Correspondence with Ray Samuels - Page 2  

To be blunt, Ray comes across much better than you do in your e-mail exchange, especially in your last e-mail when you call him evasive.  At worst, he comes across as terse and appears not to want to spend the time to compare and contrast filter caps and internals.  This is probably because you specify elsewhere the headphones you plan to use.  If he compared and contrasted parts and design features between amps and you ended up buying an amp that sounds lousy with your HD600s, would you consider Ray's customer service to be excellent?  I doubt it...

By the way, Craig Uthus and Jack Wu will not provide prospective customers with lengthy replies to questions such as yours either...they tend to be terse, mostly because they are busy, don't want to waste time on tire-kickers, and know that this forum provides a wealth of information about their products.  The only person who ever seemed willing to chew the fat on the phone in my experience was Mikhail Rotenberg at Singlepower, usually in order to upsell prospective customers to more expensive amps and to hawk his NOS tube collection.  And we all know how Singlepower turned out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by minimus 
  And we all know how Singlepower turned out.

Bingo. Whatever you think of Ray, his products or the asking price for same, RSA have remained in business while others have not. I think his first duty is to paying customers waiting patiently for their amps to arrive.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter 

Uncle Erik, slightly off-topic, but I wondered if you are still enjoying the Zana Deux after (if memory serves) roughly 12 months of ownership ? Many here seem to churn through amps, particularly tube amps and the various tube/op-amp combos, but I seem to recall that you were very happy to be off the merry-go-round  

12 months?  Actually, it's going to be three years in January.  Yes, I'm still as happy with it as the day I bought it.  No problems whatsoever.  I'm on my second 6SL7, but still using the same 6C33C and rectifier tubes that it came with.  Craig estimated five years of use from the 6C33Cs and I still haven't seen anyone report that they finished one yet.  Great amp and I'm keeping it.  Same goes for the Moth Si2A3.

And I'm not quite off the merry-go-round.    Part of the reason I moved to Arizona was for access to a workshop my Dad and I are putting together.  It's a second garage behind a house we bought in June.  We tore down the house to the studs inside and have the HVAC, electrical and plumbing redone.  Insulation goes in soon, then we'll hang the drywall and do the finish work.  Once that's done, we'll build the shop.  As with everything, it's taking longer than expected.  Anyhow, after that, I will be putting several more amps together.  I've been gathering parts for a few years but never had the time or workspace.  But now I do. 

(Apologies for any thread derailment.)

that is the standard in small business for audio, I've had similar problems with Ray, Craig, JH audio ... they all tend to be evasive, hard to get a hold of. you can always get one of their products used, if you don't want to reward bad business communication. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik 

Quote:

12 months?  Actually, it's going to be three years in January.  Yes, I'm still as happy with it as the day I bought it.  No problems whatsoever.  I'm on my second 6SL7, but still using the same 6C33C and rectifier tubes that it came with.  Craig estimated five years of use from the 6C33Cs and I still haven't seen anyone report that they finished one yet.  Great amp and I'm keeping it.  Same goes for the Moth Si2A3.

 

And I'm not quite off the merry-go-round.    Part of the reason I moved to Arizona was for access to a workshop my Dad and I are putting together.  It's a second garage behind a house we bought in June.  We tore down the house to the studs inside and have the HVAC, electrical and plumbing redone.  Insulation goes in soon, then we'll hang the drywall and do the finish work.  Once that's done, we'll build the shop.  As with everything, it's taking longer than expected.  Anyhow, after that, I will be putting several more amps together.  I've been gathering parts for a few years but never had the time or workspace.  But now I do. 

 

(Apologies for any thread derailment.)

Off topic but I seldom envy anyone. Man I wish I had a workshop again and I wish I could really work on gear but I choose to go to islands and so on. :^)  I do miss the desert at times. Lived in Tucson for about 11 years. I got used to the heat after 5 years and from there it was all gravy. lol

OP: Anyway, I am sure on the original question all will be sorted out. I have spoken with Jack of Woo Audio and even helped on the PDPS that they use but the family is busy building just as Ray is and a number of other smaller businesses. It is hard to please everyone. Getting the amps or dacs or whatever out the door and at the same time answer all correspondence can be a daunting task. If someone is shorter with me on emails or phone calls but gets the item out the door, I am happier than not. Ray gets his stuff out super fast and I am sure people truly welcome that. 
 

As some have already said, just call him. I talked to both Ray and his wife a couple of years ago, and they're both very nice people and very accomodating of HF'ers. I bought both the original SR-71 and Hornet directly from RSA after a couple of phone calls with RSA.

Most boutique amp makers are one-man or family operated shops, and email isn't their best form of communication (based on my experience and others as yourself). Too many tire kickers, I suppose. Good or bad, just roll with it and be understanding of the amp makers that have been at the heart and center of this hobby for a long time.

But if you must have that customer experience, Headroom, which has a dedicated sales team, is a much more organized and consumer friendly company, and the CEO is a great personable guy. Headroom makes great gear, but outside of the Bithead, it doesn't have a good super portable amp solution.

Yeah man don't get your panties in a knot. I never got a reply from Audio-GD on my question regarding some of his DACs either. Mostly it's just one guy in a workshop. They don't have a customer service centre. 

But funny!

I also recommend calling Ray.  I've had wonderful conversations with Ray - but he does not seem a huge fan of email/PM.  Cordial, but not verbose.  I can sympathize.

Ray is a friend to many at Head-Fi. he is a sponsor, contributor and attend many meets. Posting personal communication from him because it doesn't meet your standards or answer all your questions will not win you support or friends. Phone him, I'm certain you'll get all the answers you want.