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Dead Bluesound Node 2

I have a Bluesound Node 2 that died recently and I'm wondering what I should do next. 
First off, it was only 3 years old.  I got conflicting reports from customer service as to what went wrong, but either way, it was working fine one day and the next day it would not respond and it would not re-set.  I have been round and round with customer service and as far as they are concerned, it is out of warranty, so tough toenails; they will not take it back for a repair.  They offered to sell me a new unit at a reduced price or a refurbished unit at an even lower price but somehow that doesn't sit right with me. 

My habit has always been to buy reasonably good gear and keep it for a long time.  It's also my habit not to reward a manufacturer with additional purchases once they have done me wrong.  I have never had a piece of gear fail so quickly.  I have never had a manufacturer tell me they would not repair or service a component.  This little guy was not abused, and barely moved from the time I plugged it in, so I don't think I did anything wrong. 

Now I know a lot of you folks love your Nodes.  Admittedly, I did too.  I used it almost every day, created dozens of playlists (which are presumably gone forever) and I even added a Qobuz subscription about 6 months ago.  I can't tell you how many friends I demonstrated this set-up for.  I was actually considering adding a 2nd unit for my primary system.  Basically, I was all in.  Now I'm just stuck. 

That's my tale of woe, so here's what I'd like to know:
Were my expectations for this component too high?  I understand that computer products have can have a short lifespan, but this seems a bit extreme.  So should I pony up for another unit?  Or do I try to save up for something more upscale and presumably better built (or better supported)?  Cambridge Audio has a streamer I think might work, but I heard not all streamers can handle 30k+ files.  I have actually heard several really nice units like the Aurender (at AXPONA) but that's probably out of my league.  So what affordable alternatives are there, that also sound decent? 

This is my first post/discussion thread here on A-gon, so go easy on me : )
Thanks for listening. 

WoofMan74
128x128woofman74
tketcham
291 posts
 
woofman74,You never actually described the condition/symptoms of your Node 2. What specifically is happening (or not happening)? Never lights up? Lights up but shuts down? No output?

Reason I ask is that I have a Node 2 that I thought was malfunctioning but it was just a setting in the indicator light display. It had changed to OFF and the Node 2 would power up but then "shut down" in a few seconds. My troubleshooting process was misdirected because the Node 2 had lost connection with the controller so I thought it was completely dead. Bluesound came through and suggested that I check the light display. Sure enough, rebooted the controller, it found the Node 2, I changed the setting to DIM and the Node 2 works fine.
Just a WAG.
Tom
PS: If your Node 2 is completely toast then, yes, I agree with you; it should have lasted longer than that. But if they're offering a reasonable discount price on another unit you can't complain too much. :-)
Post removed 
trtuncay
2 posts
 

Hi Friends, My PSU floor is completely ruined and impossible to fix. If I design a PSU myself, it will be very cheap for me. border tax rules in Turkey and is very solid. Ready-made kits equipped with quality will exceed my cost. Can anyone measure the voltages on the pins coming out of the PSU for me. Accordingly, if I know the voltages, I hope to give life to this device again by making a design myself. Thank you in advance for your answer. Best Regards
yoramguy1
68 posts
 
My Node 2 stays Red but keeps working... no longer switches to Blue upon restart.  A couple times switched to Blue after firmware upgrades (which took several attempts to complete), but no more.  But it is still working. 
Bluesound acknowledged the issue but did not offer real help.
Have been using for Spotify only. 
I am now looking for a more versatile and higher performance (and more reliable) streamer which can also stream Pandora as well as Spotify, Tidal and Qobuz.
trtuncay
2 posts
 
yoramguy1

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