Business Spotlight: Diablo Stereo and Video - Where Vintage Gets Reborn

Dion Waterman opened his first store in Pleasant Hill on March 1 of 1986 in the Crossroads Shopping Center, repairing vintage and current electronic gear. He has since relocated Diablo Stereo and Video to its present location, at 1930 Oak Park Blvd. in the Oak Park Shopping Center. And these days, much of the “vintage” equipment he is repairing was brand new when he first opened his doors.

Waterman takes it all, from car stereos and GPS systems to classic turntables and amplifiers from years-old home stereo systems.

“We do reel-to-reel tape recorders, cassette decks, pre-amps and amplifiers, rebuilt speakers. We pretty much do a mixed bag of just about everything,” he said.

And why would someone want to hang on to a stereo system from two or three decades ago?

“The old Japanese pre-amps are very well-built, very heavy,” he said. “The stuff coming out these days is almost designed to be disposable. I wish we would start manufacturing this stuff in this country again.”

Right now, ironically, given that music streaming and downloading are the primary methods of receiving and hearing music, turntables are very popular, he said, and he gets many requests from people looking to purchase them. The sound of vinyl recordings, in many audiophile’s opinion, is superior to that of compressed digital files.

But most commonly, Waterman said, people come in to get their auto CD changers repaired. The six-changer systems often jam, he said, and car dealerships are hesitant and ill-equipped to handle such services.

Another big item these days are digital cameras. People come in with cameras that have shattered LCD displays, or broken extending lenses. Flat-screen TVs are also a popular repair item, because often they overheat and stop working properly.

Waterman has also repaired tabletop jukebox selectors, of the kind that used to sit on tables in diners in the 1950s and 60s. He does a good business in repairing Super 8 and other 8mm cameras and projectors as well.

“People say, ‘I’m so glad you’re here, because we don’t know where else we would take our stuff.’ I do a pretty good job, and people are usually pretty patient with me.”