[revvedup]

My beloved Altec Lansing MX 5021, the same set of speakers that introduced me to almost all the wonderful range of audio frequencies that the human ear can hear have gone bad once again.

Yes once again, although I can't stop raving about these speakers but at the the same time I have to accept they are as realiable as an Alfa Romeo.
Now it's been the fourth time in almost one and half years that they have had a major problem ( although the set has ben replaced /repaired under warranty in all instances) .

So what happened this time ?

I was listening to some japanese manga anime music(m.o.v.e) and suddenly I heard this phut-phut sound emnating from somewhere close to the sub. I changed the song believing that it might be the song but even then the phut sound from the sub's membrane continued untill finally the sub switched off completely.

Also I must make a mention here about the fact that even before this happened the right speaker had a tendency to move around at high voumes which continues even now after the sub has stopped functioning even though the left-right connections from the sub cum amp to the speakers are right.

Now all I have is the two speakers functioning without the sub. Audio gurus can you please tell me why is this happening ?

Moreover I am kinda intrigued about Altec sub's ( three out of four times it was the cause of the problem ) unrelaibility. Is it Altec or is it me ?
I have an AC transformer for my AC ( pun not intended ) at a distance of approx three feet from my sub ( much more than the minimum two feet distance recommended by the company). Could this be one of the reasons for the sub's problems.

[greenhorn]

take it to one of those places which repair tvs and stereos. they should be able to fix it

[revvedup]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

take it to one of those places which repair tvs and stereos. they should be able to fix it

Thank you greenhorn saves the day .
Greenhorn you didn't get it, the primary reason for opening this thread is to know why this happened/has been happening and not to ask about places from where I could get it repaired.

[greenhorn]

to be honest , any of the electronic components could have failed , and you'll need to open it up anyway. I doubt if any amount of armchair analysis here by us will help you solve it, or even possibly help you avoid it a second time. seems like you got a lemon in the first place, and have gotten it repaired /other refurb units under warranty.

since the front speakers are still working , the power supply is still alive. so thats not the culprit. anything could have failed in there. you really need a multimeter and something to trace the flow of the audio signal to find the offending component.

[revvedup]

I don't know why how I have ben given consecutive lemons and not a single orange?

But here's the update

Yesterday went to Nehru Place to get this thing repaired and was quite surprised to see a change in the service centre and distributor from Trifin to Rashi Peripherals (something which I luckily found out ).

I am guided to 207, 2nd Floor Mansarovar Building office of Rashi Peripherals by the good folks at Trifin's acer divison.

On reaching the lift entrance I am greeted by a watchman who asks me to pay charge of Rs 20 because he thought that my speakers ( inricately packed in orignal packaging) were worthy of being classified as luggage. After some protests from my side, the watchhman finally lets me through.

Finally reached 207 where I see a large crowd of people almost overflowing outside the tiny room that housed the service centre. But I tell you, one could see people with almost all sorts of computer paraphernalia : motherboards, heat sinks, DVD writers, routers, speakers all waiting in a snake like queue to get their stuff repaired/replaced( this despite a orderded a number system ) Intially it looked as if everybody had come to throw all Altec Lansing products bought from Rashi back at them. Howeve it was only later that I learnt that Rashi represents and distributes a variety of brands and hence the large crowd.

.

I write my name in the register and am given a chit that reads 137 ( Go Away ! your choice ain't gonnna come today or 2 hrs. minimum if it comes). Fortunately some bloke ( apparently exhausted by this oredeal) hands me over his chit numbered 105 and voila my number comes in 10 mins. I thrust the behemoth 20 Kg box through the room (with hardly the space for a human to stand let alone this box ) and finally over the counter.

Although I get to the repair/repalcement counter quite early it's almost one hour before I finally I get a receipt/received slip telling me to call again after 2 days to check the status of my speakers. In this whole process I learntthat although logitech speakers sound crap they have a replacement warranty.

Just waiting for the speakers because untill then I would have to do with a tempoary 3 speaker system withthe front channel being handed by pre-fitted LCD speakers and one of the rear channels by a chinese-indian speaker combo. I even had to watch TG on such mundane speakers :(.


.

[revvedup]

Update

The stupid folks at Rashi Peripherals tell me that my speaker warranty has expired despite the fact that it comes with a 2 year warranty.

Even after I tell them about the 2 year warranty thing they say that even though Altec offers a 2 year warranty, Rashi only offers a 1 year warranty.

Angered by this utter BS I tell them that I am not concerned about their policies since I have purchased an Altec product and not a Rashi product and hence Altec warranty guidelines should apply.

Finally I am given the e-mail address of some honcho(some Mr. Goenka) at Rashi so that I can further talk to him about my case. I am preparing to send an e-mail detailing my experiences with Rashi to this guy and the person responsible
for Altec Lansing in the Asia-Pacific region.

Still this is utter cr*p that I have been facing due to the lack of proper communication betwen Altec and it's distributors in India. Speaks volumes about a company that builds great products but does not even provide the basic resources for carrying out simple warrntry repairs.

[aah78]

Originally Posted by revvedup

Finally reached 207 where I see a large crowd of people almost overflowing outside the tiny room that housed the service centre. But I tell you, one could see people with almost all sorts of computer paraphernalia : motherboards, heat sinks, DVD writers, routers, speakers all waiting in a snake like queue to get their stuff repaired/replaced( this despite a orderded a number system )

2 hrs. minimum if it comes). Fortunately some bloke ( apparently exhausted by this oredeal) hands me over his chit numbered 105 and voila my number comes in 10 mins. I thrust the behemoth 20 Kg box through the room (with hardly the space for a human to stand let alone this box ) and finally over the counter.

Yep, that sounds like Rashi alright! Have made a couple of trips there to get stuff repaired in the past (more than 8 years ago), and seems like it still hasn't changed much, except for the rishwat-khor watchman, who seems to be a new addition.

Originally Posted by revvedup

Rashi Peripherals tell me that my speaker warranty has expired despite the fact that it comes with a 2 year warranty.

Even after I tell them about the 2 year warranty thing they say that even though Altec offers a 2 year warranty, Rashi only offers a 1 year warranty.

Really!? They were pretty OK on warranty repairs earlier - didn't make much of a fuss. Yes, email the big boss - difficult to get hold of these people though. They don't bother answering their email and don't want to return your phone calls.

[greenhorn]

stay away from any rashi distributed /serviced product. Asus and Jetway are two products which are already suffering in india due to rashi's incompetence :(

[bullboy]

i too have an MX5021 bought 2 yrs back .still now i could not hear any treble from it .also recently remote stopped working .there is no service center in tvm or else i need to go to kochi. :-(

[greenhorn]

if you bought it from tvm, give it back to the dealer, they should handle the RMA if it is still under warranty

[bullboy]

warranty period is over .

[mohang_j]

Originally Posted by revvedup

Update

The stupid folks at Rashi Peripherals tell me that my speaker warranty has expired despite the fact that it comes with a 2 year warranty.

Even after I tell them about the 2 year warranty thing they say that even though Altec offers a 2 year warranty, Rashi only offers a 1 year warranty.

Rashi has got this deal (importing ALTEC) as part of ZETA+RASHI merger.They are least bothered about the product support they sell.
In India ALTEC comes with 1year warranty only.
In my experience Altec speakers power supply is good.Most of the time only varistor or the thermal fuse inside the transformer fails because of the mains Power.Recently i have repaired one atc604 system which has been returned from RASHI saying cannot be repaired.As per them pcb was burnt.When i checked it was varistor and few other components in power supply and no pcb problem.I have experienced this several times from RASHI.

[greenhorn]

sad :( . have you tried the electronics repair shops in the city ?

[mohang_j]

Originally Posted by bullboy

i too have an MX5021 bought 2 yrs back .still now i could not hear any treble from it .also recently remote stopped working .there is no service center in tvm or else i need to go to kochi. :-(

Check the battery /replace it.If you have done this and you can use soldering iron-then open the remote solder the IR LED mostly it will have bad contact.If not you can blindly replace the crystal and then IR LED.These two should cost less than 25/-Rs (actually 6+3 Rs )