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October 2023 by Dallas N.
You will not find a better tech yhan Joe to work on your audio gear. Just excellent all around full stop.
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August 2023 by Brendan B.
I want to submit an honest review of Sigma electronics services and Joseph Balant as I am former contractor and employee of his.Review of electronics repair services:I initial thought Joe was pretty knowledgeable about electronics, but my opinion quickly changed as he had a very low success rate with repairs (every single "fixed" amp came back within a week). I don't think he succeeded in fixing anything the entire first month I worked with him. The only time he was successful was a total scam. He often took two customers with the same model amplifier and just swapped parts giving one customer a more broken amplifier and one customer a fixed amplifier. Though I thought this was unethical, he explained his margins were very small and that it was better someone got a working device than no one. Later when I noticed him buying 1000$ multi-meters and lavish and unnecessary test equipment he didn't even use, I questioned whether or not he was really operating with "tiny margins." His recapping service was a total scam. Not only did he skip any capacitors that wasn't easily visible and accessible, he would often take better quality capacitors off working machines and replace them with wore-out used-ones adding the better ones to his collection. Sometimes he was able to fix simple things like LEDs, meters, and bad wiring, but when it came to the more complex side of the job he was horrible at troubleshooting and constantly was spending 10+ hours on a single amp to find absolutely nothing. Overall, his shop isn't very advanced, his knowledge is very limited, but he's capable of basic repairs. He is very pricey and struggles to pull off most repairs. Never once was i fully convinced he actually knew why something failed and didn't just preform patch work. Review of employment: He initially tried to pay my nothing as he said he was giving me excellent training for electronics repair for free, but since he wanted me 25 hours per week all we did was work on customers' amplifiers, I quickly decided that was not "training," but for profit work. Joe agreed to pay me less than minimum wage, which I took because I needed a summer job and the experience in the field. After a month of employment with Joe for less than minimum wage, I finally argued that I should at least be earning minimum wage. He agreed to pay me exactly minimum wage. I continued working for him because as student at UofA, I needed some work experience related to electrical engineering. Other issues with Joe is he would constantly cancel work about a half hour before the shift started, telling me we would start at a later time and then cancelling again. He fired me because I called him out and ask for on-call payment when he abruptly canceled work 3 times on a single day then told me the rest of week he was busy and to come Monday. He had zero respect for my time. Another issue, is that he would bring up conspiracy theories. Sometimes this was comical, such as the moon being hollow, aliens, gravity doesn't exist, etc; sometimes this was dark and disturbed, such as the his hatred for Canada and the government and he even claimed I would soon die because I got the COVID vaccination. He also went on some very dark rants and anger outbursts that made me very uncomfortable. He often talked about self harm saying in frustration that if this amplifier didn't get fixed he would "kill himself," pressuring me to find the issue and fix it. Pretty fucked up guy, but again I was desperate for experience, so I powered through it.Tl:dr I would not recommend his repair services as many of his practices are unethical and he only does basic repairs but claims much more. I would advise you to take you audio and especially industrial equipment to qualified established shops. I would not recommend him as an employer because he expects you to be on call, constantly rants about conspiracies, pays poorly, has zero respect for his employees.
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January 2023 by Dave Hennig
I would recommend Joe at Sigma anytime, he has done work for me and in a timely manner, he takes care in evaluating the work that needs to be done and is very professional about it. I have recommended several people to him with all being satisfied with what was quoted and done to there stereo components, as well. Joe is easy to talk to and an all around good person. If you need work done in a professional and timely manner I recommend Joe at Sigma. ?
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December 2022 by The E-Rs
Great work, prompt service, no nonsense — a class act the whole way. Highly recommended.
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December 2022 by Marvin Choma
Sigma is the only place to have stereo equipment repaired/serviced. Absolutely the best in customer service.
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October 2022 by Simon Gorsak
Joe isn’t just a parts-changer, he will actually diagnose the problem with your unit so that the problem doesn’t just come back! I’ve worked with a couple other hifi repair folks in town, and having now worked with Joe, I know who I’m taking my gear to, Sigma!
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August 2020 by Rajni P.
I dropped off the internals of my klipsch subwoofer for not working correctly, in a few weeks ( which was the discussed timeline ) I got a call to give me the repair quote. Not long after I got the call it was ready for pick up. After putting the sub back together it has worked flawlessly, I am very pleased with my experience and would not hesitate to use Joe again.
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December 2019 by Carlee K.
yoooo Joe here fixed my old amplifier up great - he explained the issue thoroughly and let me ask all the questions I needed answered with regard to making my amplifier last another 40 years. he was honest about the time it was going to take to repair given how busy he was but he came thru and I havent had any issues since. would definitely recommend to a friend, and already have.
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November 2019 by Cafsa A.
Terrible experience !! The worse - a SCAMMER !!! DO NOT TRUST THIS MAN !!! he just wants to take your money !! Nice in the beginning when he is taking your money and after you question his work, he turns ugly !! I took my high end CD player "Alchemist Nexus" to be fix (skipping), he only cleaned the inside, the CD player still not fixed and still charged me $240.00 dollars - His warranty is worthless. He doesn't care about your electronic, he only cares about taken your money, I went to his house dealing with the CD player more than six(6) times, from one end to the city to another, six times !! Take your electronic someplace else, if you don't want to be taken like me for $240.00 dollars. That is the reason of why he only takes cash $$$$. Very dishonest person, be cautious !!! DO NOT DEAL WITH HIM. He makes you come back, again and again to his house.
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October 2019 by Thomas Lai
Joe's service is outstanding. My Antique Sound Lab Hurricane monos have a rather weird problem where one is quieter than the other. Joe spent hours following the schematics and comparing the two monos wire by wire and finally located and fixed the issue. Along the way he fixed a few other issues caused by the heat from the tubes. Now the twins are singing beautifully. I just can't thank Joe enough for fixing the trouble twins! I would urge anyone who has issues with their gears to go to Joe. Service is absolutely first class!
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August 2019 by Mai Nguyen
My Sansui amp turned out wonderful Joe. Joe did a phenomenal job and was timely responding to questions. will definitely send more work your way when I get my hands on more vintage gear. Thanks again.
