Digital Drive

How has the build quality of Shanling products been in recent years?

146.70.113.115

Chris from Lafayette

In Reply to: RE: SCD1.3 posted by KAMIS on May 23, 2024 at 22:28:04

Are you able to comment on that? I remember decades ago, we had an inmate here who bought a Shanling CD player: beautiful design and aesthetics, great price, and she liked the sound - but she had problems with the reliability.

Follow Ups:

Shanling: Terrible Reliability, Don't Stock Spare Parts and Won't Honor Warranty - Vinyl Valet 06:07:11 06/03/24 (2)
In addition they don't support their Chinese dealers like Shenzhen Audio with spare parts or even technical support.
This is based on my direct experience with a Shanling SACD1.3 purchased from Shenzhen Audio. It stopped reading discs (after about one minute, No disc error with any CD or SACD) after a month of moderate use.
I've been going back and forth with Shanling and Shenzhen Audio for over a month. What a cluster#%*@! Looks like I'm now the proud owner of a $1300 door stop. Perhaps, with the remaining parts that work, I can be the only entity in the world with spare parts! Contact me first when (not if) your SACD1.3 fails.
The problem is the smaller circuit board attached to the bottom of the transport mechanism. Really low quality wave soldering resulted in several pins of the large 1389 IC to lose contact after a month of use.
BTW, unless it's simple solder touch up of a bad circuit board, Shanling charges to do their warranty repairs (??!!) and also charges a steep return shipping fee.
Shenzhen Audio will honor the warranty only if you return the entire player. I guess since Shanling can't and won't supply spare boards, Shenzhen will attempt to fix the board. What if they can't? Then either company will charge return shipping. The total is close to the retail cost of the SACD1.3. Regardless of whether you send a bad circuit board and pay Shanling for "warranty" repair or the entire unit back to Shenzhen Audio, the whole process will take three to four months.
Live and learn. Never buying another Shanling product and will think long and hard before buying any audio gear directly from China. They don't have to stock spare parts like US companies. Customer service is something that the Chinese business model has yet to discover. Manufacturers don't talk to or support their dealers.

Open up your mind, in pours the trash. - Meat Puppets, 1987

Edits: 06/03/24 06/03/24 06/03/24 06/03/24
- RE: Shanling: Terrible Reliability, Don't Stock Spare Parts and Won't Honor Warranty - Vinyl Valet 06:08:54 06/04/24 (1)
  For more detail and Shanling's pathetic and lame excuses, go to the end of this recent Shanling product thread.
  
  Open up your mind, in pours the trash. - Meat Puppets, 1987
  - Shanling ET-3 CD Transport Review (Open in New Window)
  - Finally, Issue Resolved - Vinyl Valet 16:04:01 06/05/24 (0)
    After some coercion, Shanling agreed to provide the spare part to Shenzhen Audio who then shipped the board to me at no charge and free shipping. Thank you, Shanling.
    
    Throughout the process, the Chinese dealer, Shenzhen Audio, went above and beyond. Since I'm a good bench tech, they helped me narrow down the problem to the 4" x 4" circuit board under the transport mechanism (poor wave soldering left some continuity issues with the big 1389 IC). We were both having trouble getting Shanling to provide a spare board but, in the end, Shanling demonstrated their desire to also provide excellent customer service.
    
    Hopefully, my reliability issue was an anomaly. Otherwise the SACD1.3 is an excellent product and offers great value. Their new ET-3 CD transport is beating other more expensive options.
    
    Here's the lesson learned. If you are going to buy a Chinese audio product like Shanling, Gustard, etc., never by on Chinese sites like aliexpress since you'll have to ship the entire unit back to China if there is an issue. They will service any unit under warranty at no charge but you'll have to pay the return shipping. DSL is really the only hassle free option to ship to China but very expensive. Should you have a failure, it's entirely possible that shipping both ways will exceed the retail price of the product.
    
    So, buy from a US dealer or don't buy at all. Too risky. Shanling also urges the same in the warranty section of their website (linked below and please read it carefully). Shanling has their own store on Amazon, the safest bet for US customers.
    
    Open up your mind, in pours the trash. - Meat Puppets, 1987
    - Shanling Warranty Policy (Open in New Window)

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