Heads up!........ifi Phono 2

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by sailfish, Dec 1, 2016.

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  1. HiFi Guy

    HiFi Guy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lakeland, FL
    I totally agree with your assessment. Assuming you get a good one, you are golden. I am thinking of upgrading (between a Parasound JC3 Jr. or the JC3+) which either way is a big jump. And to get appreciably better, you'll need to make a big jump.
     
  2. Lymbo

    Lymbo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Huntsville, AL
    Sheesh. What an unreliable product and their customer support is horribly antiquated. My first unit lost one channel. My second just stopped working altogether. This time the retailer said I had to go through with the manufacturer's warranty process...and what a doozy that was.

    iFi has an antiquated ticket/messaging system. Instead of an easy phone call in which they can screen the issue and then come to a determination on how to handle the case, they'll have you open a ticket from their website. Then in 24-48 hours you receive a response with a question like "what is the serial number?" You enter back into the ticketing platform and provide them with an answer. 24-48 hour later they'll reply with another question like, "has anything changed in your system?" And on and on it goes. Literally for days.

    I've washed my hands of iFi. Horrible experience.
     
  3. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    It's unfortunate you had a terrible experience. Problematic/dead units have been reported pretty much everywhere. One person in this thread was dead-set on the iFi Phono 2 even with many many warnings. He ended up going through 3 units before returning the last one for a refund which he used on a product of a different manufacturer. He loves the sound and doesn't have to worry as much about the unit becoming defective.

    After seeing the reliability issues and the way the company has responded to the many many defective units (i.e. no response whatsoever, nor any revisions to the product), I've long decided to forego ever giving iFi any of my money.
     
    Old Audiophool, dolsey01 and Lymbo like this.
  4. Nielsoe

    Nielsoe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Aalborg, Denmark
    My experience too. And it really is such a shame because the serious reliabillity issues aside it really is a great sounding phonostage which also can handle any cartridge you hook it up with. But I’m happy with what I have now and haven’t looked back.
     
    Lymbo likes this.
  5. Lymbo

    Lymbo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Huntsville, AL
    I agree completely. It was a very nice sounding phonostage. I'm pleased to hear you've found something to take it's place. I'm in the process of determining what I'm going to replace mine with. Unfortunately, I'm not cash rich at the moment, so I'll either have to wait or find something affordable and hopefully reliable.
     
  6. Manimal

    Manimal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern US
    I hate when companies have an awesome product that is ify ( jag/rover).
    I’ve heard so much good.
     
  7. Leigh

    Leigh https://orf.media

    Still on my first and only one, and it's working flawlessly... just another data point.
     
  8. HiFi Guy

    HiFi Guy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lakeland, FL
    Mine was perfect too.
     
    Nielsoe and displayname like this.
  9. Mrtn77

    Mrtn77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris
    Perhaps early batches were good and later ones are not. It'd explain why reviews didn't pick up on the faults others have experienced.
     
  10. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    I'd volunteer the more plausible explanation that reviewers do not hold onto the units long enough for problems to occur or that the manufacturer triple-checked the quality of those specific units prior to being sent to reviewers.
     
    displayname likes this.
  11. PoeRaider

    PoeRaider Forum Resident

    I've been really curious to give one of these a try, but have seen way too many reports of them failing after 2-3 months. I guess I'll wait to see if they get their QC sorted out for future products.
     
    patient_ot likes this.
  12. ls35a

    ls35a Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eagle, Idaho
    There are two new phono units that look very interesting in this price range:

    The $250 Mobile Fidelity

    The $399 Vista Audio Phono 2

    I have the Mobile Fidelity on order.
     
    patient_ot, displayname and bluemooze like this.
  13. Leigh

    Leigh https://orf.media

    This thread got me to wonder whether the power supply isn't the source of most of the issues with the device. I just ordered the clean 15 V power supply for this device from ifi. Can't hurt, I suppose.
     
  14. RPM

    RPM Forum Resident

    Location:
    Easter Island
    Doesn't it come with one?
     
  15. vs_jk

    vs_jk Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I've read in several reviews where people replace the stock switching power supply with a linear power supply and can hear significant improvements in the sound. With the added benefit of reliability. Have any of you tried one? If so, which would you recommend? I still have my original iFi iPhono which is going strong. But would like to upgrade the power supply to see how it could improve the sound.
     
  16. 808_state

    808_state ヤマハで再生中

    On the flip side...won't a bunch of refurbished units eventually become available for much less than the msrp?
     
    displayname likes this.
  17. Leigh

    Leigh https://orf.media

    They make a super low noise line of switching mode power supplies, from 5V through 15V. I thought I'd replace the stock one with one of those.
     
  18. RPM

    RPM Forum Resident

    Location:
    Easter Island
    If you are getting this, then, according to the site, it is the stock one. Are you getting some other power supply?
     
  19. Leigh

    Leigh https://orf.media

    Well I'll be darned - you're right. It looks like I bought a backup! I also grabbed a 5V version for my Squeezebox. Apparently the power supplies measure extremely quiet.
     
  20. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    The last thing I would do is invest any of my money in products from a manufacturer with a spotty tracking record and a terrible warranty service, not to mention the inability to address the issue and publicly recognize a critical flaw in the product's engineering.
     
  21. HankM

    HankM Senior Member

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    Placed an order with Amazon for the iPhono 2. I currently use the original iPhono which I purchased when it was first released and really love it but these reviews, especially Michael Fremer on how the V2 is not just better but way better I decided to go for it. I'll keep an eye on it to see if it gets really warm. Hopefully I get a good one but really looking forward to it.
     
    vs_jk likes this.
  22. 808_state

    808_state ヤマハで再生中

    Based on the above reviews, a thread on the AK forum and one particular Amazon review, I wonder if the key is to get a separate power supply and never expose the unit to the in-box power supply. Maybe defects/instability in this PS wreak havoc to the internals of the iPhono 2 with continued use.
     
  23. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    You guys must love to gamble!
     
    This Heat likes this.
  24. This Heat

    This Heat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Yeah. Two defective units was enough for me.
     
    Strat-Mangler and patient_ot like this.
  25. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    That's an interesting take. Wouldn't be the first time a company sold a product with a defective component that ended up ruining the product. The way I see it, it's IFI's job to sort these issues out, not the consumer. Wouldn't touch their products with a bargepole after the stories I've seen.
     
    808_state and Strat-Mangler like this.
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