Simaudio doesnt stock parts for discontinued produ

i was really firedup for some simaudio products and this information is not so encouraging...im interested how would they react if it is some inner parts problem...

First Classe moving to China and now Simaudio doing its stuff. Who is next?

Yeah, I was really disappointed because I was considering going to an all Simaudio setup, but clearly not now. Any other manufacturers have the same parts policy?

I might understand that a certain electronic component has been discontinued, but there is usually a replacement. A faceplate doesnt have any option to buy elsewhere, and since one of their sales promotions is that you can get the equipment in two different colors, black and aluminum, you would think that they would have a faceplate around, less than two years after production ended. But no.
So, I guess no one better scratch theirs. And I probably should have checked on availability before I bought mine in the wrong color. But hey, live and learn.

I can see how that could be frustrating, however, your headline is misleading and unfair to simaudio. You are implying that it would be impossible to fix any discontinued product and no critical parts are made available. Is this a fact? The most important parts to make available and be able to help customers with are the ones that make your product work. I would be more concerned if I couldn't get a capacitor or something that rendered your unit inoperable and worthless rather than a poor match with your other equipment. I doubt that is the case from Simaudio.

There is an economic reality to small scale specialty production and downstream support. The faceplate is purely cosmetic and if someone is buying a new production unit it is easy to select the faceplate of choice at that time. I am guessing that this would be a very unusual request for them on gear that is already sold since most people buy what they want and take good care of their gear. Most electronic related replacement parts are fairly cheap to keep in stock whereas a faceplate could be much more expensive in comparison.

I am guessing that if simaudio did in fact go to the trouble of making extra faceplates, keeping them in inventory in case someone desired a different look, that the price they would ask for this convenience would appear as highway robbery and you wouldn't get it anyway.

And I would think that any high-end company should stock or be able to order any part for the unut of less than two years old. We are not talking twenty years old, even Rowland wouldn't have it, I guess.
I too wouldn't buy anything from them, not that I was going to.

I agree with Maineiac.

Look, I asked for one part and was told they dont have it because the unit was discontinued in 2010. No other comment and I didnt start asking about parts I didnt need. So my heading accurately reflects my experience and Simaudio's response. If you want to add the word "some" before "parts" have at it, but I dont know if that is accurate either.

But I dont agree with your position. the internal parts can typically be found anywhere, such as capacitors or resistors. the board may be custom, but not the pieces. however, a face plate cannot be found anywhere else, and with their logo, is impossible to replace elsewhere. And thats the only thing you see, the one part they have taken great effort to design and reflect their product. the rest of it is just a box with off the shelf electronic parts, arrange in a particular way. Good parts yes, but not otherwise irreplaceable.

Just seems to me that a unit less than 2 years old should be able get every part, and if not, then I need to look elsewhere.

The headline should read "Audiophile Wants Balls Wrapped in Warm Towel". All this angst is about mismatched colors of components. If this was a beer commercial your post would be the second unmanly thing you did today.

I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to read post like this anymore!

Your headline is not accurate because it is totally misleading in that it asserts that no parts (note the plural) are stocked for discontinued products.

The headline should read: "Simaudio doesn't stock replacement faceplates for discontinued products" You inquired about "a" part that wouldn't even be relevant to 99% of the people that would need "parts".

I think we all agree that a manufacturer should stock critical non standard parts for discontinued items.

And all this is from a laywer if I am not mistaken.
Thread Adjourned!

I guess I stand corrected. Looks like my experience is not unexpected and acceptable in this industry.

It appears the replacement phono amp is the same size as yours. Have you asked if Simaudio can simply put the new phono amp face plate in silver on your unit?

I know for fact they have done this in the past.

I agree that the situation sucks. If you can't get the face plate, there are two options (one rather bold).

1) Buy another one and sell yours (I did this with my CD player to get the one with the black face) or;

2) Have the face plate refinished (sanded and re-anodized). It might be cheaper than getting a new one from Sim Audio if it was available!

Ketchup,
I would hope that if I could have used the new one, Simaudio would have said so. Whatever, its not that important to me looks wise, just surprised, thats all.

One question that comes up is, first, how many extras were made beyond those used for production and then, how many of those were used to replace damaged ones, or for people like me who want to change face plates. I would hope there werent many damaged ones.

In 30 years of buying hifi and 15 years reading internet forums about hifi, this is the first time i've come across someone who wanted to change the faceplate on an item. I've seen countless adverts for components where the seller mentions a scratch or shows a close up photo of such and again, even on very expensive items i've never seen mention of replacing the scratched part with new. With that in mind, I don't believe it would even enter the thoughts of a hifi company to manufacture extra faceplates in case someone wanted to change the colour down the track.

I agree with the posters above that your topic heading makes it look like Simaudio doesn't stock any parts for repair which is what piqued my interest and why i opened the post. It's a false claim the way you've worded it.

I would hope that if I could have used the new one, Simaudio would have said so. Whatever, its not that important to me looks wise, just surprised, thats all.

I actually meant that you could buy a used one here on Audiogon and swap the faces. It shouldn't cost you much more than the shipping charge for the one you'd purchase. Then, when you go to sell yours, just state in your ad that you switched face plates to keep everything honest.

For what it's worth, in 8 years of reading about and buying stereo gear, I have heard of at least one person who wanted to chance face plates on an item, not including myself. They come up for sale right here semi frequently because of this. Manitunc, you're not alone!

Diggory,
Since Simaudio offers a choice of faceplates for their equipment, either black or polished aluminum, I would think they would have had a stock of each to put on as orders came in. Or they may have just decided to build a certain number of each color.

Upon reflection, the title of my post could have been worded differently and more specifically, given the posts that indicate confusion or surprise. I wrote it just after I got Simaudio's response, and I was a bit floored by that response. Unfortuntatley, I dont know of any way to change the title once it is posted. But i stand behind what have written in these posts.