Audio Direction Ltd

It is with deep regret that I’m posting this after the passing of Stu but more so to seek assistance from anyone that can help me get my equipment (left for repair) back from his business after it was closed as a result of his passing.

I came to Stu because I was told he was the best. I had a family heirloom, a Philips B7X44A, that I wanted to have cleaned up. He told me this sort of complicated repair would take 3 – 6 months, which I was fine with. My mother in law was coming into town 7 months from drop off, so it seemed perfect.
At drop off (January 7^th, 2014), he told me that he would need to do some serious cleaning and replace 6 capacitors on the unit, and then quoted me around $ 200 for the repair. I was fine with that, anything to surprise my mother in law.
I immediately responded with a scan of the schematic and my go ahead. Every part and connection was covered in that schematic. It was a matter of ordering replacement parts replacing the faulty capacitors.
I stopped by his shop a couple times with no news over the next 10 months. My wedding came and went, and my mother in law was going to be in town again in December of 2014, so I shot him an email. For the first time in almost a year, I get a response from him. He had been struggling with his health and had made no progress on the unit.
I feel bad for the owner, but his lack of communication with me was absolutely unacceptable, and no matter how much aloha I showed up with at his doorstep he was uninviting and curt. In January of 2015, I told him enough is enough, and I would be picking up my radio the next day.
This isn’t the same store as it was before, and cannot recommend it for repairing audio equipment. It may be valuable for a quick sale, but this lack of communication with customers over the period of a year is offensive.

Stu is a local treasure.
You will not find anyone like this anymore.
Straight talking advice.
Fun and fascinating story telling.
He really is your uncle.
Someone should make a documentary about him.
I still remember going to The Audio Center in Ward Warehouse with my real uncle when I was a kid. Changed the way I look at music forevermore.
Young people who are fans of ipods, itunes, sonos, pandora, spotify and the like, should stop by and see what ‘real’ music can sound like when it doesn’t play on a smartphone or has the filename extension .MP3 or .AAC
It will change their musical interests forever.

When Audio Directions Ltd. was on Waialae, it was unlike any audio store I’d ever been to. The place was piled high with electronics parts, racks, boxes, cables, sheet music, testing equipment, and software. Stewart Ono (unclestu52 on Audio Asylum) knew I was just a college kid with no money, but he nevertheless asked me what type of music I wanted to hear. He scanned his rows of LPs, and pulled out Judas Priest’s «Screaming For Vengeance.» He even apologized that he had misplaced his Skid Row album!
But Stu was the first to give me any kind of attention, and performed a demo with that JP album. And instead of talking, he simply left the room, and let us listen. For other stores, that was a foreign concept. That demo was my watershed moment, and opened the doors to high-​end audio. Over the years, I went back to ADL for sound advice and accessories [I wasn’t about to lug equipment back to San Francisco].
ADL is now on Algaroba, near McCully. It’s in an unmarked brown building, and does have its own small parking lot. True to form, Stu has piled up all that electronic stuff. The uninitiated sees this as a mess. But in reality, this is the work of someone who knows what he’s doing.
Stu doesn’t play that «latest & greatest» game. He tries and (literally) lives with stuff, and knows what works and to what degree. He wants his customers to be patient, to take the long-​term view. He wants them to achieve long-​term happiness. He’s also adept at fixing old electronics, so if you have vintage gear you’d like to put back in order, give Stu a call.
If you are open and honest about your wants, needs, tastes, and budget, Stu will reward you with down-​to-​goodness honesty. If you’re used to the cookie-​cutter high-​end audio salons, going to ADL is like taking a step back. I’ve been in Honolulu all my life, and it doesn’t seem that the residents care much or even know about high-​end audio. With ADL being there, they don’t realize how good they have it. If ADL were in the Bay Area, customers would love ADL’s genuine, nitty-​gritty caliber. But now that I think about, Stu probably likes the low-​key Hawaiian market, devoid of all the ego-​driven what’s-new-what’s-best crowd.