AudioCircle
Audio/Video Gear and Systems => The Karma Circle => Topic started by: mresseguie on 9 Jul 2019, 06:28 am
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A few years back, I shipped this amp to a guy in/near Napa Valley, CA. FEDEX was kind enough to <enthusiastically?> drop the shipping box on one of its corners. Fortunately for me, I had insured shipping for all but about $100 of the cost (lesson learned to include cost of shipping in the insurance). The buyer shipped it back to me and it has sat in my garage ever since. I did contact Bernard at SimAudio about sending it there to repair it. He said it could probably be repaired and that it might cost about $500 plus shipping.
Well, 'probably' wasn't incentive enough for me to gamble on 'maybe' repairing it because I'd be out even more on shipping if it could not be repaired - so here it has sat. It is safe to assume it is nonfunctional.
I'm tired of looking at the box every time I go to that corner of my garage, so I'm going to offer it up as Karma to anyone foolish enough to pay for shipping, meet me within a reasonable distance, or come to my home). I will add a second protective box outside of the original box to double box it. The i3.3 has a 100w/ch amp, a preamp, and a DAC.
If no one is foolish enough to take it, I will likely toss it.
Choose a number from 1 to 20. I'll wait at least a week for responses. If no one chimes in, my feelings won't be hurt. This is definitely an “as is” deal. I guess I ought to limit this offer to AC members with at least 10 posts.
Give me a day or two, and I'll post a couple pictures of the amp.
Michael
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6
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12
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7
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Number 9.
Thanks Michael. A very nice Karma offering indeed.
Cheers,
Lester
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15
Thanks.
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Is it safe to assume its currently nonfunctional? Thanks
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18
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Is it safe to assume its currently nonfunctional? Thanks
It is safe to assume it is nonfunctional.
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5
gab
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4.
Thanks....what a nice offer.
-dGB
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8
I am located in Portland, OR.
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I won't look to get in on it, but what a cool gesture!
Nicely done. :thumb:
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Put me down for 20.
If I win I'll see if it can't be repaired and put back into service.
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19
I'm in TX. Will send it to SimAudio and see if it can be repaired.
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Bump....I may not wait a week after all. Some 325 views and only 11 brave (foolish?) souls have responded. I'll ponder a bit.
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Very Generous! I will go with 11
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Am I close enough with my posts? :D Member since 2011 but I must admit I post mostly at Audio Karma. :oops:
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#2
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Lucky no. 13 :thumb:
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Am I close enough with my posts? :D Member since 2011 but I must admit I post mostly at Audio Karma. :oops:
Cipriano,
Originally, I was going to limit this Karma to those who have 100 or more posts. Then, I reduced it down to 25 (prior to posting) thinking 100 posts might be too limiting. In the end, I said, "To Hell with that!" and settled on 10 as an encouragement to any newer members who had only recently begun posting. The idea behind any of the post numbers is to 'keep it in the community'. You've been a member for many years, yet you're barely a part of this community.
I've got to draw a line somewhere, and ten posts as of my posting this Karma is that line. Sorry. Number eleven is still available.
Michael
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I'm back home from my trip to eastern Oregon (Joseph, Wallowa Lake, Hell's Canyon, Crystal Crane Hot Springs, Malheur National Forest, and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, and Old McKenzie Hwy), so it's time to end this Karma.
I'll find a random number generator on the internet to pick the winner. If there's no winner, I'll select the closest number below the winning number. This means if the winning number is 15 and no one chose 15, I'll choose the closest chosen number below 15.
Remember: The winner pays for shipping unless you're within reasonable driving distance (Portland, Eugene, Lincoln City, etc.).
I'll announce tomorrow....
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Number four is the lucky number!
Dburna come on down!
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Congratulations!
Let us know what the fix turns out to be, please.
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My apologies to everyone. In my first post in this Karma, I said I would post photos, but I forgot about it until dburna asked about them. :duh:
He now has about a dozen photos -front, back, heatsink, inside, top, and bottom....
The main board appears to be intact.
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Thanks for the game Michael. Good karma on you.
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Update:
Dburna contacted SimAudio's Bernard about my shipping the amp there to repair damage and update the amp. I'm not entirely certain what the updating was, but I suspect it was the DAC. [I'll ask him to chime in here to explain more clearly than I can.]
Anyway, the estimated cost to repair and update (and shipping) came to at least $1000. That's a good double what I had been told 4 years ago. Not surprisingly, this is more money than dburna was willing to spend to get this amp up and running. I can't say as I blame him.
This means the Karma is still active if anyone still wants it - knowing that it'll cost at least $1000 to repair and update it.
If you still want in on this Karma, please respond. I can keep the same numbers and roll the dice again. If no one wants to play after learning the projected cost, I certainly understand.
Regards,
Michael
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I'm still in :thumb:
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Update:
Dburna contacted SimAudio's Bernard about my shipping the amp there to repair damage and update the amp. I'm not entirely certain what the updating was, but I suspect it was the DAC. [I'll ask him to chime in here to explain more clearly than I can.]
I want to say again, this time publicly, how much I appreciate Michael's karmic offer and his patience with me while I was sorting out these details with SimAudio. Michael also went above-&-beyond taking copious pictures of the insides so I could have a detailed discussion with their repair tech. Sooooo, thank you, Michael. Thank you.
The estimate was something like $525 to repair the back panel and connectors, $120 for an overall cleanup, and somewhere around $350 for updates to the volume control. Bernard @SimAudio stated that the volume control could develop scratchiness and he didn't want to repair everything else just for it to require a return trip to the repair bay later. Anyway, that's my recollection. I hope this information makes it easy for someone to make a decision on this.
My overall take was, if you are a DIY'er, I bet you could get this up-&-running more cheaply than sending it back for repairs. I, however, and not a skilled DIY'er, so I had to base my decision with that in mind. I hope someone takes this and brings it back to life.
-dGB
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dGB,
Thank you for clarifying. My mind is overly cluttered with 'other' things lately, and I haven't been remembering details as well as usual. :roll: I need another vacation.
Michael
Oh, I can post a bunch of photos now...gimme a little time.
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=197339)
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=197340)
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=197341)
(https://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=197342)
I spent a good 10 minutes gently probing, shining with a flashlight, and peering into corners and could not detect any cracks or other damage to the mainboard. The smooshing is more on the top of the back plate. It appears that the bottom of the case protected the mainboard from damage - but....I did not disassemble anything, so it is possible there is damage. I don't want to get people's hopes up only to discover there's damage after you paid for shipping.
For clarity: This is going to leave my home forever. I don't want it back. Shipping is one way - away from my home. However, I do want to know how it turns out.
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Yes, put me down for number 20 again.
It looks more smooshed than anything unless the circuit board is broken.
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Yes, put me down for number 20 again.
It looks more smooshed than anything unless the circuit board is broken.
I was thinking the same thing.
Does it actually work, or is it inoperable?
Id love to try my hand at winning this, but I can’t in good conscience do it because I can’t afford to drop $1k on another integrated amp. If it works and it’s mere cosmetic (which I doubt), I’m in.
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Stu,
It has not been plugged in or turned on since the damage occurred.
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I long ago lost track of the power cord that came with this, so you'll have to find one yourself, folks. [I know. It's a deal breaker!] :nono:
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Timind and SteveFord are the sole members who have restated an interest in this Karma. If no one else responds by 10 am PST tomorrow (August 9th), I will flip a coin (probably a quarter) to determine the winner.
Before you jump in, read up on the projected cost of repair. It's up to about $1000 if you send it to SimAudio. Of course, it's much less if you want it for parts. It's got a huge tranny under the hood.
Michael
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I can toss my hat in the ring. I am a DIYer and am willing to try to get it running. If I can’t I can use it for parts.
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Ding!
Darn it, WC. Now I can't flip a quarter to determine the winner. :nono: J/K :icon_lol:
I have timind @ #2; WC @ #15, and SteveFord @ #20.
Results coming in a jiffy...
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I typed "random number generator" into Google and chose the one at the top of the page. The minimum value was 1 and max value was 20. Clicked 'generate' and got 2.
Timind, come on down! :birthday: :banana piano: :beer: :drums: :dance: :tempted:
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Deleted.
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Conratulations, Timind!
Get out that soldering iron.
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Conratulations, Timind!
Get out that soldering iron.
+1
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Yipee!!!
My lucky day. :banana piano:
Looking forward to a new project. I'll post the results of my trials.
Thanks Michael.
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Here's the update you've all been waiting for.
I received the amp a couple days ago and unpacked it immediately. Yep, the back panel was pretty sorry looking so I set it on my bench without plugging it in. Next day I removed the back plate which required desoldering the speaker binding posts and removing what seemed like countless screws. Also had to remove the dac board as well as the balanced input board.
Next step was straightening the back panel. This was much easier than expected; wrapped it in an old tshirt and placed it between a couple 2 by 4s and whacked it with a 3 pound hammer. After a few fine tuning whacks, it's hard to tell it was ever bent.
Put it all back together, hooked test speakers up along with my iphone for source, plugged it in and turned it on and WOW, I hear music. Found some batteries for the remote and everything seems to work perfectly. Listened to it in my system for a good hour and a half last night and it sounds very nice.
All I can say now is THANK YOU Michael.
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You're welcome!
On the one hand, I'm more than a little embarrassed that it was so easy to repair. However, I had been told by more than one person to not do what you did. As I'm an electronics idiot, I heeded their warnings. :icon_lol: On the other hand, I'm delighted it wasn't trashed, and that it won't cost gobs of money to bring it back to life.
It's not like I'm out thousands of dollars on this since insurance paid for most of the loss. Plus, I am about to receive a few Karma goodies in the mail from Timind. :thumb:
Looks like a win-win for both of us. 8)
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Congratulations on the repair Timind :thumb: Always nice when the BFH solves an issue in the shop. Just takes that fine touch, and is invigorating. :wink:
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Here's the update you've all been waiting for.
I received the amp a couple days ago and unpacked it immediately. Yep, the back panel was pretty sorry looking so I set it on my bench without plugging it in. Next day I removed the back plate which required desoldering the speaker binding posts and removing what seemed like countless screws. Also had to remove the dac board as well as the balanced input board.
Next step was straightening the back panel. This was much easier than expected; wrapped it in an old tshirt and placed it between a couple 2 by 4s and whacked it with a 3 pound hammer. After a few fine tuning whacks, it's hard to tell it was ever bent.
Put it all back together, hooked test speakers up along with my iphone for source, plugged it in and turned it on and WOW, I hear music. Found some batteries for the remote and everything seems to work perfectly. Listened to it in my system for a good hour and a half last night and it sounds very nice.
All I can say now is THANK YOU Michael.
:o :o :o :o
Jackpot!
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Great ending to a generous story!
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I loved following this story. Thanks for closing the loop for all of us lurkers and glad it worked out so well!
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The damage was only physical?
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Great ending to a generous story!
I agree.....and I'm the original winner who turned this down because of my (lack of) technical skills. I thought it would be too expensive to repair. Nevertheless, I'm just happy that Timind was able to bring this amp back to life. In my hands, that probably wouldn't have happened.
Thank you, Michael, for your generosity of spirit.
Best, -dGB
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The damage was only physical?
Well, there was some mental anguish as well, but mostly physical. :lol:
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The damage was only physical?
Yep, unless these's something like a hairline crack on the board which hasn't shown itself yet. The RCA jacks were bent back quite a bit, so it's a possibility I suppose. So far so good on all inputs after a few days.
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Well, there was some mental anguish as well, but mostly physical. :lol:
..and metal anguish too.
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ATTN: MCGSXR
You have a PM. Please check your PM folder.
Michael