iFI Micro iPhono 2 Phono Preamp in the house! FINAL UPDATE

ehoove & others having issues,

Sorry to hear your problems with the unit. I was really excited to read glowing reviews and now sad to hear about reliability problems. Not to mention, it also seems many others on other audio sites are having the same reliability issues as well. I think I will stick with my Phonomena for now. Glad I didn't sell it to fund a purchase for the iFi unit. A big thank for reporting back and sharing your experience! Wishing you much luck in getting the issues resolved!
 
Here is their second reply. Help crack the code. This is in response to me telling them what happened, thats it a known issue and asking what are they going to do about it.

"Thanks for the update.

OK, 1 day, that's unfortunate.

Can you please return the unit? We can inspect it once its worked back through the chain.

Hope its not caused too much inconvenience.

Thanks."
 
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I guess they mean return it where you bought it. So they know about the issue. They wont admit or explain it. No attempt to and they want their dealers to handle returns vs taking care of units that all have serial #'s on them not hard to track.

Will there be another? No. I am done with Ifi. Unless dealers have a massive markup on them it must get old fast on that end too.
 
Gibsonian said:
iFi really mishandling this one. A great potential income stream that they're blowing, plus their reputation. I'd say their management has failed miserably in responding to this ongoing issue.
Click to expand...

I just don't get why they would want to burn customers one after another. Not smart in what is basically a niche market.
 
808_state said:
I just don't get why they would want to burn customers one after another. Not smart in what is basically a niche market.
Click to expand...

It especially does not make sense since they seem to get great reviews until they stop working. The multiple eq curve options was quite tempting to me, but these stories of them breaking so quickly are off-putting.
 
Geeze sory to hear all the problems with these units. The only thing I can relate:
I had the iPhono2 for about 5 months last year, not a problem especially with heat it barely got warm. I bought it after my Heed had been getting dropouts so purchased the iFi 2 on Fremer's review. I didn't know it was made in China.
It got a bit of hum from being too close to my Cronus Mag II. I also used an SBooster PS ($300+) too with minimal improvement to the sound. Don't waste your $$.
During that time I acquired a Vista Audio 2, it has all the settings. It surpasses the IPhono2 believe me! It's a sleeper. Especially when you put a Berson Cable Pro+ on it. Highly recommended. You can return it too if not satisfied.
In the last 3-4 years I have had at least 8 Phono Pre's here including both the MS offerings and that Heed Quasar that crapped out too. Shit board mount RCA's mainly.
The Vista 2 in my system passes them all. My opinion my system. YMMV as usual.
Carry on.
 
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I was thinking about upgrading to this as well. Wow. It's so disappointing to hear such glowing technical reviews from industry experts...only to find out that the reliability is poor. This is a funny market...mass market (more or less) for all the Shidt Mini and Rolls and ProJect, etc...and tremendous niche for the $1000+ range. This in-between "bridge" range is finicky. You don't have the wealthy types who spend thousands without thinking. And you won't get the guys who are buying Shidt Mini and U-Turn. Obviously people are looking at amazon and the forums to gauge whether the reviews are substantiated. A small company cannot afford this poor customer service and quality control when the market is not huge and everyone is on the forums. OK- on amazon and all the forums...there may be what 20, 30.. customers with problems?

Imagine if the stories from those 30 guys was "Unbelievable...I called, talked to a person, and they said, "we will ship you a new one today and credit you when we receive the old one. We are sorry. Let us prove how great we are"" (ala LL Bean). We would all be seriously impressed. Fantastic specs, reviews and customer service. for $500. Awesome. It would cost them one extra QQ person and a customer service person. They would be portrayed as perfect...for the cost of two people and replacing 30 units. They would dominate the market. But because they won't spend the money on that and pay attention, everyone is pissed, their product line will die off and they will wonder why. WHY is is so hard for so many companies to simply listen to the customers and respond? This does not take an MBA. The person sweeping their floors probably understands this concept perfectly.
 
Curious about the Vista Audio Phono 2. Does not seem to be available from anyone but Verty Audio (thru amazon)...and only one review on amazon
 
I have to say I have not considered another iFI Product since my adventure, and refused a free iFI bag at the audio show in DC recently. I turned it back in for a smaller bag due to the fact I refused to carry a bag with their logo on it.
Regards,
Jim
 
blackdogdisc said:
It's so disappointing to hear such glowing technical reviews from industry experts
Click to expand...
Some of these 'experts' are self-appointed and their reviews of dubious value. But it's a great gig if you can get it — lots of toys to play with (and keep), manufacturers treating you like a king, readers who become loyal 'followers', and free trips to all the expos where they're greeted like rock stars.

blackdogdisc said:
Obviously people are looking at amazon
Click to expand...
A problem with all reviews on Amazon is trying to gauge the knowledge of the individual writing it, and thus the value of the review. For me, I can only get an idea of that from the context, how well it's written, how well the claims are supported, etc. So many such reviews range from "Wow! Killer!" to "Total shit!" with little to support either viewpoint.
 
Hey it was a fabulous sounding Phono Pre, they just had so many problems after the second one I gave up.
Regards,
Jim
 
It is very interesting that after all this time I get a iFi support response on a ticket I did no open in May of this year ????? offering the new iFi Phono3 at retail. I think not!
Regards,
Jim
 
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