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Cambridge Audio products unreliable/unsupported?

Has anyone had problems with Cambridge Audio gear failing while still quite new?? I have had two products fail that were under one year old. 350C CD Player and 840Av2 Integrated Amp. Both products were gently treated and lightly used - less than 100 hours total use. Tried to resolve through Cambridge customer service (Ed Selley stopped responding to my inquiries on the Cambridge customer support website)and local repair and it seemed as though the process was designed to make getting a repair more painful than replacing the defective gear. I am new to high end audio and was wondering how many others had the same experience with this company.
craisin1
glenfihi
525 posts
 
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.
wolf_garcia
6,685 posts
 
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!
akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,210 posts
 
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
skiroe's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
skiroe
131 posts
 
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.
joekapahulu
244 posts
 
My 740c cd had issues about 6 months out of warranty. The tray was not operating correctly going in and out. I contacted the us distributor and found there was no local repair. Directed to George Mayer in LA. as certified repair source. Cost a bit to ship there and back to HI and the repair also was on the high side for labor. Still that was around 2012 and the unit has been fine since. The issue was with some wheels that drive the tray and door. Kind of wierd issue but repairs have held up. $300+ to repair. If other issues came up now after buying in 2009 I would probably just get rid of it. I already have a sub Sony ES5400 waiting.
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