Faulty Roksan Kandy LIII amp - anyone else?

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I bought a new Kandy LIII amplifier recently but have had to return 3 units with the same problem. After about 2 days use, the volume starts to fail and goes louder / quieter and only though one speaker. When you try to use the volume control, the sounds just comes in and out, too loud and crackles.

I contacted Roksan and they are aware of a fault on some units that they describe as a ‘Volume Port Problem’.

Anyone else had this problem or just me?

Cheers.

 

[Henley]

There has been a limited batch problem (around 70 units) with L3 amplifiers whereby the headphone socket has been supplied to us slightly out of tollerance. When fitted this sits very close to the PCB and, during transit, can press against the PCB and cause damage to the volume pot. Unfortunately this was not evident during manufacture or normal testing, as the difference is around 1.5mm, but was only apparent after transport through a courier network and only affected a percentage of the amplifiers concerned. All units pre and post production were changed and any items in the field were replaced without question.
We can assure you that this problem does not occur over time but is evident almost immediately and any concerns can be dealt with instantly by calling ourselves on 01235 511166 or Roksan on 0208 900 6801.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick response. I'm dealing with Roksan direct and they have agreed to ship me a new unit that they know does not have this problem. I'll update this post if the problem happens again.

 

[Anonymous]

hi there, iv had my L111 amp for well over a year and never had any problems at all, its solid as a rock.

 

[basshound]

I bought the Kandy amp + cd twinpack just before Christmas and have had no probs.

 

[Anonymous]

No problems here either with a recently purchased unit.

EDIT: see my later posts on this thread...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feedback folks. I'm hoping the replacement amp is fine but it just seems very strange (or very unlucky) that I have had 3 units with the same problem. When it works (for about a day) the amp is excellent and completely brought new life to my ageing Mission 780 speakers, although I'm now itching to see if new speakers will make a similarly big difference..here's to a new amp that works.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi there, I have just recently returned my Roksan Kandy LIII with the exact same fault as you have described. I bought mine in December and it packed up in early Feb. I have since upgraded and paid the difference for a Kandy K2. I got my K2 about a week ago and I am chuffed to bits with it.

When I contacted Roksan I asked them if it was a common problem and they said not, infact the engineer sounded quite surprised and didn't mention anything about a faulty batch.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks..so at least I'm not going mad thinking it was just my amp(s).
Interesting that the reply from Henley (Roksan's distributor) stated that the fault 'does not occur over time but is evident almost immediately'. This does not tally with your experience of ~6 weeks use and then failure. Admittedly, mine have all failed within a day or so, I guess when warmed up??

I was tempted to just get the money back but I'm giving Roksan one more go to give me a working unit. If that fails again then I'll need to look elsewhere. Unfortunately, I'm just not sure I would be able to trust Roksan kit again after this experience.

 

[Roksan]

All manufacturers (regardless of size) have production problems from time to time and, whilst we use every endeavour to eliminate such issues, they are sometimes out of our control. We believe being brave enough to be open about such issues is the correct way forward and we welcome open debate regarding our products.

Because of our immediate replacement policy, it is quite possible that more than one unit from the same batch was despatched before the cause of the issue was recognised.

 

[Anonymous]

Hello & greetings from Spain.

I bought from a UK online shop and I got early February another of these faulty LIII amplifiers, that proved to be wrong 2 days after start-up with the e-x-a-c-t same problem described above.

I returned it to shop and I am just waiting for the replacement. I cross my fingers I get a good one now. I understand these things happen and I just hope inventories were flushed of bad units (Roksan folks could inform shops about affected Serial numbers, so no more innocent consumers are sold faulty units). Good news is that the failure is allways the same. Would be much worse random different failures showing possible quality control issues in the manufacturing lines.

Wish me luck with my new amp. I believe i cannot live without it after I enjoyed its music for 2 days.

 

[Yetholm]

I bought a LIII package from Peter Tyson's in Carlisle just before Christmas and within a few days one channel went. Peter Tyson's were great-they shipped a new unit the same day

 

[Anonymous]

I should be receiving a new unit next week, so hopefully this will finally sort out my LIII saga and I can get on with enjoying it.

Roksan - I appreciate the openness and agree this is the right way to go. As I'm sure you can appreciate though, this will be my 4th unit and patience only runs for so long.

I'll update this post next week if my unit fails again, but fingers crossed.

Thanks to all who have took time to respond.

 

[Anonymous]

Had a Roksan Kandy LIII partner a Rega Apollo and never had a single issue. I have also had the older MK3 models and those were fine too. Odd that you have had problems on three occassions.

 

[Anonymous]

evilwolf is the primare amp a big step from the L111, because im thinking of upgrading in the near future. the primare and the new caspian is on my short list ?

 

[Anonymous]

I used to own the Roksan Kandy LIII for a short period, as I too suffered the volume pot problem, I too had to replace it twice, but gave up in the end. I also noticed that the volume pot was very uneven at lower volume levels, very unsatisfactory as I listen to alot of mood music at low volume.

So listening to music through only one speaker due to an uneven vol pot was not what I wanted. This though was not a malfunction, it is the design of there pots, and furthermore not to my liking

 

[Anonymous]

Had a Roksan Kandy twin pack just before Christmas '08. Same problem as described - difficult volume control i.e. full bore, nothing at all, left channel only, crackling... all with just the slightest movement of the volume control. This happened just a few days into having the combo.

Contact local dealer who moved heaven and earth to get me a replacement of both the CD player and amp. Now, the same fault has occurred again. This time though, Henley's are offering to repair the amp. It would seem that Roksan have had more than a few of these units with the defective volume control looking through this forum. Do I need to be worried about a repair from Roksan for an amp that's had less than 10 hours use?

My local dealer is once again proving very good and is loaning me an amp while the Kandy is being looked at. I'll let you know how the repair goes...

 

[Anonymous]

The issue of uneven low level volume is not uncommon with the Roksan Kandy L.III. There are a few internet threads i found regarding this issue. I am amazed that WHF did not pick up on this when reviewing the unit, i purchased (foolishly) due to WHF review a while back, but should have auditioned, as I do with all hifi now. So you can imagine how dissapointed I was with the unit.

As with the crackling, I would be worried for an amp with less than 10 hours playtime. Usually you should allow considerable time before you form a solid opinion on sound etc, but crackled sound when adjusting volume sounds like a poorly designed vol pot. If other companies can manage to manufacture these components without any hassle, you would think someone as reputable as Roksan could fix this issue rather than distribute less than satisfactory units, expensive amplifiers at that.

This is not an attack on Roksan, I owned The mark I KA-1 and KC-1's, fabulous equipment, I highly rate them, moreso than the L.III

 

[Anonymous]

theres nothing wrong with my L111 amp, iv had it over a year and use it daily its perfect.

 

[basshound]

My Roksan Kandy amp has just packed up with the same symptoms as described in the op.Amp was bought as part of a twin pack in Nov. last year.Do I contact the dealer(Audio Affair) or go direct to Roksan?

 

[basshound]

Right,I`ve e-mailed the dealer and will see what they say,assuming they offer a refund or replacement I don`t really want another Kandy LIII as it might be faulty as well.They have an ex-demo K2 at £745 which I could maybe stretch to.Would this be ok in my system? Other suggestions also much appreciated.

 

[basshound]

The dealer is insisting I return the amp for repair anyone know if I can demand a refund? Amp was purchased 05/12/08

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know, but I would imagine they're well within their rights to repair rather than replace.

Perhaps it would be useful to email Roksan with the serial number and ask them to confirm whether this amp is part of the dodgy batch which they refer to at that start of this thread? As a Kandy owner, I'd certainly be interested to know.

 

[basshound]

tractorboy:
I don't know, but I would imagine they're well within their rights to repair rather than replace.

Perhaps it would be useful to email Roksan with the serial number and ask them to confirm whether this amp is part of the dodgy batch which they refer to at that start of this thread? As a Kandy owner, I'd certainly be interested to know.

The dealer says I am liable for return postage costs which I do not think is right,if I understand correctly Sale of goods act states that faulty goods should be replaced or repaired without further cost to the consumer.
I have e-mailed Roksan direct with the serial number of the amp and will see what they say. Will keep you updated on events.

 

[Cypher]

The new K2 amp doesn't have these problems ?