Does it annoy you when companies don't show the internals of electronics ?

Some void the warranty if the case is opened, such as Tom Evans and I believe the Merrill gear too.

They have no legal basis to cancel the warranty and it becomes a small claims court case, already decided by law, in your favor.

At least in Canada.

A box seal or a ’warranty void if sticker removed’, carries no legal weight in Canada.

The government of Canada decided long ago, that people are allowed to look inside their electronics or washer or TV, with no ill being capable of being laid upon them, via the source company.

There are exceptions and it’s in the area of a gas furnace or whatnot. Where a license is required to mess with the guts.

Taking the cover off, though, only (on the given item). Messing with the innards becomes a problem, for all the right reasons.

Deciding the line of looking vs teardown/disassembly becomes the issue, if any, in the given small claims court, or civil claim.

eg, it is very likely that Merril’s ’no look inside’ warranty is invalid in Canada. AFAIK...legally unsupportable and contrary to Canadian law regarding consumer protections and rights.

Source: tech training in repair and electronics work via schooling/courses/degrees in Canada regarding following the law in repair and design/build. Or..said another way.....the information comes via government documents that explain the real world of the legal aspects of the laws, within in-situ context ----as dealt with in degree courses/instructional classes.

I suspect that US law is similar, but I don’t know for sure.

Won’t buy a piece I can’t see the insides of. Never. Most import to me as I must see both the parts and build quality. 

I could use the best "looking" quality parts and make a total unreliable unit, and I could use no-name, but quality components from China and make a product that is highly reliable.


If I saw a hand soldered PCB I would be leery of reliability but taking off the lid is not going to show that normally. Really it is not going to show much.

Are you measuring the components temperature during operation? If not, then again, just hearing with your eyes.

As a reviewer, some thoughts:
If you wish to protect your country’s small business interests, perhaps you might wish to reconsider promoting exposure of potential proprietary info that could be copied and eventually weaken the manufacturer’s sales.

I have found only a weak correlation between interior appearance and sound quality in comparison to other similar products. I have not found nice looking interior and parts to guarantee superior sound, nor necessarily better reliability. It would be nice if it were so, but I have not seen it appear as a rule for component selection - at least if the goal is building a superior sounding rig. :)

I am not interested in debating my observations.