Update!

Recently rebuilt Sansui G-33000 Receiver. The client is very very happy with the restoration. Replacement parts included output transistors, open emitter resistors, setup bias current and DC offset, clean all controls and switches, re-soldered all pc boards and main boards. You get the picture. A complete overhaul. Now it’s an amazing unit.

Highly valued by audiophiles everywhere.

It is an age old debate. Fix-itYourself vs. Take it to the Professionals to Repair your television. 

If you search for topics related to “Repair your television” or “Repair your hdtv” you will find many many videos, websites and blogs that will lead you to believe that you can repair and fix any television yourself. You may be able to replace a couple very common pieces yourself, but what do you do with your $1000 LCD television when you can’t repair it yourself? Buy a new television? Throw the old television away? Pay a professional to fix and repair your television?

Here is what we think:

Buy a new television?
Probably not. Let’s face it, you spent hard earned money on that hi-definition television and buying a new one is going to hit you in the pocket book once again. Doesn’t seem like a good idea. You might be tempted to go down to the local big box store and buy another, but you know that high pressure sales people will try to up-sell you on the latest and greatest television and home theater experience, and that will cost you more than you spent in the first place. All the new models have new features that make them more expensive than the older model television. So if you think you can get a new television for the same price or less than the one that is currently in need of repair, then you will have to buy an inferior television and in the end you lose money, time, and the viewing experience that you are accustomed to. Repair your television seems to be the way to go.

Throw the old television away?
With the need for everyone to act, think and support greener and more sustainable efforts in order to help maintain our environment, we believe throwing televisions away is a very poor decision. Televisions are made of plastics and many many caustic chemicals. Not many if any of these materials in a television are recyclable and they do damage to the environment and ecosystems when they are throw in the garbage and end up in a landfill. We believe that if you are serious about “going green” then you should fix and repair all your old and newly broken electronic equipment. No need to throw something away and damage the environment if you can save yourself time and help save the planet by doing this one small thing. PLUS! If you take electronics in for repair and we can’t fix it… and the choice is to buy a new television, we will keep the old television, dismantle it, and reuse, recycle and dispose of all the parts and chemicals in a proper ecologically friendly way. It’s a win-win if you take your television into Consumer Electronics Repair in Colorado Springs. Repair your television is the greenest way to go!

Pay a professional to fix and repair the television?
Yes. And of course that would be our answer. But beware, this industry is heavily littered with frauds. Many shops and fly by night con-artists who have reputations of not communicating with customers, losing customers electronic devices, and simply stealing money in the form of extremely high estimate fees and the inability to deliver on promises of repair. We have been doing business in the same spot for over 30 years right here in Colorado Springs. Our reputation is extremely important to us and treat every repair as if it were the only one we are working on. We have seen shops in the area come and go and have heard all the horror stories of people who went to other shops before discovering Consumer Electronics Repair. Don’t make the same mistake. Try our shop first, then shop around if you are not convinced, we are sure that you will not only be pleasantly pleased, but you will want to tell everyone about the great repair work, the fantastic service, and the no nonsense approach that we incorporate in every single repair job. Repair your television is no risk if you bring it to our shop.

On behalf of Consumer Electronics Repair, specializing in television, hdtv, plasma tv, flat panel, vintage electronics, home theater systems, sound systems and more…

We Thank You.
And hope to see you in the shop soon (and out of our shop enjoying your fixed television even sooner!).

Sincerely,

Dennis P. Guenther – Owner / Operator / Repairman

by: Robert Guenther, Ph.D., Clinical Professor of Psychology
Department of Clinical and Health Psychology
College of Public Health and Health Professions
University of Florida

The digital versus analog debate is a long-standing one that is not easily resolved for a host of reasons, not the least of which is the intensity of opinion on both sides. There are many articles and web sites devoted to this topic. I will mention only two of them here, and I will then give you my opinion. Ultimately, your opinion should be the most respected one in your experience with respect to this topic.

An excellent article on this topic, written at a basic introductory level, can be found at:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/digital-versus-analog.htm

The article is excellent but it perhaps makes one mistake. The authors note that digital recordings, stored in digital formats are very good because they avoid the conversion of digital to analog anywhere in the process. This is, in fact, incorrect. No one can “hear” a digital recording. It must be decoded into an analog format before it can be sent to your speakers.

Everything you hear is analog. This is because the human ear is an analog sensory system. It is also true that the ear, an analog system, then encodes the information into a sort of digital signal – nerves communicate by either firing or not firing. Information is transferred within the nervous system by impulses within and among nerves. That information is stored by virtue of the strength of associations and rates of neuronal firing/inhibition of firing. Neuronal associations are probably closer to analog systems, determined by the number of inter-neuronal connections which may either augment or inhibit information processing and transfer. Thus, the nervous system is fundamentally a bio-digital-analog system. But hearing requires analog raw data for the ear to function.

The authors of this article invest a lot of energy in laying out the nature of the debate, but they give their opinion so quickly, you may miss it. They believe it’s a draw – good analog and digital systems are probably equivalent, in their opinion. That quick opinion seems a bit anti-climactic. I had to wonder if there isn’t a better opinion on this topic elsewhere. There are certainly many other articles on the web, and many are excellent. Two far more detailed expositions can be found in Wikipedia at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_recording_vs._digital_recording

and at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_sound_vs._digital_sound

These articles are lengthy and very technical. There is a fair amount of overlap, but they have a different focus. The first one is mostly about recording music, and the second has a focus on playing it. They suggest that the debate between which is better (analog or digital) ceases to be a meaningful debate when one considers all the variables involved. Excellent analog systems are as good as excellent digital systems, but the analog systems will probably be more expensive and require more maintenance. You may enjoy these articles if you have a strong technical background (I have a degree in electronics as well as psychology). After reading them, I felt that the debate is really a bit artificial. But it will probably continue for as long as there are people who are passionate about their music. And I, for one, believe music to be one of those things deserving of our passion.

As a clinical psychologist, I can tell you that most of human experience is fundamentally determined by one’s expectations. For this reason, scientists always default to double-blind experimental methodologies when studying things that involve human perception and expectations. In a double-blind study of sound quality, the subject listens to two sounds and rates them relative to each other. The person rating the sound – the judge – is not allowed to know which is from a digital source and which is from an analog source. The procedure is double-blinded when the experimenter who is flipping the switch from one source to the other also does not know which is which. This prevents subtle experimenter behaviors from communicating information that may bias the judge or rater. Psychology has a long and embarrassing history of conducting experiments that showed some amazing things, only to later find out that it was all due to the experimenter’s subtle cues guiding the subject’s experiences. The second Wikipedia article mentions several studies using double-blind methodology. Those studies did not show any difference in judgments between the two sources when both were high-end systems.

At this point, the technology has far exceeded the technologist. By that, I mean our equipment can now perform so well, the average person cannot hear the difference – high-end audio systems perform far better than the human ear.

If you expect one format to sound better, it will – to you. If you feel strongly that one format is superior to the other, that’s great, and you should go with your opinion. Your experience will definitely be consistent with that expectation. There is an indescribable profound satisfaction to be had from gingerly handling a treasured vinyl LP, placing it on a priceless turntable, carefully positioning the tone arm, and enjoying the music that it organically brings you. Perhaps this is similar to the joy that overwhelms a connoisseur from a fine rare vintage tea or wine that must be nurtured and presented in a precise ritual for full appreciation. Being a bit obsessive-compulsive, I get that.

For those without a strong opinion, perhaps you should consider using the format that is easiest to acquire, store, and use. That format is probably going to be the digital world of mp3, other digital compression formats, and CD formats.

As for the debate, perhaps it is going to be far less satisfying to argue with someone from the other camp than it will be to use that slice of time to enjoy your favorite music, in your preferred manner, on your favorite system. For many of us, that will be an old LP on a turntable through a priceless vintage tube amplifier.

We are CONSUMER ELECTRONIC SERVICE. We specialize in TV and HD television repair including plasma screens, LCD displays, LED screens and everything in between.
With over 35 years of established electronics repair experience, it’s easy to see why we are far and away the best choice for all your electronics repair needs. If it is electronic, we fix it. Period. From the newest high-end audio equipment to the best in vintage electronics gear that you just cannot part with, if it’s not working like brand-new, we’ll make it so.  As our URL (vintageelectronicsrepair.com) states, we pride ourselves in specializing in the maintenance and repair of rare, unique and irreplaceable electronic equipment. Being audiophiles ourselves, we settle for nothing but the best in our electronics and electronic audio gear, and you should too.

Please feel free contact and interact with us. So go ahead and post some comments, contact us by phone, email or just walk on into our shop in Colorado Springs, CO.