[WIJGALT]

Me thinks it's time to look for a new hobby...or at least get the hell away from headphone listening. Finally set up the Melos SHA Gold Ref I purchased a couple of weeks ago. Listened for awhile thru conventional speakers & then decided to play with the remote. My version has the cool little box with the balance meter. Lots of fun watching it swing slowly to the right. Less fun watching it NOT swing back...along with the balance of course. Damn thing ain't budging. Press the button on the remote & all I'm getting is this horrific grinding noise & no return to center on the balance. Emailed the seller of this thing & I'm waiting for him to get back to me. Any of you Melos veterans have any ideas? Thanks. Hope I'm not getting screwed again!

 

[markl]

Bummer. So far I've had a SHA-Gold and a SHA-Maestro and both have worked fine. No bright ideas. Did you power off, re-start, and try again? Did you follow the instructions I posted on proper turn-on procedure?

Well, look on the bright side; since you now have to send it to MAR anyway, you can get it upgraded and tweaked while it's in for repair! You were going to do that anyway, weren't you?

markl

 

[WIJGALT]

Yeah, I did try the power on/off thing. This unit supposedly was already "upgraded & tweaked".

 

[DanG]

This is the reason Melos went out of business... they began making units which had some basic operation problems. It's more likely to find faulty units from the later years, such as the SHA-Gold Reference and forward.

 

[dngl]

sorry to hear that...

 

[Hirsch]

I think I read on the tube forum at audioasylum about someone else having trouble with the "photentiometer" on a Melos just last week

That seems to be a vulnerable component. If the unit was "upgraded and tweaked" by Melos Audio Restorations, you might want to find out from the seller if it's still under their warranty. In any event, I hope that the seller is honorable, and takes care of the repair.

 

[darkclouds]

Really sorry to hear that. Hope you'll able to get this thing resolved to your satifaction.

 

[WIJGALT]

Left an email for the seller last nite & he did call me back today. Claims the problem is news to him. Truth is the the balance control did work once for me, then quit. The guy seemed genuinely surprised but what the heck do I know? I opened the unit & was able to get the balance recentered manually - there's a small rod right behind the balance display that can be turned. I'll probably show the unit to a local repair guy & see what he has to say. He's expensive (ya know, the kind who charges $75 just for dropping a component down on his counter) but he knows his stuff - he was a tech for Mcintosh back when LBJ ruled the country & back when my primary concern was a wet diaper. Problem is if a part is shot. Where does one get a replacement Melos part? Certainly hope that's not the case.

 

[darkclouds]

Honestly,
I can feel your pain, we all can. Nothing can be as frustrating as a broken new toy.

 

[DanG]

Do a search here and on Headwize about the replacement parts... apparently, a Head-Fi or Headwize member was in contact with somebody who bought a boatload of Melos parts after the company went out of business.

Contact Melos Audio Restoration as well, though I'd guess their (or rather his) prices are unreasonably high.