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Bel Canto REF600 m amp reapir costs- exorbitant ?

I have a pair of REF600m, I took them out of my system for a month and when I hooked them back up one is dead. No green light, no music. Oddly there are no fuses or breakers in the amp ! Google shows that there are known problems with the power supplies going bad on these. I sent them both in to get looked at- they emailed me today that yup, one needs a new power supply- for $695- and they suggest doing the other one too as it'll probably go next. $1500 to repair two amps with known issues - and the amps are only worth $2800 if I were to sell them. Looking inside the amp there aint much hardware, $700 a power supply sure seems steep- and I'm really stuck. Don't fix them and they're useless, fix them and have a fortune sunk into a pair that aren't worth much. It's like I'd have to spend $1500 to make them saleable for $2500 just to dump them. I would have expected either a free replacement for a known problem or a low cost flat rate repair. I was expecting perhaps $350 each amp. Am I unreasonable? Ignoring the fact that I don't think they should have failed at all, ever. Signed: Unhappy and not buying anymore Bel Canto. 

speedthrills
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,723 posts
 

Welcome to the high end with the law of diminishing returns.  It's a tough one, only you can decide if it's worth it.  The question you have to ask yourself is what can I get for $1500 to replace my amps.

rsf507
2,579 posts
 

I'd just repair the one amp that's bad. Then sell them and run! Yes fully disclose you had one amp recently repaired. 

buellrider97's avatar
buellrider97
971 posts
 

  That’s a bummer , and I sympathize with your dilemma.  It looks like you either fix them both then keep or sell. Some years back I bought a gorgeous looking pair of Dynaco MKIII clones that had all the trick upgrades. I bought them and with great joy hooked them up in my system and they sounded lifeless and as flat as a pancake. No problem I went to the closet and grabbed my tube stash. 4 nos Telefunken Tektronix and 4 mint winged C 6550’s and tried again , amps were better but still sucked. Contacted the seller and crickets. I guess the reproduction transformers are not as good ? I traded them off with 8 new nos tubes worth about $1K today for a nice turntable. I took a loss on the amps as I disclosed the issue. I think that you have more class than to sell a potential problem to someone else. I’ve never sold anything that was misleading as that transaction left a bad taste in my mouth to this day. We give kindness and love , we get kindness and love. I appreciate your post as I’ll scratch Bel Canto of my list. I have Rogue gear and will probably go Rogue or Atmosphere when I can afford a pair of class D’s. Again sorry for your issue and I wish you good Karma. Respectfully, Mike B. 

ckr1969
183 posts
 

how old are they

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