5 year Phantom I lifespan?

[Jon]

Just wanted to post something that happened with one of my Phantoms this week. I bought the classic white phantom in 2015.
Last week I went to listen to some music and one of the phantoms wouldn't turn on.  Totally dead cold to the touch (ouch...). I also noticed a small crack on the right side of the mid ( there are other posts with the same defect ) Not sure when the crack happened but never noticed it until it died. 
So I reached out to Devialet to see if any solutions. Customer service was fine and responsive ( Thanks Johnny! ) but nothing can be done to fix it. Only option is to do the upgrade on their website. Obviously it's out of warranty so no complaints about that. 

I've got 4 other phantoms and now I'm wondering as they hit the 5 year mark if they will also decide to crack and die... I wonder how many other phantoms will die at 5 years old.

What do you think? Is 5 years a decent shelf life for an electronic, maybe it is. I've had other stereo equipment last much longer to the point I was sick of it and either sold or gave it away ( haha ) so I guess final thoughts are.... Enjoy the phantom while it lives because...... it could be gone soon. 
Cheers! Gonna be a hot one in California this weekend! I'm headed for the pool !

[ragwo]

Sorry for your Phantom loss! I asked Devialet about expected life span several years ago and as I recall they claimed about 10 years. I recently sold two Golds turning six in November and have another that's turning five. A five year lifespan is way too short in my opinion.
Enjoy your weekend n the pool!

[Jamington2004]

This is exactly why I moved away from Phantom Golds - purely and simply because they couldn’t be repaired

My last pair had Devialet care and i decided to move on while they were covered for the resale value

Not only that I can’t afford to replace them if they died - but also the environmental factor. I mean it’s almost unheard of in this day and age right? Even the new version I am surprised they are legally allowed to release something that’s assigned to the dump if it breaks?

Anyway - I loved them - but this point was too much. Cabasse Pearl all the way now

P.S enjoy the pool! If it’s your own pool probably you can afford to replace a phantom or 2?

[Avos]

Can't help in estimating the life expectancy, though just the fact that the newer model generate less heat made me hopeful in thinking these units may have a much longer lifespan, hence I updated one of my golds, and probably will do my other one later this year (budget thingy).
New technology doesn't mean by itself longer lifespan though, but after owning mine also for 4 years, and wanted to have them for so much longer, I just bit the bullet. Not just about lower heat generation, but also for the faster processor that may offer better options in the future, and being little bit to be greener ;-)

Am still in love with my little Faberge eggs , so could maybe a bit biased...

[Confused]

In my view a five year life span for any modern electronic device (and many other things) is completely unacceptable.

Plus, it is interesting to looks at the new EU "right to repair" legislation that is designed to combat "planned obsolescence". See link:

https://www.euronews.com/2021/03/01/eu-l...o-10-years

As an aside, I have a bit of a habit of keeping old kit, and somehow finding a new use for it.

I have a late 1980's Kenwood KA-5010 amp. This sits at the back of a large desk area that I have and powers both desktop speakers and headphones. It works perfectly, and has never been repaired or serviced. Perhaps surprisingly, it still sounds reasonably good. I guess that after 30 years of service it no longer sounds perhaps as good as it once did, but I actually enjoying using it to see just how long it will keep going.

I also have 2 Arcam Alpha 10 amps and one Alpha 10P. There is a bit of a story to these, but one of the Alpha 10's and the 10P were very early examples that I received direct from the factory in 1998. Both have failed, both have gone back to Arcam for a repair and service. At one time these were my main hifi amps, they now power center and rear speakers in a surround system. (and one is also used to power two LS50 in stereo for normal TV use) So that is 23 years of regular service, with one trip back to the factory. Next time they go wrong I plan to get something a little better, but I'll keep using them whilst they keep going.

Maybe one day I will have a 1000 Pro powering my TV speakers, but that will depend on how long both the amps and myself last. I suspect that I have a fair chance of outliving the 1000 Pro, but I am not so sure about the Kenwood. (although the input selector knob is a little loose, much like parts of myself, so it might end up being a dead heat)

Thinking about it, I have been driving the same car for 11 years now, and it was just under two years old when I bought it. Nothing has cracked on the car yet, and certainly the in car stereo works fine, plus this has an entire car around it which works fine also.

Very poor Devialet, must try a little harder.