There's something wrong in Colorado...

[swt61]

I can certainly understand supporting a maker that you've come to like. I can understand putting up with a certain amount of delays, because you really like the maker and his work.

I consider myself very loyal to the people I've done business with that I like in this hobby. I've had some minor delays with some of them that don't bother me in the least. Heck I suffer from delayed production at times, and it's usually no fault of my own, or life steps in the way.

Most of the builders I'm very loyal to are DIY builders that are just doing this part time, so it's not entirely the same situation.

I could send pretty large sums of cash to Warrior05, Fitz, fierce-freak, Nate, looser101 or namaanf without ever loosing any sleep. They just exhibit the kind of character that gives me complete trust in them.

That doesn't mean however that my fanboyism of said builders couldn't be broken. Documented proof of wrongdoing to any other member would probably put me off right then and there. Illegal activity like that spoken of in this thread would have me jumping ship and crying thief at the top of my lungs. But even delays of the length we're talking about here would have to play a major roll in my decision to find another builder, even if that meant another house sound.

I don't know if the allegations toward Mikhail are true or not. I really have no opinion either way. I'm just stating that I can understand a certain amount of loyalty for a builder until a line is crossed, then it's time to reevaluate that loyalty.

[guzziguy]

i really think you're understating or sugarcoating what Mikhail has been doing now for many years -- lying.

playing devil's advocate here -- the same could be said about you.

i am not going to assume why Earl has been laying low, but just because he has recently doesn't change the influential role he played promoting and even on occasion protecting SP.

I was addressing the fanboy comments that had been made. I believe he had carried it way beyond just fanboyism, which is why I used the term shill. I didn't just jump in for that reason.

I believe that the appearance of impropriety can be just as bad as if there is actual impropriety. Again, this imo. I believe I said earlier that the way I define the term shill may be different than how others define the term.

I agree with this. It does appear that it maybe more than this going on but I don't know it for a fact.

It's the problem that people like that can create. I have been paying attention. Getting back to the point that I thought I understood from KG, its the rampant fanboyism unchecked that leads to the problem that now exists. Whether it's done openly in the forum, through pms, email, phone calls.

You're right about this, it doesn't matter if I get it or not and I can't make another persons decisions for them. However, I have the right to express my opinion on the subject that we are discussing.

I hope that is not the case. I don't know if that is the case.

I probably should have put a smiley after that last sentence about suffering from the same insanity. I obviously wasn't comparing amp to amp when I made my comment that you can get amps as good or better without the bs. I believe you can. Which amp is the best is up to each of us to decide. On the issue of the bs part, it's one thing if a builder says, I'm going to build you the best amp I can, to the specs we discuss, however, because I'm busy and have do all this custom work, it's going to be 12 to 16 months to get the amp. If someone wants to to do that I kind of understand that. What appears to have happened here is quite different than that. As Ken pointed out, it's not for me to make decisions for others but I was expressing my opinion that I don't understand why someone would put up with the bs.

If I came off too harsh to either you or Ken, I apologize. It wasn't my intent. Well, at the time I guess it was. I probably should not post late at night, after having a long political discussion/argument at dinner with a friend and a couple too many drinks. You guys are friends and I shouldn't let this stuff get to me.

My last post suffers from the same problem of posting too late. I was tired and let my mind and arguments wander. I should have kept to what bothered me about Mike's post. I'll try to do it now.

In no way do I condone Mikhail's business practices and I won't defend them other than to say that I know of nobody who has actually lost money or goods. I'll totally stop defending him if it comes to light that some people have.

IMO, Mikhail's problem's are 100% due to Mikhail's actions. I'd like to see the posts about these problems stick to the subject and the facts. However, I see many posts both here and on HF that haven't stuck to the facts. You're trying to assign some blame Earl struck me as one of those posts, as did Kevin's assigning some blame to Ray's fanboys. Neither one makes any sense to me and smacks of having an agenda to me.

Getting rid of fanboys wouldn't have prevented this problem only maybe delayed it. It would prevent futures problems with vendors either. So please, let's stick to the source of the issue and leave the sideshows behind. The source here is bad enough.

I apologize for my poorly composed post of last night. In reading it this morning, even I couldn't figure out what I was trying to say. Mike, I consider us friends too. I'm not upset in my posting and we, if you like, we can talk more about it in private. No matter what, I'll still consider us friends unless you say otherwise, and I certainly don't think that you will.

[Dusty Chalk]

From this quote and another after it, you have a mpx3, ppx3, or variant thereof.

No, what I personally have (I thought it was common knowledge, since it was in my signature forever, and is now in my profile) is one of the early Supra's that was upgraded to almost SDS status. Point-to-point, old style metal case with wings, air-mounted components, etc.

If I came off too harsh to either you or Ken, I apologize. It wasn't my intent. Well, at the time I guess it was. I probably should not post late at night, after having a long political discussion/argument at dinner with a friend and a couple too many drinks. You guys are friends and I shouldn't let this stuff get to me.

You're fine with me -- I won't lie and say I didn't notice you got a little cranky last night, but that's only because you're usually so polite. [sarcasm] And yes, you are the only one ever to have gotten cranky on the internet.[/sarcasm] So I just responded with a "right back at ya" (the crazytalk part of my comment), and forgot about it. No worries. Edited July 21, 2008 by Dusty Chalk

[kevin gilmore]

or variant thereof then certainly covers it, as it is

still the white cathode follower design. On that unit,

better to not open it up and see how the pass transistor

was done, parts may fall out.

[immtbiker]

I know of a total of 9 units. 5 of which are having trouble. Of those, 2 are in

serious trouble. And 3 ES2 units. One of which is having trouble.

Just goes to show how much of a liar mikhail has become. Stax just barely makes

300 pairs of O2's a year and i doubt every one is going to be hooked up to an

ES1.

Make that 6 that are having trouble.

I was at Bozebutton's house yesterday for a mini-meet and within one hour of use, his left channel was fading. Tom checked the bias and it appears that it walked on it's on. After doing another adjustment, the channel faded in lost electron land and it is now in need of repair. Unusable.

[Dusty Chalk]

or variant thereof then certainly covers it, as it is

still the white cathode follower design.

So what you're saying is, if anyone else ever makes a white cathode follower design headphone amp, I should probably try and hear it, since I like the sound so much? How about speaker amps, are there any speaker amps that follow this design? How about preamps? Actually, don't answer that here, I'll put it in a separate thread...here...

What about the huge caps -- that's for instantaneous energy storage, is that inherent in the design, or is that something Mikhail did separate? Because I'm sure that's part of the sound.

[kevin gilmore]

google is your friend however

http://www.cavalliaudio.com/cj/docs/WCFOptimization.pdf

Tube CAD Journal: Tube regulators part 2, July 1999

and page 3 right after it. IMPORTANT read page 3

lots more about wcf at the tubecad site.

And should another manufacturer make such a headphone amplifier, then you

absolutely should listen to it. Why no one does may have to do with some

of the conclusions of john broksie at the tubecad site.

The capacitors thing is stupid to the extreme. If you were driving argon gas lasers

which is what those juice cans are really designed for, then great. But for a headphone

amplifier whose output power is 1 watt or less, those things are TEN THOUSAND

times overkill. Capable of 25 amperes peak each. You show me a headphone that

can take 25 amperes.

As far as speaker amps, this circuit just does not apply.

Now as to preamps, i do recall that someone did a preamp with a

WCF as the output stage.

I'll answer the other questions in the other thread in an hour or 2.

[KenW]

Interesting thread. Guess I've missed a great deal since getting out of the headphone gig. Almost forgot how entertaining things could get. Whew.

[swt61]

I think there are valid points on each side though, and I agree with Reks about Earl. He's very passionate, possibly over eager at times (as am I), maybe not easily swayed, but no shill.

[n_maher]

While I don't wish for Singlepower to fail or never recover from this (mostly for the sake of the customers waiting for goods/repairs) I do think that there is a core issue that's sort of been touched on here but not directly addressed. Mikhail has essentially created a market that I don't believe can exist, mass produced completely customizable amps. Speaking first hand as someone that has built a few one-off projects I can attest to the amount of time and effort that goes into building something even from a well established design. From what I see Mikhail/SP were the only ones to even try this, everyone else has a list of models, maybe a few options but essentially easily identifiable configurations and models.

If Singlepower goes away (again, I hope it's repairable) there will be a huge void left behind in the tube amp market.

[Salt Peanuts]

While I don't wish for Singlepower to fail or never recover from this (mostly for the sake of the customers waiting for goods/repairs) I do think that there is a core issue that's sort of been touched on here but not directly addressed. Mikhail has essentially created a market that I don't believe can exist, mass produced completely customizable amps. Speaking first hand as someone that has built a few one-off projects I can attest to the amount of time and effort that goes into building something even from a well established design. From what I see Mikhail/SP were the only ones to even try this, everyone else has a list of models, maybe a few options but essentially easily identifiable configurations and models.

If Singlepower goes away (again, I hope it's repairable) there will be a huge void left behind in the tube amp market.

Coming soon - fully customizable Menace from Vince Vaughn Audio! Sorry, couldn't resist.

On a more serious note, I can't see anyone else trying to emulate that (fully customizable amps) seeing as it is at least part of the reason SP is in the mess it is in right now.

Now, if my memory serves me right (which is a bit suspect at this point), I believe Mikhail told Tyll couple of years ago (soon after HeadRoom went over the makeover) that HeadRoom is offering too many models and options for its own good. This was at the first Boston/NE meet I helped set up.

[guzziguy]

While I don't wish for Singlepower to fail or never recover from this (mostly for the sake of the customers waiting for goods/repairs) I do think that there is a core issue that's sort of been touched on here but not directly addressed. Mikhail has essentially created a market that I don't believe can exist, mass produced completely customizable amps. Speaking first hand as someone that has built a few one-off projects I can attest to the amount of time and effort that goes into building something even from a well established design. From what I see Mikhail/SP were the only ones to even try this, everyone else has a list of models, maybe a few options but essentially easily identifiable configurations and models.

If Singlepower goes away (again, I hope it's repairable) there will be a huge void left behind in the tube amp market.

It appears that Mikhail has given up that business model in this post on HF. Let's see if he can actually implement this and stick with it. He has a lot of lost credibility to rebuild. I hope he can do it.

Also, the problem with Tom's (bozebutton) was a bad tube. Read about it here in the same thread. Things like this are why I'd like to stay focused on the facts here. Somebody reports this and the piling on starts. Later, Tom says it's the tube and nobody acknowledges it.

[n_maher]

I think Tom's problem was actually a bad tube adapter, which sounds odd to me.

...the distortion problem was still there so after some investigation the problem turned out to be one of the 5687 tube adaptersr. I popped in a set of VT231s,problem solved in the driver position.

I'll leave the technical explanation to someone far better suited but based on my limited understanding it sounds like both Tom's ES1 and the other gent's ES2 might be suffering from issues with trying to make that amp work with tubes that it was not originally design for, which causes biasing problems.

[CD44hi]

Well, actually that the distortion problem was a bad tube adapter is not that odd. I had a bad 5687 tube adapter once that yielded distortion as well.

[guzziguy]

Sorry Nate, you are correct. My memory failed me again. I've heard of a 2c51 adapter failing. Mikhail is replacing it for free. Whether there's a design/manufacturing issue with SP adapters, I don't know.

[blubliss]

I'll leave the technical explanation to someone far better suited but based on my limited understanding it sounds like both Tom's ES1 and the other gent's ES2 might be suffering from issues with trying to make that amp work with tubes that it was not originally design for, which causes biasing problems.

At least in my case (the other gent) the only tubes I have tried are ones that Mikhail approved and told me would work.

As to the comment in the thread at HF that Mikhail has pledged to change his ways, all I can say is I will believe it when i see it. He has said this same thing to me on the phone at least 3-4 times when I told him he can't continue to run his business in this fashion. He is a very convincing talker, but actions speak louder than words.

I really hope he means it this time. I still have no reply to two emails i sent on Fr. & Sat. about resolving our outstanding issues.

[CD44hi]

As to the comment in the thread at HF that Mikhail has pledged to change his ways, all I can say is I will believe it when i see it. He has said this same thing to me on the phone at least 3-4 times when I told him he can't continue to run his business in this fashion. He is a very convincing talker, but actions speak louder than words.

I really hope he means it this time. I still have no reply to two emails i sent on Fr. & Sat. about resolving our outstanding issues.

I have had the same talks with Mikhail, and fully agree with you. Only his actions will reflect his change on direction. It serves no purpose for him to tell us that he is really going to change this time (again), he needs to really do it. It will be known when he does (or if not, regretfully as well).

[archosman]

You know... until it comes directly from his mouth I find it a little hard to swallow that he's changed his ways. I'm not trying to belittle anyone who has personally talked to him, but I would want to hear from the source... not second-hand.

[immtbiker]

Also, the problem with Tom's (bozebutton) was a bad tube. Things like this are why I'd like to stay focused on the facts here. Somebody reports this and the piling on starts. Later, Tom says it's the tube and nobody acknowledges it.

Ken, perhaps this due to the fact that a good amount of ES-1's that have been brought to customers, after unbearable amounts of waiting times have not worked. I understand that you are talking about mob-mentality, but with a history of poor performing machines, it doesn't sit well when another one doesn't work. How many Zana's or WA5's or B-52's have we heard about this common occurence

In Chicago, Morphsci's didn't work upon "power-on".

In San Francisco, Neil could not use his upon power-on, after an hour long setup and a lot of frustration.

Tom's didn't work last year or the year before (bad buzzing) at the November meet and there are other instances, and they were all blamed on "bad tubes".

Is there another manufacturer large or small that has had the same track record.

I remember a funny NYC meet on-the-fly post where (I believe it was Juan CD44hi) was posting from the car while driving from a Hirsch's DC meet to a NYC meet, posting about a Radio Shack pit stop and 40 minutes of gas powered emergency soldering in the car on the way to the meet.

Staying focused on the facts, a bunch of people were at a meet, and another ES-1 didn't work, whatever the reason might be.

[guzziguy]

At least in my case (the other gent) the only tubes I have tried are ones that Mikhail approved and told me would work.

As to the comment in the thread at HF that Mikhail has pledged to change his ways, all I can say is I will believe it when i see it. He has said this same thing to me on the phone at least 3-4 times when I told him he can't continue to run his business in this fashion. He is a very convincing talker, but actions speak louder than words.

I really hope he means it this time. I still have no reply to two emails i sent on Fr. & Sat. about resolving our outstanding issues.

I have had the same talks with Mikhail, and fully agree with you. Only his actions will reflect his change on direction. It serves no purpose for him to tell us that he is really going to change this time (again), he needs to really do it. It will be known when he does (or if not, regretfully as well).

You know... until it comes directly from his mouth I find it a little hard to swallow that he's changed his ways. I'm not trying to belittle anyone who has personally talked to him, but I would want to hear from the source... not second-hand.

I agree with all of these statements. I believe that Mikhail is being sincere when he says he's changing the way he does business. He's obviously heard that he has to from many people. The question is can he and will he actually do it. He needs to say some words now and show a lot of action for a long time.

[morphsci]

... In Chicago, Morphsci's didn't work upon "power-on".

The problem there was a bad PS Audio P500 (since fixed by PS Audio). Once I got it home and plugged it into an ultimate outlet it worked fine.

Nate's observation about certain tubes, or more to the point in my case, certain tube combinations, causing biasing problems, i.e. bias drift that can cause seriously premature tube senesence is spot on. This is definitely a point of concern for me.

Other than that my ES-1 has been working fine. But realistically it has had relatively light duty for the last six months and I do have concerns as to its long term reliability.

[immtbiker]

The problem there was a bad PS Audio P500 (since fixed by PS Audio). Once I got it home and plugged it into an ultimate outlet it worked fine.

Sorry, you did tell me that the next time we spoke. I felt so bad for you, after seeing you assemble an entire Salamander (or the like) 5 shelf home entertainment center, and then not being able to use your beautiful system.

But...wasn't eveything else powered up that was plugged into the P500?

[Pars]

I found this post in the HF thread to be a bit more unsettling:

This is pretty much what happened to mine with the old biasing system. I then sent it to SP to "upgrade" to the new biasing system and to correct the cross wired HE90 jack. About six or seven months later I got the amp back and it worked for while but two months ago serious bias drift reared its head again on all channels. In the end it got bad enough to render the amp unusable. Fried a few 3D21As, EL34s and a pair of 5687s too.

I was going to sell the amp but had to can that plan when the problems started; I will most likely give the amp to a local DIYer to gut for parts. I am permanently done with the so called high end from SP.

That seems to be alot to gut for parts...

The one in Chicago may have been Absorbine's Zana that wouldn't fire up (Feb. meet)?

[guzziguy]

I found this post in the HF thread to be a bit more unsettling:

That seems to be alot to gut for parts...

The one in Chicago may have been Absorbine's Zana that wouldn't fire up (Feb. meet)?

I agree. This is very unsettling. He should ask Mikhail to buy it back. I think he would, especially considering the current circumstances. But, maybe Afrikane has already tried that.

[CD44hi]

I remember a funny NYC meet on-the-fly post where (I believe it was Juan CD44hi) was posting from the car while driving from a Hirsch's DC meet to a NYC meet, posting about a Radio Shack pit stop and 40 minutes of gas powered emergency soldering in the car on the way to the meet.

.

A sharp memory! Indeed I posted that, BUT it was a joke. This didn't happen: we were pulling Tom's leg as he was waiting for the ES1. You can ask krazy StevieO, he was driving the car.