**Advice Needed**Damage To Imported Speakers**


Hey everyone..
 2+ years ago I had a crush on the Heco "Aurora 700 Colors" model in the Sunrise Orange color..The ONLY place to buy Heco speakers in the USA had NO intention of bringing these in,so I contacted an Authorized Dealer in the United Kingdom,KRONOS AUDIO VISUAL (UK) LIMITED...
 They offered me a decent price so a deal was concluded..The speakers arrived in a few weeks & after unboxing one of them,visual inspection revealed a corner seam split open & separating about 6" long & up from the bottom..
 I immediately took several pics & emailed Kronos AV..NO reply..Week after week,month after month for the last 2 years I have emailed not only Kronos AV but Heco Germany as well..NEITHER company has EVER seen fit to even acknowledge receipt of my emails,let alone the actual problem..
 The Warranty was supposed to be 5 years & I really like the speakers sound BUT I couldn't ever sell them if I wanted because of the cabinet..So far the split has not expanded,probably because the speakers haven't moved since set up..
 ANY advice from the community on how to proceed from here?Am I just screwed & have no path to getting these fixed?
 Thanks very much.Take care..
 

freediver

Did you ever try calling either the dealer or Heco since emailing didn’t work?

Remember, once you attempt to repair the cabinet, all bets are off and you may void the warranty. I would mail a certified and regular postage letter to the manufacturer and audio shop. Document phone calls and attempts as well. If you don’t receive a response, I would leave comments on every social media platform possible, share your experience, and warn people about the seller and manufacturer. I would bet a paycheck that if you leave negative comments on Instagram, Facebook, etc., someone will reach out within hours.

If all else fails, find a custom woodworker, not just a regular cabinet shop, to repair the crack with structural epoxy - possibly T88. It’s hard to determine the best method without examining the speaker cabinet. Best of luck!

I don’t think we need to tell OP the lesson he should learn from this.

Adding pictures to the post would help.  Has the OP determined what he would like Kronos to do about the damage?  If it was to be covered by insurance with the carrier, it’s probably too late for Kronos to make a claim.  Maybe getting a local estimate for repair and asking Kronos to cover it would be the best way to proceed.  Perhaps the repair could even be accomplished at the same time.

Are you sure it wasn’t sold as a "B" grade item or something (’B’ for Brit 😁 ) while you were talking with him? got lost in translation somewhere? I ask because he did give you a "killer deal"... a killer deal for a handy man/self made/ hardworking carpenter apparently!....If that’s not the case and all the packaging seemed solid (didn’t look like it got bashed and fell 10 feet on a ship or something), it could be that he just screwed you.

For anything perceived as a "higher risk" purchase, you should consider making such a purchase with certain types of credit cards with very good "purchase protection" benefits. The good ones will cover up to 50k at times for a consumer card. Typically, they’ll require a very high credit score, an annual fee, etc (miniscule in comparison to the cost of hifi). In other words, all credit cards are not the same. You will need to go with the big banking dogs and not some wimpy li’l credit union... The big dogs have more ways to cover you and screw him.

 

 

chipped off piece off the cabinet can be easily fixed with wood epoxy. I've done that many times with zero to miniscule visibility of repair. That's a lot easier for me than go litigation or financial war with outlanders that sent you these speakers. To hold repair together, you will need a rubber ribbon loop around the entire speaker cabinet. Rubber ribbon you can probably get at pharmacies. That will ensure minimal and invisible gap. Make sure to wipe off all excessive liquids. If you are ready for such "surgery", you can post pictures just in case so advise would be more precise on how to safely put it together.