nothing, I stopped by Barracks Trading Post because of all of their vintage audio/video equipment. I talked to one of the guys there named Jay. He said they don't have that but that you could easily cut that cord, solder it and attach a new plug. I said, easy for you but not me. I know nothing about electric and wouldn't even want to try. He said he would do it for me. Took him less than 10 minutes to make me another cord that I couldn't find anywhere. Then to top it off, he wouldn't take any money for his work. After a couple of minutes, I threw a few bucks up and said at least let me pay for the new cord. The guys that work in this place are great. Very nice and smart guys that probably could fix just about any of your old equipment that is hard to find parts for. Plus, the store is filled with great vintage stuff. Can't say enough great things about this place. I...

Barracks trading post has very professional and qualified customer service. The people there are also very nice and helpful. I used this company for almost 10 years. I work with audio and video technology systems and they have just about everything I need. The thing I like most about here is there unbelievably low prices they have good quality tech and systems for not even a quarter of the original price. I highly recommend to anyone looking for high quality tech at low prices. I just bought a network receiver with an original value of 1300$ and I got it for 285$. He tested it for me, I brought it home and it worked perfectly. Still works till this day. In conclusion everything deserves a second chance. Just because the products are used doesn't mean that they don't work. Again, I have bought frome here for 10 years and I never had a problem. Barracks trading post is the...