DC Leakage and dealer issues

Tell them that the original amp should have been covered under warranty. After all, a dealer that pops a brand new amp / has a unit that develops problems is not expected to pay, are they ??? If they give you a hard time, tell them that your schedule is busy and that you will forward them a bill for wasting your time in terms of making you deal with under-designed and defective products. Also let them know that it could hurt their business if you were to leak what a shitty product it was that they made, how other reputable products have better protection and / or ran perfectly under identical conditions and how they treated you as a potential customer and / or dealer when the product failed to operate under normal conditions. No need to ship any of your other products out for verification since the other products that are of REAL quality had no problems operating. Sean
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Without stating my thought as to who this designer/company probably is, the main thing I note from your post is this incongruity: The amp supposedly has DC 'protection circuitry', yet you go on to suggest that the manufacturer characterizes it as having 'blown up' and needing $400 worth of repair. Does that strike you as being as contradictory and foul-smelling as it does me? Even if his diagnoses is correct (despite your other evidence and experiences with the other amps), shouldn't his first amp have performed the same way as the second and shut down unharmed? The only thing you should pay for is whatever you both agreed to from the start, and anything else is on the manufacturer for offering to operate in home-audition, direct-sell mode due to their lack of a local dealer. The possibility that the first amp might not have been damaged if used with a different preamp doesn't mean that it wasn't faulty, just that the fact might not have been revealed otherwise. (Can't help but wonder what he'd be saying now if you had agreed to become a dealer...)

It sounds like you're going to send the incompatible power amp back and get a refund net of the repair costs. Get your poweramp-eating preamp checked out. Then it's up to you to show the manufacturer that you and your unit behaved in a reasonable fashion. Did your auditioning begin after you blew up the power amp you had to begin with? If you don't get satisfaction in the trenches, escalate your request to the marketing manager of the parent company. If the company is publically traded, go to a stock quote website and read the news. Press releases usually contain a contact name and email addy for the top public relations person at a company. Use a gimmick, like the company's own slogan which may tout their products' reliability or other reputed qualities. You'll find it on their website. Show that they failed to come through on the promise they made to the public. Through it all, act calmly and reasonably and present verifiable facts and dates. So keep a diary of who said and did what, including your own actions, as events occur. Present the story without adding your opinion. It's ok to say how you feel but there's no need to explain why. In the end, if you have a reasonable case and can truthfully portray yourself as the innocent witness to the unreasonable acts of the company, you'll get results. However, if it turns out that you are at fault, prepare youself to accept the same responsibility you might wish in inspire in the company.

Sean & Zaikesman,

Thanks for your replies. I can always count on both of you to give honest opinions even if someone does not agree with them. I emailed the same thing to the designer about why I should pay the repair and how come the second amp did not blow the fuses and cause any damages. The second amp keeps turning off after 5-10 minutes but has not blown any fuses. The problem is I sent my check and they can return a check to me in any amount they want. I have learned a big lesson here and I probably will never consider another company without checking out their customer relations, custmer polieies and will probably lean towards USA companies in the future.

Bob Crump told me to replace the tubes and that he feels I will never be able to detect a burping tube that may be on its way out. He had a similiar experience with one of his JC-1 amps and a reviewer with a BAT VK-30.

How do you tell if a tube is going bad and how much damage can happen to your system?

Where do I get the best 6H tubes for my BAT?

I will probably post a follow up to the final outcome next week. Should I spill the beans on who it is then?

Thanks

Peter
bigkidz@optonline.net

Did you have the Canadian amp set to French or English when it blew? (just kidding.)