Frequently Asked Questions

How long is warranty? And what does it cover?

All products come with 12 months parts and labour warranty, unless otherwise specified. Tubes are only covered by a 30 days warranty. We stand by Chinese Hi-Fi products and we will provide you full support even after the sale, we take warranty and support very seriously.

Warranty covers factory faults, e.g. faulty mechanism, irregular behavior, etc. It does not cover user faults, e.g. drops, severe pressure, modifications, wrong installation, etc. All products are tested and closely examined before they are sent off; this ensures that you will receive a working product. Warranty will be voided if the label is removed or the item is found to be physically damaged.

Why Solid State Amplifiers?

Solid State Amplifiers are preferred by many audiophiles because they tend to be better at handling “fast” and “busy” music. They are also known to be more accurate then their Tube counterparts. But this is not a hard rule, and results may vary between amplifiers depending on their design and implementation.

Today’s consumer products mostly use Solid State based amplifiers because they are so much more convenient. They don’t require any burn-in time, run much cooler, use less power, and produce more power per the dollar.

These are just general rules and observations, Solid State Amplifiers can be made to sound like a Tube Amplifier and Tube Amplifiers can also be designed to sound fast and accurate like Solid State.

If you have any questions about our range of Solid State Amplifiers, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Why Tube Amplifiers?

In the world of Hi-Fi, there are two sides that continue to argue about the benefits and drawbacks of Tube audio. Both sides have their valid arguments, but in the end it comes down to the listener to make up his or hers own mind about the sound.

Tubes Amplifiers have a lot more measured distortion then Solid State designs, but most of their distortion is in the 2nd order harmonics. Many people agree that this is where Tube Amplifiers get their warm sounding notes from. But Tube Amplifiers are also preferred for their superior clipping characteristics compared to Solid State Amplifiers.

Distortion characteristics for Solid State Amplifiers however, tend towards higher odd order harmonics, although in smaller amounts.

Scientific studies have shown that humans perceive even order distortion as being musically consonant while odd order distortion is perceived as musically dissonant. There is also evidence that shows while up to -5% of 2nd order distortion is audibly tolerable, only -0.5% of 5th order distortion is audibly tolerable.

Tube Amplifiers usually don’t sound their best until they have been turned on for about 10 minutes. To add to this, Tube Amplifiers are bulky, run very hot, produce less output power and require burn-in of the tubes.

So why bother with Tube Amplifiers? Well because they are more musical and enjoyable. They provide a sense of space and presence that no Solid State Amplifier can provide.

We could give reasons as to why Tube Amplifiers are better, but that would take days to explain. If you would like more information on the disadvantages and advantages of Tube Audio, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

What is your refund policy?

All our products come with a 30-day money back guarantee. If you're not satisfied with the product within 30 days of purchase, just send it for a full refund (minus any shipping costs).

For more information, please visit the following page:

"30-day Trial Period"

Is pick-up available?

Pick up is most welcomed. COEM Audio Australia is situated in West End, just 5 minutes outside of Brisbane CBD.

How much does shipping cost?

Shipping is included in the listed price for most of our products. Included freight is to anywhere in Australia and New Zealand.

If a product's price does not have shipping included, it won't have "Shipping Included" under the price. In this case shipping will be calculated manually and is dependant on the destination and the weight of the order.

For an accurate quote on shipping, please send your enquires through our contact page.

Information about shipping can be found here:

Shipping Information

What shipping methods do you use?

At COEM Audio Australia, we send your orders using either Couriers or Australia Post. If you live in Brisbane, we recommend pickup or our personal delivery service.

• Courier - Cheapest and fastest. Also most secure and hence our preferred option for Shipping to our customers. We use Fastway couriers that are trackable online and very reliable.
• Registered and Insured Post - 3 to 5 business days within Australia and 5-7 business days for New Zealand.
• Pick-up - cheapest option if you live in Queensland.
• Personal Delivery - only available for Brisbane residents.

Your goods are always sent registered and insured, so if anything does go wrong it will be covered by insurance. We personally pack the orders and insure that everything is well protected and secure.

Information about shipping can be found here:

Shipping Information

What is COD and how does it work?

Cash on delivery (COD) is a service offered by Australia Post. The goods are sent to your local post office where they will send you a pick-up slip to your address. Simply take that slip to the nominated post office, make the payment and pickup your goods. Australia Post then sends us a money order in the amount of the sale transaction. There is an additional fee charged by Australia Post for using this service, it varies from where you are located, value of the goods and the weight of the order.

What payment methods do you accept?

COEM Audio Australia accepts payments in the form of Cash, Cheque, Money Order, COD, Direct Deposit, Credit Card and PayPal. For more details, please read the payment information page.

Do you ship internationally?

Some of our dealers ship internationally:

• ihatehifi.com - http://ihatehifi.com
• Stereo Sonics - http://stereosonics.com.au
• Stereo Sonics NZ - http://stereosonics.co.nz
  

Shipping to New Zealand in included for products that are marked with "Shipping Included" in their price box.

Because international sales are considered as 'exports', all purchases will be GST FREE. To work out 'export' prices, take the list price and devide it by a factor of 1.1.

Please contact us before you order, and we'll give you a total quote including shipping. For larger items we only DHL freight, tracked and insured for your peace of mind. Smaller items will be sent by EMS if possible.