A Story about a Defective Signature Platinum

Very very recently, I visited one of my favourite 'dirty little secret' sites.

By that, I mean 'dirty little secrets' found under the hood of Cart's.

The witnessing how fragile a Cart' is and how it is doomed from day one, is a great leveller and certainly lifts the lid on any false ideas touted that a Cart' is invincible and going to do wonders. 

A Cart's is a tool that has no defense against the ambient environment or the guardian looking after it.

In my most recent observations under the hood of Cart's, I was to learn how light alone is a accelerant to deterioration of a Cart' (Dampers disintegrating on one side where light has been able to penetrate and the remaining material appearing quite grainy in make up), what I assume is a moisture damage has been seen to be extremely detrimental (Verdigris Coated Coils), coils over time seemingly implode if the ambient condition are the catalyst (Coils seeming fracture and fall away).

If one wants a Cart' to deliver in a Certain way, the materials selected have to be able to deliver the required function. The selection of materials are not with too much consideration for how they will perform in the field after five years of being exposed to the Non- Manufacture and Packaging Environment, the selection of materials are in my presumption, selected to be able to survive a Warranty period and a usage life of approx' 1000 hours at a time line determined by the manufacturer, not by the end user. 

I'm sure the Manufacturer is aware that certain end users will extend their attaining 1000 hours beyond the timeline the design has allowed for. I also feel confident the manufacturer has chose robust materials that will offer a extended service, where the assembly of parts remain near optimised for a extended period.

The idea any part used for the assembly of a Cart' should be a part with a lifetime warranty is pure fantasy.

It is no different to asking for a lifetime Warranty on a Porsche Set of Boots or any Car Tyre, good luck with that one. 

If one is into their owned Vinyl LP as a Source Material that is to be replayed. There is a vital ancillary required to be used to create the replay of the Source Material, which is by its very make up, a Sacrificial Ancillary, that is the realisation that is regularly overlooked.

Too often all that is seen is the fantastical world of what such an ancillary is going to bring and who breathed on it at the time of its creation. The Power of Marketing is very good at concealing the realities, especially the realities that really are worthwhile considering.     

@pindac- I don’t think @mijostyn is asking for a lifetime warranty. I’ve had stuff happen over the years with product defects. The ideal response would be-- gee, that’s too bad. Would you mind sending it to us for inspection-- and if the distributor isn’t capable of doing the inspection, get permission from the customer to send it back to the manufacturer. (I reckon DHL Express or Priority Japan might cost 50 dollars US, maybe a little more). Then see where things are, and maybe cut the guy a break on another specimen (if he wanted that) or something else. An inspection should also reveal any user mishandling causing the problem--not that I'm suggesting that is the case here. It's simply good business and if there was a defect in the wire or manufacture, wouldn't the manufacturer want to know about that too?

That, in my experience, is how you maintain goodwill. Instead, we have an unhappy camper, a thread which has roused peoples’ ire-- there is something about vicarious rage at a third party that is just so easy, and negatives about a product and its US distributor, which is never good for bidness.

I’m very curious to learn what Steve Leung says once he gets to it and hoping for the best.

@lewm 

The upgrade bearings are doing fine so far. The 997.1 was the last car with that design. It came with a much larger Intermediate shaft bearing. The 997.2 onwards do not use intermediate shafts. This means the heads, instead of being identical are mirror images of each other. The cars with intermediate shafts sound different and much more in keeping with the classic character of 911s. Porsche has always treated me well. 

@pindac ,

I cut loose with a four letter word somebody did not like. If you were to spend $11K on a cartridge and it did this and you were handled in the way I was I think you would be upset to say the least. With the exception of the diamond and cantilever cartridges are really very simple and quite tough. The Umami Red is the one to go for. 

@whart 

Exactly, I started this thread to warn others of the limited warranty on these cartridges and the corporate nature of Music Direct and MoFi. The grape vine will do the rest.  Steven has been ace so far. All I expect is a manufacturer to take care of problems that are obviously do to a manufacturing defect within a reasonable period of time. 

@rsf507 

I have direct experience with Soundsmith and Soundsmith cartridges are wonderful and the service is excellent. 

In my view the Distributor should have offered to have the fault evaluated by the factory. If it was a manufacturing fault - then they should come to the party. If they felt it was a user issue then they could stand by their warranty.

If I was the manufacturer and a cartridge was defective I would want to know what the issue was.

As far as cost goes, if the cartridge retails for $11k, then it probably cost less than $6k ex the factory, so in the remedy offered the distributor is not offering any contribution to @mijostyn 's loss. On the other hand we don't know if the original purchase included any discount.

I have had multiple top end bespoke cartridges fully rebuilt ( not re-tipped ) by the manufacturer at considerably less than the $6k quoted.

@whart There has been a suggestion that certain parts in the make up of a Cart' are given a lifetime warranty, hence my lengthy description about how this would be quite a offer, especially with what a manufacturer knows, and the evidence that can be seen of a Cart's deterioration. 

Additionally, my contributions have been to encourage a hold off on the contempt being expressed to a supplier, prior to the outcome of a investigation. At this stage it does not matter who does the investigation to discover the fault, the skill and experience about such matters is the concern. VAS is more than capable to carry out this assessment. 

.Making the per hour costings known, is a good practice for all to utilise as a number crunch.