My Quad Vena has been for repair twice

[Bromiley]

Hi

My Quad Vena has been in for repair twice in 2 years and is now just out of guarantee. Should I have another problem, I'll be looking at getting a different amp.

I love the sound of the Vena with my B&W 685s2 speakers. Would the new Rega Brio be a similar sound?

I'd love to hear back from anyone who has or heard the new Brio that can give me some feedback.

Thanks.

 

[chebby]

What went wrong with your Quad Vena?

 

[Bromiley]

Hi Chebby. I thought you might reply.

1st problem:

The Vena wouldn’t turn on. None of the source buttons worked at all. I turned it off at the back and unplugged it. I left it for a few hours and tried again. Nothing. I then left it a few days and still nothing from different power sockets too. So, I took it back to the shop/dealer and he tried too. Still nothing. He sent it to IAG Germany (where I live). When it came back the repair report said there was nothing wrong. I was very surprised but what the hell, it worked again.

2nd problem:

About a year after the first problem I started to hear some kind of distortion/noise from the right speaker. The speaker would briefly cut out and then return. This then started to happen with the left speaker. This went on for weeks but only after about an hour of use.

I contacted B&W to ask what I could check with the speakers. I followed the advice but the problem remained. I then disconnected the Vena and tested the speakers and cables with a different amp. NO problem at all. I tested the system for weeks and at no point did the problem return.

So, back to the dealer and off it went again for repair. The Vena came back and once again the report said there was no problem. The only thing they did was upgrade the Bluetooth software.

To be honest I’m a bit suspicious about the whole repair process and now that the Vena is out of warrantee I may have to buy a new amp if I have another problem. My dealer has now stopped stocking the Vena and has moved to the Cyrus ONE.

As I said in my first post, should I have to buy a new amp, I’d like to know if the Rega Brio has a similar sound. I like a system that I could happily listen to for hours.

Thanks.

 

[chebby]

I had intermittent distortion on the left channel. Tried different speakers and swapping speaker cables and it was always the left channel on the amp.

Local Audio-T confirmed the fault and sent it to Quad for repair. Quad confirmed (by phone to them) that they had to replace a ‘relay’ but wrote it up on the invoice as a service.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

Did you buy it directly with a uk retailer, when did the problems first start after purchase,and when did you originally purchase. This all determines what bit of legislation you can go by, but my attitude is if the item is faulty from the start or near to purchase, it’s likely that it was a wrong un off the production line. Hi Fi is often fickle and no matter the tinkering, it’s always good to start with a good unit.

Therefore with above in mind it should be rejected if possible. Was it a uk chain retailer too? Following the warranty repair is non contractual (statutory rights come first) and manufacturers often use it to deal with repairs more cheaply where consumers can reject the whole item or get a refund. If you can answer me on these points I will reply telling you what your rights are but purchasing from Germany might affect that. But on the rega, the cyrus one is a much better amp and very powerful, and that’s one I’d definetly go for above the rega. More powerful too. But it seems to me you shouldn’t bear the cost of the faults.

 

[Bromiley]

I'm British but I live in Cologne, Germany. The amp was bought from a small dealer in Cologne. In Germany you get a 2 year warrantee for products even if the manufacturer states one year. My 2 year warrantee has just finished, so there's nothing I can do. As far as IAG (the owners of Quad) my amp came back working.

I've read that the Cyrus amps are bright. I'd have to demo the amp but I think it would be a bit too bright with my B&W 685s2 speakers. I demoed a Cambridge CXA 80 and couldn't listen for a long time. Far too bright for me.

 

[Bromiley]

Hi Chebby

Sadly, the distortion has just returned. The Vena came back from the second repair in December 2017 and all was good over Christmas but now I hear the distortion again. I contacted Quad UK service as I haven't had a lot of luck over here with IAG/Quad Germany. I nicely voiced my dissapointment about the issues I've had with the amplifier within two years and their responce wasn't so good. Not even a "Sorry to hear that" etc. I was simply told that I could send it to the UK for repair and bare ALL costs for shipping and repair etc. Or I could contact IAG/Quad Germany and see if they are prepared to do anything about it.

I know the amplifier is now out of warantee and two years old, but I am reluctant about paying for what may be an expensive repair. Do you or anyone else know what repair costs are for the issues I've experinced? Am I better to put that money towards a new amplifier?

 

[jimmy1]

I dont think its unreasonable to expect that amp to last more than 2 years, sounds like it may have had problems from the start, just annoy them into sorting it out

 

[BigH]

I would take it back to the dealer and stress the warranty repair has not worked.

It maybe worth getting it repaired so you can sell it on.

Probably too expensive/risky to ship to UK and back.

 

[Bromiley]

Thanks for the support. Given the potential repair/shipping costs involved in sending the amplifier to the UK, or trying to argue my case with IAG/Quad here Germany, I think I'll move the amplifier to the study and look for a new one. Having lived in Germany for quite a few years now, I know it's not easy dealing with things like this. The trains run on time and the beer is great, but customer service lacks far behind the UK!

I'll post a new subject regarding amplifiers and would be grateful for help in determining which amplifiers would be good to demo.

 

[drummerman]

Deleted

 

[insider9]

I'd argue with them it's unacceptable to send you "repaired" amp in December 2017 so that the issue returned in January 2018. Surely even though it's out of original warranty there must be some grace period after the amp returned from repair. Or simply warranty period on the repairs undertaken.

I'd be asking for a replacement unit sent at no cost. And make them aware you're making this thing public as you're not happy with the way they handled this.

 

[Bromiley]

Deleted?

Thanks drummerman! That makes me feel a whole lot better.

 

[drummerman]

Deleted? 

Thanks drummerman! That makes me feel a whole lot better. 

?

 

[Gray]

Thanks for the support. Given the potential repair/shipping costs involved in sending the amplifier to the UK, or trying to argue my case with IAG/Quad here Germany, I think I'll move the amplifier to the study and look for a new one. Having lived in Germany for quite a few years now, I know it's not easy dealing with things like this. The trains run on time and the beer is great, but customer service lacks far behind the UK!

I'll post a new subject regarding amplifiers and would be grateful for help in determining which amplifiers would be good to demo.

The only German company I've ever dealt with is Highresaudio. Having spent a lot of money with them, I had an issue whereby accrued credit was not applied to an order - due to to an error in the way their website worked. They point blank refused to resolve the issue in any way. I have never experienced worse customer service, they treated me with contempt.

No way all German companies could be as bad, but your comment is very interesting to me. I was actually quite shocked by my experience.

Sorry to hear of your problem Bromiley. From what you've said, it sounds like you've had a 'No Fault Found' verdict on two occasions? So, according to them, they haven't needed to do any repairs.

You say that the dealer confirmed a fault on the first occasion. Can you get it back to that dealer for him to witness the current problem?

If so, he should take appropriate action. On your behalf, he needs to insist to the 'repairers' that he has twice confirmed faulty operation. I can understand your lack of confidence in all concerned, but you deserve a satisfactory outcome.

Good luck.

 

[Tannoyed]

Hi

It is rather difficult to establish what is wrong without the amplifier in front of me. I notice that in one of the subsequent posts, the repairer stated that a relay was faulty. Now I am making a few assumptions here but relays are often used to isolate the loudspeakers during the power up phase so that no unpleasant overloads or DC offsets get applied to your precious speech coils. The relays will be heard to click in a few seconds after power up.

If your amplifier is used infrequently ie the relays switch infrequently, the contacts will oxidise-particularly if the relays are designed to work up to high voltages and any arcing at these levels would self-clean the contacts.

Try switching the amp on for 10 seconds or so and then off again and repeat this. Doing this might clean the contacts up although switch cleaner applied to the relay contacts would be the best option-if you are able to do this.

If you have a high resistance in series with the speakers you will need a lot of drive to get anything audible from the speakers (volume control up a long way) and the output stage will be banging against the supply rails causing distortion. It may come and go as the contact resistance changes.

Is the problem worse after a period of no use. Do you smoke? Nicotine on the relay contacts (if the relay is not sealed) will have a similar effect.

Just a few things to try. I have had exactly this problem on an old JVC direct coupled amp many years ago but it had been around for a long time.

Try cycling the unit on and off a few times-it may do the trick and do this every so often

 

[Tannoyed]

A further thouigh-any relay in series with the power supply will starve the output stage of volts under load if the contact resistance is high. If there are seperate paths (double pole relay or 2 relays) for left and right channels then this would explain the effect being limited to one channel-if one relay switches the lot then both channels would be affected. Basically you get clipping and therefore distortion because as the load is increased any available voltage is dropped across the relay contacts starving the output stage of headroom so to speak.

Same cure-switch off and on many times-allow the relays to click before turning off-repeat as necessary

 

[Tannoyed]

Further further though

If by some miracle and I am right and it is relay contact resistance, switch on and off with music playing at average volume-an arc with some current behind it will clean the contacts more effectively-not too loud though!

 

[Bromiley]

Thanks for this, Tannoyed. Much appeciated.

I don't smoke. I would say I use the amp about two times a week but usually all weekend. The problem normally starts after about one hour of use with the volume at about 9 o'clock.

I'll try your suggestions and see if they make a difference. If the problem remains, do you know what cost may be involved for new relays? I have no idea how expensive or not these things are.

 

[drummerman]

In the UK you probably would be looking at around £120 to £150 for a basic repair in labour plus whatever margin they put on the $2 part. More if the problem is more extensive.

 

[MajorFubar]

I'd be making nuisance of myself at my dealer's. You can't drop so much money on a product and get the shrugged shoulders response when it breaks at two years old, that's ridiculous. Especially when it has 'prior history' and your dealer saw it was faulty in the shop. But if that really isn't an option, you could probably try squirting some Servisol switch cleaner on the relays. There's often a hole.

 

[Gaz37]

Email Quad customer services including a link to this thread pointing out that potential customers are reading it.

 

[insider9]

Email Quad customer services including a link to this thread pointing out that potential customers are reading it.

Yes and they are horrified with the service you've been provided so far.

 

[Gonepostal]

I actually put a bid in for a quad Vena currently for sale on the bay. I’m glad I wasn’t successful after reading this thread.

 

[Bromiley]

At the moment I'm waiting for a reply from Quad/IAG Germany to see what they are prepared to do. I've been using the amplifier and the problem is still there. Always after about an hour when, I presume, things are warming up inside.

As annoying as this is, I find myself planning for the worse and looking at new amplifiers and a possible speaker upgrade too. I listened to the Q Acoustics Concept 40s last year and thought they were very nice. They were, however, paired with the Musical Fidelity M6 Encore 225.

I appreciate all the comments so far and will let you know what happens.