I am far from impressed by the reliability of hifi gear:
Arcam Solo Movie, bought new six years ago, not used much, I recently discovered that the analogue inputs have obvious hissing and the headphone output does not work. £1,000 down the drain after six years. Mind you, it always sat on top of a nice Ercol media cabinet, so clearly it had a hard life. That said, I always hated it, horrible user interface, muddy sound (warm and rich according to WHF).
Chord Mojo, bought new, failed after just over two years. I have ordered a new battery, in case that is the issue. Possibly £400 down the drain after just over two years. It still looks in nice condition, no scratches.
Audeze Sine headphones. The ear cups fell to pieces after a year. Replaced with nice leather over ear ones. Then the digital cable failed. So I used the standard one. Then an earpiece failed. So, £300 down the drain after four + years. Beautiful sound (not according to WHF though), far better than my HD600.
I have had lots of Sennheiser headphones, including a twenty year old HD600, which are solid and reliable. The HD600 also has replacements for wearable parts such as ear pads. And my Japanese cameras are rock solid. My digital radios are rock solid.
It seems to be boutique hifi brands that fail. Who in their right mind designs a DAC with an internal lithium ion battery, that runs off the battery, which is not user replaceable, knowing full well that these batteries are only good for about 500 recharges? So they know it will last about two years in regular use, and they charge £80 to fit a new battery. And the user interface is awful, really awful. Oh and measurements show that the sound quality is on a par with products costing half as much,
And another thing that cheeses me off is the hifi press, and their reviews. Noone reported the awful Arcam Solo movie UI, or the muddy sound. WHF said it was separates quality. No it isn‘t. None of them mentioned the Chord Mojo battery lifetime. Or the poor UI. And they gushed over the sound quality.
These days I ignore reviews from the mainstream press, all too often they do not match my experiences, and I look at reviews by some YouTubers, and measurements online, then listen for myself.
Arcam Solo Movie, bought new six years ago, not used much, I recently discovered that the analogue inputs have obvious hissing and the headphone output does not work. £1,000 down the drain after six years. Mind you, it always sat on top of a nice Ercol media cabinet, so clearly it had a hard life. That said, I always hated it, horrible user interface, muddy sound (warm and rich according to WHF).
Chord Mojo, bought new, failed after just over two years. I have ordered a new battery, in case that is the issue. Possibly £400 down the drain after just over two years. It still looks in nice condition, no scratches.
Audeze Sine headphones. The ear cups fell to pieces after a year. Replaced with nice leather over ear ones. Then the digital cable failed. So I used the standard one. Then an earpiece failed. So, £300 down the drain after four + years. Beautiful sound (not according to WHF though), far better than my HD600.
I have had lots of Sennheiser headphones, including a twenty year old HD600, which are solid and reliable. The HD600 also has replacements for wearable parts such as ear pads. And my Japanese cameras are rock solid. My digital radios are rock solid.
It seems to be boutique hifi brands that fail. Who in their right mind designs a DAC with an internal lithium ion battery, that runs off the battery, which is not user replaceable, knowing full well that these batteries are only good for about 500 recharges? So they know it will last about two years in regular use, and they charge £80 to fit a new battery. And the user interface is awful, really awful. Oh and measurements show that the sound quality is on a par with products costing half as much,
And another thing that cheeses me off is the hifi press, and their reviews. Noone reported the awful Arcam Solo movie UI, or the muddy sound. WHF said it was separates quality. No it isn‘t. None of them mentioned the Chord Mojo battery lifetime. Or the poor UI. And they gushed over the sound quality.
These days I ignore reviews from the mainstream press, all too often they do not match my experiences, and I look at reviews by some YouTubers, and measurements online, then listen for myself.