Quality issues, service and future quality standards
Hi,
I am curious how people perceive the build quality of BS players. I have four players and three of them have needed service and one is not performing up to spec. To sum it up:
1. The Pulse Flex (first version) stopped playing sound after two years of operation. The headphone jack was the problem. Has been sent to Denmark for repair. Once returned it played music but the touch panel resonated: too disturbing and should have been noticed at the repair station. It got replaced with a refurbished Pulse Flex, but this one was even worse. The bass driver touched it's housing (maybe not centered correctly): shame this had been shipped as refurbished. In the end I received a new Flex 2i. This one worked (since it was new), but the 2i sounds less lively as the original Flex.... It's not an improvement.
2. My Node 2 stopped playing, solid red LED. I opened it and two capacitors in the power supply were visually defective. Cheap no-brand Chinese ones, so do not expect these players to last very long. After three/four years "always on" these caps become very unreliable, affecting sound quality and even operation in the end. I replaced the caps with Japanese quality caps. This Node 2 will last way longer now.
3. The Node 2 has become very sticky, due to the rubber coating disintegrating. This after only three years operation. This coating is applied on ALL 2 and 2i series players so expect sticky devices after three/four years of ownership. This cannot be fixed, your player will look nastier every time you try to clean it. My Pulse 2 players also start to developing stickiness.
4. One of my two Pulse 2 players started tripping the protection in the amp section. After only 18 months of operations. It's sent to Denmark today for service. Could be capacitor related as well. Or a badly installed heatsink...
5. The other Pulse 2 works fine so far but cannot be used in "amp standby mode" for low idle power consumption. When the player enters this mode it makes a hiss/resonating coil sound. Sitting in the same room (when it's quiet) is impossible for longer periods, so this mode is not usable.
Al together, you may understand this is rather disappointing. What are other experiences with and opinions on the build quality of the BS players?
My assumption would be the designers, especially the audio engineers, did a great job, except for the rubber coating: NEVER use this again! The supply chain managers however selected the production facility and components on price, resulting in very poorly build players.
My suggestion would be to move production out of China and to an area in the world where quality is the default (and labour conditions are transparent). And only source respected and proven components. Bluesound is higher end gear and should be build and sourced this way. That's why I and others are prepared to pay a premium.
My Question to the Bluesound board of directors, what are your plans for the future? How will you solve all these sticky players out there? And will players I (might) buy next be better build? If not, what are your brand managers making as your promise? Damage control is definitely needed. I'm very disappointed in Bluesound devices quality overall considering how they are positioned and priced.
I look forward to hear views from other owners and the Bluesound board.
Cheers,
Edited 09:55 CET for typos.
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Offizieller Kommentar
Hi Robert
We will of course help you or anyone out with problems or issues and stand behind our products. Your issue has been escalated to our Support Crew for more details.
Any and everyone else can e-mail us at support@bluesound.com and we will be happy to assist.
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I never had hardware issues with my Bluesound 2i equipment (also not the sticky rubber issue), touching wood it stays that way.
My problems were more on the software side but finally resolved with the latest 3.10 and 3.12 updates this autumn (it did take a bit of patience though...).
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My 4-year old Node 2 recently developed the red led of death... I have not yet taken it apart to inspect the caps so am making no firm assertions about the cause, but: does anyone know if Bluesound will repair, in or out of warranty? And - any pix of the issue?
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Hi Marc, Robert. Thank you for sharing.
The 2i series is current and the components and manufacturing location might be different. And these devices have not reached the age of 4-5 years old.
robert carroll please update the outcome of the service. It would be highly appreciated if these kind of failures are serviced under warranty. If not, I can surely assist you in getting the job done. The case is easy to open and if you are not used to handle a soldering iron, you might have a friend or relative who is.
While saying that I do realize that this would be too unreal to be realistic. These devices (at least the 2 series) seem to have been designed (at least manufactured) to fail/be replaced after 5 years (or less) operation, just looking at the components used and the rubber/PU coating applied on the casing. I think we must not assume Bluesound is in business for sustainability reasons, they just want as much money as possible from us, their customers. And the marketing department will be dominating the decision making processes, followed by procurement, building it the cheapest way possible within the given scope.
It would still be very welcome if Bluesound is more transparent on the promise made. What is going to be your differentiator the next couple of years or even decades? And what to do with all these poorly build devices out there? And the sticky coating?
Sincerely,
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Diedrick
Contact us at support@bluesound.com and we will be happy to assist.
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Thank you Tony for the offer.
Please help by sharing these concerns with your board.
I have four Bluesound players (Node 2, Flex 2 and two Pulse 2). And about a year ago I recommended a Bluesound system to relatives resulting in them in purchasing a Pulse Bar 2i, two Flex 2i players and a sub. I regret buying these myself, but especially I feel sorry for my relatives I convinced them to have purchase decent players. From what I learnt after that, it's very likely Blueosund players can be enjoyed for a couple of years, then they die or need repairs, become sticky...
My trust in Bluesound has left the building... I'm not sure if I just experienced being the "incident". My assumption would be, my experience is widely spread after a couple of years use. So the question will be: what will Bluesound do to overcome the existing quality issues and fix the trust for future releases?
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Hi Diederik,
I have exactly the same issue. Only cleaner the player with water, but the finish is sticky like you would expect from poor quality remote controls you buy at AliExpress.
What is the plan Bluesound team? I'm thinking of writing a television show, keuringsdienst van waarde who do great research on faulty products and services
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Hello Emil,
As mentioned, please reach out to us at support@bluesound.com and we will be happy to assist further.
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I do agree with this post, but my issues are with a NAD M10. Problems since I owned it since 1,5 years ago. Whether it be hardware, software or OS problems no-one knows yet. Constantly in touch with the, always helpful tech support, but despite that I'm 2 replacements further and on my 3rd machine now and still experiencing the same problems : weekly the screen goes grey / blanc and the M10 needs a power cycle or reboot to recover from this. Also weekly the M10 mutes completely, on all inputs, and reboot or power cycle is also needed. Both problems have never been solved. I also completely lost faith in NAD/BluOS and I'm about to ask for refund since the M10's (3 in total) have never performed as promised. Alas my supplier refused refund, so I hope for a more postive response from NAD Lenbrook. So : totally agree with you.
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Just today I noticed that the casing of my Bluesound Node is getting sticky as well. It is 5 years old and otherwise still performing fine. I hope there is a solution (other than alcohol) for this. Else, I will have to hide it out of sight because it is attracting a lot of dust now.
I will contact support to see if Bluesound can be of any assistance.
UPDATE(25-04-21): Bluesound support advised me to clean the sticky surface with a residue-free electronics safe degreaser. I decided to completely remove the rubberized coating as I expected it to become sticky again in time. I used a mix of isopropanol alcohol and distilled water (9:1) to remove the coating. This was no easy task. Then I sanded the plastic underneath with 600 grid sandpaper. Finally I used a plastic primer and spray painted to the whole thing in a copper metallic color.
My paint job is not perfect, but at least the Node2 is no longer sticky, and it still works :-).
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Hi Ruud - amazing job! How long did it take, and did you have to take the case off before spray painting? Like the colour too!
I read someone else's post about this being cheap plastic. I believe it may be the opposite - in the tropics, there are certain luxury car brands that use the "better" plastics on the dashboard. I've had the same issue on my lexus (which they recognised as a problem and replaced completely free of charge even though I was outside warranty), and I've heard this happens on certain expensive German makes (no personal experience so cannot verify) but the issue does not appear in the cheaper car makes. I also understand the car makers now don't use this type of coating. I hope Bluesound takes care of current users.....
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Brilliant job, indeed !
I think it's highly likely that humid climates exacerbate the sticky surface issue. (I live in London & have experienced this problem) Suggest covering the unit with a lightweight, natural fabric when not in use to protect from moisture and dust. A cotton handkerchief or small piece of silk or muslin would be good.
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