Beware: Magnum Dynalab are not "doing repairs, upgrades or service right now"!!


Just a note if you are considering buying a Magnum Dynalap liner. After buying a factory box from MD, sending them my tuner in August, I was told verbatim from the Operations Manager that they are not "doing repairs, upgrades or service right now".  Six months went by and below is a sample of the items they told me. I am at a loss that they accepted the return for service, keep it six months and then say we won't fix it. 

  • I will ship your unit back to you.  We can't solve you no power issue.
  • If he can't fix it, I am just going to replace yours with a new unit.
  • We are not doing repairs, upgrades or service right now,
  • This is one we said we would look at in house and it is marked resolved January 8th but not shipped yet.
  • Noted repair resolved "Cleaned the oxidized silver plated contacts in the switch cable inside the unit (inside the plug).
  • Retested."
  • Thanks for you most recent email from yesterday.  We will be looking at you MD90 the first ½ of January.
  • If you don't hear back from me by Friday, please do a follow up and we may need to look at another service option.
  • Hi William, we will have a better idea in a couple of weeks.
  • We are in the works on doing changes in manufacturing so we can not touch repairs for at least another 4 to 6 weeks.
  • It will be at least 6 weeks before we can start looking at this.  Please don't hesitate to reach out in 2 to 3 weeks for an update.

I love the tuners but be careful as it appears any investment would be a gamble... So odd for a company now owned by Bryson.

128x128superbike

That's too bad because their service used to be excellent.  I had an MD 90 and sent it in for repair.  I upgrade to a MD102 for short money.  And that was when they were doing repairs

I think it's just because they are consolidating and moving.   So are they willing to replace it?

The repair guy from MD was supposedly staying in Toronto and working remotely for the company that now owns Bryston, MD, and Axiom. I do not think the team in the sticks (Dwight, Ontario) know how to repair the MD tuners. I have a MD 108T and I am assuming I need to find a local technician if anything goes wrong. In my area that is not too hard.

I contacted Bryston (James Tanner specifically) to get in touch the MD. He forwarded my email to someone formerly in management at MD. I wanted to get another ST-2 antenna. The guy sounded helpful but then the conversation died.

I have a link somewhere for MD customer support regarding the ST-2 (they replied via some MD support system). I will soon contact customer support via the link to see if they can help.

 

To @yyzsantabarbara please let us know how it goes. I plan to continue to enjoy my MD-102, and hopefully no need to send it in any time soon. The news about the buyout and then nothing going on with support right now is a bummer. I wonder what sort of value they bought out if they cannot offer support on new products either. One could expect limited project sales, and/or if anything is leftover as a result of the buyout. 

New inquiry - 

Has anyone contacted them to see what happens if you inquire to buy a new product these days, and do they turn you away then too, or for the moment?

I contacted Magnum Dynalab to request a replacement center tune meter for my Etude in November 2023. (Swapping meters is easy enough to do myself.) I was aware that I was asking for an old part for an old product, and I would not have been surprised if it was not available.

I was delighted to hear from them in September 2024 that a replacement meter had been found. I am so pleased with my tuner now -- it looks and works like new again.

MAGNUM DYNALB CAME THRU!!!
Turns out there were a number of missing emails in both directions. MD have gone above and beyond to sort the issues. It took a LONG time but I am very happy with the outcome. I made assumptions that were not correct and well, that was REALLY STUPID on my part. Buy MD without reservation.
yes

@superbike What a relief your last post is for me. Just yesterday ordered an MD-105T from Dealer B after being told by Dealer A that delivery would be September earliest. Today Dealer B says backordered, "usually 7 -10 days," but I know they are referring to audio gear in general, not MD in particular, of which they can't possibly sell more than 3 units per year.
So, an open solicitation for speculation. Will my order ultimately be filled? And if so, how long after today? Yes, I have other tuners -- two needing repair, two still functioning, none of them MD -- but if I were satisfied with them, I would not be ordering a replacement.

 

This is great news for all of us who still think FM has value. Magnum Dynalab builds some of the best tuners now being made. Thanks to the OP @superbike for updating us.

Hi Everybody,

My name is Ben. I was the only technician who repaired all Magnum Dynalab products for more than 35 years.

If you need your Magnum Dynalab Tuners or Amplifiers repaired, please contact me at: bennguyen007@yahoo.ca.

T: (416) 876-3296.

Thanks

Ben

 

I was able to purchase the new ST-3 antenna from MD. It will back in stock at the end of this month, so I have not received it yet.

Hi

I have 102T at magnum dynalab now that has been there since 9/6/2024 and have been getting the runaround on the repair can’t get a straight answer out of them. I’m wondering if I’ll ever see the tuner again

@yyzsantabarbara if I may ask, what upgrade power cord do you use for your MD 108T? I just acquired a used one. The original cord is pretty lame, but a 10AWG amplifier-grade cord was too much, could not maintain connection. 

Congrats on the MD-108T. I listen to that M-F 9AM-12PM and it is a great tuner. I use the Signal Sleuth and the ST-2 antenna. I am near the ocean surrounded by mountains and the Sleuth and ST-2 are needed,

All of my non-tuner gear is from Benchmark, Schitt, and CODA and I have not felt the power cords made any difference with them. So, I have not invested much money on cords. I did buy a Pangea non-amp cord from someone but that is on a Schitt DAC that may not even benefit from it.

I am cleaning my 2 systems today and will replace the Benchmark OEM cord on the MD-108T with the Pangea to see if it makes a difference. I think it would on the tuner.

Let me know what you find with cords on the MD-108T,

 

 

Appreciate the reply. Guess I can't start experimenting with PCs on the tuner until mid-April when back in town. Looked at a few candidates online but need more research (and more listening time with the stock cable) before deciding which to audition. A reviewer of the original MD 108 (2004) wrote that he immediately upgraded the stock PC, but did not say with what. 
P.S., I use a custom DH Labs10AWG on my CODA amp, 14AWG AudioQuests on two Schiit preamps, but can't swear the latter two make an audible difference.