kevin gilmore
Señor Stax. Señor MAXX.
Can Jam '10 Organizer
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2001
- Posts
- 3,015
- Likes
- 981
quote
A properly built KGSS at $1500 is an audiophile bargain.
But it appears that some builders may have "bit off more than they can chew".
antness has gone thru a couple of different board revisions on the
kgss. The current one is about as perfect as it can get. Same thing
with the power supply. Small nuances in the layout can make a very
large sonic difference. Sizes and lengths of traces. One of the reasons
my layouts take so much time.
I can assure you that many famous companies out there have revised
their products over time changing circuit boards and component values.
Audio Research is absolutely famous for this. One of their preamps has
gone thru 7 revisions. Same thing with some of the levinson products,
their preamp has gone thru at least 3. Krell is not imune either, changing
the dac board on their 2 top cdplayers a couple of times.
speaking of audio research, on another forum pictures of a brand
new amplifier of theirs that toasted itself were posted. Circuitboards
still hand layed out. No solder Mask. No component identification.
Cathode resistors soldered directly to the circuit board without any
kind of ceramic lifters. This kind of amateur build quality from a company
more than 30 years old selling very expensive stuff.
quote
I'm afraid that in order to fullfill back orders that some "cutting of corners"
will take place and customers might not get exactly what they thought they are getting.
(ex. cheaper/inferior parts substitution)
The parts are the parts. No one is using cheaper/inferior parts that i know
of. The parts cost on the amp is far less than the labor. ZZZ did not
spend the time to think out the ramifications of some of the design changes
he made. Nor did he calculate the thermal loads resulting from some of
those changes.
quote
I shudder to think what 20 hours of Dr. Gilmore’s labor is worth.
Internally to northwestern university my labor rates are $75 an hour.
(goverment supported funny money)
Some consider this very expensive, some consider it a bargain.
Depends on how you look at it. I stopped doing outside consulting
about 4 years ago. At the time my rates were $150 per hour and
many considered that cheap.
A properly built KGSS at $1500 is an audiophile bargain.
But it appears that some builders may have "bit off more than they can chew".
antness has gone thru a couple of different board revisions on the
kgss. The current one is about as perfect as it can get. Same thing
with the power supply. Small nuances in the layout can make a very
large sonic difference. Sizes and lengths of traces. One of the reasons
my layouts take so much time.
I can assure you that many famous companies out there have revised
their products over time changing circuit boards and component values.
Audio Research is absolutely famous for this. One of their preamps has
gone thru 7 revisions. Same thing with some of the levinson products,
their preamp has gone thru at least 3. Krell is not imune either, changing
the dac board on their 2 top cdplayers a couple of times.
speaking of audio research, on another forum pictures of a brand
new amplifier of theirs that toasted itself were posted. Circuitboards
still hand layed out. No solder Mask. No component identification.
Cathode resistors soldered directly to the circuit board without any
kind of ceramic lifters. This kind of amateur build quality from a company
more than 30 years old selling very expensive stuff.
quote
I'm afraid that in order to fullfill back orders that some "cutting of corners"
will take place and customers might not get exactly what they thought they are getting.
(ex. cheaper/inferior parts substitution)
The parts are the parts. No one is using cheaper/inferior parts that i know
of. The parts cost on the amp is far less than the labor. ZZZ did not
spend the time to think out the ramifications of some of the design changes
he made. Nor did he calculate the thermal loads resulting from some of
those changes.
quote
I shudder to think what 20 hours of Dr. Gilmore’s labor is worth.
Internally to northwestern university my labor rates are $75 an hour.
(goverment supported funny money)
Some consider this very expensive, some consider it a bargain.
Depends on how you look at it. I stopped doing outside consulting
about 4 years ago. At the time my rates were $150 per hour and
many considered that cheap.
