No issues with mine but contact the U.S. distributor Robert Stein of the Cable Co.He will take care of it. |
i have been in contact with the manufacturer in germany. reiner has been prompt in replying and very accommodating.
mine, upon initial power up, did not grab and spin the record. i sent it back directly to germany and he sent me a new unit. i received it before i actually shipped my old unit back. reiner sent me all kinds of fluid and replacement rollers to offset the hipping costs.
my canadian dealer was less than accommodating, so i dealt directly. |
Thanks, I did contact the CableCo, that is where I purchased it and have been waiting to hear back from them for a while now, Will continue to leave messages/e-mails. I did e-mail Germany this past week and have not heard back yet. I am confident it will be fixed, I just have gotten so used to using it I feel a little lost without it. |
It's a nice unit, been thinking about it myself having over 10,000 records. For price of nearly $4k the warranty should be near Bryston IMHO + repeated reliability issues from owners... |
Both the CableCo and the manufacturer have gotten back to me and I have every confidence that they are backing this item 100%. Offered a replace or repair. Great companies and great cleaner. Czarivery, with 10,000 records that is about 40 cents a record to clean. |
My unit failed after about 1000 cycles last fall. The rollers would not retract after the unit drained and was ready to dry the record. It had to go back to Germany for repairs. It has been great ever since. It's good the warranty is 3 years. |
Rockitman, the warranty period is 2 years, not 3. I have had mine for about a year already without a problem but have cleaned far less than what you have. For what this costs I hope the long term reliability for much lighter use is ok. |
I just surpassed a year this month. 1 more to go. If it fails then, I'll get it fixed, sell it and buy the Kl Audio ultrasonic unit. http://klaudio.com/ |
Are you serious the K1 is the ugliest thing I ever seen. |
Jwm, you're very happy one on earth.
It looks pretty to me at least. |
Are you serious the K1 is the ugliest thing I ever seen. The audio Desk never was a reliable unit. And that is a difference in comparison with nice optics. I can understand Rockitman, I would do the same (but I never bought the AD based on what I wrote about it). But it is common among Enthusiasts that they listen with their eyes... |
Yes AD was not reliable at first, but that problem has been fixed. AD is not the only company VTL was very unreliable in the beginning until Luke Manley took over the company from his father. |
Does anybody know at about what serial number AD got their RC (more) reliable?
Just wondering what I can expect down the road |
Does anybody know at about what serial number AD got their RC (more) reliable? 08-22-13 |
I was very interested in AD for a few years but reported problems kept me away. After I heard that much of the reliability problem has been solved plus local dealer was changed I was reconsidering it again.However, over the past 1 year, I knew of at least 2 of 4 units that my friends bought that still needed to be sent back to Germany for repair within 3 months after purchasing and local dealer only gave 1 year warranty (I assume that meant he will only cover the cost of shipping back and forward for 1 year) so I hesitated again. I like the result of its cleaning but I would really hate to be an owner of a unit that would need to take a trip here and there! Klaudio definitely looks more promising, less moving parts etc but have not heard much about other people's experience yet. |
It looks like K1 maybe a better deal as there are less moving parts that could potentially break. Bur $4k is still lots of money. Maybe prices will start to drop now that there are more competition....
FrankC |
Well, since I opened this can of worms I thought I would give an update. The place I bought if from new said that they would send a replacement as soon as they can. the manufacturer asked me to send it in and he would address it as soon as he see's it. The problem being I am in Minnesota and he wants me to ship it to Germany. I still think it is a wonderful product and is well made, but even if they have solved the reliability issue and my difficulties are the rarity, these things will need maintenance every once in awhile. Rollers will wear, fan motors might need replacing, etc. the fact that they have NO provisions for repair, warranty or otherwise, in the US has been my biggest surprise and the only thing in the whole purchase that is upsetting. Those of you with the AD cleaner, I recommend you join with me and advocate to the maker that they set up some service relationship with someone in the US, I plan on using this for a lot of years. |
Do have mine from the very beginning, one of the first units ever made.
I had the problems mentioned here, too. They were fixed and I had no problems again. Since then no need to change any parts. The AD grew under the hands of the first users :-)
I use the AD parallel to my Source Odysee. i had the Clearaudio, wasn't really convinced and sold it.
In Germany the company is fast in servicing. I don't know how it works in other countries. As there seems to be a good margin for the distributors I think you have good reasons for establishing a fully working servicing contract. |
I am an Audio Desk owner. Here is my story:
Issue #1
I purchased the machine from "The Cable Company" about a year ago. My unit was DOA. The red button to activate the cleaning cycle was inoperable. I requested a replacement model to be shipped since they had my credit card info, and I'd send back the defective unit. I was told no replacement could be sent, and that I had to return the unit for service. OK...I sent it back. They replaced the switch.
Issue #2
Every record I cleaned required manual wiping to remove numerous water drops. I tried everything I could think of, I even took the fan covers off to see if that would allow more air volume. No dice. I once again requested a replacement, and again was told that I had to send it back for repair. After a couple of week, they told me that they had fixed it, and it working as like new. When I received it back, they had placed some of those plastic ties, the ones you use to tie off garbage bags, behind the wipers or "lips" to increase contact. I was told that everything was operating as it should. Their remedy had no effect on the drying, I still had to wipe every record.
Issue #3
I once again complained about the non-drying of the unit and once again requested a replacement unit and was told I had to ship it back as they now had a factory authorized remedy. I sent it back and the fix actually seemed to work.
Issue #4
After receiving the unit back from the factory drying fix, I cleaned about 100 LPs, and then the wheels that grip the record and the brush barrels refused to let go at the end of the cycle. Even after numerous attempts to reset the machine, they would not release. I once again requested a replacement. Their response: I could return it again for service or they would "allow" me a trade in value of $2000 for my LEMON unit towards a new "improved" one.
OK...I guess I was desperate because when this thing works it is wonderful, and I was tired of messing with an obviously defective machine. Although I was angry that I couldn't get a replacement under warranty, I ponied up another $2000 for a "new and improved" one. Now I wish I had just sent to old one back for more repair.
The new one worked great...no water spotting and records clean as you can imagine.
Issue #5
After cleaning about 20 LPs, the records wouldn't rotate. I found that the rubber wheel that grips the LP and at the same time drives the cleaning brushes was spinning on its shaft. Now after only two days of use, the new one has to be sent back for repairs.
So now I have $6000 invested in a $4000 machine (I still think the machine should have been replaced under warranty), and it is once again on its way back across the country for more repair.
I contacted Ultrasystem (the US importer) today, and they apologized for my troubles and promised to get this fixed. I'm hoping for the best.
I wish I had known about the KL unit before I agreed to the new AD unit. Well, that's High End :-) |
Well, how about an update. I sent my RCM to the Cable Company. they will take care of sending it to Germany if it cannot be repaired here. In the meantime they are sending me a loaner unit. They seem to be very interested in keeping me happy. |
