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So what would you do, if . . . ?

Hi all,

So here's the deal. I bought a slightly used Marantz SA-8804, which had been traded in to a dealer. The unit had been listed on that other site. I called the dealer and we worked out agreeable terms, which included a one year dealer service warranty, as they are a Marantz service center.

The unit arrived, and is very nice, totally clean. I tested most functions and they worked fine. These include the USB input on the front of the unit, which is specifically designed for use with iPhone, taking digital out of it and using its own DAC. The iPhone USB input is one of the main reasons I got the Marantz. I listened to some stuff off my iPhone, found it very nice, and then left the iPhone plugged into the USB port, and listened to some SACDs. Since I had jusr recently gotten an unpgraded iPhone, i left the iPhone plugged in to the Maranrz, and then went off to live my life for a few days. When i went to retrieve the iPhone so I could download some new tunes (the new Patricia Barber, to be specific), I found it dead as a brick. It won't charge, and a local Apple re[pair place says the logic board is fried, probably from some voltage spike (I use a surge protector, of course). I called Marantz and they say tehy have never heard of this happening. The manual does not warn you not to use it as I did -- plugged in while using other inputs -- and what a crappy design it would be if you couldn't do that. Anyway, I now have a dead iPhone, which is worthless and will cost .>$100 to replace.

When I first alerted the dealer, I hadn't yet determined that teh phone was fully kaput. they said that if I sent the unit back to them and they could not find a problem, I'd be stuck for shipping both ways. I have updated them, and the sales guy I spoke with is going to talk to the bossman and get back to me.

My worry is that a) I am out a valuable item, that I imagine was killed by the Marantz, but I can't absolutely prove it. i am worried that if I send it in for warranty work they will not find a problem. Then I will be out shipping too, and when I get the thing back I will feel absolutely uncomfortable using the input I bought it for, with either a replacement fi-thing for the one that was killed, or especially with my new iPhone. Even if they claim to find a prblem and fix it, i will be unconfident, since it is an anomalous problem Marantz has never heard of.

I would ideally like my money back and the value of the deceased iPhone. That may be asking too much. What do you think good business, morality, and reasonableness would recommend here. By the way, if I get my money back, I will likely just get a new SA-8004.

Thanks!

Richard
rnm4
rnm4 OP
308 posts
 
Just kick starting this thread. It took forever to get posted and didn't seem to show up as new.

Rnm4
Post removed 
bonhamcopeland
10 posts
 
I've been in similar situations like this. You're at a disadvantage on a couple of fronts: 1.) You don't have an ongoing relationship with the dealer, who I'm guessing is far away from you. 2.) The item they sold you is still working correctly, even though that feature may or may not have been the cause of the iPhone's demise. 3.) It's an unusual problem, and may have nothing to do with the amp at all. Especially if Marantz hasn't heard of it.

I think the only way you can absolutely guarantee some action on the part of the dealer is if you can prove to them that the Marantz is at fault. Which would mean sending it back to the dealer and having them troubleshoot, test, and potentially destroy another iDevice to see if they encounter the same problem. If they gave you a service agreement, they should do that.

If you are wanting to just buy a new amp anyway, maybe you can ask them to take the amp back and put those costs against a new amp that you buy from them and maybe they throw in a discount for your troubles? Cause you're never going to feel comfortable using that function again unless they can either prove it wasn't the cause or if you get a new amp.

Lastly, I'm not familiar with that particular Marantz, but typically those inputs aren't made for permanent source input. Just a casual plug and play. Sounds like you have (had) a dedicated iPhone for music, in which case I'd advise you to just get a dedicated iPod/iPhone doc that has a digital out and connect that to the amp's dac. It's more reliable and will probably sound better.
rnm4 OP
308 posts
 
Follow up: Unit (SA-8004 -- which I mistyped in the OP) went back to dealer. They tested it and found the voltage regulator in the charger/USB port to be compromised. But they claim that it was most likely caused by the logic board in the iPhone going bad while plugged in. I don't know how they would know that, but logic board failure is the sort of thing that can happen to an iPhone.

Anyway, it has been sent to Marantz for warranty repair, and I should have it back in a couple of weeks. And then I guess I will decide to trust it with a iSomething.

Thanks for the input!
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