Resonessence Labs Out of Business?

[Pablooo]

Here is my story with Resonessence Labs.

 

Last year I had my Mirus Pro upgraded to the Signature Series. When I mailed to Mark Mallinson I got a reply of Ahmed Rizki. He reported that Mark has retired and that he takes over his duties. 

Ahmed has further handled the upgrade to the Signature Series. The last time I received an email from him was on October 4, 2019. 

 

Because the DAC display has broken recently I contacted Ahmed again on April 2nd. Unfortunately the email bounced and shortly after I found out the website was gone as well. Via LinkedIn I found out that Ahmed works for Ess Tech (from the Sabre dac chip, where Mark Mallinson worked with his brother). I have sent an email to this company and explained my problem but to date I have had no response.

 

Once I figured out who will take over the repair service I will report here. 

[Pablooo]

2 hours ago, Norton said:

Relationship seems closer than that, the person who took over the running of Resonessence after Mark Mallison is also a current ESS project manager, if LinkedIn is up to date.
 

 It would be good to hear from anyone who knows their way around Canadian company records as to whether RL have gone into administration or such like, and whether there are any financial  or governance links with ESS.

 

Obviously, unlike some other situations, everyone got what they paid for (but with a ? on the warranty support, which was included in the purchase price) and these were great products; but when  you are charging $7k+ for  a DAC, at the very least an explanatory email to customers would have been the gracious thing to do and not too much to ask.  Oppo managed to exit the market in a professional, orderly manner and have seen the resale values of their former products  rocket.  I don’t think that’s going to be the case here.

I agree with you Norton.  

 

In an effort to check whether RL is still in business I checked the address on the invoice ( 1631 Dickson Ave, Kelowna, BC V1Y 0B5, Canada). This turns out to be a building where ESS technology rents office space:

 

https://www.landmarkcentre.ca/tenant-directory/building/1/Landmark_1/

 

Unfortunately there's no business registration number on the invoice but as there's no such history to be found on the internet my guess is the company has always been a subsidiary of ESS. 

 

 

[Pablooo]

I had my dac upgraded to a signature series by Ahmed Rizki in September last year. The transformer is replaced by a better one, but a 120V version was used instead of 240V.  As a result, the DAC had to be returned from the EU to Canada.  This is quite a careless mistake and you would expect the freight charges to be reimbursed.  But that was not possible according to Ahmed.  After a discussion, I was offered a voucher for the next purchase. A month later, RL was gone.

 

I am still very happy with the dac, I haven't heard a better one in my system. And luckily there seem to be possibilities for repairs should it break in the future. Telephone numbers of a repair service are already shared in this thread, via this link you can also read about a company that is willing to repair old RL dacs: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/resonessence-labs-concero-discussion-review-thead.634760/post-15644716

[Pablooo]

1 hour ago, Norton said:

That’s’ odd because I had the same upgrade done and like you it was returned to me (in UK) incorrectly set for 120v.  Obviously being in Canada, they have to test at 120v and certainly  slapdash not to change back before shipping to customer, but the DAC is designed to switch between voltages simply by flipping the fuse holder under the flap on the back panel* and changing over the fuses (which is what I did when RL sent me new fuses) so I have no idea why yours had to go back to RL again.  Unless maybe they produced a 120v only domestic version and a dual voltage version for export?

 

*dont ever do this unless you really have to as it’s virtually impossible to remove the fuse holder without breaking it.

I had to check the email conversation with RL to answer that. Here's what they told me once they received the unit back again:

 

We received the unit and it was working on 110V but not on 220V.

The power transformer was faulty and we replace it with new one. The power module was working fine but we replace it with a brand new one for you. The unit is now working on both 110V and 220V.

[Pablooo]

2 hours ago, Norton said:

 

*dont ever do this unless you really have to as it’s virtually impossible to remove the fuse holder without breaking it.

I did twice 🙄

[Pablooo]

54 minutes ago, Marcner said:

I talked with Frank Szabo and he indeed is available to repair Resonessence products. I believe this is something he does on the side. I sent off my Mirus and will report back on how it goes. He can be reached by email at [email protected].

Great, thanks for sharing this.

[Pablooo]

13 hours ago, Marcner said:

 

Received my Resonessence Lab Mirus Pro back today from Frank Szabo. After some trouble shooting he said the regulator and the ESS chips were fried( my words not his) probably from a power surge despite always having it plugged into a PS Audio Power Plant 12. He replaced both dac chips and the regulator. It cost $750 US including return shipping. He communicated each step of the way to keep me informed. He seems like a sensible straight shooter who I think does not personally indulge in the audiophile nonsense that some of us do. Although I hope I don't have to, I would use his services in the future if need be. BTW when I listened to the Mirus Pro to make sure it working, I was shocked how good it sounded. It is one of number of DACs I have and I was planning on selling  it on its return, but I am going to have to give it some further thought and listening.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with Frank, this gives confidence when I ever need to use his services. And indeed, the sound is fabulous! 🙂

[Pablooo]

I once contacted Hans Looman of Infigo Audio (http://infigoaudio.com/page/about/).  He wanted to start a repair service for Resonessence devices, but unfortunately the partner who was supposed to do that, has passed away.  He has placed me on a list of Resonessance owners though.  In the event the repair service will start in the future, he will let those people know on the list. I have also upgraded my Mirus to the Signature pro.  I am very happy with the sound and - lucky me - have never had any problems with it.  I just like the idea of having a repair service on hand. I hope you will have your device fixed!

[Pablooo]

I have a Mirus Pro Signature in perfect condition. I am considering selling the unit. I know it doesn't answer your question but maybe it's something you want to consider.