Customer Service: DV vs Linn (Long)
Posted by: Mark Dunn on 15 June 2002
Hi all:
The front end of my system is Armageddon/LP12/ARO/DV XV-1.
My system had been changing its character slowly for 3 or 4 months when, about a month ago it got to the point where it was obvious something was wrong. The highs were very strident and gritty and everything for the mid-bass down was almost non-existent. The deck was in good tune so my first inclination was towards the cartridge (now a little over 18 months old). I took a look at the cartridge with a 10x magnifier (yeah, I know) but all I could find was that some of the wax that holds the very fine lead out wires in place had dried up a bit. I called Mike Pranka (U.S. Dynavector distributor) and he suggested that we have the unit sent to Japan for a check over. In the mean time he offered to lend me a DV Karat Nova, which is essentially a 17D2 in an ebony wood body. I think this is top drawer service and would like to give Mike a public pat on the back.
I sent off the XV-1 to Mike and the Karat Nova arrived and I installed it. It didn't take long to realize that the original problem was still present. I called Mike to let him know, as I didn't want him to spend money on shipping to Japan unnecessarily but we decided to let it get checked out anyway as DV in Japan had already expressed an interest as to why the wax should dry out.
My next task was to identify the actual problem. In my mind the first port of call was the LP12 bearing. After dismantling the deck and draining the oil form the bearing it was obvious that a rough textured flat spot had developed on the bearing tip and a dimple had been 'drilled' into the thrust plate. Both marks were about 1mm in diameter and obvious to the naked eye. Now, this deck is only 4 1/2 old and as Linn espouse there mechanicals to have a 20 year life span, I called Linn USA and talked with the Service Manager who said I needed to take it to my local dealer (in Dallas) for them to assess it. I made the arrangements, delivered the deck and later that day got a call from the store owner saying that the bearing was perfect and he could see nothing wrong with it! I persisted for a while on the 'phone but the guy was adamant there was no problem. I immediately re-called Linn's Service Manager who was now between a rock and a hard place: I have 17 years experience working with LP12s and am Linn factory trained but the dealer is making Linn money. What's a Service Manager to do? I suggested sending him the inner platter and bearing housing for checkout but was surprised to learn that they have no equipment capable of examining a bearing in the U.S. and would need to send the whole deck to Scotland, at my expense. There would then be an out of warranty service charge if there was a fault. I told him that you only need a 5x magnifying glass to assess the problem fully but he was going to go by the book. Eventually he suggested that the dealer should put my inner platter into his dem' LP12 and see if he could hear a problem. I told the Service Manager that my bearing may well damage the dealer's thrust plate but he said it would be fine, just for a few minutes. If he could have seen my bearing he wouldn't have made that suggestion.
So, I called the dealer (where my deck still resided) and recounted the conversation with Linn. He was unwilling to try my inner platter, not because of possible thrust plate damage but because he was worried he might lose a few drops of oil during the change-over! Can you believe this guy? After some cajoling he agreed to try it and I said I'd be on my way to the store (approx' 30 mins away). By the time I arrived he said they'd already done the swap, listened and everything was perfect with my bearing. How convenient. Keeping my cool and resisting the urge to throw this guy through his own store window I asked what else, in his experience, could cause the problem. He said that although he doesn't sell the ARO, some of his friends that do have told him that, and I quote: "Sometimes the bass goes away". I should've removed him from the gene pool at that point but they fry you for that in Texas (the Alabama excuse of 'He needed killing' doesn't work here).
It was obvious that the shop owner just didn't want to help. When I got home I once again called the Linn Service Manager and gave him only the factual details of the encounter, without any of my suspicions. He suggested that my best option, if the bearing is damaged (now he's admitting the possibility) would be to buy a new Cirkus kit from the dealer and have him fit it. I actually had to laugh and told him that the dealer would never get another penny from me.
I got a Cirkus kit from another source and installed it yesterday and the problem has totally disappeared. In fact, it's sounding better than I can ever remember.
Mike Pranka called me last week to say that the XV-1 will be back by the end of June. Dynavector have cleaned it, replaced the drying wax and tested it against their reference XV-1 and it's perfect. They even sent Mike frequency sweep charts via e-mail.
So to summarize:
1. Add several million points for Mike Pranka for excellent customer service.
2. Subtract a few million points from Linn for having poor back-up in their largest export market for their signature product.
3. Subtract several BILLION points from Linn's Dallas dealer for being a snooty, lying and unhelpful piece of dross.
Rant over.
Caveat emptor in Dallas.
Best Regards,
Mark Dunn
The front end of my system is Armageddon/LP12/ARO/DV XV-1.
My system had been changing its character slowly for 3 or 4 months when, about a month ago it got to the point where it was obvious something was wrong. The highs were very strident and gritty and everything for the mid-bass down was almost non-existent. The deck was in good tune so my first inclination was towards the cartridge (now a little over 18 months old). I took a look at the cartridge with a 10x magnifier (yeah, I know) but all I could find was that some of the wax that holds the very fine lead out wires in place had dried up a bit. I called Mike Pranka (U.S. Dynavector distributor) and he suggested that we have the unit sent to Japan for a check over. In the mean time he offered to lend me a DV Karat Nova, which is essentially a 17D2 in an ebony wood body. I think this is top drawer service and would like to give Mike a public pat on the back.
I sent off the XV-1 to Mike and the Karat Nova arrived and I installed it. It didn't take long to realize that the original problem was still present. I called Mike to let him know, as I didn't want him to spend money on shipping to Japan unnecessarily but we decided to let it get checked out anyway as DV in Japan had already expressed an interest as to why the wax should dry out.
My next task was to identify the actual problem. In my mind the first port of call was the LP12 bearing. After dismantling the deck and draining the oil form the bearing it was obvious that a rough textured flat spot had developed on the bearing tip and a dimple had been 'drilled' into the thrust plate. Both marks were about 1mm in diameter and obvious to the naked eye. Now, this deck is only 4 1/2 old and as Linn espouse there mechanicals to have a 20 year life span, I called Linn USA and talked with the Service Manager who said I needed to take it to my local dealer (in Dallas) for them to assess it. I made the arrangements, delivered the deck and later that day got a call from the store owner saying that the bearing was perfect and he could see nothing wrong with it! I persisted for a while on the 'phone but the guy was adamant there was no problem. I immediately re-called Linn's Service Manager who was now between a rock and a hard place: I have 17 years experience working with LP12s and am Linn factory trained but the dealer is making Linn money. What's a Service Manager to do? I suggested sending him the inner platter and bearing housing for checkout but was surprised to learn that they have no equipment capable of examining a bearing in the U.S. and would need to send the whole deck to Scotland, at my expense. There would then be an out of warranty service charge if there was a fault. I told him that you only need a 5x magnifying glass to assess the problem fully but he was going to go by the book. Eventually he suggested that the dealer should put my inner platter into his dem' LP12 and see if he could hear a problem. I told the Service Manager that my bearing may well damage the dealer's thrust plate but he said it would be fine, just for a few minutes. If he could have seen my bearing he wouldn't have made that suggestion.
So, I called the dealer (where my deck still resided) and recounted the conversation with Linn. He was unwilling to try my inner platter, not because of possible thrust plate damage but because he was worried he might lose a few drops of oil during the change-over! Can you believe this guy? After some cajoling he agreed to try it and I said I'd be on my way to the store (approx' 30 mins away). By the time I arrived he said they'd already done the swap, listened and everything was perfect with my bearing. How convenient. Keeping my cool and resisting the urge to throw this guy through his own store window I asked what else, in his experience, could cause the problem. He said that although he doesn't sell the ARO, some of his friends that do have told him that, and I quote: "Sometimes the bass goes away". I should've removed him from the gene pool at that point but they fry you for that in Texas (the Alabama excuse of 'He needed killing' doesn't work here).
It was obvious that the shop owner just didn't want to help. When I got home I once again called the Linn Service Manager and gave him only the factual details of the encounter, without any of my suspicions. He suggested that my best option, if the bearing is damaged (now he's admitting the possibility) would be to buy a new Cirkus kit from the dealer and have him fit it. I actually had to laugh and told him that the dealer would never get another penny from me.
I got a Cirkus kit from another source and installed it yesterday and the problem has totally disappeared. In fact, it's sounding better than I can ever remember.
Mike Pranka called me last week to say that the XV-1 will be back by the end of June. Dynavector have cleaned it, replaced the drying wax and tested it against their reference XV-1 and it's perfect. They even sent Mike frequency sweep charts via e-mail.
So to summarize:
1. Add several million points for Mike Pranka for excellent customer service.
2. Subtract a few million points from Linn for having poor back-up in their largest export market for their signature product.
3. Subtract several BILLION points from Linn's Dallas dealer for being a snooty, lying and unhelpful piece of dross.
Rant over.
Caveat emptor in Dallas.
Best Regards,
Mark Dunn