Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Disappointed with the current round of AV units

Really liking the Yamaha prepro, and it sounds alot different than the Onkyo does in a good way. I also like the fact that it has a free app that I can use on my iphone to control it and it's actually easier than the remote.

Onkyo wouldn't fix my 5508 because I bought it from an unauthorized online dealer and the hdmi board was the culprit because the speaker lights wouldn't come on, on the display. So no sound and you would have to turn it on and off twenty or more times before it would work.

I looked online for a fix and found one that I tried and it fixed it. You take the HDMI board out and bake it in the oven at 350F for ten minutes with everything wrapped in foil except the DSP chip you leave open to the elements. I had nothing to lose and it works like new again. Whoohoo I guess it melts the solder under the chip.

So now it's my bedroom unit and hopefully no more problems with it.

Yeah, you can be upset with Onkyo for having bad solder connections, but you really can't be upset because you made a purchase from someplace that wasn't an authorized reseller... I don't know of any A/V company that would honor that warranty.

Then again, I might be reading too much into your message.

With that (defending of Onkyo) said, I will probably be going with another brand as well next time around.

I got suckered in, because they said they were a reseller and I also wrote to Onkyo and they confirmed he was. He wasn't!!

They have alot of problems, then to pair up with Pioneer. That says it all right there.

Yeah. My Onkyo does really well for me, but I did have to send it in for repairs (which WAS lightening fast, but still...)

Looking at possibly making the big jump to Anthem's top receiver, but I am still trying to figure out what I want to do about overhead speakers for Atmos and DTS:X. I figured out a way to know where to put in-ceiling speakers to miss my hat channel and ceiling joists, but 1) I still am not sure that I want to put 4 holes into my ceiling that I put the most time/effort/money into soundproofing, 2) I can't angle the speakers the magical "30 degrees" as recommended. I played around with putting on-wall M3s ON the ceiling, but I think that in order to get the right angle, they would be hanging down too far to look nice.... But that is another topic for another thread. I just don't want to invest into a nice receiver if I can't take advantage of Atmos because I don't know what I want to do for speakers... Receiver technology is more dynamic (better products for less money as time moves along) than speakers that stay relatively the same tech and same price (or higher) over time.

I have yet to figure out that stance. Onkyo made a receiver that had defective workmanship. It's not that the product broke due to mishandling or abuse. Also it's not as if the AV was a blackmarket fake. Why should Onkyo not be held responsible to repair the unit? To say it was purchased from a grey market supplier, is bunk as Onkyo sold the unit to someone and made a profit (but perhaps not as much as they would have liked). How the end user got the unit should not limit them to the expectation of the unit being built correctly.

It is like the Grey Market for a camera. I have a Canon camera that is manufactured in Japan. I bought my camera in the USA as at the time the CAD was worth more than the USD but the camera was selling for less in the USA. The warranty offered in both counties are identical as are the cameras, but Canon Canada wants a higher markup as they feel service in Canada cost more. It's nothing more than greed. The grey market definition is utter BS!

I don't disagree with you, just saying that this is how every A/V company operates, and not that Onkyo is unique in their stance.

If you say that you can't be upset at a company for their stance on looking after their products, then you are by virtue agreeing with that stance.

If you had said something like, it's unfortunate that Onkyo doesn't support their customers who purchased... then that would be something different

It's not like Axiom takes a stance like that. I am sure that someone who purchased one a speak from someone off kijiji would get the same high level of support if something went wrong with the speakers. if it's in the warranty period, they would take care of them. Even out of warranty they wouldn't just give them the shaft.

Wow. I feel like you are just trying to pick a fight.

Let me try to be clear...

Onkyo is loosing me as a customer because of their failed board issue.

Onkyo treats their customers just like most other A/V companies that have "authorized resellers" and if you don't buy from one of those authorized resellers or aren't the original owner, then the warranty doesn't apply to you. Yes it sucks, but it isn't like Onkyo is the only one doing this. You should be upset with this whole practice in the A/V industry with almost all of those companies.... I know that I am. (That also makes me mad at Onkyo for them being a part of this practice.)

My point: Be mad at them for the product issue, but be mad at the whole A/V industry, not just Onkyo, because a purchase was made from a known non-authorized reseller and they followed their company policy of not accepting the product under warranty.

Heck, I just had to have a multi-thousand dollar furnace installed today. When they left, I was told that the warranty is X,Y,Z, but it is not transferable so if you sell the house, the warranty is void. OK. So no transfer of warranty. If I bought my Onkyo receiver, and then before even opening it turned around and sold it on eBay, that buyer could fill out the warranty card, but without a proof of purchase from where *I* got it from, the warranty wouldn't be valid. That would be like trying to "transfer" the warranty since I was technically the original owner.

Or, just go to their website, and they clearly state it:
Onkyo Warranty
That link states:

ONKYO USA Corporation Limited Consumer Warranty

PLEASE RETAIN YOUR ORIGINAL BILL OF SALE AS YOU WILL NEED TO PRESENT IT SHOULD YOU REQUIRE SERVICE UNDER THIS WARRANTY.

Onkyo USA Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Onkyo) hereby warrants all Onkyo products PURCHASED DIRECTLY FROM ONKYO OR AN ONKYO AUTHORIZED DEALER, in accordance with the following terms and conditions:


WARNING: IF YOU PURCHASE AN ONKYO PRODUCT FROM AN UNAUTHORIZED INTERNET DEALER, YOUR ONKYO WARRANTY WILL NOT BE VALID. Click here to view a list of UNAUTHORIZED RESELLERS.

Again, it TOTALLY sucks. I bought a DVD player back when DVD players were first coming out. I paid something like $300 for it, but that was $50 less than anywhere else. It was Pioneer branded, brand new, unopened, but I knew that it wasn't from an authorized reseller. I rolled the dice knowing that I wouldn't have a warranty, and about 9 months into ownership of the DVD player, it just quit for no reason. I didn't do anything to the player, never had a power surge or outage, the player stayed connected and in place without moving. It simply just stopped working for no reason what-so-ever. I knew that I was screwed, but I tried to get it repaired/replaced under warranty. No luck. No receipt from an authorized reseller, so I was out of luck. I ended up replacing it with a different DVD player that cost me about $200 that had a better picture options, and a valid warranty.

I learned my lesson and just don't roll the dice on non-authorized stuff any more. It just isn't worth the risk.

Now I know that my example isn't the same necessarily since Onkyo has had this board soldering problem blow up in their face for a long time. And I agree that this should be treated more like a recall on a car. The car manufacturers don't say "sorry, you didn't buy your car from a dealership" or anything like that, they just pay to have the recalled item fixed, regardless of how you bought the vehicle. I think that is how all good business should be run, but that isn't the world we live in.

So be mad that Onkyo went cheap at some point and had bad soldering on their products, and be mad that the whole A/V industry seems to have this "if you didn't buy it from an authorized-reseller, whom we can control their selling price and control our market value" approach. That last part isn't just an Onkyo issue, but it is a lot bigger than that.

Here is another one for you. Onkyo said I could qualify for the trade-in program, then when I went to do that they said I couldn't because I am Canadian. What???

So now they said I would qualify for a rebate and I told them to stuff it because I will never support their products again.EVER

Actually, when it comes to Onkyo, you just recently found out something that I found out a number of years ago. Aside from Onkyo USA themselves, even if you tried to purchase an Onkyo AVR from an "authorized" American reseller, you would have determined that Onkyo will not allow sales to anyone outside of the lower 48 and it doesn't matter who the reseller is, they all have the same restriction. I determined this originally from "Accessories For Less" and the contact told me that if they attempted to sell it to me, they would lose their dealer ability to sell Onkyo Products.

The trouble is, even now Denon and to some extent, Yamaha are jumping on this same bandwagon. Obviously, a clear indication that they wish to protect their International distributors.

It seems the only option would be that if one was close to the border and have a U.S. address an individual could have it delivered there then somehow arrange to pay whatever duties and taxes would be forthcoming and when you add it all up, especially now with the difference in the dollar, would it even be worth it? The other issue is the warranty, whereby, if you had problems and wanted to take it locally, Onkyo Canada wouldn't honor it.