Crap Electronics

[MrPin]

Richer Sounds' aftercare option, at 10% of purchase price for 5 years of cover, seems like a sensible option in the circumstances. I'm generally very sceptical of additional warranties but with the RS one you get a full refund if unused at expiration. They rely on people not bothering to reclaim I guess (think you have to do it within a month of the 5 year anniversary), if you are organised it looks like a no brainer.

Pin could emulate my own home cinema set up and get an ancient Yamaha Dolby Digital AV 'processor', which only has amps for the rear/centre three channels, and use his powers for the mains. They seem to be out of fashion these days but remain a good option for those simply wishing to tack on a telly/DVD player to an existing hifi. No HDMI routing via the processor due to age but you can put the DVD straight to the telly via HDMI instead.

DSP-E492

DSP-E800

are the sorts of things I mean.

Ah yes, one of my friends had one of those! You weren't saving any money, by getting something with two amplifiers removed!

Still, like I say, Yamaha usually produce good kit! I've had Yamaha keboards. guitars, motorbikes, and sound cards!

[erat_forte]

I told you not to plug the motorbike into the amp!

[DTMark]

^{We have a Denon and a Yamaha (AX-500) amplifier which still work fine. Volume knob is a little crackly on the Yamaha - dirt on the resistor (or whatever the thing is the volume knob is attached to) I guess.}

^{Both nearly 20 years old. Neither were budget at the time but they weren't high-end either.}

^{We had a big-screen (at the time) Sharp TV that lasted a decade until we replaced it with a Panasonic last year and as far as I know it still works. It's in the shed.}

^{Rhetorical question.. Why does the font go tiny on this from time to time...}

[OnionTerror]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27253103

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26197229

Firms can make it obtusely difficult to fix their things, so you often have to go back to them to get it repaired..

[Habeas Domus]

Lead free solder is the real reason, another environmental "improvement" that actually caused more damaging Tin mining, plus mountains of additional electronics waste.

Lead-free assembly is less reliable than lead-based assembly. The E.U. environmental commission admits this point. That's why they grant exceptions for military and high-reliability applications that still use SnPb solder. (Ref. 3)

http://www.ecnmag.com/articles/2011/12/was-lead-free-solder-worth-effort

[MrPin]

^{We have a Denon and a Yamaha (AX-500) amplifier which still work fine. Volume knob is a little crackly on the Yamaha - dirt on the resistor (or whatever the thing is the volume knob is attached to) I guess.}

^{Both nearly 20 years old. Neither were budget at the time but they weren't high-end either.}

^{We had a big-screen (at the time) Sharp TV that lasted a decade until we replaced it with a Panasonic last year and as far as I know it still works. It's in the shed.}

^{Rhetorical question.. Why does the font go tiny on this from time to time...}

I guess you're not a 24-point sans-serif type bloke!

[DTMark]

_{I recall my parents replacing their washing machine with a new one.}

_{All installed, plugged in, loaded up.}

_{Machine operates normally as expected. Draws water and pauses briefly.}

_{Before then emitting a puff of smoke and emptying the water all over the kitchen floor.}

_{They exchanged it for a different model.}

_{As I was only about ten at the time I thought this much funnier than my parents did.}

[MrPin]

_{I recall my parents replacing their washing machine with a new one.}

_{All installed, plugged in, loaded up.}

_{Machine operates normally as expected. Draws water and pauses briefly.}

_{Before then emitting a puff of smoke and emptying the water all over the kitchen floor.}

_{They exchanged it for a different model.}

_{As I was only about ten at the time I thought this much funnier than my parents did.}

That was probably a wise move!

[MrPin]

My new surround amp, sounds better than the old one for a third of the price!

[Bruce Banner]

My new surround amp, sounds better than the old one for a third of the price!

I'm using a little Sony all-in-one 5.1 system. My 'proper' 7.1 system with dual 15" sub woofers would probably demolish the rental house .

[MrPin]

I'm using a little Sony all-in-one 5.1 system. My 'proper' 7.1 system with dual 15" sub woofers would probably demolish the rental house .

I'm beginning to learn that more money does not always equal better!

[phead]

Cheap 'n Chinkie capacitors on the output stages would be my guess. Big electrolytic capacitors are the components that fail on consumer PCB-based products most often (especially audio amplifiers), because the poorer quality ones tend to overheat, lose capacity and eventually burst. They are also where the biggest production savings are to be made in using poor quality ones.

I remember the fake electrolyte scandal from a few years back, that must have taken out billions worth of consumer goods. Unless all the parts are Japanese I don't know if its possible to spot the fake from the generally crap these days.

I threw away my model 1 tivo at the weekend, the "small electronics" shipping container/skip was full to the brim with perfect looking failed electronics.

oh and www.emailremind.co.uk is the boy for 5 year refunds! (oh and pesky family birthdays)