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Post by petew on Jul 30, 2015 16:45:42 GMT -5
Just last night I was out in the garage feeding the dogs when one of my fluorescent light fixtures made a loud, lengthy fart sound and filled the garage with the unmistakable stench of magic smoke.
I suspect one of the caps let go in the crappy electronic ballasts.
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jlamo
Sensei
Its a good day!
Posts: 192
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Post by jlamo on Jul 30, 2015 18:16:44 GMT -5
If flames were coming out of the unit than I would expect a company to take care of the customer . If the failure was safe and the safety mechanics work as expected than...well...no harm no foul. Even if it didn't smoke ,how do you know if the speaker or speaker wire or the spec use was outside the mfg intended use and if it was, than the unit failed safely as I would of wanted it too. I may of panicked also at first and thought "im pissed because it could of been worse " but the truth is , no it couldn't of been worse because the failure mechanisms worked as planned. Im usually very hard on a company and there products/services and had some small issues with emotive in the past but I really cant expect them to work for free because of a issue that may of happened from a source outside there control. funny thing to think about is that theres some emotive amplifiers that last 2 years and than go bust but someone else has the same one and he has it 7 yrs and still running smooth . so the question is why, and is this in the mfg control or is it because each users circumstance, environment, equipment, power and ect are different .
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Post by vneal on Jul 30, 2015 18:27:54 GMT -5
I would hold all opinions until the experts check the unit out.
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jlamo
Sensei
Its a good day!
Posts: 192
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Post by jlamo on Jul 30, 2015 18:29:34 GMT -5
I would hold all opinions until the experts check the unit out. Lol yeah your right ! |
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Post by 405x5 on Jul 30, 2015 19:13:23 GMT -5
My heart goes out to you!
I had an Acoustic Research amplifier catch fire MANY years ago. The whole amp. burned up and it was almost brand new when it happened.
Things were a bit testy with the place I bought it from but they DID cover the repair (or I should say rebuild) the whole thing was a charred mess inside.
Never got an answer about why.
Bill
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Post by dudeisms7 on Jul 30, 2015 22:23:02 GMT -5
My heart goes out to him and his kids. I hope emo takes care of him as it is in their interest. What saddens me is what I perceived as disdain for him publicly discussing the matter by some folks. First, it's well within his right. I would do the same. Second, let's be honest the first response from emo wouldn't leave a good taste in most people's mouths.. So a public airing was pretty probable. Third, if one wants to do business in today's day and age, and also supports having a forum.. Frustrations being aired is par for the course. And no one should ever scold a person for doing so. Whether it ended up here or any other venues... Social media and the Internet are here to stay, and so is the associated venting of issues. Fourth, this fairness issue.... In case you (pointed at anyone) haven't figured this out yet..anything is fair, and nothing is fair. Life is just life. I get it, the emo blue kool aid tastes good and all, but as you are enjoying a glass of the blue stuff (or another company's flavor)... Just remember It could be you that feels frustrated one day...
Don't get me wrong I still like Emotiva, will probably continue to purchase future products, and I figure they will probably take care of him in some regard, conditions being right.... Thus making that glass of the blue stuff look tastier than ever.
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Post by wizardofoz on Aug 4, 2015 13:40:56 GMT -5
When caps let go they can be rather dramatic, even transistors even in preamp stages let go it's not shopt of some smoke and sparkles. Emotiva is not alone in this regard, as a repair tech for some 40+ years I've seen plenty of this type of failure.
Dan and Lonnie I know will take this kind of failure seriously and work through it with professionalism I am sure. It's just the kind of people they are. Let them get on with it and I'm betting all will be sorted out assuming there is basis to do so.
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Post by garbulky on Aug 4, 2015 14:24:28 GMT -5
But let's look at it. Right now the person is required to pay shipping to ship an aging $300 burnt up out of warranty amp. What makes you think he's going to want anything to do with that amp, let alone paying more money towards shipping it? There are two probabilities if he does. As they made it clear it is his expense and won't spring for shipping. These are: 1. Repair the amp that caught on fire. Er, no thank you. Once burned twice shy. 2. Replace the amp. Which is kind of the same as buying a new amp. IN THAT CASE, WHY SHIP IT IN THE FIRST PLACE? So what makes anybody think that this amp would ever be investigated? Meanwhile: the thread "UPA-2 caught on fire" has been trending on the recently updated list for a week now. The negative publicity costs way more than the shipping and customer loyalty imo - even if it may just be the capacitor and it will be on the manufacturers expense. Remember Schiit's Asgard. www.head-fi.org/t/701900/schiit-happened-the-story-of-the-worlds-most-improbable-start-up/765#post_10463052It had a an issue where it deformed AKG headphones. According to Jason this was not the fault of the amp and therefore there was no real obligation of the manufacturer to do anything about it. "“So what do we do?” I asked. “We be better than them,” Mike said. “Add that relay. Kill the current run. Don’t sell another Asgard without it. And offer to update everyone’s current Asgard.” “The whole current run?” I asked. That was a pretty big investment. “Yes. The whole current run of headphone-killing amps.” “But they aren’t headphone-killing—“ I began “It doesn’t matter that they are or aren’t. What matters is that everyone thinks they are. Or at least enough people to matter. So, we go above and beyond. And make it good.” I nodded. Mike was right. The next day, I called the boardhouse and had them scrap the current run of Asgards. Then, in a 16-hour fit of engineering, prototyped a relay mute, added it on to the Asgard PCB, and ordered new boards, rush, from the boardhouse." |
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Post by monkumonku on Aug 4, 2015 14:35:27 GMT -5
But let's look at it. Right now the person is required to pay shipping to ship an aging $300 burnt up amp. What makes you think he's going to want anything to do with that amp, let alone paying more money towards shipping it? There are two probabilities if he does. As they made it clear it is his expense and won't spring for shipping. These are: 1. Repair the amp that caught on fire. Er, no thank you. Once burned twice shy. 2. Replace the amp. Which is kind of the same as buying a new amp. IN THAT CASE, WHY SHIP IT IN THE FIRST PLACE? So what makes anybody think that this amp would ever be investigated? Meanwhile: the thread "UPA-2 caught on fire" has been trending on the recently updated list for a week now. The negative publicity costs way more than the shipping and customer loyalty imo - even if it may just be the capacitor and it will be on the manufacturers expense. Even if Emo took back the amp and investigated it and according to their investigation found no product defect (as opposed to finding a cap blew out in the course of normal wear and tear), then what is going to guarantee anyone is going to believe them? Naysayers will just claim there is a coverup. Given the isolated nature on this incident as well as the age of the amp, along with the fact that we really do not know what the environmental conditions were like, then I wouldn't say there was justification to do any investigation or repair for free. But then that's Emo's decision anyway. So far I haven't found this to have gone viral across the internet. |
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Post by garbulky on Aug 4, 2015 14:39:52 GMT -5
Well to be fair, I didn't say "viral". Just that a 1,000 view have happened. That's quite a lot of real emo customers. I agree they are not liable for it. (Out of warranty) But they still should take care of it because of the whole fire bit. Where I work there are plenty of times a customer comes and uses our self-service machines. And because they don;t know how to use a computer properly they mess up and the product comes out wrong. We don't question, we simply correct the work for free to keep customer satisfaction levels up. monkumonku : As for product defect. Even if they said mothing was wrong but replaced it, it would speak volumes to how well they take care of a customer. |
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Post by chaosrv on Aug 4, 2015 15:35:27 GMT -5
While I agree it would be good PR to either fix or replace the amp or at the very least pay for shipping, where does it stop? Things like this cannot be looked at as an entirely isolated incident.
People come across this thread and see Emotiva paid for shipping, repaired or replaced an amp for free outside of warranty then someone else will expect it. They'll cite this thread as proof Emotiva has done it before. Then Dan & Co have to either do it again to maintain goodwill or say no. If they say no, there will be threads upon threads of even worse PR complaining Emotiva is only about the money and no longer cares about their customers since they made an exception once. Emotiva cannot be expected to foot the bill for the life of the product especially after the warranty has expired.
Yes, it sucks the cap blew but the item was sold and warrantied to work for 5 years and it did just that and more.
Let's not forget there is no such thing as "free shipping" You simply don't see the line item for shipping. The cost is built into the price of the product.
That leaves use one final alternative: Emotiva will have to increase prices to allow for free shipping for life and/or a lifetime warranty. Of course people will then be in an uproar about the price increase and Emotiva will no longer be seen as the great value it currently is.
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Post by monkumonku on Aug 4, 2015 15:50:09 GMT -5
Well to be fair, I didn't say "viral". Just that a 1,000 view have happened. That's quite a lot of real emo customers. I agree they are not liable for it. (Out of warranty) But they still should take care of it because of the whole fire bit. Where I work there are plenty of times a customer comes and uses our self-service machines. And because they don;t know how to use a computer properly they mess up and the product comes out wrong. We don't question, we simply correct the work for free to keep customer satisfaction levels up. monkumonku : As for product defect. Even if they said mothing was wrong but replaced it, it would speak volumes to how well they take care of a customer. True, you didn't say viral, although in context one may have gotten an idea from the way you described it that this was some wildly popular thread. 974 views is a decent number for the Lounge thread but you have to consider of those, many are repeat visits. Also, titling a thread "UPA-2 Caught Fire" is a good way to gather clicks since that is a rather attention-grabbing headline. It's like if I titled a thread, "Is Halle Berry really nude in Extant?" Of course you'll get tons of clicks because of the title even though I may then post no, she isn't. Many will click but not really follow it that closely. Still others will follow the thread but who knows what their opinion of it is. The only thing that comes up if I google "UPA-2 caught on fire" is a thread in the Blu-Ray.com forum started by the same OP as the Lounge thread. Over there some expressed alarm but the thread petered out after 8 posts. 457 have viewed it but who knows what they think? The guy posted Lonnie's response which seems to have been satisfactory. So anyway, I do understand what you are saying but as others as pointed out, this was an older amp and there's no need for Emo to start a precedent as far as taking back and warrantying everything for free and forever. Given its isolated nature and age of the amp, I don't think there is anything here that compels them to do so. |
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Post by Boomzilla on Aug 4, 2015 16:17:32 GMT -5
A five year warranty is already generous. Out of warranty = NO further coverage offered. Otherwise, every owner of a product that reaches the end of its functional life cycle will expect "special treatment." Not a good precedent to set...
Suck it up - toss the broken amp - buy a new one. You don't HAVE to buy another Emotiva, but you won't find a similar warranty on most other amps.
Schiit happens...
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Post by teaman on Aug 4, 2015 16:24:42 GMT -5
A five year warranty is already generous. Out of warranty = NO further coverage offered. Otherwise, every owner of a product that reaches the end of its functional life cycle will expect "special treatment." Not a good precedent to set... Suck it up - toss the broken amp - buy a new one. You don't HAVE to buy another Emotiva, but you won't find a similar warranty on most other amps. Schiit happens... I can see why Bryston amps cost what they do though, considering they offer a 20 yr transferable warranty. |
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Post by audiobill on Aug 4, 2015 16:28:26 GMT -5
Who would like to own a solid state amp built in 1995?
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Post by teaman on Aug 4, 2015 16:39:27 GMT -5
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Post by Boomzilla on Aug 4, 2015 16:44:35 GMT -5
Bryston & McIntosh have most excellent warranties, from what I've heard, but the product price reflects it.
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Post by DavidR on Aug 4, 2015 16:45:07 GMT -5
I have. It was a 4BSST2 and listened to it just prior to getting an XPA-2. I couldn't justify $5999 just so I would have a 20 yr warranty. I also thought it was a little bass shy and a tad bright; however, that could have been due to the speakers they hooked up to it.
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Post by teaman on Aug 4, 2015 16:48:07 GMT -5
I think audiobill is just a little too sophisticated for me..
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Post by audiobill on Aug 4, 2015 17:18:48 GMT -5
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