[Ableza]

If a manufacturer states "if you open the case the warranty is void" then that is the policy. The distinction is if it is clearly published as a restriction. "No User Serviceable Parts" is in the same category. But yes, it is the manufacturer's burden to prove that tampering occurred if they wish to viod a warranty on a particular product, but that is far easier than you might think. My company honors warranties for two years from date of MANUFACTURE no matter how badly some idiot user has damaged it, in all but the most obvious cases. It's generally cheaper to do that than to fight it. But trust me, when I was the compliance and IP officer I went out of my way to void warranties for people who were obviously trying to run a game and get us to pay for their screw ups.

 

[winders]

re: warranties. Stickers and notices are there to inform the user. Ultimately it is up to the manufacturer to honor a product warranty or not, and if there is ANY evidence that a user did something that violates the stated warranty terms, that is all they need to "just say no." Stickers, etc. are actually mostly moot. It's what's stated or published in the terms of contract or in the owner's manual that matters.

This is mostly incorrect. What matters is what the particular state or country your are doing business in allows. No US state will allow a vendor to void a warranty because you opened up the box....no matter what the box or manual says.

 

[sublime9]

I would love to see Jason do a chapter on the most gruesome returns. Jason ...?

 

[kimbo]

If a manufacturer states "if you open the case the warranty is void" then that is the policy. The distinction is if it is clearly published as a restriction.

Recently purchased the EEVBlog Brymen BM235 multimeter. Looking through the manual I was amused to see the warranty message advising that it is mandatory to open it up!





By the way, I'm more than happy with my new Cat IV meter....extremely capable and very good value. When ordered from EEVBlog https://www.eevblog.com/product/bm235-multimeter/ a pair of very nice silicon leads are included. Highly recommended.
[I have no connection with Dave and EEVBlog except as a follower]

 

[KewlMunky]

I would love to see Jason do a chapter on the most gruesome returns. Jason ...?

It may have just been a post, but I remember Jason mentioning someone returned a product claiming it just stopped working one day. They opened it and it looked like a can of soda had been dumped in it.

 

[Paladin79]

I ran my own repair business for ten years and sealed each item with a sticker stating warranty void if removed or tampered with. I never had an issue arise, but this was all post manufacturers warranty. Product was shipped to me from all 50 states.

 

[sublime9]

The 6SN7 is a great all-around voltage amplification tube. It was developed back in the 1930's, when the use of inverse feedback in audio circuits (with all of the attendant caveats) as a method of distortion reduction was not yet fully established, and so the effort to design tubes with high intrinsic linearity (low distortion) was commonplace.

I've found there are very few genuinely 'bad' sounding 6SN7's out there, particularly among NOS (New Old Stock) tubes, however, one will find noteworthy variations in sonic presentation between various manufacture tubes in the 6SN7 family.

The currently manufactured (Russian) TUNG-SOL 6SN7GTB tubes, the ones I see Schiit now offers as an option with the LYR 3 , I've personally found these to be really decent, good-sounding tubes in my own various amplifiers. One may reasonably be tempted to just stay with these, and avoid the hassle and expense of getting onto the NOS tube-rolling "merry-go-round" altogether.

Having said that...

I've had very pleasing results with 1950's through mid-1960's GE 6SN7GTA or 6SN7GTB
tubes in my own gear. The RCA 6SN7 variants from the same era are also nice, but generally more pricey.

*DISCLOSURE/PLEASE NOTE: I have not personally tried the above-mentioned NOS RCA or GE tubes in a Schiit LYR amp --and so YMMV ; )

Whatever you do... be careful to ONLY USE 6SN7 type/family tubes!

Here is some useful information about NOS or used 6SN7 tubes. The 6SN7 was used WIDELY as the vertical amplifier tube in televisions. If you are willing to dig, antique radio forums, antique television forums, buying old tube caddies on ebay or Craigslist, you can acquire NOS or better than new testing 6SN7's for cheap money. I have purchased 78 over the past year at an average cost of $1.82 that all test better than new on a Hickok 539A. Not selling any, but you can do it also. Television tubes were made in the 10's of millions. Most are useless with weird filament voltages meant to be used in a 115 VAC string. But there are 6SN7, 6V6GT, 6AQ5 and some nice iron, chokes and OT that can be re-purposed.

 

[alpovs]

I tend to believe anyone who uses the word "moot" in a sentence, so my vote is with Ableza.

You believe lawyers, too?

 

[alpovs]

Recently purchased the EEVBlog Brymen BM235 multimeter. Looking through the manual I was amused to see the warranty message advising that it is mandatory to open it up!





By the way, I'm more than happy with my new Cat IV meter....extremely capable and very good value. When ordered from EEVBlog https://www.eevblog.com/product/bm235-multimeter/ a pair of very nice silicon leads are included. Highly recommended.
[I have no connection with Dave and EEVBlog except as a follower]

I looked up its pictures on Amazon. Looks like it has some audiophile-grade fuses.

 

[wink]

Pietro, what else is there in the long run?As a doctor and volunteer you paid it forward all your life. Keep your Schiit stack shiny my friend!

Constanza wearing a helmet in a cat carrier, now that I gotta see!

This gives me the warm fuzzies. Must see a pic of The Costanza riding with you. Enjoy good sir.

What a great bunch of folks here. Finally, the internet is good for something.

...

 

[TomSix]

These days, with surface-mount PCB construction being the norm, electronics repair pretty much requires proper magnifiers and lamps, quality (expensive) soldering & de-soldering equipment, heat sinks and other related tools --and yes, sufficient knowledge.

Without adequate knowledge and tools, amateur repair or mod attempts on surface-mount boards can go real bad real fast: de-laminated and mangled traces; cooked devices; microscopic solder-bridge shorts --you name it.

You have to give people points for enthusiasm, but unfortunately, ambition quite often exceeds ability by a critical margin.

A comment on repairs in general:

As someone who has repaired and refurbished a considerable amount of gear over the last 30 years ( mostly tube audio and radio stuff) I almost universally prefer to repair equipment with normal wear and tear, simple neglect or common age-related component failures etc than to have to go in and correct failures related to poorly conceived/ executed 'repairs' modifications or "improvements" -- I can assure you I'm far from being the only tech who feels this way.

It can be real tough having to explain to someone that they have heedlessly destroyed their own equipment ....

IMO, folks who feel an interest in doing some of their own amateur electronics work would be wise to buy and assemble a few safe (low operating voltage!) and relatively inexpensive kits, thereby getting a little experience under the belt before diving headlong into a $2,500 amplifier with a soldering iron and pair of side-cutters ; )

My three cents...

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Service can go real fast at Schiit.
My Ragnarok got/developed power-humming a few weeks ago.
I mailed Melinda from Schiit Europe to discuss the problem.
As I live very near them and they always bring me Schiit in person, she immediately mailed back that she would reserve time to get it and looked at.
The same day she mailed that, the humm vanished.
Nothing beats a paranormal-, astralassisted-, remoteviewing-, jumanjitechno- repairservice.
I am very impressed.

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

...

As hilarious and cuddly cats look in those advanced appareil, I would never submit Constanza to it.
I would be the one ending up with "the something" on my head and for the cats it is sort of traumatizing.
That said, Constanza will have to learn to ride my new bike before I'm willing to sit in the front basket to go to the vet.
After arriving there we can discuss the little matter of "who is the patient" before we go in and one of us faces the vet.

 

[Paladin79]

You believe lawyers, too?

There are some rabbit holes down which I prefer not to go. Some things cannot be answered "yes" or "no". A classic example of which I found in a book by Hunter S. Thompson, he would follow Nixon around as a gonzo journalist and ask questions like "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?"

What I believe is that no matter how facetious a statement might be, it is generally hard to discern that in the written word.

Here are some facts. Most of my career has been spent in one form or electronics or another and at one point I worked for a company who considered themselves to be the largest independent repair company in the world. (That is not an easy thing to prove.) I was very skilled within certain areas and was called upon to repair things that no one else could fix. I still had my limitations, the product was so diverse that I could not just walk into another area and be as skilled repairing a cell phone, or a television tuner or whatever; I was more adept at audio/video. There might be a few things I could repair within any given device but without schematics or perhaps more training, it was a little hard to repair things with the skill of someone who worked on them, day in and day out. Also then I had equipment for dealing with surface mount components and access to schematics, I do not have such things now. I am more apt to send an item in warranty back to a manufacturer. Out of warranty, I might check a few things and weigh which might be cheaper, taking the time to attempt a repair or just buying a new item.

As Pietro mentioned, the folks at Schiit were quite good in facilitating his repair, and some things are best left to those who have the skill and knowledge.

 

[Pandahead]

As hilarious and cuddly cats look in those advanced appareil, I would never submit Constanza to it.
I would be the one ending up with "the something" on my head and for the cats it is sort of traumatizing.
That said, Constanza will have to learn to ride my new bike before I'm willing to sit in the front basket to go to the vet.
After arriving there we can discuss the little matter of "who is the patient" before we go in and one of us faces the vet.

Constanza is a hefty feline, and the nature of cats is to not cooperate like a small poodle. On my bike I have canvas panniers on a rear rack that hold groceries nicely and that keeps the center of gravity low.

Constanza moving her weight around in her carrier in a high center of gravity front basket will likely make steering unwieldy.

Have you thought of a little trailer? There are all kinds. This might be safer all around. You could even moonlight delivering Schiit packages locally for Schiit Europe!

Just a thought about being safe. I don't know if there are many bike riders on this thread who have experience in this regard. The older I get the more I have to improvise. I will PM you if I have something more practical.....and I kept it on topic with Schiit Europe Eco Freindly Delivery!