Topic: New 3DS XL speaker distortion

I've just received a New 3DS XL from eBay which is in almost perfect condition. The one issue is that the right speaker will sometimes distort at full volume. I uploaded a video which kind of shows it, if you listen closely enough https://youtu.be/VvKzwOPhN14. An older example also exists at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KRP0YLKtMc.

I'm not really sure what I should do about this. I could send the unit back, but it's essentially in new from box condition besides this issue. Obviously if I'd bought this from a store when they were on sale it would have gone back, but it seems quite hard to find 3DS devices with perfect screens and no case scratches this these days. I could get Nintendo to repair it, but I won't know the price until they have it in their hands. Or, I could just decide to live with it. My primary system is a New 2DS XL which is in 100% perfect condition.

From what I understand this was a relatively common issue with the New 3DS XL. I've seen quite a few people talking about speaker replacements (which look harder than anything I'd try myself) or living with it and wearing headphones etc.

Does anybody have any experience of this issue? What would people in my situation do?

Unfortunately this has happened with a number of my DS/3DS consoles. It's most likely a manufacturing defect.

Both speakers of my Metroid New 3DS XL are faulty. The right one was failing within days of use, and the left one only faintly produces sound at maximum volume. I was too irate to send it back as I had already transferred everything to it, and so I just stuck with it. I know I shouldn't have, as Nintendo will never know the real-world occurrence of manufacturing defects if we don't pull them up on it.

My DS Lite also has a faulty speaker, and my Monster Hunter 4 New 3DS XL is the worst piece of Nintendo hardware I have ever had the misfortune of owning (with the decal peeling away after mere weeks of use, the speaker's was also faulty, from memory, and the battery cannot hold a charge).

My Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer New 3DS XL was in perfect working order the last I used it (before transferring everything to the Metroid console), as was my Pikachu (regular) 3DS XL. I'm inclined to transfer everything back to the Animal Crossing console eventually.

Yeah, it does seem like this is very common indeed. The seller of the 3DS I originally posted about was really good about it. After a lot of thought in the end I decided it was simplest to return it. Probably if I'd already transferred across to it I'd have been more likely to keep it.

So I took a gamble and I've just received another New 3DS XL this morning that I bought over the weekend. This is in similarly good condition, but more importantly it seems that the sound does work. In fact, I'm kind of surprised how good it sounds compared to my New 2DS XL (which is really very quiet indeed).

I wanted to get one soon as I'm sure finding units in good condition for sane prices is only going to get more and more difficult as time goes on.

@Silly_G I had been looking at that Monster Hunter special edition as there was a really great looking one on eBay. Glad I gave that one a miss based on what you've said.

Now I just need to work out whether I want the 3DS to be my main unit or whether to keep the 2DS with my digital titles on it. It's such a shame that there's no sharing with these consoles, but at least most of my collection is physical.