Cambridge Audio products unreliable/unsupported?

Not at all

My CA 650R AV receiver suddenly failed in its audio board and cooked some capacitors with other failed pieces. The unit was 12 months old with very very little use on it. The product was made in China and the risks with buying Chi-Fi are well known to all in advance. Forrest Gump highlighted it best : "S**t happens."

The Canadian warranty is three (3) years assuming that it was purchased from an authorized dealer with an invoice and related proof of purchase. PLURISON here in Canada were polite, prompt and efficient in repairing it: the support was there when I needed it.

Had two CA items, a surround sound receiver and a tuner. Both were already out of warranty but not by so very much when both developed problems. In my view CA products sound good but in my experience are not reliable.

I always maintain the perhaps unrealistic attitude that gear, especially things without moving parts, should never break. Is "Chi-fi" actually more breakdown prone? I would think that could be true if the quality control part of the process is flawed, but I certainly haven't noticed any issues with my current pile of Chinese stuff...if anything my Kavent preamp, Jolida amp, Dacmagic, Squeezebox Touch, and 640p seem extremely well made. Maybe disaster is around the corner...being paranoid will give me something else to do I suppose...living on the edge!

Check out the AGON thread nelow: re: ARCAM pulling its AVR600 out of Chi-Fi production and also the other ARCAM models Chi-Fi sourced quality control issues,

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?bhome&1324311378

Akg_ca Interesting the thread link you left has been deleted. I have had posts here deleted so I, for the most part, do not participate in the forum.
CA has such a good PR line that I had been recently considering buying a used 851e preamp. I had been looking online for reviews that sunk their teeth into the matter but there really wasnt much to find out . the dirty laundry Im referring to. I had my initial red flag when I was reminded that they are China made. Now, that in itself is not a crime. Purportedly good product can be made in China if its paid for and a viable QC is maintained. Then, I found a review that was positive overall but revealed one telling little detail that coupled with the complaints in this thread have me just saying no. The reviewer mentioned that the volume control knob was cheapish and light and it was mounted lopsided. uneven clearance with the face. The incidence of minor issues revealed in this thread seem to me to be saying lots of cheap parts.