I am sad


I am very sad. Feels like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.

My amplifier is malfunctioning. It happens. Just fix it and move on what’s the big deal? Well I’m trying. I need the company of the amp to send me the invoice so I can buy the part and start the fixing. But they don’t reply to my e-mails. It’s been 3 weeks since the last communication. The amp has been broken for 2 months. I just need them to let me pay for the part. I don’t understand what’s so difficult. I’m sad.

 

I’m unfortunately married to the sound of this amp. For example a person married to the Mcintosh sound or the Pass labs sound. My speakers (Summit X) are amplifier picky. They love this amp. I check my email 20x a day hoping to see the invoice. I also check the junks. They had already said the part is available for $300. I’m not even sad anymore. I am depressed.

128x128samureyex

In your communications with the company, did they agree to sell you the module and then not follow up with any further communication?  I am a bit confused as to how the problem was diagnosed and why the company would agree to send you the parts to do your own fixing.  That is quite unusual.  Most companies don't want the customer so much as opening the equipment case and have warnings about voiding any warranty if the case is opened.  

I am also a bit confused about your switching the two modules to see if that would effect a cure.  Do the two modules have identical parts numbers?  Did the amp only fail in one channel such that a swap of modules in separate channels could confirm that the failed module was the cause?  Did the company recommend this as a diagnostic step?  Did you confirm that it was safe to do the swap?  If you did this on your own, did you practice proper grounding of yourself to prevent electrostatic discharge damage?  It is not clear the extent to which the company endorsed your plan to replace the module and then failed to follow through.

I had a pair of speakers that were sensitive to source, the kef R105/3 with kube. I finally found an amp krell kav300il integrated that smoothed the rough edges in the upper mids/treble. Even with a 2nd power amp driving the woofers the krell would overheat and require service. Once the warranty ran out, the model was discontinued and the unit failed again I went back to trying different amps, but I ended up building an entire new system because I couldn't get the synergy back.

Most companies outsource the different parts in their products so you might be able to go around the amp brand and locate the manufacturer of the $300. part, might even end up only costing $150. 

 

 

The first step with any problem is contacting the dealer who sold you your unit.  The distributor or manufacturer is much more likely to respond quickly to a dealer complaint.  The next step up the chain is the distributor.  If this is not something bought through a dealer you a sort of stuck doing as you have--communicating with the company. 

From your sketchy description of the situation, you somehow got a diagnosis of the problem and are expecting the company to send you the parts to fix the amp.  Who made the diagnosis and who is going to do the parts replacement?  If it is someone other than yourself, you might get that person to help with the company.  Most companies do not want just anyone mucking around in their gear and will want some assurance that the repair will be done correctly and safely.  A bad repair could mean more than just the gear not working, it could be unsafe and it could expose the company to liability.  It is not your fault that the company has stopped communicating, but, perhaps you might have to re-think your plan to do the repair without sending the amp back to the manufacturer.

 

Let's play Read The Thread.

The name of the amp has been said 3 times already.

Let's play guess the amplifier.  Is it bigger than a bread box?

Is it a namebrand most people know?

Does it have a meter on the front?

Is it pretty to look at?

 

so you can empathize with someone whose house burned down @thecarpathian but dismiss the pain of a fellow audiophile forced to live without his favorite amp. Got it.

 

Perhaps that foreign manufacture of your amplifier is too busy trying to figure out how the US tariffs will affect their business?  

@grislybutter , I guess that's one way, but I know for a fact that I do not have flood insurance (as it stands now, 'now' being an operative word, I am well out of the flood plane), and I'd prefer to have my homeowner's cover whatever  happens.

preemptive actions I should consider 

pray for a hurricane and epic floods. 

 

@livinon2wheels , I remember a while back ago on a thread regarding the California fires you mentioned that you were getting the run-around from your homeowners insurance company.  If you do not mind me asking, what exactly is the hassle related to?  I am only asking because I am a paranoid and neurotic individual and if there are any preemptive actions I should consider with my own homeowner's company or policy I would be interested in finding out. 

@kerrybh Thanks for your kind words. Its a good thing they haven't outlawed liquor in VA yet. :). There are many days that end with 2 or 3 stiff ones. The wife is taking it better than I am and it helps me to see someone a bit calmer about it all than I am. She is a keeper even if she does drive me right to the brink sometimes. :)

I certainly get the desire to have that which you cherish working and fully functional again. How about this perspective. Losing your home to fire and everything of value in it, save for a few less desirable pieces. I can still listen to music via streaming sources, but all the media and most of the equipment accumulated over my 72 years is gone...forever...I will eventually get to move back into a rebuilt house if I live long enough, but I have no idea when that will be. It is the not knowing when that is the most troublesome...I have no clue how long the insurance company is going to drag its feet delaying the process even further than the usual construction delays associated with multiple subcontractors schedules. Let alone when I will be able to start buying new gear in earnest. This has dragged on 11 months with no end to it in sight. So I have a real good understanding of what it means to wait for something with no clue when the waiting will be over.

I didn't know doge cut humor too, they probably didn't have to....

I am not attacking you brain size, I am above that but we all know the difference between your kind and mine angel 

 

(I almost said, they would make the country join BRICS and slap a huge tariff on them, but they would be considered political here so I didn't say it) 

Yep, the mental giant that you are, you didn't say it...

 It seems you enjoy self-identifying as a victim.

That certainly reminds me of someone.

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.....okay as per the OP, a person's perspective is purely subjective. Then why does the OP protest that he is right and the rest of us who have answered this thread are wrong or don't know the true meaning of ; '' perspective ''. I had noted in this thread that I had cancer a few years back and it was thankfully caught in the very early stages but it really made me think about my priorities in life. The things I used to worry about then seem soo trivial now. I still do not have my Accuphase DC 1000 transport back yet after over 2 months in repair. Years ago I would have been out of my mind really mad about the situation but now, I realize it is not fatal and I will not die from this . That my friends is Perspective to me !        

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Like I said perspective changes with time. If I had started a thread on the day my destroyed amp had arrived I would have used words like devastated, depressed, traumatized. Perspective very much tied to context, so in the context of time I can emphasize with @samureyex .

 

Context  could also include a disease called audiophilia, this hobby can often feel like an obsession in which case emotional emotional connection to our equipment can arise. Not being able to see the forest for the trees is a common affliction of humans.

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All joking aside and the  essays about the word “perspective” (which i enjoyed) how can we contact the damn place for you that got your amp? I will go there tomorrow to end your suffering 

What. Is. The. Place?

@samureyex 

As the saying goes, "Never wrestle with a pig, because you both get dirty and the pig likes it".

"You accidentally kicked the couch and broke your pinky..."

What's your perspective on having your fingers on your feet?

 

@grislybutter ,

I am in full agreement with @thecarpathian this time, for once. I have disagreed with everything he said in the past though. Somehow in this thread he found thruthiness.

knew this day would come..!

@samureyex ,

 

"To conclude. people perceive values differently, this is perspective. Not your "get over it with your minor problem" perspective.. I’ve never claimed my problem to be big or severe or anything more than it is. A guy with a broken amplifier that can’t get it fixed."

This, is a blatant contradiction of your own words. You’ve absolutely claimed it to be so.

OK, now I’m done. Maybe.

 

@samureyex ,

What the heck, I’ll try one more time...

You’re confusing having a perspective with keeping things in perspective.

They are two different things. Your perspective on not being able to play your favorite amp is, to loosely quote; ’sad’, ’depressing’, ’agonizing’, a ’struggle’, and your situation is making you ’desperate’. From my perspective, it’s hyperbolic nonsense to attach words that carry so much weight to describe your situation. Take your last post to @sns ​​​​​ where your perspective of his amp being destroyed is ’devastating’. My perspective is it’s unfortunate and it sucks it happened, but keeping things in perspective, hardly ’devastating’. You see the problem? It’s your choice of the massively exaggerated words you use to convey your thoughts, like when someone hears something they think is mildly amusing and declares it to be ’hilarious’. Such weighty words should be used where the situation warrants it, and from my perspective, your situation in no way does. So with keeping things in perspective, yes war is devastating, famine is devastating, cancer is devastating. A broken amp, no.

 

@sns That is devastating. I'm sorry to hear about your amp. A big part of the struggle is not knowing when or if you'd receive it. 

How that amp found its way back to you after 2 years is... I don't have a word.

My perspective is that I have zero amps right now. And I feel fine. I can listen to music on my laptop.  I am pretty sure I will soon have an amp. If I had 4, I am not sure how I could feel worse that I don’t have 5.

I can relate to OP in that I had a $18k amp completely destroyed by a tech, and when the laser mechanism in a great cd transport died. Amp shows up at my door after two years gone missing, open up box, chassis absolutely destroyed like someone took sledgehammer to it. I actually cried at first sight of that amp, and this after waiting for two years.

 

Sometimes perspective changes with time, for the two years amp was lost I contacted law enforcement, attorneys, damn thing nearly always on my mind. In the immediate aftermath of receiving beyond repair amp I was certainly depressed.  Over time the memory of these losses has faded, perspectives change.

To some people, war isn’t even a problem. To some, it is a solution. To some, it is an opportunity for profit. So again, how can you quantified who’s had it worse when it’s different value for everyone?

My question remains, who here understands perspective?

@roxy54 Your definition of perspective is faulty and incomplete. As I’ve stated back in page 1. When perspective is in the equation. One person’s problem can be big, and the same problem can be small to another person.

1) You accidentally kicked the couch and broke your pinky, does it ease your pain knowing someone else has lost an entire leg? How about the person who lost their leg, does it ease their pain knowing someone else has lost both?

2) Someone with chronic migraine, vs someone with stage 4 cancer. Who’s had it worse? Does it help the migraine person knowing that someone else has it worse? What if the person with cancer is ready to go. And the person with migraine is actually the one with the worse problem?

3) What about war? Which one is worse, a war, or 3 billion people in famine? How can you quantified these things?

4) Does worrying about war or famine somehow get my amp fixed?

To some people, war and serious illness are minor problems. To them, losing the country, is a much bigger problem. Are you going to tell these war-torn people with serious illness that their problems are minor, they still have their country?

To conclude. people perceive values differently, this is perspective. Not your "get over it with your minor problem" perspective.. I’ve never claimed my problem to be big or severe or anything more than it is. A guy with a broken amplifier that can’t get it fixed.

I find it strange that OP is not mentioning the company. I have seen on this forums, that folks help finding another “source” for parts , etc. 

Not sure why OP is in self-pity mode. The company doesn’t give a damn about the OP; else they would have responded quickly. Good luck.

Nobody said that you can’t have an emotion. We have simply suggested that you realize that your situation is comparatively minor next to war or serious illness for example . Your definition of perspective is faulty and incomplete.

Sometimes it takes the perspective of others to put us back on track. Think about it while you listen to some music.

@grislybutter I’ll accept your answer too. Try "accurately and fairly judged" something in perspective.

In fact, I challenge every person that had used the word "perspective" and prove to me you understand what it actually means.

I am in full agreement with @thecarpathian this time, for once. I have disagreed with everything he said in the past though. Somehow in this thread he found thruthiness.

@stringreen My amp went bad yesterday.....left speaker doesn’t work. It’s an Ayre ....weighs in at about 100 lbs. It cost 1000 dollars for shipping to Ayre and back. Damned it!!

 

A fresh reminder why I switched approach past few years acquiring amplifiers built within 1-2 hours drive time from my residence. I need to try and stick to that when I start rubbenecking again for the next amp. Big iron costs more in a few different ways it seems. Sorry to learn about your costly shipping experience - but at least you got it fixed. Good for you.

They have a Facebook page, but not much activity and zero comments from consumers. I'm guessing they don't allow comments.