Download "Stop Throwing Away Your Vintage Gear! (You Can Fix It)"

In this video, I’m sharing some of the most common, inexpensive vintage stereo repairs you can absolutely do yourself—no technician required. Over the last decade, I’ve made a career out of buying and selling vintage stereo gear that looked “broken” but really just needed a simple, affordable fix. And the truth is, a lot of this stuff can be brought back to life for less than the cost of breakfast at Denny’s. We’ll walk through easy DIY repairs for receivers, turntables, and speakers, using basic hand tools, a little patience, and an afternoon of your time. If you’ve ever wanted to get into vintage audio repair—or you already own a piece that isn’t working quite right—this video is for you. In this video, we cover: • Turntable platter not spinning (rotted, missing, or melted belts) • Fixing speed issues and “warbling” turntables by cleaning speed control pots • Polishing scratched and cloudy turntable dust covers • Speaker refoaming basics (and why rotted surrounds aren’t a dealbreaker) • Replacing broken speaker terminals and cleaning rear speaker controls • Fixing static, crackling, and channel dropouts in receivers • Cleaning volume, balance, and selector pots the right way • Cleaning main-in / pre-out jumpers that often get overlooked • Replacing burned-out receiver lamps (and how to tell if soldering is required) • Repairing peeling vinyl cabinets and making old receivers look new again • Red flags that mean it’s time to call a technician instead of DIYing it I’ll also share real-world tips, common mistakes to avoid, and the warning signs that tell you when a repair is not beginner-friendly. Not everything should be a DIY project—and knowing the difference can save you time, money, and frustration. There’s nothing quite like the dopamine rush of fixing a piece of stereo equipment, hearing it come back to life, and knowing you did it. Taking something that was headed for the landfill and giving it a second life is incredibly satisfying—and addictive. If you get stuck or need advice, be sure to join our Skylabs Audio Discord community with over 3,000 stereo enthusiasts and technicians ready to help. You’ll find the link in the description and at the bottom of every page on skylabsaudio.com. Post your gear, share your progress, and learn alongside a great group of people. If you’ve ever smiled when a receiver relay finally clicks on… you already know the feeling. 👇 Drop a comment and let me know what piece of gear you’re thinking about fixing next. Here are some links to the products mentioned in this video: These are affiliate links and we do make a small commission off your purchase - thank you for supporting the channel. Screw Gun Buffer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074QGHRDB Walnut Vinyl Wrap https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B095Y3RHNW?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_plhdr=t&aaxitk=a560974da0bda485b0222516ee0f5ea6&hsa_cr_id=0&th=1&language=en_US Deoxit https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-D5S6-Contact-F5S-H6-FaderLube/dp/B00HNV7WI2?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6JNFGm42EhoH5qxmRxBP9HQc-WaGXHiIuxYoMfyhW1f4p8uNfaysO8jRE-vIH26Yeza6CrbDxKY2o96zRNdq4w4eIa0moa29qWLupEYUtF-QNcJ3mC2FL1QNJc7AY-Ba7rfO_KwBK-P1thyGPGurV767l1tqzTKC6bPzNSkm8jORR6dIq_iryeRqPjN7AD0RU72zHU_4L-a8lFzdBwNcLN-pEbajz6dKXMaEAuf7uVg.kNv_n20unSe2B5Hu6grI68ywMRRe5nxP9F6MP2zsj7E&dib_tag=se&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&language=en_US Headlight Polish https://www.amazon.com/FAVIRZCE-Car-Headlight-Restoration-Kit/dp/B0GCVWYGZS?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.3sEzkQBU-rRf0Vrys8sDOcz5qfGbss8YObNhnuajOqzyNYDjM2LyHWg9v7MIv9H3xmG1ubzGm8Iel9EzWYsgBWL1IcCiozcrkQw96c5_xkBkPkr3TEAEEGNYILXgvqoYCG_OJTI9XaBwuNcQePQ2BPzX9Bj0U-gJYEyt3zEV6VOFPKWxXZVjohQfFDSzOIbEuPX01XeM4MBCPiwDYWJJoku60tvWCvaZO3GFQ0VX-GE.AXi-Ge0lY0kyhUjM_Kq3ps7AUva5vGOHY1Ed9HiEKKk&dib_tag=se&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1&language=en_US Jordan Pier video-Cleaning Belt Goo link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=XbXS5N-fzwL-9cS_&v=ypSAJNVfGqw Blueglow Electronics Video Turntable Speed Pot Cleaning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=F3_SrLtv_Rg1eG0Y&v=jonrdIBPB2E ATO Vinyl Wrap How to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=VrxEXjskPCIWEz8X&v=Izg-vCeXDZI Midwest Speaker Repair: https://www.midwestspeakerrepair.com/ _____________________________________ Do you have questions about stereo equipment? Need repair advice? Join our Discord. It's free! https://discord.com/invite/hsdG5vgDvE Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser Check us out on Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/unsupportedbrowser _____________________________________ Shop our store for Skylabs merch, Grado products, Luxman, Advance Paris, Wharfedale, Cambridge Audio, Rega, Audio Technica, new vinyl records, SACDs and more! https://skylabsaudio.com/ Good news for our international viewers! You can now order our shirts for international shipping! Don't miss out! Sign up for our newsletter! Our current vintage inventory is included in every edition. www.skylabsaudio.com Join this YouTube channel to get access to the perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfkefBAR_BBXW_2z37-ozuw/join We have a Patreon page! You can check that out here: https://www.patreon.com/u79064906