2. amps-preamps
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Which amps cannot be repaired locally?

Hi all. I purchased a Niles S-1260 a few years ago and it started shutting down recently after a few minutes of play. I called Niles and they asked I ship it to Louisville for a $650 flat fee plus shipping -- they charge that for any repair. I decided to take it somewhere locally and they could not find spare parts (a controller board or controller board IC). I called Niles, the regional rep and the local rep and none could provide me a controller board or any spare parts. Had I known that, I would never have purchased Niles. Are there other companies with similar policies about not providing spare parts for local repair? Thanks
ozfly
ozfly OP
887 posts
 
Marakanetz, the tech guy I hired seems pretty capable and he did replace some parts and spent a lot of time working on it and looking for parts. Unfortunately, the key integrated circuits on the controller board have no part numbers. He indicated they were rubbed off. He told me the board was made in China so obfuscation must be part of the contract with Niles.

So now I know not to buy Niles, Spectral, Levinson or Sonus Faber. Thanks for the feedback. Keep it coming.

P.S. "Ripoff Schema Champions" -- great idea.
b_limo's avatar
b_limo
2,276 posts
 
No one in my area (denver included) wants to work on Classe amps. Gotta send it back to classe if I ever have an issue, and shipping on heavy amps to somewhere outside the country ain't cheap. I think musical fidelity is a pain to get fixed too. I'm definately taking how easy it is to get something warrantied or fixed into consideration on ALL of my future audio purchases.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
If you can purchase a new unit(with return policy) and look under the box to ID the chip inside, you can find it for your unit. Being a techie myself, I'd swap the boards and return unit back as not working. Here you find dealer that have a return shipping policy for all your needs and deeds.
http://www.cudakitchen.com/shipping.php

For them manufacturers it would only take a few bucks to swap while for you is $650+shipping.

You can also follow the link bellow:
[url]https://sites.google.com/site/sonylcdrptvproblems/small-claims-lawsuits[/url] to go legal way.
ozfly OP
887 posts
 
Thanks Marakanetz. Sorry for the delay. Good ideas.

B_limo, sounds like anything super heavy is a pain to repair.

On the bright side, when I had trouble with my Olympia amp a few years ago (from PBN), the owner flew out from San Diego to visit me in Charlotte and repaired the unit at my home. I'm still blown away by that. I was a pretty good customer and that may have helped, but it's nice to see some character out there.
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