Aaaggh - sick Cambridge Audio CA840C CD player

[sq225917]

Simply amazing.

[Audioman]

I'm gobsmacked by this level of customer service. Given the machine was modified they were perfectly entitled to tell Alex to piss off. To get a £1200 new machine 'free' is an incredible result. Does tempt me to investigate Cambridge as an affordable alternative to expensive bling. Some of their more upmarket products certainly get good reviews.

This story of course will do wonders for their sales and reputation but I can't imagine many companies having the forsight to persue such a policy. Some only flinch on legit complaints in the face of bad media publicity.

[synsei]

Although I have now sold it on to a friend, I owned a Cambridge Audio A1 Special Edition amp for many years. Although it's no powerhouse it is a lovely little amp with a very passable sound and the build quality is simply stunning for the price. I paid 40 quid for it from Richer Sounds Leicester branch due to it being an ex-display model and they had lost all the packaging. It's still going strong driving a pair of KEF Q35-2's which my friend also bought off me and he is very happy with the system.

[hard1175]

Hi All,

I've noticed that output has suddenly dropped on the right channel on my CA 840C - probably by about 20%. I thought the sound had gone off somewhat, confirmed by the fact that my SB Touch now sounds better than it does (definately not the case before!).

Any ideas as to what I can look at before sending it away for a profesional to look at?

Regards,
Alex

Hi Alex
You could try John Chinnock he’s based in Godstone Surrey 01883 743402. I have used his services on several occasions with excellent results and have recommended him to friends.

Regards Bernie

[Audioman]

Hi Alex
You could try John Chinnock he’s based in Godstone Surrey 01883 743402. I have used his services on several occasions with excellent results and have recommended him to friends.

Regards Bernie

The machine has been replaced with a new one. Read the thread !

[AlexM]

Hi Alex
You could try John Chinnock he’s based in Godstone Surrey 01883 743402. I have used his services on several occasions with excellent results and have recommended him to friends.

Regards Bernie

Thanks Bernie - am not in need of a service engineer right now, but will bear it in mind for the future.

Regards,
Alex

[ppat2]

Hi all,

I purchased a new 840C maybe 2.5 years ago, and within the first year I started having the same dropout problem in the one analog output channel. Did not matter if I used the RCA out or the XLR out, nor what cable was used, and did not matter what amp it was connected to. All other devices worked fine with no dropouts.

I took it to the dealer while still in warranty, and we could not recreate the problem. Then when the unit was about 1.5 years old it got worse with barely any audio from the one channel, and back it went to the dealer. This time it was apparent as soon as we hooked it up to any of his in stock amps.

We noticed that if the unit was left powered on, after a few minutes the audio would return to almost normal output level in the faulty channel. Since the unit was past warranty, the dealer recommended I just leave it powered up all the time. I did this and it worked ok for maybe a few months, and then all output died from the faulty channel. At this point the unit was about 2 - 2.5 years old. I had a local repair shop look at it, but they could not fix the unit and said it would need to be shipped back to Cambridge Audio.

I knew the expense would be too much (I am in Canada) so it just sits on a shelf now, collecting dust.

A real shame. In 40 years of collecting hi-fi gear, the first piece I have ever owned that failed me, and in such a short time span.

It is a great sounding player and I was very happy with the sound quality. Now, I use my Oppo BDP-83 as transport with coax out to my Audiolab M-DAC.

I purchased the M-DAC as a replacement, as most of my music is from local HDD connected to Logitech SB Touch. I was primarily using the 840C in the same manner, with the SB Touch feeding coax into the 840C, but no more after it died.

A shame that the local repair shops can't fix it for a reasonable cost. I paid about $1,800 CDN for the unit, and got only 2.5 years out of it.

[sq225917]

Paul, do they not have a Canadian service agent? Maybe you could just remove the dac board, it comes out easily enough for shipping?

[ppat2]

Hi Simon,

Do you happen to know if it is just a case of removing and replacing the DAC board? If so, I will take a look at that avenue. The local repair shop here after testing assumed after process of elimination that the fault was in the DAC, which they could not service.

Yes, there is a service agent in Eastern Canada. I'll see if I can hunt down their number and give them a call.

Thanks.

[AlexM]

Hi,

Only just caught up with this thread. In my case, the engineer diagnosed a failure of o.e of the analogue devices DAC chips. Your symptoms sound very similar to what I experienced in that I had a gradual loss of output on the right channel that evolved into complete silence.

It should be repairable if you.can find someone capable of doing smt component level repairs. As Simon suggests, the main circuit board can be removed easily from the case to reduce shipping costs - speak to the service agent to see if they work on it like that, but it seems likely that they would need the complete chassis to test it.

Get a quote for the job before you go too far, but it seems a shame to scrap it when it could be reasonably easily repaired by someone with the right skills. If you Google bios chip replacement you can see how it is done. Unfortunately there don't appear to be any DAC boards available as spares, so it will need repair. I was quoted about £150 for a new DAC board. It might be worth checking with Cambridge Audio in the UK to see if they have spares so that you could attempt a drop in replacement - they may give you a credit for the old one if you posted it to them.

Good luck.

Alex