Need Advice on a Faulty Marantz Purchase

[VXR8]

G'day all,

To cut a long story short (probably not actually), I purchased a brand new Marantz SR-8001, off of eBay some 6 months back. It cost me $1787 AUD shipped from Hong Kong (HK) as opposed to $3499 AUD in retail stores here in Oz.

From initial connection, it was going into Protect Mode. Notified the seller in HK and they arranged to collect it and repair as required - found dodgy PCB and replaced it and shipped it back, at no cost to me - all good so far.

Another 2 months down the track, one morning at low volume, listening to FM radio the unit made a loud banging noise and then switched off with the stand by light flashing rapidly - wouldn't turn back in again etc. Contacted seller again and they eventually agreed to take it back to look at again, but at my expense to ship it back to HK ($199 AUD). This was back on the 14 March 2008. Tonight I received an email from the eBay seller advising the following:

We went to Marantz to understand the situations. Both of the 2 times the fault was caused by a short circuitry in the speaker connections which burned out the amplifier module. According to Marantz, this is not uncommon. If your speaker cables has a bit of loosing wires or even on your speaker console there is a slight chance of touching between the positive and negative probe, it caused a short circuitry on the amplifier side. For example, a maid comes to your place to clean, the connectors on the speaker side accidentally touched each other. In addition, if your speakers are connecting to more than one amplifier or if one channel of your amplifier is driving more than one speaker, it will cause similar problems. In other words, only one speaker can be connected to one amplifier channel (a one-to-one connection) at any given time. The problem will not be caused by itself and we have an official report from them about what they have replaced and the possible causes. In fact, both of the repairs they could have charged us due to misuse. We understand this is not what you would like to hear but this is the brutal fact.

Not only did I take offense to this, but I would like to pursue this issue further, possibly with Marantz HQ USA. I use plastic Neotech shielded banana plugs on both avr and speaker connections, so it is impossible to do what they have suggested. I am utilising the pre outs for the front speakers, to a Rotel RB991 and not connecting additional speakers to the front A speaker connections.

I have had 2 previous Yamaha AVRs (RX-V4600 and RX-V2700) hooked up that were purchased and designed for Australian use, with the identical hook up, with no such issue. I have "owned" this SR-8001 for 6 months now, but have physically had it in my possession and functional for less than 3 months.

Sorry for the "short" story, but I thought I would try and get as many of your valuable opinions as possible, as to how you think I should attack this. As the AC here in Oz is 230-240V and the HK units can run on 230V, could this have been caused by a incompatible power supply? I know the Oz Marantz units here have a specific power supply in them (looked inside my SR-5300). Anyway, thanks in advance for all of your good advice.

[shack]

I doubt that Marantz USA has anything to do with this unit. Contact Marantz Japan HQ. Keep pushing to get it right, either with the seller or Marantz. Does it have a factory warranty or is it strictly a seller warranty?

[danger boy]

the power requirement is the first thing I thought about too, but you mention that it's suppose to work with 230v power.. how has your other Marantz held up, the SR-5300? any problems with that one?

[Emlyn]

Sounds like the Marantz service center in Hong Kong was trying to guess what was causing the shorting problem. I agree, it can't be anything you're doing. Their idea probably comes from the fact that the SR8002 uses newer, better insulated binding posts to prevent owners who use bare speaker wire from shorting the binding posts with loose wire strands. The SR8001 had a number of customer returns because of this problem. The SR8002 is essentially the same unit as the SR8001 except for better binding posts and a newer audio processor. I agree with Shack, contact HQ in Japan. Distribution in the US is handled by a separate company. It sounds like they fixed the unit again though, right?

[VXR8]

I doubt that Marantz USA has anything to do with this unit. Contact Marantz Japan HQ. Keep pushing to get it right, either with the seller or Marantz. Does it have a factory warranty or is it strictly a seller warranty?

Hi Shack,

Thanks for the response. The down side of buying an overseas unit is that it only has warranty in the country of sale, so if it fails, it needs to be sent back their everytime. Thanks for the tip, I'll follow up with Japan - I only thought of USA as that is where Marantz originated from.

[VXR8]

the power requirement is the first thing I thought about too, but you mention that it's suppose to work with 230v power.. how has your other Marantz held up, the SR-5300? any problems with that one?

Hi Danger Boy,

I currently have the SR-5300 hooked up identically in my living area (while the SR-8001 was being investigated) and it hasn't missed a beat. I truly believe when a product is available from your own country, it is configured to suit power supplies etc.

Where the main power plug comes in on the SR-5300, the PCB has a label on it with a part number and "Australia" - I haven't checked what the SR-8001 says, but it probably says Hong Kong.

[VXR8]

Sounds like the Marantz service center in Hong Kong was trying to guess what was causing the shorting problem. I agree, it can't be anything you're doing. Their idea probably comes from the fact that the SR8002 uses newer, better insulated binding posts to prevent owners who use bare speaker wire from shorting the binding posts with loose wire strands. The SR8001 had a number of customer returns because of this problem. The SR8002 is essentially the same unit as the SR8001 except for better binding posts and a newer audio processor. I agree with Shack, contact HQ in Japan. Distribution in the US is handled by a separate company. It sounds like they fixed the unit again though, right?

Hi Emlyn and thanks for your response. I will follow up with Marantz in Japan as per Shack's and your suggestion, and yes they have fixed it again, but my concern is when will it fail again? It may not, but twice in 6 months doesn't give me a comfort level that something else may not happen.

Hopefully Marantz Japan can advise the impact on having an overseas unit, supposedly with the ability to run on an equivalent current supply. I need some technical specs on how and if they modify units for designated countries. I know that the units are all manufactured in the same country (China), but obviously they require 110V for US and 240V versions for Australia etc. I'll keep you posted.

[VXR8]

Just a further update, I found a site that you can utilise to report an item that is faulty, or just generally complain about an "experience" when you have purchased something online, from overseas. The link is as follows:

www.econsumer.gov

I did report my experience, however I also received a reply from the seller later that day advising they will provide me with a full refund of the $1787 AUD I paid (eBay store JITHK) - very happy with this outcome.

If I have learnt nothing else from this experience, buying a $3499 AUD SR-8001 brand new from overseas for $1787 AUD is too good to be true.

While I have been without the SR-8001, I have been looking at a replacement for the SR-8001 if the outcome was reached that has been. Although I am partial to Yammie and I have read that their RX-V3800i is more musical than their RX-V2700 (my reason for selling the RX-V2700 and buying the Marantz SR-8001), I have been advised by my local audio store here in Australia that the Denon 2808 / 3808 have the ultimate in picture quality and the sound quality is similar to that of Marantz (only via email - haven't seen or heard either in the flesh - also aware Denon and Marantz come under the parent company of D&M Holdings). I'd welcome your thoughts again on these 2 AVRs, but please take into consideration I have also ordered new Cherry LSi9s for my mains (powered by the Rotel RB-991), so the speakers will also be more musical than my RTi10s.

I can purchase the Yammie at $1900 AUD delivered and the Denon at $2599 delivered (my "local" store is in another state of Australia, but is an authorised Polk, Denon and Yamaha dealer here in Oz). Not too concerned about the price difference, but with 80% music and 20% HT, the music needs to sound the best. Having said that, with a PS3 and Toshiba HD-XE1 to connect via HDMI, PQ needs to be up there as well. If I go with the Denon, it will be the 3808 as it has 4 HDMI inputs as opposed to 2 for the 2808. The Yammie has 4 as well.

Thanks once again for your input for the boy so far away.

[VXR8]

Just a final update.

I did request a report from the service centre in Hong Kong and asked the following 3 questions:

1. Is the unit designed for use in China, able to run on Australian 240V without any issues?
2. Are you able to please provide me with a copy of the report detailing the fault of my unit – serial number MZ050729000399 (in English if possible)
3. What I have been advised caused the fault is speaker wires earthing out and causing the issue. This was not possible as I utilise shielded banana plugs.

Responses as follows with number 1 being of interest:

Regarding your questions, below is my answer:

1) Your product model number SR-8001/K1G is a version designed for China & some other Asian countries, but not includes Australia,
because of supply voltage and safety standard difference reason. The SR-8001/K is designed for 220V a.c. power supply while Australia
model SR-8001/N or A version is designed for 230V and 240V a.c. and it is fully comply with relevant Australia standard and safety requirement.

2) Services report has been sent to Mr. Chan on 17th April 2008. Please find it on the attached file.

3) We are not recommended to use banana plug for speaker connection, it could be one of the possible cause of un-secure connection.
Our proposal of speaker connection can be find on pages 13 and 14 of K version User Manual.
There are too many possibility could cause power transistor circuit burn out, just mention few example,
short circuit during cabling, outside conductor accidentally cause output short circuit, speaker coil short circuit, etc.
In fact, too many un-predictable reasons could cause the problem you have met.
To deal with similar case in Hong Kong, we usually go to the end user site to inspect the real installation.
This is the best way to identify the real problem. Unfortunately, We can only provide this service in Hong Kong but not Australia.

As similar problem happened on 2 different output channels in 2 times, professional AV engineer site service is recommended
to make sure the whole system can function properly.

Thanks again for your purchase and wish you enjoy the ultimate sound quality from Marantz product.

Just goes to show you, although the AC maybe within tolerance (220V to 240V), their is specific components designed for different countries within these units, identified by the model numbers at the end. Something we all can be aware of in the future

[shack]

Hi Shack,

Thanks for the response. The down side of buying an overseas unit is that it only has warranty in the country of sale, so if it fails, it needs to be sent back their everytime. Thanks for the tip, I'll follow up with Japan - I only thought of USA as that is where Marantz originated from.

Marantz except for US and Canada was sold to Philips in 1980. Marantz US and Canada was sold to Philips in 1992. In 2001 Marantz Japan acquired the entire brand and in 2002 merged with Denon to form D&M Holdings. Marantz is a Japanese company.