United TV Services Embraces Tech Challenges From Modern to Antique Electronics

When Dave Benedict of United TV Service brought his considerable electronics repair skills to Mount Greenwood 17 years ago, he probably didn’t foresee so many entertainment components coming full circle the way they have – or trending: #antiquelectronics.

“I’ve been calling them antique electronics for years because they carry emotions and functionality,” said Benedict. “There are three kinds of users, those invested in the antique, others looking for function and those who want both.”

Right now “antique electronics” are the rage and fueled further by the explosive annual Record Store Day, stoking the fantasies of the vinyl freaks in love with analog and its distinctive sound. Record Store Day, Saturday April 18, celebrates independent record stores like Beverly Records.

Benedict is like the most idealistic kid on the scavenger hunt; he believes he can find anything and fix anything and that would explain his customers’ collective confidence in him, not to mention his referral sources.

In yesteryear, a United TV’s typical customer was a blue-collar guy hoping to salvage a black-and-white television because its fit nicely on a tool shed shelf for Sox games.

Today, Dave greets a tattooed, body pierced college local who bops in the store with a Pioneer turntable and cracked dust cover. Dreams of bringing old vinyl to life for both the superior sound and the “hip” quotient are now invested in United TV and Benedict, who listens quietly while the customer tells a story behind a piece.

“How’d you find me?” asks Dave.

“They said, ‘Go see Dave because he can fix anything’,” the customer answers.

“GO SEE DAVE” has become a common refrain as antique electronics have come into vogue.

According to Roger Cichon, owner of Morgan Park antique store RJ Collectible, he’s had everything from turntables to eight-track players leave his store headed for repair at United TV.

“I send everyone to Dave because 90 percent of the time it can be fixed,” said Cichon. “And I’ve never heard a complaint about the work or the price.”

Benedict’s world sits somewhere in the middle of family keepsakes that were once landing on the curb and DJ quality turntables that are a phone call away from repair. Benedict modestly responds with a fair invoice, perfect balance and tuning for sound projection into giant speakers, earphones or a quiet bedroom setting.

A social media refrain from vinyl enthusiasts proclaims: “All turntables are worth a second chance. Fix her up.”

In Benedict’s world, the same applies to receivers, consoles, amplifiers and novelty televisions - like the Disney 1990s model with Mickey Mouse ears as speakers that greets customers.

That Benedict chose the southwest corner of Chicagoland has proven fortuitous for his business and that of the bargain hunting, re-use youngsters who grew up wearing hand-me-down ND sweatshirts and winter coats.

“The Beverly Morgan Park area in particular is in a golden age of electronic transfers,” said estate sales manager Edris Hoover. “In the old days, the end of an estate sale meant finding what to do with big consoles and other old stereo equipment. Now it’s the magnet that brings kids to estate sales – kids with an eye for certain models.”

“Finding” is one thing; finding the guy who will make the machine sing is another.

Benedict’s shop is part museum, part junkyard and a kind of whimsical setting for a black-and-white Twilight Zone episode. 

Dave caters to a world never coming back. He plies his trade to give others a chance to reunite with a lost piece of electronics that carried emotions as well sound and pictures. At midnight, these vintage electronics come to life in perfect orchestration to fill the air with music of a long-lost era - from Swing to Big Band, Sinatra and Armstrong. All is quiet by dawn as the repairman with the tattered Zenith work coat enters to solve another puzzle with his strong, clean hands so these electronic jewels will play yesterday today.

“You put your feelers out for parts and sometimes it’s a stretch of time before they come in but you know the parts are out there,” said Benedict.

According to Billboard Magazine – the growth in vinyl record sales last year grew 52 percent and 2015 appears to be just as robust, with 72 percent of buyers 35 years old and under. Entering Record Store Day week, much of the social media buzz has been about the records; next will come turntables, among Benedict’s favorite antique electronic items.

One young man in his 20s from Hegewisch especially impressed Benedict for his forward thinking. With an encouraging nudge from Benedict, the young man followed a sales lead and drove 150 miles round trip into Michigan to purchase a console phonograph for $50 he hoped Benedict could fix. He didn’t own records.

“After the repair was complete, the young guy told me he as going to drive right to Beverly Records and buy some vinyl,” said Benedict.

From old televisions to flat screens to Barbie Doll record players, Benedict is the man to know when it comes to electronics.

“Dave is where we send all our customers who need electronics help,” said Jack Dreznes, owner of Beverly Records. “The relationship is mutually beneficial because once the customers get hooked on playing vinyl on superior equipment they come back for more records.”

ROUND AND ROUND

One wouldn’t pick Benedict out as player in the environmental movement, but the small part he does play is not lost on him.

“I love the sense of re-use, source reduction and a genuine appreciation for things that were produced by hand and not mass produced like today’s iPods,” said Bernedict. “In the case of old turntables and receivers, it’s bringing to life all the albums sitting in grandma’s attic that might otherwise end up in a landfill.”

The Brighton Park native graduated from Harper High School in 1976 and got his training at DeVry Insititute. His street smarts around electronic equipment continued at Southtown Electronics at 69th and Damen back in 1979.

He was able to continue his self-taught approach at Beaty Electronics, until it closed in 1996. He and a colleague from Beaty, Don Jackson, pooled together enough savings to partner in buying United TV Service, a long-time staple in Mount Greenwood.

BISHOP FULTON SHEEN

Benedict’s reputation still generates leads. One morning he fielded a call from Karen Fulte, a woman very earnest about a restoration project that would complete a museum for Bishop Fulton Sheen, one of the first Catholic media stars and one of the first televangelists. Sheen was born in El Paso, Ill. and lived there until 1900 when the family moved to Peoria.

The woman hoped to refurbish a period piece television to play in the parlor and broadcast Fulton’s black and white programming from the 1950s on. Some noodle work and research later, Benedict fulfilled the woman’s dream. There was a melding of technology, tubes but mostly a “touch” that accounts for Benedict’s legendary status among technicians.

“Divine intervention” was what the woman called it.

United TV Services is located at 3251 West 111th Street in Chicago, IL; Phone number is 773/239-4230.