Counterfeit semiconductors again

Not that I have any love for Harman, but to be fair, what manufacturers make their own outputs? Most manufacturers, even the best, outsource most parts and much assembly. I don't consider this to make them an illegitimate manufacturer. The fact that they build mediocre equipment and have weak support makes it a less than desirable product, IMO.

I replaced some outputs in a Denon a while back that looked flaky as well. Tested the gain on the other pair and found it to be much lower than the spec for the part and the replacements. I don't have the experience with identifying them that you do so I am not sure, but my gut said to change the other pair, too. I did not because I could not identify any problem, even at full power. The unit came back with the other channel blown a couple of months later. I don't think the problem is exclusive to Harman.

No excuse for them to buy from crap distributors rather than direct from Sanken or authorized didstributors. The same goes for the distributors that supply us replacement parts.

Thanks for the heads up, Mark.

Leonard

I wasn't saying that Harman made, or should make their own output transistors, but that if they were a "real" manufacturer, they'd have better control over the quality of the finished product, and they'd be dealing direct with Sanken or whoever, and not buying finished products from Hu-Nos-Hu - which by the way, HK did NOT engineer, merely specified and signed off on. Harman hasn't made anything of their own in decades, and it shows.

Mark Z.

We don't really disagree here, Mark. My point was simply that lots of manufacturers work this way these days. HK is part of the pack in this regard, not a standout for stupidity.

Leonard