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Are High End Audio Products Unreliable?

I don't know if it's just my bad luck but since I've gotten back into high end audio in the past year I have purchased several components that have developed problems that I have never experienced while owning mass produced Japanese components of the 70's and 80's.
First was my Well Tempered turntable. Granted , it was old, but the design is so simple that it should be pretty bomb proof. That one got a lot better once I got everything dialed in, but what a pain in the butt just to get it there.
Second was my Lehmann Black Cube phono preamp, which developed a bad channel. Then it was the Parasound JC-3 phono preamp that was bad out of the box, but was replaced with a new one (no issues since). Next, my Cambridge Azur 840C CD player developed issues loading CDs (no other issues but this is annoying). Then I bought a Furutech GT-40 DAC that had noise when playing computer files through the USB (replaced with a new unit which works great). Next, I bought a CARY SLI-80 amp that was physically damaged out of the box but worked fine at first, but after a couple of weeks developed an issue with the remote relay and required me to send it back for repair. I got a new unit from Upscale that is working great.
I'm not a total hamfist who is hard on equipment, I swear. I'm super careful with my stuff, I run everything through power conditioners, and know how to set up equipment. I must be unlucky. Or have others had similar experiences as mine?
128x128snackeyp
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Larryi,
Rush would need two life times to equal the mangled logic of Bill Maher or Chris Matthews have provided.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Charles1dad- You may have blown your chance to borrow my KRs and AVVTs ;-) Just kidding. Drop me an email if you are interested.
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
Swampwalker,

Not trying to start an arguement, but your analogy is a bit flawed. If those engines are expected to fail at those times and the user knows this, then there's no issue. If an amp is expected to last, say, 10 years and goes bad after 2, there's a problem. If a CD laser is expected to last 1000 hours and goes bad after 10, that's an issue.

I don't have the money most here have (no issue with that), but I've bought what I can reasonably afford. My decision to buy a Bryston B60 had a lot to do with their warranty and service. Spending that much money, I expect to have it for a very long time. They also upgraded it to SST status for very little money.

I really like Bryston's model - every piece gets played for 100 hours and a final check-out sheet with measurements before it leaves the factory. Their warranty coverage is as rock solid as I've seen it come. I know several who've bought older gear, and Bryston updated it for very little cost, relatively speaking.

I'm not saying Bryston is the only company who does any of these things though.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Swampwalker I sent you an email last week but did`nt get a reply.It turns out someone locally will loan me his EML XLS and KR 300b tubes. Thanks again for your very kind offer.
Regards,
larryi
4,095 posts
 
Perhaps some high end gear is more prone to failure because the typical high end "manufacturer" is a very small operation with perhaps one person doing all of the designing/engineering. That one person may not be the absolute best at all aspects of design (e.g., not a power supply specialist).

Also, with a small operation, there is less likelihood that a design has been tested to work under a wide variety of conditions. I know someone who had a DAC that was way too sensitive to static discharge (damaged from someone touching the controls). Likewise, I had experience with a phonostage that would shut down from the static discharge from a table/arm that was prone to such discharges no matter how it was grounded. Interestingly, both products came from Southern California--I bet they don't have the same kind of dry winter air we have on the East Coast. A friend had multiple failures of his tube amps made in England--the diodes in the rectifier simply could not handle the poorly regulated power of Northern Virginia (more robust diodes finally cured the problem.
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