Line Magnetic LM219ia problems/issues

I am a couple of days away from spending my money on a LM219ia. But when talking to a former seller, he told me that these amplifiers have a 10% to 20% rate of technical issues. Usually some kind of component failure.
Are there any owners out there that had any problems with this amp?

 

Component failure? What would the component be? If you are buying new, the dealer should be there for you if something should go wrong. There really a isn't much that can go wrong with that amp outside of a tube failure, which is part of the deal. And that isn't likely to happen.

 

No problems with my amp thus far.

 

I had an 845 tube fail in the first 3 months replaced for free under warranty and have not had an issue since. I was the first reviewer to cover Line Magnetic.

The thing is this is a big tube amp and the company is fairly new at this so if you feel uncomfortable with it or how it will be covered if it breaks down yo should ask those questions before you buy it and if you don't like what you hear then look at something else.

I love the 219IA but for around the same money there is the Audio Note SORO SE Signature. My long time dealer has bought one for himself and so has a reviewer. I have not heard it but I have owned my Audio Note OTO SE for 13 years and replaced 1 $8 tube in all that time. The SORO has a lot of power and it doesn't require any of the Bias adjustments LM requires and the tubes will last longer and cost less than the LM. In 10 years you will also probably get at least double for the SORO on the second hand market. So there are things to consider beyond just sound or looks.

My LM CD player is about 5 years old and has now failed - but this is the transport mechanism and well these things go.

The thing is to ask and make sure if there is any issue with the 219 that they will fix it and you don't have to pay for expensive shipping.

I reviewed the 219IA but remember I live in Hong Kong and if something fails I can hire a Can for $20 and have it delivered to the dealer who can fix it on site. But if you have to ship it back to China or something it will run you $500 min.

1) what will they do under warranty? (In Hong Kong I got a three year warranty (1 from manufacturer and 2 from dealer) and 60 days on tubes)
2) what will they do out of warranty? Can they fix it on site or do you have to ship it somewhere?
3) If 2 - how much is shipping.

This is a really lovely amplifier on its own and even better as a power amp.

Tube amps are generally easier to repair than Solid State to repair. If the digital brain goes in a SS amp the things are ridiculously expensive to repair - basically a boat anchor. With point to point tube amps you're basically looking at caps and resistors. But even this paragraph - ask a repair tech if they concur.

As for people who claim 10-20% of something failing where is this coming from? Where is the evidence of that? At some point everything fails.

 

Thanks for your inputs.
I am buying from a long time dealer that offers the normal warranties. I just wanted to know if anyone had an issue with this amp because after the warranty expires it will be expensive to send it anywhere to repair (assuming we live outside China).
The failure rate numbers apparently come from someone related to the factory.
Anyway I'm convinced that for the price (buying locally in China) there is no better amp.

 

Just make sure it's a LM authorized dealer as LM states on its website that the company may not do warranty repairs on items sourced outside of its dealer network.

 

Buying in China/Hong Kong I agree because there are no mark-ups, shipping, import taxes by buying in North America. I like living in Hong Kong for audio for sure - and no sales tax!