Ultrasone Manufacturers' Warranty

[HeadphoneAddict]

I believe in the US the law says the manufacturer should be able to demonstrate that the mods caused the problem, or they have to cover the problem.

If the shell is broken trying to open it, that isn't covered, if the shell cracks in an isolated spot unrelated to opening it, that should be covered. If I re-cable it, and the modder burned the soldering pad on the driver or removed the diodes and the voice coil or wires fail later, that should not be covered - but if the diaphragm decides to separate from the voice coil a year later that should be covered. Or, if I recable it and the headband breaks, that should be covered.

[ultrapaul]

.........and before we start sending headphones back and forth between the modifier and our offices to determine what caused what (it comes down to cost and responsibility factors here), I'd rather search for another solution.

A repair of a modification could cause damage to a manufacturers' warrantied part. See what I mean?

Like I said, I'm working on it.

[slwiser]

For me I will not mod my UE9 till the warranty goes out. I enjoy it they way it is. I only had Ken modify the HFI-780 because it was such a relatively low cost item to start with. The UE9 is not like that to me.

[frequencyhz]

i like the idea that the headband or perhaps any untouched parts could maintain a warranty

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by slwiser

For me I will not mod my UE9 till the warranty goes out. I enjoy it they way it is. I only had Ken modify the HFI-780 because it was such a relatively low cost item to start with. The UE9 is not like that to me.

Yeah, when the cable is 2x the cost of the headphones, you keep the cable and toss out the phones when they die!

[HeadphoneAddict]

[Peter Pinna]

Put the modders through some type of official Ultrasone tech training. After they graduate from this tech training, they would then be official Ultrasone approved and certified modification techs. And, because they would be Ultrasone approved and certified, any modifications they perform on Ultrasone headphones would be approved and not void the warranty of those headphones.
A question you may be asking is "What about the modifications that have already been performed?"
The solution to this is simple. Once the modder who did these modifications (prior to being Ultrasone certified) has been certified by Ultrasone, the customer can send in his modded headphones to the modder for him to re-approve his mods as an Ultrasone Certified modification tech. Once those mods have been approved by the certified tech, the warranty will be valid again.

[Golden Ears]

I would have never purchased my Edition 9's without having heard the Headphones with the A Pure Sound V3 Cable upgrade. Not a chance in hell. The bass response was really cleaned up by the V3 cable change and the hash in the highs was tamed as well- the entire soundstage came together and the music became full bodied while still having delineated bass.

So I almost suffered a problem... My Edition 9's (SR. 645) have been sent back to the Vendor . The db discrepancy between the right and left never fully went away.

I was glad I did not mod them immediately because I would be in a bad predictament.

Now--- as I see it. If I buy a 30 watt RMS speaker and pump 500 watts into it.. I pretty much abused it. I own the toasted thing...no warranty coverage.

But I have never heard of a speaker being damaged because you used a different type of speaker wire.

That's all a recable is...

Now if the person doing the recable drips a solder bead onto the mylar diaphram and melts a hole in it.. well the modder is responsible- and likely has priced his mods to accommodate for such an accident.

Ultrasone should not be resonsible for a gross installation mistake. But, if anything happens which is unrealted to the soldering of the cable...IMHO ultrasone is still responsible. Lets say you add aftermarket seat heaters to your BMW. And your BMW's oxygen sensor fails... well BMW still has to warranty your O2 sensor. BUT....if you add say... 20,000 watts of after market halogen rally lights to your BMW X5 and toast your alternator, regulator, and wiring harness..... well it's your fault.

Seeing as a new cable does not add any new stress to the headphones I think all warranties should still be valid.

I actually got into an arguement once in a warranty situation where I had to demonstrate that the thing which was moddified had nothing to do with the item which broke.

I tend to loook poorly upon manuafacturers that try to weasel out of their warranty responsibilities this way- and my proverbial Hat is off to Ultrapaul who is doing his best to do the right thing. German mentality tends to follow rules strictly- but if they admit to logic I think recabling should be permitted..and possibly for a product like the Edition 9...ENCOURAGED..... so that the Edition 10 can benefit from having so many adamant "beta testers". I think if Ultrasone had done a test with the V3 cable- it would be stock on their headphones.....I can not imagine anyone would select the stock Edition 9 over the recabled version if the price were within $75.

[jpelg]

Let's not divert this thread by turning it into a "I believe in re-cabling" vs. "I don't" discussion.

Thanks.

[mrarroyo]

I said it before and I will say it again. It is IMO not possible for manufacturers at large to provide a warranty to a product that has been modded w/o their consent and approval.

Although I think it is a nice gesture what UltraPaul is doing it is way beyond what I would expect from a manufacturer. When I re-cabled my cans I new for a fact that my warranty would be voided. So I live w/ it.

Just my opinion.

[skysoul]

IMO there should be a general guidelines stated in the warranty what is covered and what is not covered.

FOr example; by changing the ear pads on the E9 with other OEM brands, am I breaching the manufacturer's warranty should I send in for repair due to sound quality issues?

In this case as mostly discussed and concerned by majority, does the recabling works void the warranty? What is the effect should it be officially announced by Ultrasone that this shall not be covered? Wll it affect the HFI, Proline and E9 sales and even the future Pro models sales? I am sure they are carefully studying the defect rates send in for repair due to cable mod versus customers satisfaction for after sales service data right now.

I hope Ultrasone seriously consider the resale values for the Ultrasone's product range, I am sure consumers would choose to buy the brands that has higher resale values. Beside, E9 is a great product so far by Ultrasone and as quoted by Paul in the *Ultrasone E9 warranty* thread, post #06: "The Edition 9 headphone is well built, by hand. There have been very few issues with it regarding warranty or repair........."
With this in mind, and by carefully paying attention to the consumer's behaviour, I will be not surprise that Ultrasone products spring to another higher level in the Hi Fi market if they make the right strategy. ANd of course cost is another factor which Ultrasone will look into, but i am sure cost factor will be covered from higher sales revenues.

This is all my 2 cents opinion and I love my E9 on my ears.....

Originally Posted by mrarroyo

I said it before and I will say it again. It is IMO not possible for manufacturers at large to provide a warranty to a product that has been modded w/o their consent and approval.

Although I think it is a nice gesture what UltraPaul is doing it is way beyond what I would expect from a manufacturer. When I re-cabled my cans I new for a fact that my warranty would be voided. So I live w/ it.

Just my opinion.

[AudioJUNK]

Well, in a typical case, If I want to use my ED9 on balanced setup and I never even think of any re-cable options. I only want to re-terminate the stock cable into XLR connector which is a very simple operation and won't even affect the headphone itself. If this simple mod will void ENTIRE warranty on my headphone, I'd say I am very disappointed...