Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2018 21:59:16 GMT
In the last year or so I have had bad luck (or just bought inferior goods). This has left me sometimes having to wait for repairs, or just demanding my money back. Here is my list from the last year or so (all purchased brand new):
- Cambridge Audio CA60 integrated amp. Plug headphones in, speakers turn off (expected). Unplug them - speakers do not come on again. Only a reset fixes. Swapped at shop. - Cambridge Audio CA60 - (the one that they swapped) had a hum you could hear 3 yards away - I couldn't be bothered to swap it.
- Arcam irDac - some CD discs (even new ones) just started jittering. Reinstated old DAC and was fine. Upgraded to new much better DAC - also fine. The Arcam went back. - Marantz CD6005 CD player - headphone socket went fuzzy in one channel - returned - QAcoustics 3050 speakers - after 6 months, left tweeter went dead. Back for repair under warranty. Never heard of that EVER happening before.
Even cheap stuff used to just work 25 years ago. I don't think there is proper quality control anymore - I think they trust normal production to produce about 99.9% good gear. They take a hit on the stuff that is not good. Bit like the newspapers - all the lies sell lots of papers but it outweighs the court fees in the end. A spreadsheet exercise by some pencil squeezers (Ian Dury line) in an office at corporate headquarters.
The above stuff is all made in China. Chinese production may ofcourse "mature" over time - remember the Japanese stuff? It was laughable at first and then it became pretty reliable and not too bad. Now, I am proud that one of my DACs is made in Taiwan, not China.
The stuff above is all reasonably budget gear but it is supposed to be HiFi and it is *supposed to work*.
Any bad experiences yourself?
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Jul 3, 2018 22:32:08 GMT
I’ve had a few things mysteriously fail when sold by me on eBay and shipped, but whether they really failed or it’s been a try on has been beyond me knowing.
I tend to buy stuff from the 80s and 90s or sometimes the “noughties”, which tends to have less to go wrong. Out of those I have had a couple of Rega Planets with servo issues, an Edison 12 that played up, a dodgy Ion Obelisk and a Linn Classic with a common fault. Not much else springs to mind. There probably has been more but so much gear has come and gone that I’ve forgotten half of it.
Most of the stuff from that era is pretty bulletproof. Newer stuff I don’t trust and generally don’t like the looks or build quality of. But that’s just me.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2018 22:44:39 GMT
I have two Monarchy Audio SM-70 Pro power amps that need looking at. One I bought and the second given to me by a mate after it too started playing up. I may try and put a decent one together from the two......Or, just move them on. Lovely sounding pure Class A amps, just a shame they are on the blink!!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2018 22:50:09 GMT
I have two Monarchy Audio SM-70 Pro power amps that need looking at. One I bought and the second given to me by a mate after it too started playing up. I may try and put a decent one together from the two......Or, just move them on. Lovely sounding pure Class A amps, just a shame they are on the blink!! How are you getting on with the 306? S. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2018 22:57:14 GMT
It sounds great with the Promitheus TVC pre-amp, but I'm using my Sugden Optima 80 at the moment. A little known model, but it sure sounds decent! Still got the EL34 monos too.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2018 23:04:45 GMT
Where did you source the Optima 80? How would you describe it's tone? Is the bass good?
S.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2018 23:13:25 GMT
Where did you source the Optima 80? How would you describe it's tone? Is the bass good? S. I bought it from Andyrlb on AOS. It's a mint example. I'd say it's very neutral and even across the frequency range, transparent too. Very good sound. The 40 watts works just fine with my speakers. They also made a slightly more powerful Optima 140 that came with a remote control. I also have the Optima MM/MC phono stage, it's rather good and obviously matches the amp for looks, which is why I bought the amp to go with it. You'd struggle to find any of the Optima range Shane. I think nearly all went for export. They are rare. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2018 23:24:03 GMT
Don't really see myself having an Optima 80, judging by my gut feeling anyway. Would like to try another A21a again someday.
S.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2018 16:06:36 GMT
EVERY single monitor audio speaker i home demoed over the years..UTTER SHITE.. do people actually buy this rubbish
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Jul 4, 2018 16:28:19 GMT
EVERY single monitor audio speaker i home demoed over the years..UTTER SHITE.. do people actually buy this rubbish I have had some bad ones (652) and others that were good for the money (252 and 352). 852 weren’t bad and were a Robin Marshall design. The drawback was that he went on to design ES14s under the Epos brand and they outclassed them. Heard the Studio 20 at a show and they sounded great to me. Later MA speakers I know little of. I know we have different tastes but I wondered if our experiences were from different eras. Mine are all 1980s MAs apart from the Studio 20 which were early 90s. After that I’m clueless. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2018 16:36:50 GMT
tried the whole range circa 1999 2000 on home demo..ear splitting nasty things..my acoustic energy ae109's were a million times better...great speakers they were..in fact one of me favourite speakers i ever owned
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2018 21:19:59 GMT
I’ve had a few things mysteriously fail when sold by me on eBay and shipped, but whether they really failed or it’s been a try on has been beyond me knowing. I tend to buy stuff from the 80s and 90s or sometimes the “noughties”, which tends to have less to go wrong. Out of those I have had a couple of Rega Planets with servo issues, an Edison 12 that played up, a dodgy Ion Obelisk and a Linn Classic with a common fault. Not much else springs to mind. There probably has been more but so much gear has come and gone that I’ve forgotten half of it. Most of the stuff from that era is pretty bulletproof. Newer stuff I don’t trust and generally don’t like the looks or build quality of. But that’s just me. I am starting think the same way after learning the hard way. Good stuff holds its value too - which is a boon and a bane, depending on which way you look at it.
Stuff you have sold on Ebay? Did you sell it to me? lol.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2018 21:23:48 GMT
EVERY single monitor audio speaker i home demoed over the years..UTTER SHITE.. do people actually buy this rubbish I was thinking about having a demo but I called it off.
Did they break or did they just disappoint? Maybe disappoint is not strong enough...
|
|
