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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
bryoncunningham
890 posts
 
I've generally had good luck with the reliability of high end products, with one exception: Meridian. I've owned a Meridian G68 for about 4 years and it has given me all kinds of trouble... overheating, a dead power supply, a front panel display that freezes up, the occasional shockingly loud POP, one of which fried a crossover in one of my speakers. Nightmare stuff. The MSRP of the unit at the time I bought it: $10k. Now: $12k.

When the power supply died, I sent the unit to Meridian service. They replaced it and charged me 8 times the cost of the power supply if I had bought it online, which would have been trivial. I'm a fool.

My experience with Meridian's unreliability and greed is definitely not idiosyncratic. If you browse the unofficial Meridian forum, you will see many similar stories.

I still own the Meridian. As I said, I'm a fool.

Bryon
alextychkin
87 posts
 
Never had a problem with anything but French-made CD players. May they rot in hell.
snackeyp's avatar
snackeyp OP
455 posts
 
Quick update. I bought a Music Hall A15.2 integrated amp about two months ago. I hardly used it until a few nights ago. I was listening to my ipod through the mini jack on the front when the left channel went dead. Testing it showed that it was dead through and through, regardless of the source. So, it's in for repair now. Yet another product that I have had trouble with. The good news is that my local dealer is super easy to deal with and is taking care of it.
Because of all my bad luck I have started to buy only new products and mostly buying them locally. In the future I am considering mostly buying products from local companies in fact. I live in the Minneapolis area where there are many high end companies to choose from: Magnepan, Audio Research, Atmasphere, Bel Canto, to name a few.
ebm
9,311 posts
 
Nothing is 100% stuff happens!!
bpwalsh
1,207 posts
 
I agree with Ebm. Infant mortality is one thing, long term unreliability is another entirely. I'm pleased to hear any early problems you experienced have been resolved to your satisfaction, with a good local dealer to help. The bottom line, though, isn't just reliability, it's performance. They don't necessarily go hand in hand.
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