[Frihed89]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nor_spoon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice amp, but one thing I find a tad bit weird in this picture. Whats with the cookie box on the wall?

The designer loves Danish butter cookies and the prototype of the SBH was built using such a tin as its case!

It's a preamp, called Pinkie, that runs off the charge in these capacitors. The capacitors can be charged by a battery, cycle, or windmill and store enough juice to run for several days or longer depending on the model you get.

Check out Blue Circle Audio.

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by olblueyez /img/forum/go_quote.gif The story about the amp in his wife's car is a perfect example. Either he did not care enough to bring it (and we all know if he had he would have made a point of showing it to everyone ("Best amp in the World") or couldn't be bothered to show it to anyone?

The ES1 is the amp he claimed to be the best in the world, not the Supra he left in the car. Otherwise how would I have heard it? BOTH amps belong to Elephas, IIRC.

I don't own any of Mikhail's work, in part because the first thing he offered to sell me was his Squarewave prototype last year, which IMHO was not a very good amp (though very clean-looking) and I went months without giving much thought to his other amps. I have no dog in this fight, save the fair representation of someone who contributes valuably to this industry and this community.

He went to considerable trouble and expense to provide the front range with a regional meet, and I think that speaks to his character more than a set of photos. We ceased talking about his amps when people who have never used one started talking about their quality, so I'm done here. This forum does not exist to belibel community members.

 

[AudioDwebe]

I don't get it.

Who cares what the inside of an amp looks like!?!? As long as it doesn't pose some sort of a health risk, it seems rather irrelevant to me. It's not as if you (or anyone for that matter) is going to be using the amp without its casing, right?

Now, granted, I can understand folks wanting clean and organized innards, as it'll probably provide comfort knowing all the money forked out delivered a well-built, well thought out product.

But really, it's the sound quality that truly matters, right? Isn't that why a lot of us close our eyes to get lost in the music?

If the amp delivers, it delivers. No?

 

[Pars]

Read post 104 among others to see why you might want to care about more than the sound...

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pars /img/forum/go_quote.gif Read post 104 among others to see why you might want to care about more than the sound...

I think most of the concerns in post 104 have been addressed. The reliability issue remains an unknown, so we'll have to wait and see on that. There is certainly the potential for electrical failure in any design that has wires running very near heat sources or sharp areas, since stripping a wire of its insulation could cause it to short.

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif The reliability issue remains an unknown, so we'll have to wait and see on that.

your post is somewhat vague:
What duration of time constitutes the life-span of a reliable design?

 

[purk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drag0n /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like simple designs so if it breaks i can fix it myself. If something happens to Mikail, who would fix it? Which is why i worry about amps that use specially made batteries, and hard to get parts. If it breaks, youre screwed. I have an old carver reciever id like to try to get repaired. My fear is that they wont have the IC chips to fix it. I hope the parts in these expensive amps are easy to replace.

My SDS-SE had recently stopped working. I brought it over to a local tech, who is an expert in tube circuit. Took him under an hour to repair my SDS-SE (bad PSU diode). $45 w/o any shipment hassle!!

Purk

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod /img/forum/go_quote.gif your post is somewhat vague: What duration of time constitutes the life-span of a reliable design?

Sorry about that. What I mean is, we'll have to wait until Elephas receives his amp to know if it was damaged in shipping, and we should wait for better pictures to determine if wires are in fact near a heat source/ sharp object.

An unreliable design should, in theory, be evident by simply looking at it. As of right now, none of us knows what the final product actually looks like, though. A jumble of wires is not, by itself, evidence of a faulty or unreliable design in a handmade p2p amp.

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif An unreliable design should, in theory, be evident by simply looking at it. As of right now, none of us knows what the final product actually looks like, though. A jumble of wires is not, by itself, evidence of a faulty or unreliable design in a handmade p2p amp.

AAH, the delicate backpedal.

In one past you question the reliability of the product, and then take the step back to say that it may be reliable may be not...

Every single toasterbox singlepower amp is wired EXACTLY like that, many "black-box" singlepower amps are as well.

The actual FAILURE rate of any of them is exceptionally low.

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod /img/forum/go_quote.gif In one post you question the reliability of the product, and then take the step back to say that it may be reliable may be not...

If I insinuated that the amp was unreliable, it was unintentional. When I said it remained to be seen, I meant it. His products are under constant revision, and there's no guarantee that the amp we see in those photos is what will arrive at Elephas' door. Moreover, those photos can't be used to diagnose problems anyway.

As far as failure rate goes, I haven't looked into it. I'm willing to believe you, but there are a fair handful of users here with amps in the shop.

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif As far as failure rate goes, I haven't looked into it. I'm willing to believe you, but there are a fair handful of users here with amps in the shop.

the falure rate is very low. period. A P2P amp is actually easier to fix in the event it does break anyways. A good tech can repair most faults with the amp in this thread before he could remove the PCB from a MPX3 case.

the amps in his shop are there for upgrades or initial building.

 

[tagosaku]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod /img/forum/go_quote.gif The actual FAILURE rate of any of them is exceptionally low.

Just curious, do you have any data regarding this? What is a normal failure rate and to which model/brand does it apply?

 

[tagosaku]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frihed89 /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is a shark fest that the moderators should have shut down long since. However, since they are already active feeders, what do you expect? I don't remember a moderator stepping in when X-in was holding his customers' money for 6-12 months before delivering. Why is Mikhail so special?

I think you are confusing threads. This is about SP's build quality not product delivery.

Also, there is a Xin thread by mods;
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f105/b...ng-amp-344911/

 

[Elephas]

I received the photos from Mikhail in June 2008 when I asked him to take photos of my two amps, an ES-1 and Supra-XLR, that were in his possession for upgrades since Aug. and Sept. 2007. I wanted the photos as "proof" that the amps exist, had the upgrades that were promised, and were complete and ready to ship.

I posted this thread because I was concerned about the reliability and build quality of Single Power amps.

At another thread about SP business practices (see link below), I've posted about my frustrations with SP. My main issue with Mikhail was that he told me both amps were ready to ship when I wanted to sell the amps in Feb. 2008. So I sent the money, and I still haven't received the amps. I believe he lied to me in order to prevent me from selling the amps and to gain the business of upgrading the amps from me.

At this point, I consider the question about SP build quality and reliability inconclusive. I appreciate the comments of those who have first-hand knowledge about building amps. I don't think comments about SP business practices in this thread is relevant. Those are discussed in this thread:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/whe...ikhail-333677/

I'm expecting to receive the ES-1 by the end to this month. The Supra-XLR has an issue with the front faceplate that is still unresolved.

 

[vcoheda]

^^ hopefully when you do receive your amps, the overall sound and build quality will live up to your expectations and may, to some degree, mitigate the SinglePower experience.