Another failed ifi system owner here.
First off, thanks to everyone who have posted your experiences with this problem. It's good to know that some of you have been able to fix yours.

My right channel is still dead - even after replacing the 5 big caps: (4) 35v and (1) 25v - I was hoping this would do the trick. Note: the annoying hum is gone though.

Is there anything that anyone might suggest I try now? It sure wold be great to get this working again. I alway enjoyed the sound reproduction. I'm now thinking of spending the $150 on the Kiega replacement amp. Based on the dimensions of the mounting plate, it will require a bit of retrofitting.

I'm open to ideas or suggestions here.

TIA
Ken

fuzion78:

Good for you dbert!!! Great that your iFI works again!!!.

For those who have channel problem (e.g. one working while the other not). You will have to check the condition of the capacitor sandwich inbetween the board. If i not wrong, there a 6 x 470uF 35V. 

Be careful when desoldering the capacitors. Those soldering pad is horrible!!! (TOO SMALL FOR GOOD CONTACT and might come off easily if not handle with care)

Capacitor to use? Panasonic FC series or Nichicon FW series.  Not the best money can buy but value for mone

 

 

Does anyone have direct experience with this, replacing the remaining "sandwiched between the boards" capacitors? I hate to throw any more money at this thing, but if there is anyone with prior experience and the same problem (one channel not working), please let me know.

TIA
Ken

 Why not get a car amplifier in replace instead?

don't forget to try the aux jack behind the subwoofer to rule out the dock itself.

Thanks, I tried this already Anyone know if replacing the other capacitors might help? Again, I've replaced the 5 large ones already. Right channel remains dead Thanks

I just thought I would chime in with an update.

Seven or eight months later and mine are still working fine.

I still have never used the standby function for any long duration though.

nice to hear that dbert.

mine start popping randomly after 3 months after the 4700uF 25V replacement. i decided to re-cap the whole board (except one bipolar cap which use NP brand instead of Rifeking) and found the popping remains. rewire the whole DIN cable to 24AWG cable (louder sound from ipod) and same, random popping except now the dock no longer flickers when it pops.

i gave up and send it to local technician. i'll update if he found what is appears to be the culprit. in the meantime, listening to logitech seemed like a steep downgrade.

Thanks for all your help on this post. Bought the iFi for my daughter x-mas 09. I was blown away by the sound. She left for college and came home and it was caput. Believe she left it on. Recently decided to have a go at it and found your posts. Sure enough, the caps were blown. 12 dollars to digiking for 5 caps and 75 to the repair guy and I got power. Only thing is the dock is very squirrley, Basically , you have to hold,tape and wiggle the i pad and/ or i phone to get it to fire on all three speakers. Got to hold your mouth right too. Bought an aux cable and the thing is perfect. No glitches and sounds as great as ever. Volumne control works fine. Both aux inputs work equally as well. I suppose the only purpose the dock has otherwise is to charge the device. I have a theory that the pins inside the connector(where the device slides on) get worn or bent, either from use or people not using the proper plastic widget. Same thing is wrong with my wife"s i-home. Would just like to get your thoughts on this. Would have been a cheap fix if I had the skill and tools to do the solder job. Again, thanks for all the insight,

dwy1342, iFi was using 12V firewire to charge old iPod device. newer device (iPhone 3G and after, iPod Touch 2G and after, iPod Nano 3G and after, etc) are using 5V from USB. it's true they're using different pin, you need to buy a ipod charger converter (12v to 5v) if you want to use iFi with newer iPods but im not sure if it works perfectly.

Thanks ifi123. Probably not a good idea to guess at the technical wizards who change standards on us lay people every two years. So, if I understand correctly, my iFi was purchased dec 06. It uses 12V firewire to charge the older ipods etc.(my daughter tells me she had a mini when we got the system) The newer devises use 5V to charge with a USB and since they went that route, the pin connectors(male and female) are different and not compatible with the iFi dock. Thus, I need a converter to go from newer devices to the ifi dock. I looked and it seems converters are readily available. any suggestions on a specific model or manufacturer? Thanks for the assistance.

Get a good magnifying glass and some good light and look at the pins real close. It’s a small slot with super small pins. Does the jack feel loose on the board?

If you don’t find anything bent or loose  the pins may just need a cleaning. A good (plastic safe) contact cleaner or deoxIT with the right brush would be ideal, but alcohol and an acid brush might work.

How's it going fellow ifi owners, I wanted to check in too as I've had mine for a year now. These things have gotten the police called on my apartment parties more than once, the cops came to the door saying "we can here that from the middle of the street" I let my friends borrow them and they got an eviction warned the first night. But anyways, mine too started popping again recently after I replaced the capacitors in December however I found out that when I turned the computer volume down to 75 percent and turned the ifi up to compensate the popping diaapeared.

Does anyone know if other Klipsch products suffer the same problem as iFi? In specific, what about the Promedia 2.1? I loved the sound when I sampled some at Best Buy. They blew away any other speaker in the price range. BUT I am still bitter about the lack of quality in the $500 ifi I purchased when it first came out!

Hello, I am new to this site. I bought a ifi (at a second hand store)and it dose not have the docking station. I used the line input and no sound? do you need to have the docking station hooked up to work? Or do I have another problem?

Thanks pappers1

 Yes, you will need the docking station for it to work