909

that sucks, i've never had a problem with screws coming loose on my audio equipment.

i don't think the one i got was either a torx or a hex, but i could be mistaken since it's been a while. but in comparsion the mpx3 had like 20 secure points to remove whereas my ec2a3 has like 4 or 6, which is much closer to the norm imo.

i am no expert, but the mpx3 had a ton of rivet looking things that required a specialized tool to remove them. locked because it needs some sort of key tool to open it and generally speaking nearly all other amps and sources i've encountered can easily be opened with a common screw driver or a philip head.

air conditioning is for pussies

if you do purchase from SP just order something very close to the base model es-1 or get the most reasonably priced upgrades. Mikhail will inevitably give you a short build time and when he misses a deadline (probably would happen more than once too) you can complain and indicate your desire to cancel and he'll throw in some free upgrades to appease you.

i know a SP customer that waited around six months for an extreme and a few others with not over the top customized orders that averaged around a four to six month wait and some longer. unfortunately, after waiting so very long doesn't guarantee the amp will arrive functioning properly. this seems such a common occurrence so either they aren't packaged well enough or something is going on during the build process that makes them susceptible to issues during shipment or potentially it shipped with something not quite right or a combo. if ones calls and complains usually they get free upgrades to appease them through one missed deadline or issue and so on. without question, Mikhail is a very nice guy, good at appeasing customers just enough as not to lose them and usually ensures they're happy in the end, but after all this time he knows exactly what he is doing by giving these misleadingly short build times. imho, stuff like this reflects poorly on ones' integrity because if their word means nothing, it makes me question everything such as most importantly what's inside each locked SP chassis and would it actually conform to each customers' order. Mikhail should just be forthright about the wait time. and if i ordered something i'd open it up right away and check that every upgrade had been done and that it looked up to snuff to remove all questionability from my mind.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyQTn0YY5N0]drink[/ame]

emotionless killer! just keep thinking about yourself, so very selfish. i feel sorry for the tube, not you.

a little bit of hush money and i'll consider not emailing your employer the link to this thread....

dell is a mixed bag--good pricing, performance, and repair service... they're kind of cheap. all the rubber feet on my d600 never stayed affixed and the replacement feet not only didn't have good adhesive, but didn't have a small dimple in the center in order to properly fit flush. even at the dell center the notebooks i checked also lost the feet. it's really annoying typing on a wobbly notebook or having to put something underneath it just to keep it level. i never liked the dell call center maze of options just to get a human on the line could take an unreasonable amount of time then only to find they aren't much help or don't have a firm command of the english language. sony is well made, ok price and performance... but i've encountered more than a few compatibility problems, which i believe were due to Sony's operating system. And their customer support or lack of it sucks. IBM/Lenovo seems pretty good--reasonable price and performance--my wife just got a Lenovo and hasn't experienced any problems, though, customer service/support i don't know... i guess my main problem with any computer using mircosoft's operating systems is they're highly susceptible to viruses and external threats requiring anti-virus and internet security programs which creates a host of problems. after about three years (no longer under warranty) my d600 and wife's sony vaio both died within a few months of each other (blue screen death). apple--i've been pretty happy with my macbook. it seems very well built, good customer service going well beyond the call of duty. excellent operating system, intuitive and easy to use... i like my apple and would get another one. get an apple.

Bluegrass Holiday, J.D. Crowe Nursery Cryme (Limited), Genesis

popcorn

pumpkin seeds

us open

i checked apple's website for the nano specs and it sizes up perfectly with the pico. sizeasy: nano & pico displayed together

i've only heard the l3000s w/ the zd on a few limited occasion. i do like both and both together, but raving is really pushing it. though, i've definitely raved about them apart.

i stopped by the apple store a bit earlier and checked out the new stuff. i find the new shuffle colors somewhat effeminate except possibly the red and of course, the standard silver isn't. a solid black shuffle is long over due, imo. the new nano is really awesome--so small, slim and sleek. i still can't get over how thin it actually is in person, pretty unbelievable and like the thinnest part of a fold book of matches when closed. even though, the screen is quite small it still offers very amazingly decent video. i like the flat black one a lot. i didn't spend much time with the new ipods since the design, look, and colors seems pretty much unchanged excluding the increased storage capacity. i also really like the iphone; it's very intuitive and easy to use. though, using the keyboard, calculator, and even selecting numbers on the dialpad would take some getting use to because often i hit the wrong digit or letter. the headphone jack is recessed within the iphone chassis and most, if not all IEMs will not work with it, which seriously sucks sticking with the stock ones or having to get a modification of some sort. i like the itouch, but for the extra money it seems worth it to get the iphone instead. i really hope within the next few years the ipod and nano would have a simliar iphone/itouch screen technology because it would offer more screen real estate on the small footprint and it's majorly cool. the new imacs are really fantastic looking, super fast and the keyboard layout and keys are similar to the macbooks, but the metal panel beneath is really nice and cool to the touch--again everything is so slim and sleek. right now i am staying with my thick brick and lacking capacity 20 gb rio karma and the original green shuffle, both of which offer superior sound.

he had the l3000s and the r10s and last we spoke he seemed intent on getting the vrs ii and the sds-xlr. though i don't know 100% if he followed through, but if so it seems he's still wanting on both...

thanks, Reks. Icarium, in your opinion, what's the best possible cd player or is it just something fictional you're alluding to... though, i completely agree either way. imo, vrs has too many unknowns, lack of trustworthy professional reviews, not been adequately compared or tested against other great sources with competent ears in attendance, coupled with the high price i wouldn't feel comfortable buying it unless i had money to burn and a dying curiousity.

yes the vrs is ridiculously expensive. imo the user interface needs serious work and until that time i doubt it will achieve its potential mass market appeal or something i would even consider. i found it laborsome to walk up to the 15" lcd, grab the wireless keyboard, scroll and select the track or album. in that time, i believe i could have just as easily pull the actual cd off my rack, popped it in and pressed play. as to its sonic ability, i'll say it's the first computer based source that WOW me. however, Jay Fisher's (robb report reviewer) rig is completely over-the-top. i assume you saw his speakers, amps, power conditioner, cables, rack, etc... i found myself in a very foreign listening environment since i primarily listen to headphones. and i felt my source was basically there to say "see it sounds better than the reimyo..." basically it got plugged into a cheap extension cord without power conditioning, warmed up for less than ten minutes and virtually sat on a wobbly wooden plank a foot off the floor--i kid you not. i am a bit bitter because i really desired to do some, imo, meaningful comparison or at least that what i thought we were going to do, but i bit my lip and acted the cordial guest and understood this was about selling a vrs and high-end SP amp. when we went to headphones for the last 20 mins of listening and re-plugged my then cold cdp-777 in, i thought both sounded very natural, though, in that timeframe i couldn't say the vrs truly out-classed the reimyo even given all the proper set-up advantages. i asked Vincent (VRS) if i burned a store bought cd would it sound better than the original and he said unbashfully, yes. if any audible gains are derived from playing tracks off the hd beside removing jitter and what-not i would at least liked to have listened to a few burned cds for the comparison so such factors were mitigated as well as others in my mind. i will say it is an excellent source and ranks among the best i've heard.

what source did you get? i would guess emm labs... if you mean it should hopefully retain 80 to 100% of what you paid, assuming you got a good deal that isn't undoable, but the future down the road is probably something like the memory player or vrs II and i wonder when companies like meridian, rega, wadia and others will start releasing hd sources.

i relate and believe getting an excellent source you truly like is money well spent. i just think an amp can only do so much in a system as long as it's relatively decent whereas a high-end source and headphones have a much greater impact.

i like Mikhail too. And yes, blind tests are problematic notably the usual time restrains since most listeners aren't given the time they need to fully digest and appreciate what they're hearing, but even if that could be remedy to a greater degree i believe the results wouldn't be clear in flavor of those mega buck SP amps. Also, you'd think at those $10K plus price points it should conceivably be readily more apparent to most listeners with educated and trusted ears.

if done blind among trusted ears without external influencers and all things equal as possible using a plethora of headphones to get the best synergy and listener preference and numerous high-end amps were on hand even sub $5K SP amps i'd be surprised if a clear majority flavored the $10K, $15K, or even $20K SP amps overall. it's not like the higher priced SP designs are drastically radical to his other stuff and the mark-up on most, if not all of his amps, seems exceedingly substantially compared to cost of parts excluding overhead and man-hours. though, you never know and as long as the one buying it likes it and believes it's worth it that in the end is all that really matters.

[ame= crazy reviewer[/ame]