bo_knows
Addicted to Fun and Learning
"I am very sorry to hear of those events that you have suffered through. Losing a flagship AVR is no easy thing to endure. Hopefully your story will be of some guidance to others" Now we talking. Thank you for your empathy and sympathy! Sometimes this is all one needs. Yes, things like this happen all the time. This time I ran out of luck and it happen to me. I'm fortunate enough and blessed to be able to deal with this either way it goes.I am very sorry to hear of those events that you have suffered through. Losing a flagship AVR is no easy thing to endure. Hopefully your story will be of some guidance to others.
To provide some answers and some guidance, I have submitted the following:
These are not new problems, and not unique to Sound United.
I remember back when those now obsolete old POA Denon and flagship AVR beasts were failing due to heat exhaustion. There is a ton of tech + amps piled into these products with very little room for heatsinks substantial enough to do all of the heavy lifting. Much of the heat comes from the video boards actually. This is why I've always been a proponent of using seperates in large complicated systems.
Few points.
Never put any of these AV products into a closed shelf or stand, regardless of brand, without adding a worthy external cooling solution first.
Never stack your gear. Always provide ample space around each piece to allow the natural induction of heat a place to go.
Like anything you invest in and cherish, how you take care of your belongings is often a personal choice. When things fail, consumers will often look for warranties or insurances for an easy, econimically viable solution. The manufacturers of these devices have no idea how the end user has stored or used an item.
Passive devices (like speakers) do not share these sort of problems, and so warranty co.s will look at those much differently.
BTW, I happen to know that certain Sound United products will come with 5 year warranties, including at least one new flagship
Discussion:
How many consumers will stop to look first at their own personal choices as reasoning for why something fails? How many will make the appropriate changes themselves, when they have a warranty co. that backs them everytime?
I'm happy for others that Sound United will extend the warranty period on their selected models.
Bryston and ATI they are not and I will need to consider the warranty aspect (along with the customer support) with my next purchase.
As far as brand loyalty, KEF for life...