What to do when your hi-fi breaks

Your vacuum cleaner sucked out a woofer? Who to call?

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

I get this one a lot, what should I do about my--fill-in-the-blank--broken headphones, buzzing speakers, static noises, intermittent sound, or when my subwoofer stops subbing?

Only rarely can I solve the problem with a quick fix; I always first advise contacting the dealer or Web site that sold you the product. Service is their responsibility and if they don't provide it, you shouldn't buy from them.

Of course, the best time to ask about service is before you buy any product. Will they replace a product if it fails within 90 days of purchase? Do they pay for return shipping? I'm talking about audio products here, but that advice works for any tech purchase.

Some of the better brick-and-mortar audio dealers provide loaners for their customers while their broken hi-fi is being serviced. That's a good reason not to solely base buying decisions on price. On-site-service can be a major expense for a retailer. If they offer it, they might not be able to offer the rock-bottom prices that dealers who forgo the niceties of customer service can offer.

If your retailer's left you high and dry, try contacting the product's manufacturer. It's likely to offer in-house service, which might be covered by the warranty, or failing that, the company can refer you to a factory-certified service center.

Do you have a service horror story? Share it here.

If you have had a great repair experience with a retailer or manufacturer, tell us all about it!

[gringcorp]

Should put in a quick plug for NAD's customer service. They've been having trouble with implementing HDMI on its most recent line of receivers. But they've been very good at implementing fixes. Whether the consumer has benefited, though, depends on the quality and reach of their dealer network. And this is the problem with the high-end manufacturers' reliance on dealers. They don't get the coverage they should, and they don't get control over dealings with customers. I write this from the perspective of having one NAD receiver die and a second have a firmware screw-up. The dealer was actually much easier to deal with than the NAD service center, and NAD was unfailingly helpful - at the least the one guy deputed to deal with receiver issues. NAD's general email assistance is pretty slow and unresponsive.

[alegr]

How did you manage to suck a woofer into a vacuum? Was it (eye roll) paper diaphragm or (God forbid) impregnated cloth?

[Wes#1]

What about a broken piece of gear you bought from Ebay or an individual? Retailers and manufacturers will snub you when it comes to fixing second-hand stuff. Everybody needs an honest, competent and reliable local shop that welcomes all brands out of warranty. It would be helpful if there was a database of these shops where customers could report their experiences.

[cvaldes1831]

The biggest problem is that the average consumer will just buy something new; many of the electronics repair stores have gone out of business.

In any case, Yelp tracks local businesses (just visit Yelp.com and type "electronics repair" into their search box). I can't vouch for the quality of the user-provided reviews, but there you have it.

[cvaldes1831]

Grado Labs repaired an old pair of SR-60 headphones that I had purchased years back and all I had to do was pay outbound shipping (getting the busted headphones to them). I didn't ask for loaners as I had other headphones around. A couple weeks later, the repaired headphones arrived. I am a happy Grado customer.

I bought some used Thiel Audio loudspeakers several years ago and while they never broke, I did need carpet spikes at one point (which were not included when I purchased them). Thiel sent out a set, no charge. Sure was nice of them to do that, I'll certainly consider them if I need to buy a new set of speakers.