Diablo Stereo & Video — Local services in Pleasant Hill

I am wondering if this guy is just telling people he can fix anything when its far from the truth. A reciever I had went down, Frys said I would be better off buying another one. I called this place and he said that if I opted to repair it it would be better because the newer stuff isn't built as good as older stuff. He took $75 and said he would get back to me in a few days. Well after a few days I called him, he said he was swamped and hadn't had a chance to look at it yet. He asked me not to call him he would call me. Well 2 weeks later around Thanksgiving week I checked in and he said he believed it was the HDMI board but was waiting on a manual to be sure. I told him I was willing to pay up to $300 to fix it as the reciever itself put me back 1k. He told me that he would contact a supplier to get a new HDMI board and when it gets fixed it will be as close to refurbished as possible. Well another 3 to 4 weeks went by without hearing from him. So I called him, he said he been swamped over the holidays, that if I called back in a few days he would locate my equipment and see where it was at status wise. This was close to Christmas week and a few days before Christmas is when he finally told me he was unable to find one and that fixing it was something he couldn't do that I'd be better off buying another one. I asked him if he wanted me to come get it, he said he ussually holds onto things for 30 dsys and then if they dont get picked up he recycles them. I reminded him that he already had the thing for 6 weeks and was just now getting around to telling me it cant be fixed could he give me a bit more time to consider options. I thought he agreed but after buying an out of box same make reciever that didn't have wifi/bluetooth antennas or a remote a week and a half later I figured I could get the parts I needed back. Unfortunately he decided to recycle it out instead of giving me extra time, he did say he probably has the remote but he says he is too swamped to look for it. His store is full of equipment that is just laying around. I figure maybe his way of making money is convincing people he can fix things, charging them $75 right off the bat, then after he tells you its no good he makes a little bit selling to a recycler. Sure adds up in my csse. Anyway he wont take credit or debit only cash or check because with credit or debit you have a bit of an option to get your money back through bank consumer protection. He also wont give out his cell phone # because people call him and give him a bad...

First off, I really like this guy. He reminds me of my brilliant tinkering uncle that worked for Northrop and was a mechanical engineer that worked on radar systems.

He can fix almost anything, likely with the exception of really cheap overseas pieces. I took in my 12 year old and expensive Technics SL-121-M5G turntable. It was running slow. Not only did he fix it but he had great suggestions on a better needle that all turned out to be true when I got home, and he properly setup all the counterbalances.

When I came in, I wasn't sure what to expect. I did recognize the sign of a tinkerer when I saw all the components throughout the shop. As I was there, he received a package that turned out to be a difficult electronics board from one of his customers. He was like.. woohooo! He likes finding difficult parts and helping his customers.

When I see the negative reviews, I can tell immediately what happened. They walked into his shop/world and told him what he was going to do. He will let you know what he can do for you, and then you decide how to proceed. But, walking in there with a strong attitude about what you will pay likely won't go over well.

The reality for this kind of work is it is not cheap and it is not simple to get done properly. He charges a $75 fee to do his assessment, and yes on complicated items he can't give you a price right then and there. NONE of these guys can, and you shouldn't trust guys with "flat fees" people.

If you're coming in for some super cheap product, and you expect a cheap fix then maybe you're in the wrong place. If you're an audiophile and you care about your equipment or TV, this is the guy.

I feel VERY fortunate I have this guy as a provider. Just like the one (1) tech I trust in the Bay for repairing 1960s guitar amps for me.

Hold onto the few technicians that...

I brought in a 1970's Kenwood 9400 receiver for Mr Waterman to repair last week. I found the receiver in a Salvation Army about 30 years ago and finally decided to have it fixed, knowing it is a good vintage unit when working. It did not work when I bought it but I knew it could be repaired. It turns out it was in worse shape than I imagined. Mr. Waterman had to replace the power switch as well as the main transformer in order to determine what else needed repair. It was extensive - the main capacitors, and all of the output transistors needed replacement and the control capacitors were marginal so I had them replaced as well. This receiver is around 50 years old and was top of the line at the time. It cost way more to repair than I was hoping/expecting, but OMG was it worth it. The quality of sound after repair exceeded my expectations.

Dion Waterman does fantastic work, at a reasonable price. And he uses good parts in the repair. It took him less than a week to do almost a total rebuild, including a good cleaning a lubrication of the controls and calibration of the bias. It was ready today and I initially hooked it up to some vintage Dynaco A25 speakers, and could not believe the detail that came out of those speakers - and that was from listening to a local radio station. I will hook it up to a cd player and some vintage JBL and McIntosh speakers. I will be bringing more equipment to Mr Waterman soon. He does incredible work at a fair price and I am blown away at the turnaround time. He is also a no nonsense straight shooter when it come to explaining what is needed and involved...