Counterpoint SA-5000 or First Sound Presence Pre

Just for the record I had one of the defective sa-5000 preamps the wiring inside was to short to survive the use of its transport screws broken wires shorted to something inside sent amp into fits welded speaker cones solid they said they would fix problem in future production goodriddens counterpoint

S23chang:

I'm terribly sorry if sharing my experience has offended you, it wasn't meant to. I've had 3 pieces of Counterpoint gear, all taken in on horse-trades, all 3 ran for less than a month before requiring service. In my experience, Counterpoint had reliability issues. I had to pay the price of repairing all 3 units, then sold them at a loss.

In my opinion it was product failure, a reliability problem, that led to Counterpoints demise. Don't believe it? Do a search on any audiophile BBS for "Counterpoint + reliability". I'll bet that there are less satisfied customers than you realize.

Or, better yet, how about we start a new thread both here and at Audio Asylum asking folks to share their "Counterpoint Experience" with us? I may be wrong. Maybe a new thread would settle this?

You own a SA-5000 that hasn't failed you yet. Consider yourself lucky. Many (like myself) weren't so lucky ...

Hi jes45@aol.com,
It didn't offend me. I'm pretty sure that it was not just me got lucky. I personally own 3 piece of counterpoint product and never had issues. I also have 4 other friends who owns counterpoint SA5000 and never had any issue. Usually the folks who are unhappy speak the loudest. So I still believe the defective rate is not that high.
I had a brand new Bryston amp for 6 month and one channel busted on me so I sent it back for repair. Bryston's services is excellent and the amp works great afterward. I wouldn't say the Bryston is unreliable because of this incident.
I sold the Bryston and switched to tube gear because of preference and not based on failure issue.

I think I had enough of this reliability discussion that we should call it quit. Each of you can say anything you wish but you can only experience the equipment's capability or reliability by owning one.

S23chang i think you are lucky to not have repairs required.

however you may want to reconsider what you said.... "you can only experience the equipment's capability or reliability by owning one "

i am of the belief that learning by other peoples mistakes and experiences ( as well as people learn by mine) is a very valuable tool.

to learn only by your own experinece and not others is very short sighted and offers a narrow learing experince ( i dont need to go through chemotherapy to know how painful the treatment is)

my opinion of relaiblity is based upon what i have seen with my eyes ( amps going up in smoke with a really easy load)

hear from relaible sources- dealers that i have known 20 plus years and shoot straight and are very much tube gear experts ( 30 plus years )who wont carry their gear

and...

other audiophiles who have owned the gear and attest to the unrelaiblity... ( this is before audiogon and the web).

what really surprises me is when one goes to the alta vista audiowebsite and the designer admits about design flaws with some of the pieces and offer repairs for it......

on the flip side,i have heard alot of counterpoint gear in the 90's ( steve mccormack shop had it) and it did sound very,very, good (imo, the 5000 is a awesome pre, even by todays standards)

but the relability / quality control is a real issue with the gear. i would go as far to say that you are in the minority with your experience with counterpoint.

good listening,

mike

easy there Mikesinger... I'm a minority : )