The Speaker Exchange — Local services in Tampa

I needed two different pairs of monitors repaired, both of which were no longer made by the manufacturer. One pair was over ten-years-old and I figured they were barely worth fixing in the first place cost-wise, and the other five-year-old pair was borderline not worth fixing cost-wise vs. buying the new current model of monitors. But I didn't want to buy a bunch of new equipment that I would have to re-learn and would question vs. my previous gear.

Turns out, I made the right choice. They fixed BOTH sets of monitors at a cost I could afford as a student in the same month. Took about two weeks, maybe three wks at most. Their resident genius Mike called and explained exactly what he did to fix each pair and I swear the old pair that he performed considerably more work on now sounds better than they did in original issue. Maybe placebo, IDK, but I am very happy with those in particular. And as for the mains, turns out it was a simple glue/screw job - and they didn't overcharge me or over-complicate the situation, and got me squared away as quickly as possible.

In fact, I had assumed this was going to be a bit of a black hole money wise, so I told them to fix the mains FIRST, then we'd figure out what the old pair was going to cost and I'd have them wait until I could afford to fix the second pair, but because of communication error, Mike had fixed the old pair first, then calls me to give me the good news. So I tell him I am thrilled, but I actually need the mains MORE lol.. he says "gimme thirty" and hangs up. Thirty minutes later, both my pairs of monitors are fixed - and for the cost of what I thought it would take to repair ONE pair. I'm mad at myself for not seeking this business out years ago because I have been sitting on gear that would've come in handy, assuming the worst about it, when Speaker Exchange could've resolved things smoothly for me a decade ago. Live and Learn. Customer for Life.

Oh and here's the kicker: since I now have these old monitors back in business, I needed to re-assess my interface/monitor controller situation, and I was confused about which cords I would need, so another member of their staff by the name of Wayne helped me sort out the different cables and conversions I would need to incorporate the added monitors. Oh AND he 30-sec electrical checked out an old bose system I had laying around to confirm the speakers were working, free of charge. So this was a FANTASTIC experience, overall. Hands down one of the best music production investments I have made over the years.

P.S. there was a distinguished gentleman who came in with a piece of vintage gear and requested that everything be kept in original condition using vintage parts, which apparently they do as well, since Wayne said that was possible at the time. Good to know, for anybody in...

I needed to refoam my Minimus 77 speakers, but I wanted to see if there were rubber surrounds out there for this model like the Minimus 7 speakers use.

I stumbled upon The Speaker Exchange and to my surprise they had exactly what I wanted. All of the measurements were easily viewable on their website so I could compare them with the actual measurements of the speaker and frame.

The price was a few dollars more than the regular foam surrounds, but considering that these with last the lifetime of the speakers, it was an easy choice.

The surrounds kit arrived in no time. It included the two surrounds, glue, and detailed instructions. I even watched the video as a refresher since I have not replace any surrounds in 2 years.

Replacing the surrounds was extremely easy following the instructions and my prior knowledge. Even if you have never refoamed speakers, the video and the instructions gives anybody the proper knowledge on how to perform replacing the surrounds.

Cathy at the speaker exchange was particularly helpful in etting me know about when my order would be shipped. See she is extremely knowledgeable about their stock and could answer any of your speaker questions.

I would not hesitate to order from them again. They are definitely a standout company among all of those out there that are selling surrounds and other...

A little grumpy. Perhaps it is my own assumption, and not the company’s fault, but I feel they were not perfectly open.

I had two smoked JBL subwoofer drivers. Somehow, the magnets were cracked (not loaning my subs out again - my mistake). I contacted Speaker Exchange in a frenzy, praying somebody had these drivers in stock.

I was told they had three in stock, but to check their website for shipping. I was also told that any shipments ordered before 1:00pm would normally be shipped same day. There was no information on their website about origin, so I had no choice but to believe they would be shipping from Florida. I ordered at 11:30am.

Fast forward two days and I had not received any shipping notification, so I called. They stated they drop shipped, and my heart sank - I thought these were in stock. They gave me a tracking number, but it didn’t register on UPS.

The parts finally were received by UPS, in California (not Florida). I’m in Michigan. The parts will not be here until the middle of next week, and I have a show Sunday.

Had I known this was the situation, I would have paid expedited shipping. I feel I was given bad information all around.

Don’t get me wrong - their prices are very reasonable. They are responsive. I just feel they...