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Aaaaahhhh!
Well, it only took a month :rolleyes:, but my integrated finally found it's way back to Cali from Cambridge Audio. It's amazing how much your psyche improves with decent music churning in the background.
If you remember, my 3 month old 540a had developed a bad case of channel loss (right side was considerably quieter) and the culprit apparently was a bad volume pot. All is right with the world again and I can finally run apps on my computer and listen to music at the same time!
It's the little things in life, I'm tellin' ya ;)
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Break out the Single Malt!
Quote:
Originally Posted by topspeed
Well, it only took a month :rolleyes:, but my integrated finally found it's way back to Cali from Cambridge Audio. It's amazing how much your psyche improves with decent music churning in the background.
If you remember, my 3 month old 540a had developed a bad case of channel loss (right side was considerably quieter) and the culprit apparently was a bad volume pot. All is right with the world again and I can finally run apps on my computer and listen to music at the same time!
It's the little things in life, I'm tellin' ya ;)
Glad to hear your back in tuneland. And now it's time to burn that baby back in! A bad volume pot is about the least thing that could go wrong so that's a good thing.
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Thanks Geoff. It's nice to have really good sound in my work environment again. Helps me keep my head in the right place.
Cheers!
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Didn't know you had a problem with your 540A. (Must have missed some posts.) Hope your customer service experience was pleasant enough. My son hasn't said anything about his yet - usually that means everything's OK. My prior experience with CA warranty work (D300 cdp a few years ago) was satisfactory. CA and their authorized dealers seem to stand behind their stuff.
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They were fine to work with, just sloooooooooow! I've only had one other piece of gear crap out (knock on wood) in all the years I've been into audio. That was a Denon 6 disc cdp. I sent it down to Denon Service in SoCal and had it back in less than a week. Now that's Customer Service :).
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Sadly we are dammed either way regarding repairs in North America. The European model is to have only one or two centres for repair and all work is processed through that and can be warrantied with reasonable confience. The other approach is to repair at source but this means that you have no idea about the proficiancy of the guy wielding the soldering iron. In North America our distributor has been devolving the service base slowly to speed things up but not lose the confidence in the repair. I accept that this still isn't speedy but thanks for your patience.
Of course it didn't help that the top plate is fixed by screws that don't seem to exist in North America but that is life's rich tapestry for you.l
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tons of Fun
Of course it didn't help that the top plate is fixed by screws that don't seem to exist in North America but that is life's rich tapestry for you.l
I was wondering when you were going to chime in. Funny, I never noticed the screws until you mentioned it. Miniature hex bolts, huh? No wonder it took them so long to repair it :D.
Now, if you guys will just do something about the cheap binding posts we're in business!
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Binding post supplier is currently under review and we're thinking about WBT's for the 740.
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Nice. WBT and Cardas both make very nice binding posts. Now just make them available for retrofit...or am I asking too much ;)?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by topspeed
Nice. WBT and Cardas both make very nice binding posts. Now just make them available for retrofit...or am I asking too much ;)?
oooooh! ooooooh! me too! me too! And, now that you mention it...what are those screws? Torx-4???
Glad your back in business, topspeed.
noddin0ff
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The screws are Torx 6. We have just had to ship some T6 Screwdrivers out to North America to insure that the dealers could actually get into them! I suspect sadly that a retrofit is probably out of the question, the general way around the posts' flexing is to use plugs wherever possible.
Ed
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Hey, Topspeed, glad to hear back on your feet.
Yeah, I've run into the Torx 6 problem on a few other amps I've owned over the years. Torx seem to be the screw of choice for alot of speaker and driver manufacturers too. What's the point in using oddball screws? Keeping out intruders? Protecting our equipment from ourselves?
Topspeed, I've actually jazzed up some old amps I had around with newer binding posts myself, it's alot easier than you'd think...of course, I said "old amps" not brand new ones with active warranty ;)
Adcom use to use those goofy bare wire "turn-and-lock" posts on their 80's models...I know I'm not the only one that discarded those. They eventually went to binding post in later models.
Anyway, go ahead, rip that baby apart and start cutting stuff out...you never really appreciate your equipment until you've been inside and had it send a few volts through you!!!
:)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kexodusc
What's the point in using oddball screws? Keeping out intruders? Protecting our equipment from ourselves?
No offence to you or anybody else but yes it is exactly that. The number of calls/emails I have received over the years that start with "I was upgrading my xxxxx when I damaged xxxx- can I have another one?"
There is also the question of aesthetics- Torx screws fit flush to the lid and look nice :).
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Yeah, I figured as much...well forget you guys, I got me a whole torx driver set and I'll have you know I'm constantly buggering up all sorts of equipment I have no business getting inside of :)
Seriously, it seems more and more audio equipment is using them these days. I can imagine how much manpower would be lost just diagnosing a problem, only to realize it was user-inflicted and not covered by warranty or anything...then customer blames YOU!
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Most customers will admit to breaking things themselves but now and again, mauled bits of equipment come in with the owner denying all...... Most of the time, the people who tinker on the inside have enough confidence to get the job done properly and changing the binding posts for example is an approachable task. When people start talking about fitting valves however, we normally duck and cover.
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Lol!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kexodusc
Topspeed, I've actually jazzed up some old amps I had around with newer binding posts myself, it's alot easier than you'd think...of course, I said "old amps" not brand new ones with active warranty ;)
Anyway, go ahead, rip that baby apart and start cutting stuff out...you never really appreciate your equipment until you've been inside and had it send a few volts through you!!!
:)
Good one.
I've considered doing that but I have to be brutally honest here, for my office system it's just not worth the effort. Seriously, it's not like I'm doing critical listening here. Most of the time, I'm not even paying attention to what's playing. I must say I am happier now that I popped those ridiculous plastic plugs out and can use bananas again. I noticed in the less than flattering Stereophile review of the 640a that they couldn't figure out the binding posts either and Sam *****ed about being forced to ram his banana plugs into the holes meant for bare wire. Maybe CA could put something in the manual about removing those plugs, eh?
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Rotflmao
Quote:
Originally Posted by topspeed
I noticed in the less than flattering Stereophile review of the 640a that they couldn't figure out the binding posts either and Sam *****ed about being forced to ram his banana plugs into the holes meant for bare wire. Maybe CA could put something in the manual about removing those plugs, eh?
That's hilarious. Stereophile, the supposed "experts" couldn't figure that out? It seems more and more companies are doing that now with the binding posts. I wonder if the writers feel like complete idiots for that? :rolleyes:
It'd be sad if they p<a>issed on CA and turned off potential buyers because of their own ignorance...
That's life, I guess.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by topspeed
I must say I am happier now that I popped those ridiculous plastic plugs out and can use bananas again. I noticed in the less than flattering Stereophile review of the 640a that they couldn't figure out the binding posts either and Sam *****ed about being forced to ram his banana plugs into the holes meant for bare wire. Maybe CA could put something in the manual about removing those plugs, eh?
Hey topspeed, I must have missed the banana plug bit. You say the little plastic plugs come out? Is it just a matter of having really tiny fingers or is there a trick?
noddin0ff
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Grab yer pocket knife.
Quote:
Originally Posted by noddin0ff
Hey topspeed, I must have missed the banana plug bit. You say the little plastic plugs come out? Is it just a matter of having really tiny fingers or is there a trick?
noddin0ff
Take a pocket knive or small screw driver and the little black plastic plugs in the ends of the binding posts will pop out. Don't worry, you won't break them as they are pins. Voila! You can now easily slide banana plugs in. Much easier than trying to squeeze 12 gauge into those freakin' holes!
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Topspeed is spot on about the removal. Amps are technically illegal to sell in Europe unless they have the protective plugs inserted. This is supposedly to prevent Junior turning himself into a crispy critter. Owners of A5,300,500's will know that we orignally took this so seriously, those amps have no milling at the end of the terminal at all and cannot use BP's.
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