[Dev Avidon]

After reading all the high praise I ordered a Matrix M-Stage from David Gao at Hllyaudio and got this reply:
 
"Can you wait for two weeks, the new version will be available soon. The sound will be better."
 
Needless to say this was the first I had heard of a new version, seeing as this is a clone to begin with.  Anyone else heard anything in this regard?  And should I be nervous?  I've had some bad experiences in the past buying the "newer, better" version of a product I had researched...

 

[jonathanb715]

Bait and switch?  Looking at the Hlly website and his eBay store is interesting - they have those Little Dot amps, but then Hlly-branded amps that look identical.  In the case of the Matrix, that would make it a clone of a clone (I'm speculating, of course, since as of now they only have the "real" M-Stage on their website).  Considering that there is at least one other eBay seller (coolfungadget) with the M-Stage in stock, and no word about an update from anyone other than this seller, I wouldn't put up with the "just wait 2 weeks and we'll have something even better" stuff for long.  FWIW, I bought my M-stage from coolfungadget and the transaction was easy and shipping was very quick - I've waited far longer to get stuff from US vendors.
 
BTW, buried in the "simple, cheap and good" M-Stage thread are a couple of posts from someone who had the exact same experience with Hllyaudio.  I don't recall the outcome, though.
 
JB

 

[Frank I]

buy from coolfungadget and you will have it in six days. Hlly is a rip off cloner who will make you wait months

 

[neopac]

 
Quote:

After reading all the high praise I ordered a Matrix M-Stage from David Gao at Hllyaudio and got this reply:
 
"Can you wait for two weeks, the new version will be available soon. The sound will be better."

he´s saying two weeks since "months" ... this guy is without a doubt to shady for my taste ... ordered at coolfungadget and had my amp 8 days later.
 
 
Quote:

Needless to say this was the first I had heard of a new version

you could say "his version" instead of "new version" ... makes more sense
 
neopac

 

[Dev Avidon]

Sigh...ain't that just a big old cherry on top of a miserable day

....  Ok, told the dude to refund me and worst case I'll refer it to paypal.  The last thing I need is a bait and switch and I need this bad boy sooner rather than later to start mixing.  Leave it to head-fi though to help me confirm a sneaking suspicion.  Thanks you guys!

 

[hedmaster]

Dev Avidon, how did it go w/ hlly audio?  Did they refund your money promptly, any excuses if not?
 
Hope it turned out well for you, as it could have been much worse.  Smart man to ask the right question when you gut instinct told you to!
 
Take care, and let us know if you ended up buying one of these amps, and your impressions, please.
 
I am also in the market for one of these bad boys!
 
Take care,
Matt

 

[mrarroyo]

Hlly is in the process of upgrading some of their units, I know this because there is another thread in the source sub-forum where David mentions that the boards are finished but they are waiting on the cases. I may be wrong but I believe that is what he may be referring to, lets remember english is not his first language (neither mine for that matter).

 

[komebudu]

Perhaps a clone of  BCL-USB...? Just MHO.

 

[Dev Avidon]

I did get a refund, so that at least turned out well.  David seemed pretty understanding about it.  Don't want to slander the man or anything as I don't know him, but it did seem somewhat fishy. 
 
I got the unit just recently; I'm in the process of moving at the moment, but initial impressions are very positive, especially at its price point.  I will in the next few weeks try to put together a detailed test with a variety of different phones, most notably SR325is, HD-650s, SRH840s and FA-003s.
 
Quote:

Dev Avidon, how did it go w/ hlly audio?  Did they refund your money promptly, any excuses if not?
 
Hope it turned out well for you, as it could have been much worse.  Smart man to ask the right question when you gut instinct told you to!
 
Take care, and let us know if you ended up buying one of these amps, and your impressions, please.
 
I am also in the market for one of these bad boys!
 
Take care,
Matt

 

[Frank I]

Good to hear you got the money back. I think you will be happy and am anxious to see how it does with the T1, I also will put the Little Dot MK11 back into service to see if the Tesla like the tubes better. Coolfungadget said it would drive the T1 with no problem. Will report when I get a fix on them.

 

[Ypoknons]

IIRC the mstage is a clone but not an exact one, some of the parts are different even if the design is basically the same. So there's room for tweaking and improvement, even on this version the opamps stocked and can be played with 

 

[TK33]

Sorry if I go off topic a bit but I've noticed that HLLY gets quite a bad rap around here.  I've been waiting to purchase the M-Stage until I'm back home (next Friday) but have somehow managed to add all the listings for this amp to my ebay account durng my free time. 
 
I need to ask - has anyone actually had a good experience with this seller (more specifically with respect to this amp, previous or current version)?  On one hand, he was right about the new version being released but on the other, I'm still skeptical.  I also just noticed that HLLY also has two different ebay accounts, which does seem odd to me.  Item location for the same amp is different for each seller but both state that they are HLLY.  In the end, the $10 I would save s probably not worth the risk but my curiosity has gotten the best of me.

 

[livewire]

Kind of late to reply to your question, I recently received my M-Stage V2 from HLLY.
The transaction was flawless, free shipping - I received it six days after close of auction.
Shipped through EMS, the delivery was what I consider to be warp speed coming from China.
The packaging was excellent, not to mention a flawless product inside. Thumbs way up!

 

[RockinCannoisseur]

coolfungadget

 

[livewire]

Yeah, I almost bought from him.
He cost $10 more than HLLY, so in the interest of holding on to my hard earned $$$, I gave the other guy a shot.
No regrets!