Some older gear is readily repairable as long as components are available, newer gear with specialized IC chips and the like are basically unrepairable once those components are out of stock. I hear some Harley-Davidson shops won't work on bikes that are more than 10 years old. Man, that seems like it was yesterday. |
@ptss |
A lot of products manufactured in the 90's have discontinued semiconductors. This is the main reason support has been dropped -- they are afraid if they open up the unit for an unrelated repair and accidentally take out a transistor or two that's no longer made, they cannot make your equipment whole again. Lawyer on line 2... |
In general, yea they will. Like Audio Research. I lent my 1978 vintage preamp to a friend… he blew out one channel about 15 years ago. We contacted ARC… and they immediately told him how much it would cost. Many people love an audio component… and after a certain time want to keep it. One of the reasons you buy a product from a company like Audio Research is it can be forever. On the other hand, if you are chasing the highest quality sound possible… then you sell that reliable product with a company that will support it nearly forever to someone else who can be sure it is a good investment.
Alternatively, you can buy from the new company trying to get into the market. The cost will be lower… and some of the sound characteristics will be top notch… some of the sound characteristics may not be… the ones you discover when owning an audio product over years of use. Also, the company may not be there to support the product.
I recommended a Rouge product to a friend about 25 years ago when the company was new. The amp blew up in the first month. The founder told my friend it wasn’t his problem because it was a tube that took out the circuit, and he did not cover damage to the amplifier created by a tube problem. So, tough luck… pay an additional 1/2 the price of your amp to have it fixed. I absolutely guarantee that would not have happened with Audio Research. I was humiliated as I was the one recommending a Rouge product. If I were to do it again, I would have recommended a used high end brand, instead of a new comer. |
Lamm never authorized third party repair or made schematics available. I do have a guy here in Austin who rebuilds pre-war tube amps, so if I needed him to work on the Lamm ML2s, I suppose I could get his help. But, Elina is planning on opening a facility in Florida. Let’s see how that goes- I’d rather stick with the factory, despite the shipping factor (I lived in NY for a long time and had Lamm service my equipment regularly -- we would drive it from the Lower Hudson Valley to Deep Brooklyn). I’m now in Texas, which means shipping by air freight if I continue to rely on the factory. So far, I haven’t had a need-- Vlad went over the amps before I moved down here full time, 5 years ago and I’m pretty well stocked with extra tube sets. Sorry Vlad passed. He was a good guy. |
