[Charles]

Some folks think that the word "high-end" implies reliability. It does not. In fact the more exotic and expensive the gear the more likely for bizarre unfixable problems. It could have easily been dropped, abused, damaged during shipping etc. who knows. I have never and I mean never traded in a piece of equipment I knew to be defective. That's not fair to the person on the other end.

If it is not a tube I would call Mac send it back to them and pay the price to have the unit overhauled. That's your best chance for success. I have most definitely had defective Mac gear but it was bought new. I had a C34 that had a channel go out intermittently. Mac attempted one repair which didn't work. They sent me a new unit that worked flawlessly. Recently, my D1100 was defective because it was an early unit with a defective capacitor. I received a new unit that worked flawlessly. Also, my MCD1100 stopped playing several years ago (I thought too soon for a piece of Mac gear) and was out of warranty. There was a local Mac repair shop but after 3 mo they were getting nowhere fast so I paid the bill and sent the unit to Mac. I sent the receipt along. Three weeks later I received the unit back repaired at no charge including free shipping. It has performed flawlessly ever since.

About 3-4 years ago I noticed on just one cut of one HD tracks download a ringing in the Maxx3 tweeter right channel. I honestly thought my hearing was going. I could only hear it from the sitting position. I put up with it for 8 long months. Finally I sent the tweeter/midrange module back to Wilson with the instruction not to send the old tweeter back to me. It took about 3 months and 1,000.00 dollars (even under warranty) but the new tweeter fixed the problem. Wilson acknowledged the bad tweeter but said they were surprised I could actually hear it.

I was able to sell my Maxx3 through my dealer with a clear conscience several years later who was aware of the problem. You are experiencing the frustrations of the "high-end". I hope things work out.