A Brown Sound

Don’t bother taking anything to this lazy crook (unless you are a rockstar?) I emailed for a quote to replace a torn speaker surround. He emailed back a quote for $ 80 including parts and turnaround time of 2 weeks. I had my helper drop off the speaker and deposit. My guy only had a $ 100 bill and because A-​brown conveniently did not have any change, he kept the full $ 100. After 3 month and many many unreturned phone calls and emails, somehow, my guy picks up the speaker and a receipt, not for $ 80, but for $ 100. No parts were purchased. Surround was NOT replaced. Instead, a bunch of clear glue was slathered all over the torn surround. A sloppy ‘repair” at best. I would have been disappointed in if I had only been charged $ 40. Several more unreturned emails and phone calls later, my only recourse is to post as many reviews like this as I can… Thomas Brown, you are a slimy crook!

I took in a JBL D130 for a re-​cone. They gave me a lead time of 2 – 3 weeks. 2 months later I was calling every other day for an update. I was told that they couldn’t get to it because… Neil Young, Carlos Santana, Pearl Jam, etc. had sent in emergency re-​cones from their respective tours and I would have to wait. Once I finally got my speaker, the frame had black adhesive all over it and the frame was all scratched up and to top it off, the re-​cone wasn’t done right… all for $ 200.00. Avoid these clowns like the plague.

Had my ¹⁰⁴⁄₂ KEF reference speaker woofers replaced. Been about 6 years, still rock the room… very happy, now almost deaf!

I went there once for a hum in my amp. They spent 2 hours trying to figure it out. I paid them the diagnostic fee. But I walked out of there and the amp was still humming.
I found out later from online blogs, that there was a design issue with that particular amp. The transformer was in a location that apparently transferred some noise to nearby components. The recommendation was to drill new holes and move the transformer away from the other components.
Not sure what these guys are up to, but they should have figured this out.
The «d» is not the only thing missing in this place. Won’t be back.

I am sure the guys at A Brown Soun are good at what they do, judging by the fact that they were able to stay in business despite my experience. But unless you cannot find somewhere else that can repair your equipment, skip this place and go somewhere else. They don’t know what customer service means. I dropped off a subwoofer for repair on a Tuesday. They insisted on a $ 50 deposit even though they said the diagnostic fee was $ 35. The receptionist was definitely not a sound person and somewhat retarded. When she wrote the receipt, she pointed at my sub and asked «what is that?». And I had to remind her to write about my deposit on the receipt. I was told someone will call to give me an estimate for the repair «in a couple of days.» I heard nothing all week so I called on Saturday, and was told that «Dave will call me today or tomorrow». Not a peep over the weekend. Called again on Monday, and was told «Dave gets in at 2 and will give me a call.» Nothing. I called again on Wednesday (8 days since I dropped off the sub), and finally Dave called me back and told me that the part that was needed for the repair is expensive and hard to find. My sub was less than $ 200 so I’d rather buy a new one than to spend more money at Abrown. I asked how much deposit I would get back, and Dave said it’s $ 50 for the diagnostics.
These guys will work on your equipment if they want to work on your equipment. If you have mass market products like my JBL sub, they probably will find them boring and will treat you like how they treated me. Move on.

Hmmm… this is a tough one. Maybe I just walked into the wrong place and had higher expectations that exceeded the caliber of work they provide. They’re probably fine for rock-​n-​roll speakers, but I wouldn’t recommend them for any high-​end type of work that requires delicate precision and craftsmanship. If you don’t mind being cursed at, called names, insulted, ridiculed, threatened and basically treated with a childish school yard sense of customer service when you try to point out the discrepancy between what was promised and what was delivered, then they’ll probably be OK for you.
As they were pointing out to me that what they had done was «…a work of art!», it reminded me of how much I love my kid’s pre-​school paintings. I guess our aesthetics just differ.

Loudspeaker repair for hi-​fidelity audio nuts and musicians.
Top notch service and products. I’ve had speakers re-​coned for my vintage stereo and for my hi-​power guitar amps. I’m always happy with the work done by this shop.