Reliability/Repairability of active monitors?

[Barry_G]

Long story short: my well cared for Edifier R1700BT active monitors used with my computer failed (no sound) a few months after warranty expired. Edifier said that they were out of warranty and they are not repairable nor would they provide any documentation/parts for me to repair them myself, even after reminding them of state repair law requiring them to do so. I pulled off the rear panel and it was clear that although quality of construction looked quite decent, they were manufactured in a way that made repair difficult.

So this left me wondering if I should replace them with another pair of active monitors or perhaps instead with a separate small amplifier and passive speakers. How (un)reliable/(un)repairable are consumer active monitors in general? Do some manufacturers do a much better job of this than Edifier within a reasonable price point (~$500/pair)? Thoughts? Recommendations?

 

[dfuller]

This is going to depend heavily on price class - once you get well into 4 figures, repairability becomes more common. Stuff in the $500/pr price bracket has compromises to be that cheap. Maybe Kali would be better on that front? Genelec stocks replacement parts for a long time too, but that's definitely moving up into the $1000+ price bracket.

 

[DVDdoug]

Do some manufacturers do a much better job of this than Edifier within a reasonable price point ?

It's an "economics problem"....

Modern electronics is built very economically on an assembly line with automation and low-skill (usually 3rd world) labor, and the parts components are purchased & stocked in bulk, etc.

To get something repaired takes skilled labor, and it can often take more total-time (man hours) to troubleshoot & repair than it took to build it in the 1st place. And any replacement parts have to be purchased & shipped individually.

It can even cost more to repair if the manufacturer does the repair... I work in electronics and at one place I worked we had a small PC board with a component that would fail somewhat frequently. The boards were assembled/soldered by an outside contractor and it was cheaper for us to replace the whole board than to un-solder and install a new component. And the unit had to be disassembled, reassembled, and tested which took time. It was cheaper to repair than to replace the whole unit, but it wasn't worth repairing the PC board. I was surprised and I learned something!

And in general, audio electronics is so inexpensive, that if you buy something higher-end that is "worth repairing", you can usually find something less expensive to replace it so it's still cheaper to replace it... And more maddening that something expensive has failed!

How (un)reliable/(un)repairable are consumer active monitors in general?

Most electronics is very reliable, but passive speakers even more so... I built some speakers in 1976 when I was in college. I'm on the 3rd set of cabinets (rebuilt-for a couple of different reasons) but the drivers and (passive) crossovers are still perfect!

One exception is speakers with "foam rubber" surrounds that deteriorate. I don't know what kind of "rubber" that is. My still-perfect woofers are butyl rubber, and I think the midranges have a cloth surround. I've also seen car rear-deck speakers that have been destroyed by the sun (usually paper cones).

I've got another old pair of Pioneer speakers (probably from the 70s or 80s) that somebody gave me, and they are also still good.

 

[ernestcarl]

Maybe Kali would be better on that front?

I was really surprised to find that Kali directly sells replacement parts on their website.

 

[Avp1]

Long story short: my well cared for Edifier R1700BT active monitors used with my computer failed (no sound) a few months after warranty expired. Edifier said that they were out of warranty and they are not repairable nor would they provide any documentation/parts for me to repair them myself, even after reminding them of state repair law requiring them to do so. I pulled off the rear panel and it was clear that although quality of construction looked quite decent, they were manufactured in a way that made repair difficult.

So this left me wondering if I should replace them with another pair of active monitors or perhaps instead with a separate small amplifier and passive speakers. How (un)reliable/(un)repairable are consumer active monitors in general? Do some manufacturers do a much better job of this than Edifier within a reasonable price point (~$500/pair)? Thoughts? Recommendations?

These speakers were what $150? No surprise they did not last long. At that price level everything is disposable.

 

[LTig]

I own several active speakers by Klein & Hummel (today Neumann), Genelec, Mackie and JBL and none has failed so far despite being between 10 and 20 years old. Both K&H O300D got a minor problem with a slider switch which could be fixed easily.

 

[Avp1]

It's an "economics problem"....

Modern electronics is built very economically on an assembly line with automation and low-skill (usually 3rd world) labor, and the parts components are purchased & stocked in bulk, etc.

To get something repaired takes skilled labor, and it can often take more total-time (man hours) to troubleshoot & repair than it took to build it in the 1st place. And any replacement parts have to be purchased & shipped individually.

It can even cost more to repair if the manufacturer does the repair... I work in electronics and at one place I worked we had a small PC board with a component that would fail somewhat frequently. The boards were assembled/soldered by an outside contractor and it was cheaper for us to replace the whole board than to un-solder and install a new component. And the unit had to be disassembled, reassembled, and tested which took time. It was cheaper to repair than to replace the whole unit, but it wasn't worth repairing the PC board. I was surprised and I learned something!

And in general, audio electronics is so inexpensive, that if you buy something higher-end that is "worth repairing", you can usually find something less expensive to replace it so it's still cheaper to replace it... And more maddening that something expensive has failed!


Most electronics is very reliable, but passive speakers even more so... I built some speakers in 1976 when I was in college. I'm on the 3rd set of cabinets (rebuilt-for a couple of different reasons) but the drivers and (passive) crossovers are still perfect!

One exception is speakers with "foam rubber" surrounds that deteriorate. I don't know what kind of "rubber" that is. My still-perfect woofers are butyl rubber, and I think the midranges have a cloth surround. I've also seen car rear-deck speakers that have been destroyed by the sun (usually paper cones).

I've got another old pair of Pioneer speakers (probably from the 70s or 80s) that somebody gave me, and they are also still good.

He is right. Skilled technician will cost at least $100 an hour, but likely more. Even in case of simple issue component level diagnostic and repair will take at least two hours. This exceeds residual value of your speakers. If you have analog electronics as your hobby or profession, you can try to work on them yourself, but as exercise of your skills, do not expect any monetary value from that.

 

[dfuller]

I was really surprised to find that Kali directly sells replacement parts on their website.

More reason to like them. Do they have schematics available if needed? That would be a very pro-repair thing of them to do.

 

[Ken Tajalli]

These speakers were what $150? No surprise they did not last long. At that price level everything is disposable.

Recyclable! by putting it in the right bin, fast . . .

 

[ernestcarl]

More reason to like them. Do they have schematics available if needed? That would be a very pro-repair thing of them to do.

That I don't know... assuming when you contact them (being a much smaller company) it would be way easier to get in touch directly with one of their engineers who will have access to it.

 

[Barry_G]

Thanks for the sensible replies. The Edifiers will be recycled. Luckily I had a pair of 25-year old Jamo CS5's in storage that fired right up.

 

[ozzy9832001]

Long story short: my well cared for Edifier R1700BT active monitors used with my computer failed (no sound) a few months after warranty expired. Edifier said that they were out of warranty and they are not repairable nor would they provide any documentation/parts for me to repair them myself, even after reminding them of state repair law requiring them to do so. I pulled off the rear panel and it was clear that although quality of construction looked quite decent, they were manufactured in a way that made repair difficult.

So this left me wondering if I should replace them with another pair of active monitors or perhaps instead with a separate small amplifier and passive speakers. How (un)reliable/(un)repairable are consumer active monitors in general? Do some manufacturers do a much better job of this than Edifier within a reasonable price point (~$500/pair)? Thoughts? Recommendations?

The R1700 are going for less than $200. At that price point, repair is just not going to be worth it unless you or a friend could do it yourself. I wouldn't say it's Edifiers fault though, they are made affordable and that comes at a cost. Should they have failed so shortly after the warranty period? Probably not.

Whether active speakers have a higher failure rate than passive is probably not an issue assuming adequate cooling and proper use.

 

[zonk]

Adam Audio offers 5 years warranty even for their entry level monitors like T5V, T7V, T8V.

I think this is incredible and the T5V sounds great for very little money. Amir has tested this little monitors too.

I bought a pair in 2019 and another in 2020, no problems so far. I love them.

 

[Deleted member 69358]

Long story short: my well cared for Edifier R1700BT active monitors used with my computer failed (no sound) a few months after warranty expired. Edifier said that they were out of warranty and they are not repairable nor would they provide any documentation/parts for me to repair them myself, even after reminding them of state repair law requiring them to do so. I pulled off the rear panel and it was clear that although quality of construction looked quite decent, they were manufactured in a way that made repair difficult.

So this left me wondering if I should replace them with another pair of active monitors or perhaps instead with a separate small amplifier and passive speakers. How (un)reliable/(un)repairable are consumer active monitors in general? Do some manufacturers do a much better job of this than Edifier within a reasonable price point (~$500/pair)? Thoughts? Recommendations?

Did you try them with a different source?

 

[darrellc]

I just got a pair of replacement woofers for Audioengine A2 speakers purchased in 2009 direct from Audioengine for $40 shipped including instructions for replacement. I was impressed they made parts available. Maybe not the best speaker, maybe wiser to apply $40 to new speakers but these are sufficiently fine for my computer and hopefully they work another 15 years and continue to stay out of a landfill.

I wish more things were designed for better longevity and repairability. I think these things could be improved marginally without great economic cost and probably more than that thru scale if required by regulation or demanded by consumers.