[RAZRr1275]

 
Why would it cost $400 for one way shipping?  Either way I recommend just return it.  I am going to hope that Kingwa is an honest person that won't hold you responsible for any shipping cost if he did indeed identify the problem.  I also hope that he will issue a recall and give all current owner any fix that is needed.  Like everyone is saying static is something that a good designer needs to handle and design their gear to protect against it.

It will cost $400 for one way shipping because he won't refund the original shipping cost either if he chooses the deny the problem. $150 to get it to me originally + $200 to get it back to him means I'm out of $350. I am going to hope but think about it this way - if it was static and a design flaw why wouldn't he just tell me outright that he'd cover shipping? He suggested the issue was static himself and if he took it seriously I'd expect him to say something like "Okay, you and 4 other people have had this issue as you said, I need to see one of these units with the static issue and as my suggesting it was static says, I think it's a problem that needs to be checked so I will cover shipping to me". If he took it seriously I wouldn't need to believe he as an honest person -- he'd assure me that he'd acknowledge that it's an issue wit his product and not my listening environment and welcome me sending the dac back to him instead of charging me what's essentially a hidden 15% restocking fee for a defective product.

 

[bazelio]

I'd like to throw my 2 cents in here as I was an owner of the Ref 5.32 and now have the Master 7 and I had three issues along the way that made me feel I had a defective unit.  In each case I emailed back and forth with Kingwa multiple time, he was extremely patient, and he kept suggesting things that may be issues with my setup rather then the gear.  I also had some stress with the return policy and shipping costs.

The language and cultural barrier did make the communication a bit more stressful then with local dealers.  But I think in Kingwa's defense he was being very diplomatic and perhaps too patient and didn't want to push the problem towards me as hard as he perhaps should of.  As it turned out, each of my issues was user inflicted, was a setup issue or other hardware problem, and things worked themselves out.  

Every situation and problem is different, and I can empathize with anyone having an issue with an expensive piece of gear that they just want to enjoy.  Sometimes there is a real defect that needs some attention from the manufacturer and a return is warranted.  But Kingwa is very confident about his equipment and I'm glad he held me off from returning my dacs as today I am a very satisfied customer.  One thought that always allowed me to keep a cool(ish) head is that I turned to Audio-gd to save some money and get some world-class audio gear at the same time.  So I had to accept a little more stress then if I had of gone to a local store.

Anyway, hope things work out in this example.  I'm pretty sure you will be happy one way or the other when all the dust settles.

User inflicted? Between turning it on and adjusting the volume, where did you go wrong. It's a little difficult to fathom. You didn't actually touch the volume knob whole standing on a rug did you?!?!

 

[marcan]

Hmmmm I love your avatar

 

[RAZRr1275]

User inflicted? Between turning it on and adjusting the volume, where did you go wrong. It's a little difficult to fathom. You didn't actually touch the volume knob whole standing on a rug did you?!?!

Exactly this. Even if it is static Ive never had or heard of an amp that cared if its av rack was on carpet or if the room is drier or of I decided to dress particularly warm that day. Its a workhorse piece of audio gear not a Lamborghini that you buy being fully aware that it may set on fire for no reason

 

[Khragon]

I have an idea, if Kingwa can modify the firmware to check the volume level at two points, 50 and 75.  If the volume exceeds 50 or 75, the amp would automatically mute.  That should protect the headphones and ears against any unexpected volume spike.  This would introduce an inconvenience because during normal operation the volume would still mute at 50 and 75 upward crossing points, but I think it's an acceptable compromise to protect our hearing.
 
Thoughts?

 

[RAZRr1275]

I have an idea, if Kingwa can modify the firmware to check the volume level at two points, 50 and 75.  If the volume exceeds 50 or 75, the amp would automatically mute.  That should protect the headphones and ears against any unexpected volume spike.  This would introduce an inconvenience because during normal operation the volume would still mute at 50 and 75 upward crossing points, but I think it's an acceptable compromise to protect our hearing.

Thoughts?

I like it. Ill see if my amp will be a suitable guinea pig for him

 

[bazelio]

Or have a recall, and send out non-conducting volume knobs to his customers?  

 

[RAZRr1275]

Actually one issue though. That only works if the spike is a legit increase as in the display shows 99 volume. Not a burst of static in the relay where it gets loud but the volume doesnt formally increase and since no one has stared at the display while this was happening we dont know which it is

 

[RAZRr1275]

Or have a recall, and send out non-conducting volume knobs to his customers?  

That works too. Either way if we have suggestions we should contact him directly with them as he doesnt read hf anymorr

 

[Khragon]

Actually one issue though. That only works if the spike is a legit increase as in the display shows 99 volume. Not a burst of static in the relay where it gets loud but the volume doesnt formally increase and since no one has stared at the display while this was happening we dont know which it is

Well a display is just a display, if I was to implement this I would check the actual resistance that's going to the amplifer rather than relying on the display, if the resistance setting is > 50 or >75 (equiv) then mute.

 

[bazelio]

 

Actually one issue though. That only works if the spike is a legit increase as in the display shows 99 volume. Not a burst of static in the relay where it gets loud but the volume doesnt formally increase and since no one has stared at the display while this was happening we dont know which it is

Well a display is just a display, if I was to implement this I would check the actual resistance that's going to the amplifer rather than relying on the display, if the resistance setting is > 50 or >75 (equiv) then mute.

 
Instead of a firmware bandaid, he should just fix the actual problem that exists across the AGD line for multiple customers.  Once the static discharge gets in to the signal path, it should be considered too late.  It's like trapping rats...  You don't put rat traps in your garage - you seal off the entry points to the garage!
 
RAZR, let us know what he does about it in the end.  I'm more curious than anything, as I'm no longer an AGD customer myself.

 

[RAZRr1275]

   
Instead of a firmware bandaid, he should just fix the actual problem that exists across the AGD line for multiple customers.  Once the static discharge gets in to the signal path, it should be considered too late.  It's like trapping rats...  You don't put rat traps in your garage - you seal off the entry points to the garage!
 
RAZR, let us know what he does about it in the end.  I'm more curious than anything, as I'm no longer an AGD customer myself.

I'll let all know what happens but I'd like to say that if anyone thinks that what's going on right now isn't appropriate, they should email kingwa and express the concerns. This isn't something about customers vs non customers and who has a direct stake in this vs those who don't -- it's about what kind of standards we as gear heads want to hold the manufactures who we buy from to and that applies to everyone. If it's not up to scratch, the manufacturer needs to know it and that won't reach him unless it's via direct communication. 
 
Sidenote, the amp goes out today. Should be there in 6-10 days so we'll see what comes of all of this. 

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

My M11 is on a carpet too, I haven't had the volume spike issue yet. The volume amnesia issue, may be a few times, never bothered to investigate. I rarely touch the metal exterior of the unit though, cuz my setup is more like a desktop computer, the unit is under the table. Nothing touches the exterior. 

 

[RAZRr1275]

Shipping back to China was $260 but Kingwa will have my amp on March 4th. Hopefully he can get a fix done

 

[Khragon]

That hurts... did you use USPS?