Brand new Sena 20S - Initial problems - Tech support review

[ElevenFifty]

Successfully inked two 20S units. Intercom seems fine with lots of volume using the included speakers. Linked my 20S to android and played some music - sound is great in my headset ... added second 20S with 'music sharing'. Music immediately begins to go in and out at a seemingly constant frequency ... about one second on, one second off in both headsets. Latest firmware is installed and units were about 8" apart with antennae raised.

 

I've opened a ticket with Sena and will report on my experience with tech support.

 

Has anyone else experienced this type of failure?

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

Is the headset volume dial maxed out? I think these do a volume pulse when over-range on the volume out of the headset.

[ElevenFifty]

Update - Reached tech support on first try ... cordial and tried a couple of 'logical' things to no avail. I'm told an RMA will be issued and replacement sent prior to their receiving the units. Tech advised this is a rare failure and that failure rate over-all is less than 1%

 

Also stated that problems with water damage in rain was the result of over-tightening body screws, stripping the plastic and allowing seal to break. Also stated that later builds do not have the problem. He said my serial number was one of the okay ones ... my serial is in the 1409 range

[bmwdavid]

Hopefully the next set works out, please let us know.

[BarryBeemer]

I had a bit of a problem with music sharing at first as well. I know this sounds crazy since my wife and I are only a couple of feet apart on the bike, but the tech asked me if we had the antennae raised. We did and that solved the problem. He mentioned that music sharing takes so much bandwidth the the antennae really help.

[ElevenFifty]

UPDATE -

 

Service from Sena was great. They shipped a replacement set without question. New units are installed and tested. Results are a little bit disappointing so far.

 

I am testing with Pandora via bluetooth from a Droid Turbo. Antenna's up and all devices within a couple of feet of each other. Once again, flawless audio until shared. After sharing the audio the dropouts continue but at a much reduced frequency. It is 'bearable' and will probably be okay for talk radio or audio books.

 

I am expecting an SM10 to arrive today and will test with that as the bluetooth stereo source. At this point I'm on the fence. If I can link both headsets to the sm10 (as advertised) and avoid sharing audio I'll be satisfied.

 

 

[ElevenFifty]

Received and tested the replacement 20S system and found that, in my case, music sharing was still deficient though better than the initial pair.

 

I also purchased an SM10. This Bluetooth hub supports links to both my and Sharon's 20S and I intend to use it's stereo as input for iPod, Phone media, and XM. My old GPS audio will be fed to the SM10 AUX input. Had a warm day yesterday and got to test everything for several hours and am very pleased.

 

While your experience may be very different, my advice would be to NOT rely on using the music sharing feature. Add an SM10 to the mix ... link to your phone for calls only ... and share music/radio/etc via the SM10.

 

YMMV