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My Cary amp - the story of a hum and a bug

Hi,
I have had a problem with my Cary SA200.2 power amp from the time i bought it 3 years ago. There's a hum from both speakers (doesn't increase when the volume is turned up). The hum is there irrespective of the connected preamp or power source and even if i take the amp to another city or location. I was told by the dealer that such a mild hum is normal in such a powerful amp. It was only later that I realized that a solid state amp with a toroidal transformer, however powerful, should not have any audible hum. By then, it was out of warranty.

With the help of the India dealer, I wrote to Cary in the US. From their delayed and intermittent responses, it appears that the hum is a known issue, inherent in the design of the amp, that needs a 'fix', which is taken care of in the newer model of the amp. The 'fix' consists of a cable with caps and a bridge rectifier. Shockingly, they expect that I should pay around $210 + duties for this. To me, it is not a question of money, but one of principle! Why should I pay for them to fix a bug, even if the amp is out of warranty? I even suggested that it will not cost me more than $30 to build the cable here in India if they can send the diagram and component values for this fix. But Cary is adamant that I either pay for the cable or trade in my amp for a new +1 model!! In desperation, I requested that they send me the service manual of the amp, hoping to address the bug with the help of the manual. Back comes the reply that it is proprietary and that they cannot share it with customers. The dealer has been unable to exert any real pressure on Cary to resolve this issue.

I would like to know, from fellow FMs:
1. Is Cary justified in it's stand?
2. Role of local distributors/dealers?
3. Does any other FM own a Cary SA 200.2 and how he has fixed this issue.
4. Can the electronic experts suggest the specs to filter out the hum?
5. Will adding this filter adversely affect the sound quality?

CUT TO CHINA:
I have a Chinese made integrated amp (Kinki Studio). It is no slouch, having been awarded the Blue Moon award by none other than Srajen of 6moons. I blew the amp some time ago by an incorrect connection. It was my fault. But within minutes of sending an email, the dealer in Singapore was on whatsapp chatting with me, asking for photographs, communicating with the manufacturer, suggesting diagnostic checks. Within 24 hours, they realized it could not be fixed via distance communication with a non-electronics-trained user like me. Within a week, a pair of new power amp boards arrived by DHL, shipped at the dealer's cost, with detailed instructions on how to replace the boards. The only cost I incurred was the cost of shipping the old boards back to them for diagnosis. So I guess Xi Jinping wins this round :) 

Thanks for reading
fiftyfifty
Post removed 
kaufman's avatar
kaufman
40 posts
 
I had a poor experience with Cary Audio in the late 90s and no longer use their products. We purchased their popular 300B monoblocks and accompanying preamplifier for trade show use (CES and Stereophile shows) and worked quite well with our speakers.
A couple of years later Cary Audio requested that we ship a pair of our speakers to them free of charge and shipping on my dime. The speakers were disassembled in order to reverse engineer them and they did a poor job of putting them back together—that’s how I knew they were disassembled, and our proprietary wiring, crossover and solder were taken apart.
Cary Audio released a speaker line very similar to my speakers a year later. I was in my 20s and disappointed in their actions and never used their products again. 
rikhav
2 posts
 
Even I use an amp probably deisgned in Germany, made in USA but don't have any issues.
Odyssey stratos and the owner of the company would go absolutely out of way to solve any issues a customer would have 
Power supply in India is not so bad that it would need a special design to make it work.
jpsreno
77 posts
 
I have Cary equipment and so do several friends.   We have had great support and modifications done by them.   I admit I love the sound and overall build quality.  We are all tube.    I would fualt your dealer on this and go after them to cover all shipping costs.  They sold you a bunch of BS on the hum and had you wait until warranty has expired.  Their bad and dishonesty.
fiftyfifty OP
12 posts
 
Thanks for the responses.

I realize now that there are others like me who have not had too great an experience with Cary Audio. Some of you have had to deal with worse situations as compared to my hum issue. I realize that the dealer too is to be held accountable. But as a customer, I see the company and its dealer as a single entity. It is for them to communicate and sort it out with each other to resolve my issue. 
I've been able to find a technician who is confident of eliminating the hum. I don't know at this stage whether it will cost me more or less than what i would have to pay to Cary. But, like I said earlier, it was never a matter of money.
Cheers!
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