johnwmclean Posted March 22, 2012 Report Posted March 22, 2012 Yeah... I don't how long I can go cold turkey. Gotta get the iron working faster... if the KGSSHV looks like it's going pair shaped - the SRM1/MK2 may well be worth considering, I don't really know much at all about the Stax line up of amps - thanks for the recommendation.
The Monkey Posted March 22, 2012 Report Posted March 22, 2012 Good luck. Let us know how they sound out of the KGSSHV. The O2 mk1 remains, by a wide margin, the best audio gear purchase I have made. Edit: forgot to mention that the SRM1/Mk2 won't be great but will be adequate as an inexpensive interim solution. Should be able to unload it relatively easily when done, too
johnwmclean Posted March 22, 2012 Report Posted March 22, 2012 Sound advice, thankyou. I'll post back some impressions for sure.
HeadphoneAddict Posted March 23, 2012 Report Posted March 23, 2012 UPS is wonderfully nice to be hiring those poor gorillas to do their deliveries, but unfortunately they can't read the "VERY FRAGILE" writing on all sides of the boxes of a highly modified KGBH. They snapped off the shaft for the volume knob - the machined aluminum knob probably weighs 1/2 lb but amp was packed well, so it had to be dropped for the momentum to rip it off. This knob dinged the face plate and heat sinks. And they dropped the PSU hard enough to snap off one of the bolts holding down the larger of two transformers, which is now wobbly (this was even in a separate box). Insides of PSU look sound, but didn't open up the amp. Both boxes have some mild corner damage, so they weren't handled with care as requested. Waiting to see what UPS says about the claim. The PSU and volume can be fixed fairly easily, but the dings will be there forever.
The Monkey Posted March 23, 2012 Report Posted March 23, 2012 It was insured, right? If so, stay on UPS and don't take No for an answer.
HeadphoneAddict Posted March 23, 2012 Report Posted March 23, 2012 It was insured, right? If so, stay on UPS and don't take No for an answer. The two boxes were insured for $1000 each, and the Mullard EL34 tube box for $500. The tubes arrived in one piece, and they don't rattle. I can take apart the PSU case to get to and replace the broken screw myself. Marc has to replace the rotary encoder for the volume solenoid control which is not too expensive, except he's very busy as hell and wants the amp there by next Thursday to fix it between traveling. But UPS might not even send an inspector to look at it for 5 days (no expedited service). I have a mail box at The UPS Store, and Lisa there is going to make sure everything is given full attention, and act like it's her own amp for me (might earn a bottle of wine). She figures since the boxes were shipped to her store that she is allowed to be my representative, not theirs. If I want the cosmetic scuffs taken care of then Marc may have to order a new heat sink and face plate, and spend many hours replacing them (all those devices attached to the heat sink would be a pain). But there is no time for that now, at least not until after September. I don't know if UPS will agree to fix that later when Marc has time, but I just want to get it up and running with the new encoder sooner than later. Fortunately one scuff will be hidden by the volume knob, and the heat sink nick is not horrible. WTF!? That was my first thought. Should have packed it in a Samsonite suitcase. It'll Match you iPad. too soon? Well, we don't have any dented iPads anymore. One was replaced for a bad home button, and the other for a bad SIM card slot. iPad 3 is still virgin, for now.
n_maher Posted March 23, 2012 Report Posted March 23, 2012 Bummer Larry, but chicks dig scars, right?
swt61 Posted March 23, 2012 Report Posted March 23, 2012 Well that sucks ass! I hope Marc doesn't get screwed here!
skullguise Posted March 23, 2012 Report Posted March 23, 2012 Yes, make sure that UPS doesn't try to automatically claim "insufficient packing." I once bought a Pathos Reference Integrated @ > $3k, and FedEx (the newly bought ground division) did some nasty shit to it, even though it was well-packed in a wooden crate. They initially tried to claim insufficient packing, but I raised holy hell and they ended up brining an outside party to it. Took a while (month plus), but I got the $. Found another Pathos Reference, and UPS shipped it. Still some minor damage, the LED lamp got bumped and broke off. But it all worked perfectly function-wise, so i didn't chase that one down. In any case, good luck, and don't take no for an answer!
morphsci Posted March 23, 2012 Report Posted March 23, 2012 Yep UPS is the devil. Just shipped off two crates to Nate and they managed to sheer off one of the feet on the lighter of the two pieces.
The Monkey Posted March 23, 2012 Report Posted March 23, 2012 Larry, figure out the exact amount of the damage and make the claim for that amount of money. Don't get into who fixes what when; that's irrelevant. You need UPS to cut you a check for the damage incurred. That's why you buy insurance. They will give you the runaround all day long because that's what they do--most people give up or just take a small percentage of what's owed. Keep your communications with them short and to the point. The more you say, the more they will find excuses to blame someone else or not pay out.
TMoney Posted March 23, 2012 Report Posted March 23, 2012 (edited) ...a highly modified KGBH. Whose BH did you end up with? Edit: Never mind. Edited March 23, 2012 by TMoney
HeadphoneAddict Posted March 23, 2012 Report Posted March 23, 2012 Well that sucks ass! I hope Marc doesn't get screwed here! Marc will be fine.
swt61 Posted March 23, 2012 Report Posted March 23, 2012 (edited) Marc will be fine. Larry, I didn't mean to imply by you, and I'm sorry if it sounded that way. I was thinking that this was the amp Marc just sent to you for evaluation, but on second thought I think you've had this one a while? I just know first hand how fucked up dealing with UPS is. Whoever the owner of the amp is I wish him better luck than I've had. Edited March 23, 2012 by swt61
HeadphoneAddict Posted March 24, 2012 Report Posted March 24, 2012 Larry, I didn't mean to imply by you, and I'm sorry if it sounded that way. I was thinking that this was the amp Marc just sent to you for evaluation, but on second thought I think you've had this one a while? I just know first hand how fucked up dealing with UPS is. Whoever the owner of the amp is I wish him better luck than I've had. Yes,mthis is the one Marc just sent me to evaluate prior to purchase. I've got a photo inspection with UPS in progress, and we should have a determination next week on compensation. I'll upload full pics later. Worst case, if not compensated I'll have Marc fix the volume pot and face plate scratches, and maybe live with the dinged heat sink which will cost a lot more to fix. I'm going to take off the side of the PSU case and fix the snapped bolt myself, since I don't think it's safe to ship this way (transformer too heavy to ship with only 3 bolts holding it down). I'm not highly skilled, but I've fixed a Sigma 11 PSU that Nate built when the transformer came loose during shipping (Peter shipped it packed well). Per Marc, "Basically, it's a higher voltage rail Blue Hawaii with Mullard XF2 tubes. It uses custom Electra Print transformers and a current source designed by me. It uses EL34 output tubes, like the original Blue Hawaii. It's made (literally!) to heat up very fast (5 min), because I wanted to not have 15 minutes (or more) to wait before I started to listen..[snip]..I've kept it on for 6 hours, but in general I wouldn't advise it. There are temperature sensors installed to actually control and monitor the heat, as well as a controlled "startup" sequence. The build features teflon jacks, and a relay controlled stepped attenuator and a single pair of XLR inputs. All of the cases are custom milled and I used a very high quality umbilical cable." Pix are on my iPhone, I'm posting on iPad while MacBook gets cloned. So soon...
swt61 Posted March 24, 2012 Report Posted March 24, 2012 (edited) I've seen, touched and heard the amp Larry, and it sounds wonderful. So sad to see UPS screw up yet another piece of gear. I hope you get it back as close to the way it looked as is possible. The way he designed this amp to come to operating temp so quickly almost had me re-considering tubes, as that was my main quibble previously. Best of luck and keep us up to speed on this. I'd love to hear this amp driving an 009 at some point. Edited March 24, 2012 by swt61
Beefy Posted March 24, 2012 Report Posted March 24, 2012 What a BEAST! I wouldn't worry about the heatsink dings, but the loss of the volume knob is pretty harsh......
HeadphoneAddict Posted March 25, 2012 Report Posted March 25, 2012 What a BEAST! I wouldn't worry about the heatsink dings, but the loss of the volume knob is pretty harsh...... Fortunately it's a rotary encoder for a solenoid controlled stepped attenuator, so it won't be hard to fix. The knob feels like it weighs like half a pound, so the momentum from a drop could cause it snap off the encoder shaft. Don't take this the wrong way the heavy knob feels good rotating on the shaft, or what's left of the shaft. It's like on ball-bearings.
livewire Posted March 25, 2012 Report Posted March 25, 2012 Beautiful piece of audio art, different from the rest. Fix that encoder, shove some tubes in it and give it a listen!
n_maher Posted March 25, 2012 Report Posted March 25, 2012 Beautiful piece of audio art, different from the rest. Fix that encoder, shove some tubes in it and give it a listen! This.
HeadphoneAddict Posted March 26, 2012 Report Posted March 26, 2012 UPS approved the claim, in the sense of an, "Okay, sorry we broke it, now send us these forms and an estimate for repairs and see if we actually pay you". Regardless, I'm repacking the amp in bubble wrap and peanuts and double boxing it for the return trip for repair. I'm hoping to get it back to Marc by Thursday as requested. I was tempted to hook it up and turn it on, and stick something into the volume knob hole to operate the encoder and listen, but I really want Marc to confirm that nothing inside the amp is loose as well. The heavy transformer in the PSU with a broken mounting bolt makes it unsafe to ship, since it could snap another mounting bolt (or all of them) if jolted. So I'll have to fix that on my end. But, with 3 bolts holding it down I could use it as it stands as long as I don't plan to ship it any where (or drop kick it). If Marc had created a DIY company called "Levitate Electronics" then this would have never happened.
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