Sherwood

It is $1650 now, true, but it was $3300 on release. Here's a quote from 47 Labs' site: "Another feature is the casing. Both the DAC unit and the power supply are encased in a casing made out of Shigaraki ceramic, which has been used to make tea cups and vases for nearly one thousand years in Japan. It's totally de-electric and non-conductive character contributes to Shigarakis' smooth, open sound."

I know they're Japanese, and that many of their products are well-regarded. That's what made the question more interesting to me. Musical Laboratory is ridiculous, and an easy target (though I still like the looks of their stuff). 47 labs contributes real advances, but they are couched in decidedly non musical (or, in my opinion, relevant) housings. Those housings drive the price WAAY up, and I think they're somewhat cheesy. With that in mind, both their debatable successes and their debatable failures, what do you think of them?

You are very right, Deepak. 47 labs did design the Gaincard, and it was them I was referencing in the first post. The tea ceremony and the Shigaraki pottery are their things.

Shakti stones are, of course, ridiculous. The same question stands for 47 labs, though, despite this not being their product. They still sold the gaincard amp for $3300, and design things very akin to this.

Well shit. I was under the impression that 47 labs and Musical Laboratory were under the same umbrella, but more digging has proven this suspect.

They designed the gaincard. The gainclone is a clone of their design.

That seemed inevitable. I wonder if the need for constant product announcements drove innovation, or hindered it? I guess we'll find out.

I agree with that sentiment, though I applaud their use of Speakon connectors. The connectors cost about $3.50, though, and are ugly as hell, so their decision surprises me.

Their new amp, the Bosangwha, is beautiful (to these eyes.) However, it is a $4000 pair of monoblock chip amps. I like them because they make unique products, and because they have honest-to-goodness innovations like the gaincard. I dislike them because they fuse arrogant bullshit like tea ceremonies and heritage pottery with audio equipment, and are ridiculously priced. You can DIY a gaincard for about $150, and while I understand a premium going to the R&D, a 20x premium seems a little steep. They're free to charge whatever they like, but still... So my question is, does the wrong outweigh the right, here? Lots of companies make mediocre products that are retreads of old, boring designs, but do little to offend. These guys seem to make unique products on the outside and inside, but they are total . Just curious as to the opinion of some of the members here.

Two quality albums, Steve. I'm glad you hear your Scrooge-ness has been effectively countered with music.

I'll second that. Beautiful kid, Nate.

I'm sure I'm toeing that line as it is, so I'll refrain this once, if it pleases you good sir.

Might I be able to "pick one up" from you? I'll upload needledrops, promise.

As a huge anglophile, I have to shamefully admit that until Al posted above, I never knew what those things were called. I just knew them as "those things form Dr. Who". How in hell does one get started watching Dr. Who? I'm 40 years behind

Bargir is the one who posts after a raucous night of hakkarl and brennivin.

So, I should be sure that Red invites TheMarchinGmulanie, then?

By those criteria, I am also building a Rudi design right now, as I added a light bulb to my bathroom last night.

This can't be said enough, Red. There are special places for the inane shit.

I did nothing today but download rifftrax illegally (and then donate to them for what I downloaded) and watch them. I mustered the motivation to tweak my speaker setup a little bit and then listened to some Amanda Palmer and Decemberists. All in all, it was a great day to burn a little sick time before it goes belly up on the first.

Thank god for that repost, as it was nonfunctional by the time I got to it. Fantastic.

The starving student is different from those, and if I recall it is not as good. Either of those should be able to best a starving student, which was itself designed to be an extremely low-cost tube amp and still sound great. The Hybrid and Max are designs with fewer compromises, and as such sound even better.

Curse you, premium cable channels. My cheap ass expects 22-24 episodes a season! I, too, am wistfully watching the season finale of Dexter. Do not go gentle into that good night, old friend.

Dexter finale already? It was just getting so good!

I can't speak to what tube it had in it, unfortunately. I didn't inquire.

I heard the EF-1 against a Millett Starving Student (built by -=***=-, no less) and vastly preferred the Millett. It's a better amp, for much less money. If you want a commercial hybrid I suppose it's not a bad deal, but with Milletts popping up left and right why would you bother?