My arcam alpha 7 can't read help


I have an arcam alpha 7 that I'm using as a transport with an ART/DIO. The problem is that the Alpha 7 cannot read alot of songs. An example: I was playing a Joe Strummer CD tonight - it would start reading a track and skip from, say, 0:00 to 1:17 and then jump to track 2 at 0:37, etc etc. Sometimes if I fiddle with the drawer it will pick up a problem track, and it seems to have problem tracks on most of my cd's. However, the cd's play fine in my boom box and my disc man.

I took it back to the dealer who sent it out to be repaired. They replaced a DAC module, and didn't fix the problem. Since then, I've moved away, and the warranty is over, for what it's worth.

Question: what does it sound like is going on? any tips about troubleshooting this? anything I can do on my own, or have a local electronics place try to do without costing an arm and a leg? I think I got a lemon with this model, I've had this problem with it since I bought it 2 years ago. I haven't heard other arcam owners complain, and I like the sound of it on its own and with the ART DIO.

Thank you!

Robert
robertd
Marakanetz:

It happens with or without the external DAC. I bought the DAC 6 months ago, but the player's been doing this for years. I'll contact ASL - see if they can take care of me. I bought this machine with the idea that I'd eventually drop $1000 to upgrade to the 9. But I didn't want the 9 with the same problem. At least I can get another player as a transport if this one goes.
I used to have the same problem with McCormack Mod Squad CD-player. If I was running it without DAC everything was fine. The next thing I've done to get rid of that problem is I've bought a dedicated transport and feel happy still.

I've assumed that you would play successfully your CDs in the player itself with no DAC. If such thing will not take place, you should contact the manufacturer and explain the situation when you've sent your unit and the problem wasn't fixed.
Robert,

Contact the US distributor @ www.aslgroup.com. I know a couple of people that had out of warranty products that got repaired for no charge. Especially if you have documentation of previous problems, I'm fairly confident that ASLgroup will help you.

Enjoy,

TIC