Disappointing headfi adventure + warning

[elmoe]

I think its pretty normal to have, with normal batteries, a 20h usage period for an amp if it uses alot of current. I dont see what the big surprise is. The amp seems to work fine if every 20h crappy batteries die. NiMH rechargeables should last maybe 10h longer, but thats it. Your amp is working just fine if you ask me...

Like the first owner said, you shoudl have PMed him straight away, sent the amp back for a refund, and waited until it was fully repaired at the ex owner's charge to buy it again. Posting the way you did in this thread made sure that this never happens...

Instead of not trusting people right away and figuring you were ripped off try communicating a bit more, you'll realize that people aren't here to do that at all.

 

[elrod-tom]

You know, your description of what's going on (channel cutting out after 20 hours with a new battery) DOES sort of sound like what one might hear when listening to an amp with a dying battery. I've got several portable amps, and when the batteries get low I get distortion and channels cutting out.

Now, whether 20 hours of use per battery is to be expected with that amp, well I don't know. I do know that if you're listening at high volume with bass boost that it sounds reasonable to me.

I hope this post doesn't seem condescending, but you do seem relatively new to all this...I'm just wondering if it might be something as simple as a low battery.

 

[Jahn]

this reminds me of when i first bought a xin right angle adapter from a head-fier who said it worked perfectly. i plugged it into my cmoy and only one channel worked. i tried EVERYTHING to troubleshoot it, until i just said "i'll send it back to xin." so i shipped it off to xin, xin took a look at it, said nothing was wrong with it, what should he do. then i took a look at my cmoy. my cmoy worked perfect with the miniplugs i used - but my box 'o cables had one mini in it from a md player earbud with a SHORTER mini plug! could this be it? i emailed xin, asked him to send back a mini adapter with the "longer" mini plug, he did, and now i've used that adapter for over a year with zero troubles!

sometimes it's not the seller's or manufacturer's fault. but sometimes it is. you never know - sorry to hear you're having a tough time of it!

 

[n_maher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alamak Any advise?? Hope this thread won't end up with a few hundred reads and not a single reply.. Then that really suck... Rgds

First, sorry to hear of your troubles. Second, given your experiences I'd say that your issue should be focused on the shipping provider who must be using your packages as a soccer ball during transport. You're dealing with folks (xin and Vr) who have pretty stellar reputations and aren't deserving of public badmouthing over something they have zero control over (how the amp is handled by the shipper). This is yet another example of why you should never ship something of value without insurance.

Again, sorry that you're in a bad spot.

Nate

 

[alamak]

First of all,

Thx for all your replies and below are some of the answers to your questions;

1) Theres definitely nothing wrong with the mini-mini cable, tried 3 different types(canare, stock cable that came with mini dock and a no brand cable from normal electronic store) but all with the same problem..

2) Its definitely not the batteries.. What i meant was out of the 50 days i own this amp, i only manage to get the amp working without any intermittent for 20 hours.. I've changed and bought new rechargeable batteries(specs and size exactly the same as the one that came with the amp).. So im sure its not a newbie error of not charging a "drained" bettery.. And i've verified with my local battery seller rgding the voltage, specs, etc.. I've also charged the 2 rechargeables(1 bought new and the other from vranswer) that i have. Tested it with my trusty sennheiser wireless mic(1081) with absolutely no problems.

3) Vranswer, im not trying to bad mouth you but if its like what the others commented, the parcel being football around or badly treated, i would expect to see some cracks on the cover or probably some loose components. But everything was intact when i received it. The intermittent problem in my opinion is more likely caused by a bad solder which i feel was present even before u ship.. Again thats what i feel.. And the reason y i did not ask for a refund was becoz i like the size of the amp and did not want to lose the chance of owning it. Thats y i did not insist on a refund.

Everyone, what do you think are the odds of him experiencing NO intermittent at all before shipment? When i experience it with 3 different cables from 3 different manufacturers.. I've tested the cable by hooking up to my mixer(soundcraft) and home amp(yamaha 2500), absolutely no intermittent!!

4) Theres somethings i want to clarify, the 1st prob when i receive from Vranswer was the EARPHONE JACK(right hand side of SD). After sending it to XIn, it came back with problem in the AUDIO INPUT JACK(left hand side of SD). Now the 3rd time, no problem with both jacks but a series of pop sound which leads to the death of the amp..

Again, my intention of starting off this thread is to create awareness to all newbies out there about purchasing used items from foreign country. Coz it might end up being such a hassle to send it back for repair/ refund if anything goes wrong..

Rgds

 

[htbyron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alamak First of all, <snip> 3) Vranswer, im not trying to bad mouth you but if its like what the others commented, the parcel being football around or badly treated, i would expect to see some cracks on the cover or probably some loose components. But everything was intact when i received it. The intermittent problem in my opinion is more likely caused by a bad solder which i feel was present even before u ship.. Again thats what i feel.. And the reason y i did not ask for a refund was becoz i like the size of the amp and did not want to lose the chance of owning it. Thats y i did not insist on a refund. Everyone, what do you think are the odds of him experiencing NO intermittent at all before shipment? When i experience it with 3 different cables from 3 different manufacturers.. I've tested the cable by hooking up to my mixer(soundcraft) and home amp(yamaha 2500), absolutely no intermittent!! <snip> Again, my intention of starting off this thread is to create awareness to all newbies out there about purchasing used items from foreign country. Coz it might end up being such a hassle to send it back for repair/ refund if anything goes wrong.. Rgds

Hmmm, I'm troubled by some seeming inconsistency in your description of your motivation for starting (and perpetuating) this thread. If you want this to be a warning about the hazards of buying from overseas, you should limit your commentary to that issue. The problem is that, despite your overt protestation to the contrary, you ARE trying to badmouth another (well-established) member of this forum community. Most notably, you describe VRAnswer in your first post as a
Quote:

Originally Posted by alamak dishonest headfier

That's nothing if not inflammatory, and does not appear (to me at least) to be supported by any facts you recount in the tale of bad luck that follows. Then, in the later post (quoted above), you ask readers to speculate on the likelihood that the seller told you the truth, despite the reasonable suggestions made by many sympathetic head-fiers as to possible causes of the problem that do not arise from duplicity. Those passages seem to me to be the most egregious examples giving rise to my belief that your agenda is not as limited as you claim.

In the interest of keeping things civil here, may I suggest that you reread your posts carefully, and if you indeed mean to address only the possibility of an expensive and disappointing purchase experience by a newbie to such transactions, please make only that point. If you choose to delete the passages in your original post that troubled me in this respect, I will gladly edit this post as well.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[jerb]

you shipped it from a foriegn country, the longer the distance travelled the mroe likely it is to be abused. read the members lounge and the headphones forum about peopl's shipping dilema's. Grado's are notorious for this kind of thing (breaking during shipment).

how good are your DIY skills? I would spin both the Inuput/output cables at the amp and their source. It could be any number of problems...

at this point the thread needs to be locked and everyone can move on. start a thread in the DIY section and you should get more support

 

[DJGeorgeT]

Unfortunately when shipping items abroad a lot of things can happen. The seller has no control over them. I have never had any problems shipping electronic equipment to Japan (some of my buyers are in Japan), but I can envision that some shippers may drop, throw or even expose my packages to rain, etc. It is all out of my hands. What you should have done was to buy insurance and file a complaint once you found out that the amp was not in working condition. It is hard to say if the seller is at fault or not. I'd say the seller would be at fault if something inside of the amp were fried and it smelled like it too...but intermittent problems could come from shipping abuse.

 

[RickG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerb at this point the thread needs to be locked and everyone can move on. start a thread in the DIY section and you should get more support

I think that's a great suggestion, jerb.

Done!