Quality of new HIFI products

I wonder what the overall experience is from users in here in terms of the quality level of HIFI equipment last years. I have a rather worrying track record and I believe I’m not alone. There for sure is no relation between cost vs quality which saddens me. Here’s some of it.

Rega RP3 - Bad noisy motor. Turntable swapped.
Rega RP6 - Leaning platter (drilled wrong), faulty arm lift. Repaired.
Rega P8 - Grease came out of the VTF wheel. Seemed to work OK but looked rather messy for it being at the higher end of the range.
Tannoy Eaton Legacy - 2 speaker poles lose. Hade to remove the back plate and tighten.
Vertere DG-1 - Noise from I believe the silicone belt not fitting the grove on the platter. Can be heard 2m away in a silent room every 3 seconds. This will of course travel to the record and onwards. Warranty claim initiated.
Naim SN3 - One channel died after four months. Repair at Naim HQ.
Line magnetic 508 - Cap blew up

The power supply of my Rega P1 Plus fell apart after six months. They sent a new one FOC but it should not really have fallen apart in the first place.

My Rega P6 arrived with the arm lift set too low. It was an easy fix with a tiny Allen key but should have been set correctly to start with.

With Naim streamers arriving with gaps round the displays, it does rather feel that QC isn’t what it was, though I suspect that it may be no worse and simply that people raise issues on the internet whereas a few years ago they didn’t. Years ago, I bought a 555PS and it arrived with a wonky front plate. I told my dealer and 24 hours later had a perfect replacement. So are things worse? I don’t know.

Things have always slipped through the net but it’s how they are fixed that matters. A brand new VW Golf arrived with a wonky door and a Miele washer dryer with a door that wouldn’t open. It’s not just hifi.

3 Likes

This triggered me as I noticed my Star’s display panel is loose in the one corner.

Waiting for feedback from the dealer and in another post heard someone with a Nova had a similar issue.

So this is/was relatively widespread?

I wouldn’t say widespread, merely that a few issues were reported on here. My point was that in the ‘old days’ it would not have been reported on line, so it’s hard to say if things are worse. People seem much quicker to report the negative than the positive.

2 Likes

I agree with you regarding reporting abilities. In fact, I think it’s still like that to a degree. I read here that a very small amount of users are hit by firmware issues while I had exactly the same problems on two different units. I think many complaints are fielded by dealers and one those who feel served by a forum come here.

But regarding my issue, I am also gathering info, so depending on what the importer suggests this week I can perhaps go “no no no it’s a known design issue” or something.

Every piece of equipment that I’ve bought new from: NAIM/Linn/ProAc/A+R Cambridge/Mordaunt Short/Ortofon/Thorens/ATC/B&W (my entire purchasing history)

has worked (apart from the recent 3.5.0 embarassment) flawlessly.

What am I doing wrong? :wink::smile:

2 Likes

You are not sharing with us how you pick the equipment is what!

What’s your secret? Serial number check? Only buying on odd numbered days? What??!!

Our P1 Plus had a DOA power supply. The dealer had them in stock which surprised me but maybe they go faulty more often than they should.

I had a new Hi Cap which had to go back. However, I’m now getting on a bit and have to say that overall new goods are more reliable now than years ago. I had two BL cars which spent more time with the garage than they did with me.

1 Like

So far the most expensive items of my system have both had faults. Atom had to be replaced after 6 months and my ProAc Tab 10s had a faulty driver after a day’s use.

I know an ex Rega dealer. I won’t go further and I’d never buy either.

I am not sure if quality issues have worsened in recent times. It seems Naim’s record isn’t that bad compared to other HiFi manufacturers, and these issues, such as they are, appear to be magnified on a forum such as this.

The old adage that a satisfied customer will tell three other people about their experience but a dissatisfied customer will tell 10 others appears to hold true, although we do hear many stories on here from very happy Naim customers.

It is always encouraging when purchasing Naim gear that there is such a great service, repair and maintenance service as a back up to sort out any quality issues and keep gear in top operational spec.

1 Like

Well one forum member has had 7 Novas in total due to faults of one or another. Not a great track record but he’s stuck with Naim all the same.

I agree not good, but hardly typical for Naim. Although unfortunate, it is encouraging that Naim have stuck with this customer and have entertained 7 consecutive product replacements.

Might I suggest that a lesser manufacturer would have given up far earlier.

Naim products for 15 years. The only issue was when the CDS3 went for a new laser and service but it was 12 years old. Equally my Roksan has been faultless for 10 years.

Regards

Lindsay

1 Like

The only Naim issue I’ve had was slight delamination of the display on my CD5XS. I could have got this fixed under warranty but never got round to it. Prior to that I had Musical Fidelity amps where some of the on/off switches broke and Meridian CD player where the fancy remote only worked erratically. So in my experience reliability has improved, but that’s just me and things may be different for mechanical devices like turntables.

Roger

most of my new setup appears fine at present (electronics and Fraim).

All the stuff I had on trial recently was fine too. Only one issue with a weird display on a loan Rossini and that was a bug fixed in the next update.

I think quality is ok in hi-fi.

Had a washing machine delivered to our holiday let which hasn’t worked from the day it was installed, however…

We hear more about problems and are perhaps less tolerant than we used to be. No excuse - stuff should work and be QC’d before leaving factory, but I think it’s an internet thing…

I had 112/150, 202/200, 282, 250, 252, 300dr, 250 dr, hicap, flatcap, xps 2, 555 dr, Cdx2, Nds: between 2002 and today.
Had only a problem once with a 200 , that became faulty.

Not sure if this falls under the topic, but appropriately ten years ago a rebuilt cartridge arrived back with the needle perfectly pointing upward :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

4 Likes

I had an ND5XS go faulty after a few months. This was replaced with no quibble by Naim in a matter of days.

Earlier this year my brand new 552 lost a channel on the AV input within a month or so of delivery. The return to base was disappointingly slow for such a new unit and a fault as simple as a sticking relay but then we don’t live in normal times. It’s back home and sounds great now.