[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 again this makes me fault out ill and I refuse to play any more or even hold my tongue as i did have to do as a mod because of the gray areas and loopholes any knucklhead with a brain and intent found as a way around paying their fair share AND have no trouble at all copying the work of others for profit. DIY is wide open and all you guys know it and since I see no way to stop the downfall of the true intent of the forum i want to part in moderating something not controllable without drastic and draconian measures being taken. Personally this place jus tpisses me off and i have little desire to "play" in this sand box anymore.

I just looked over about 4 or 5 pages of threads here. I don't see even a hint of what you seem to be talking about, Rick. I see people asking about the best opamp for their project, people showing off pics of their recently constructed project, discussing kits that help introduce people to DIY, asking where to get particular wire strippers, information on certain meters, soldering irons, etc. etc. The usual stuff that's been going on in the DIY forum at least since I joined in mid 2003, nothing that looks even the slightest bit amiss.

Frankly I don't have the vaguest clue what you're talking about

Except that in all your recent posts, you just seem to be raging against anything and everything that comes to mind.

 

[RnB180]

if an amp is a cmoy variation or design inspired by cmoy,

I dont think its unethical to use CMOY in the auction. Its giving props where props is due.

its better then the guy copying a cmoy and saying its his own design. and unlike others who hide the design and resell amps for 5 x the actual price it should be sold for.

giving props well props is due should be applauded.

the reason I dont think its worth much leeching the CMOY name is because I already perceive the cmoy as the entry low end level of amps.

If I were looking for a nice portable head amp to drop a chunk of change in, the term cmoy would be a turn off to me as a potential customer.

my 2 cents.

 

[rickcr42]

Quote:

if an amp is a cmoy variation or design inspired by cmoy, I dont think its unethical to use CMOY in the auction. Its giving props where props is due.

you wouldn't considering you lied to me and went underground with your cable sales after telling me personally I was the one off base.

you tell me what is ethical ? I think not man.Not by any stretch do I think so.If it was up to me i would have banned your a*s forever with no reprieve for lying directly to a moderator with intent for personal gain.

Quote:

Frankly I don't have the vaguest clue what you're talking about Except that in all your recent posts, you just seem to be raging against anything and everything that comes to mind.

comes to mind my ass.this is and has been a topic of conversation among others that has made me decide to become UN mod becasue i can no longer be still about this that you see as the "norm" because it is so out of control.

DIY

DO IT YOURSELF !

As in "one of" as in "not for sale" as in take pride in the project ands not look to find where you can profit.

every time the details of a legit product are made availabe to this gang there is shortly after the "cheap version' offered.If not direlt here then at leasy originating here then sold elsewhere.
This has zero to do with DIY which is meant to be a personal pride thing and everything to do with cutting corners and taking legitimate business out of the loop and no more,

it has gotten so bad most here do not even see it because it has become the norm and on my watch too though my hands are mostly tied.

well folks,no more .

I can say what I want short of breaking the rules and I plan on doing so at every opurtunity if i see something i think is wrong.not against the rules maybe becasue we all know there are alsways loopholes but still dead a*s wrong.

as with any other meber my opinion shall be stated and if out of bounds I am sure a moderator will edit or delete as needed but I will have my say if or until it is me that gets banned for stating the obvious that many want to say but fear saying.Or in some cases were directed by me to NOT say in order that peace would reign instead of truth.

DIY has very little anymore to do with the "yourself" part of the initials and the forum title should be shortened to "DO IT"

Any more discussion on this topic should be addressed in a new thread because I/we have muddied this one enough and that is not fair to the one posting the thread but it DID stray and i was part of it.

so open threads but if you expect participation by me keep it civil or i will PM a mod to delete or lock the thread.

i will be here on and off for a while

cheers,welcome to the "do it" forum

 

[dsavitsk]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 I think DIY has gone from Do It Yourself to "let me do it for you" and if you don't have the skills and want to build something AQUIRE THE DAMN SKILLS ! do the homework,do the learning curve like everyone else but don't try to justify being cheap as DIY.

But only learn in the way that Rick thinks is appropriate. If you happen to be someone who learns by doing, then you are not invited.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 Most recent example ? Pete Millett Hybrid amp. starts out calling the boards "highway robbery" and then ends up a "group buy"

With Pete's blessing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 Yeah right.I would like to see the amp built by reverse engineering and theory rather than seeing tha entire step by step article posted then deciding you are too damn chep to pay for the authorised boards.Pathetic.

The group buy boards are no more or less authorized than the Diycable boards. Indeed, the Diycable boards are closer to what you are talking about than the current group buy ones. As far as I can tell, Pete has very little to do with them. These, at least, gave members here an opportunity to learn a bit about layout of a PCB by commenting on various stages of the design and watching the design process in public.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 what part of DIY is this where the players are no better than unskilled low paid laborers on the average assembly line ?

How is this different from the welborne kits you posted links to just the other day?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 again this makes me fault out ill and I refuse to play any more or even hold my tongue as i did have to do as a mod because of the gray areas and loopholes any knucklhead with a brain and intent found as a way around paying their fair share AND have no trouble at all copying the work of others for profit. DIY is wide open and all you guys know it and since I see no way to stop the downfall of the true intent of the forum i want to part in moderating something not controllable without drastic and draconian measures being taken. Personally this place jus tpisses me off and i have little desire to "play" in this sand box anymore. Take it as you will folks it is only and as always just my opinion but you did ask so here it is straight from the gate. Wonder who will be in business here tomorrow

I thought you were just to the right of center (am I remembering this wrong)? Doesn't that suggest a healthy appreciation for the entrepreneurial spirit? Those just to the right typically are in favor of small businesses and initiative.

-d

 

[RnB180]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 you wouldn't considering you lied to me and went underground with your cable sales after telling me personally I was the one off base. you tell me what is ethical ? I think not man.Not by any stretch do I think so.If it was up to me i would have banned your a*s forever with no reprieve for lying directly to a moderator with intent for personal gain. comes to mind my ass.this is and has been a topic of conversation among others that has made me decide to become UN mod becasue i can no longer be still about this that you see as the "norm" because it is so out of control. DIY DO IT YOURSELF !

Hi Rick,

youve just totally steered off topic ::sigh::

here is my response.

actually I didnt lie. I made a post online saying that I was going to sell some of my DIY cables for auction and made it publicly known, you should know more then anyone since you were the one that told me to remove the comment about selling outside of head fi. I wanted to see if there were people outside of head fi that may want mini cables. But was informed that it was advertising, so I removed the post.

I wasnt really taking any of it seriously, until I was informed that I would be labeled a member of the trade. I didnt decide to move up out of DIY until I was told my status has changed. and honestly if Im gonna be branded as one, I might as well take it more seriously.

Although, I do find your post a bit out of line, as everything that I have had discussed with Jude was held via PM and we both agreed to keep it that way. But your post was just downright slanderous to my character and I goes against an understanding I thought I had with the administrator of this forum. :/

Back to my defense. Was I pro seller of mini interconnects and headphone cabling all along and covering up myself under the guise of DIY?

heres your answer

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...&page=13&pp=20

cat 3 cable picked up at frys, taught myself how to solder, the cable you see in that thread was my first solder job since high school alomst a decade ago.

how about me actually not trying to help others with soldering?

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...&page=17&pp=20

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=113378

I really hate offering help to fellow DIYers eh?

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=118208



heres your answer rick

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...&page=25&pp=20

Quote:

almost every cable in my gallery is a ONE time cable, no repeaters. Just recently I ordered a bunch of RA minis and star quad and Im test the waters if there is a demand for anything like that on ****. there are many people here that has sold DIY on ****. Doesnt make them a professional vendor either. I think in my case, people automatically assume I do this stuff for a living? look me up in any audio shop.. you wont see any of my stuff. IMO there are many cmoy DIYers that sell their amps on ****, it just means they have steady hands and time, should that discourage them from posting on head fi?

since
I have been labeled a member of the trade anyway. Without argument might I add, i totally agree with Judes decision. I ve decided to take cables a bit more seriously. none of this was discussed in the forums publicly out of respect for the forum, Judes decision, and respect towards me.

at least until you blantantly slanderous remark towards my character.

btw You will notice I removed the gallery link AND the link above proves all those RCA cables I made as a DIYer and prior to my status change are indeed being used by me, no conspiracy.

when was the last time youve seen me posting anything more pictures?
the few cables that actually sold in the sales forum went to making more cables.

have a good day!

I hope I cleared things up. Ive taken special care as to respect the forum rules since my status change and not post anything that may be controversial or offending,.

mind cutting me a break here? If there is any skirting of the rules, as of my status change you wont find me doing any of that, I should be the least of your concers.

once again, I hope Rick hasnt drug my name too far through the mud.

thanks again.


Edited: for clarification.

 

[rickcr42]

Quote:
Originally Posted by rickcr42
you wouldn't considering you lied to me and went underground with your cable sales after telling me personally I was the one off base.

you tell me what is ethical ? I think not man.Not by any stretch do I think so.If it was up to me i would have banned your a*s forever with no reprieve for lying directly to a moderator with intent for personal gain.


comes to mind my ass.this is and has been a topic of conversation among others that has made me decide to become UN mod becasue i can no longer be still about this that you see as the "norm" because it is so out of control.

DIY

DO IT YOURSELF !




Quote:

Hi Rick, actually I didnt lie. I made a post online saying that I was going to sell some of my DIY cables for auction and made it publicly known, you should know more then anyone since you were the one that told me to remove the comment about selling outside of head fi. I wanted to see if there were people outside of head fi that may want mini cables. But was informed that it was advertising, so I removed the post.

I have copies of the original PMs man so don't go there.i will not post them unless forced but lie you did and sell cables and many of them you did way before you became legit and antied up like the other legit cable makers.
a PM sales campaign and a link to your web page of RnB Audio came way before the payola to the piper.

Quote:

I wasnt really taking any of it seriously, until I was informed that I would be labeled a member of the trade. I didnt decide to move up out of DIY until I was told my status has changed. and honestly if Im gonna be branded as one, I might as well take it more seriously.

Money changed hands.that means you were selling.Simple

Quote:

Although, I do find your post a bit out of line, as everything that I have had discussed with Jude was held via PM and we both agreed to keep it that way. But your post was just downright slanderous to my character and I would think it violates are few agreementm as in reponse to YOU telling ME you were NOT selling cables. Where i come from that is lying though since this is the head-fi DIY forms I had between the administrator of this forum. Back to my defense. Was I pro seller of mini interconnects and headphone cabling all along and covering up myself under the guise of DIY? heres your answer

I don't care what my answer says or what you said to Jude or even what he said back to you.This is ALL after the fact and my response to you in open forum was after you assured me you had no intentions of selling any cables.

A lie

Your website RnB Audio was up way before you settled anything with jude so this goes to intent and if you were not busted you would have continued your ways.

Do i need to pull up the threads ? The PMs ? The satisfied customers ? All before you went "legit" do you really want this ?

I have access to the entire history in chronological order and there is no doubt what was going on and the only reason I personall did not deal with you is because you LIED TO ME PERSONALLY and I don't deal with liars.

Don't justify man or I will produce the case I layed out for the mods becuase I did no longer want to deal with you .Consider it a lesson learned and you got busted in the process .

In other words,it is over so move on but do not try to tell me about ethics.

 

[rickcr42]

BTW-If you have a problem with any of this then i suggest you sue me.I have all pertinant info stored on my hard drive and can make my case quite in defense

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 comes to mind my ass.this is and has been a topic of conversation among others that has made me decide to become UN mod becasue i can no longer be still about this that you see as the "norm" because it is so out of control.

Let me put it this way, isn't life too short to worry about other people's morality... the best anybody can do is set an example for others to follow. I don't believe raging against things ever solves anything, and only raises the blood pressure to the boiling point. Sometimes just reading your posts gives me a throbbing headache!

Just my opinion and personal experience. I don't try to change other people as it's a useless venture, all I can do is strive to improve myself and set an example for others.

 

[RnB180]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 BTW-If you have a problem with any of this then i suggest you sue me.I have all pertinant info stored on my hard drive and can make my case quite in defense

what are you talking about?!? I have no intent on sueing anyone, nor would I ever want to. that would be something I just dont believe in.

I dont live by "an eye for an eye"

I really think you really have some kind of demented idea of me. Im really sorry if you feel like Im out to take advantage of head fi, I am not, and If you feel I wronged you in anyway in the past, Im truly sorry.

can we be friends now

 

[drewd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickr42 Pete Millett Hybrid amp. starts out calling the boards "highway robbery" and then ends up a "group buy" Yeah right.I would like to see the amp built by reverse engineering and theory rather than seeing tha entire step by step article posted then deciding you are too damn chep to pay for the authorised boards.Pathetic.

Rick, I don't know what's got you so irritated lately, but from where I sit, the signal to noise ratio is going down since you started this latest round of posting.

Both Nate and I had an email exchange with Pete Millett to talk to him about redesigning the PCBs. He was quite taken by the idea that a group of people could get together and come up with a new layout that would satisfy the desires of all of the participants. He's anxious to get his hands on a couple of boards himself and even offered his advice and help if we ran into any problems.

The "authorized" boards are nothing more than Pete's original layout. The seller put nothing original into them. They are "authorized" only because the manufacturer asked Pete for permission to build them. That makes Nate's group buy just as authorized. There's a fairly large group of individuals who put quite a bit of feedback into the board's layout to make it into something that pleases everyone, asthetically, ergonomically and functionally.

For that matter, what do you say to the Headroom guys? They're working on a Millett design as well, also with Pete's blessing. Are they ripping off the "authorized" manufacturer, too?

Incidentally, I wouldn't call Nate cheap on this - he's into this project for over $120 of his own money at this point. Sure, his original question was how to find a cheaper board, but, if you read the thread without an agenda, you'll see that the thread took off in a different direction with much different results.

Rick, your idea of DIY is perfectly valid - you appear to have the same desire as a lot of people here: to learn why a circuit works and to find ways to improve on it. But that's not the same take on DIY that everybody else has. The guy who just wants to plug parts into a PCB and have an amp that works is a DIYer, too. It may be that after building a few opamp-based CMOYs, Pimetas and PPAs he'll move on to something more advanced and do some research himself, but maybe not. But it really seems to me that the posts that you've been tossing out treat your take on DIY as the only take. It's not.

-Drew

 

[rickcr42]

Quote:

Let me put it this way, isn't life too short to worry about other people's morality... the best we can do is set an example for others to follow. I don't believe raging against things ever solves anything, and only raises the blood pressure to the boiling point. Just my opinion and personal experience. I don't try to change other people as it's a useless venture, all I can do is strive to improve myself and set an example for others.

Normally i would agree but since i have been the moderator of this DIY forum since the inception not only is it my business to moderate what goes on (formerly) but also goes to the general erosion of intent of the forum.

to have others bang in here years after the fact and tell ME what is cool here is so wrongheaded I almost laugh on it.
I have been here from day 1 and some newb thinks they know best ? How things should be done and what should be allowed ?

GOOD !

apply to maoderate then !

there is anopening needing someone to fill it !

I suggest a quicky reading of the rules first,just so you know what IS and IS NOT cool.Oh yeah,I wrote them so they will be outdated and brought up to speed to the NEW meaning of DIY for SALE .

i have been holding all this back and that is also wrong.This needed dealing with before everyone got the impression that anything goes becasue obviously that is the atmosphere here and god help the one making waves.

I am all about waves and it is time to start the ocean in motion.

not throwing this at you personally fewtch just throwing a wide net and those who it catches know who they are.

 

[RnB180]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 Quote: Originally Posted by rickcr42 you wouldn't considering you lied to me and went underground with your cable sales after telling me personally I was the one off base. you tell me what is ethical ? I think not man.Not by any stretch do I think so.If it was up to me i would have banned your a*s forever with no reprieve for lying directly to a moderator with intent for personal gain. comes to mind my ass.this is and has been a topic of conversation among others that has made me decide to become UN mod becasue i can no longer be still about this that you see as the "norm" because it is so out of control. DIY DO IT YOURSELF ! I have copies of the original PMs man so don't go there.i will not post them unless forced but lie you did and sell cables and many of them you did way before you became legit and antied up like the other legit cable makers. a PM sales campaign and a link to your web page of RnB Audio came way before the payola to the piper. Money changed hands.that means you were selling.Simple I don't care what my answer says or what you said to Jude or even what he said back to you.This is ALL after the fact and my response to you in open forum was after you assured me you had no intentions of selling any cables. A lie Your website RnB Audio was up way before you settled anything with jude so this goes to intent and if you were not busted you would have continued your ways. Do i need to pull up the threads ? The PMs ? The satisfied customers ? All before you went "legit" do you really want this ? I have access to the entire history in chronological order and there is no doubt what was going on and the only reason I personall did not deal with you is because you LIED TO ME PERSONALLY and I don't deal with liars. Don't justify man or I will produce the case I layed out for the mods becuase I did no longer want to deal with you .Consider it a lesson learned and you got busted in the process . In other words,it is over so move on but do not try to tell me about ethics.

Hi rick,

I did indeed charge for labor on some of my sales here. theres no need to post PMs, anyone here can look at my feedback thread in the sales forum and read exactly how many cables Ive sold to head fiers. IMO for time Ive been here on this forum not many. and once again the money I made from it went to making more DIY cables. another sale was for the left over mini parts I never wanted to assemble and three others werent even my cables, one was a shelbrook mini, cardas mini and another was monster y splitter. and a good chunk of it were people that asked me If I can make them a mini cable. they enquired to me via pm. outside of the sales forum on their own initiative.

not much money was made from it, and if any was, it went to furthering my hobby
Im actually quite in debt from it

even NOW with the status change and me taking the hobby more seriously, I still am not making much, im still using it to buy parts and trying to pay my debt.


I have received feedback for everything Ive sold here, anyone can take a look. so posting pms and such is not neceassary you can see EVERY cable ive sold on head fi in my feedback. and actually two of those feedbacks werent even sold in the sales forum, ebayers wanted to do me a favor and post something positive about me here.

posting pms publicly without my conesnt is a but rude though. and totally unecessary.

oddly speaking of pms, you totally forget to mention all the custom requests I actually REJECTED, just because I dont stock parts solely for sale. at the time I only pourchased what I needed which is why I never had connectors to build all the custom requests I recieved. which led to me DECLINING offers



I havent posted anything on the sales forum for a bit, largely due to my status change.


Seriously rick, I really wish youd cool down. Id really appreiate you not being so bent on tearing me down

 

[mono]

well this is a deep can of worms...

I wonder if elaborations in the forum rules would help?
If we can get past the past and make the future more clear that seems positive to me.

 

[rickcr42]

Quote:

I thought you were just to the right of center (am I remembering this wrong)? Doesn't that suggest a healthy appreciation for the entrepreneurial spirit? Those just to the right typically are in favor of small businesses and initiative

a legitimate "small business" is not one that lest others spend all the loot on research and development or even just simply designing a thing then copying and selling it in direct competition with the legitimate enterprise.One that has overhead and bills and must pay taxes while someone sneakes around and sells a thing and answers to no one.

Adrug dealer is a small business in loosest terms but i don;t think anyone wants THAT as the model.

Quote:

How is this different from the welborne kits you posted links to just the other day?

Legitimate kit from a legit outlet.
One that pays its bills,has a high reputation and somethingfew like around here-is fully authorised to sell the product by the designer of the circuit.

They did offer the kit then ask permission to sell.They did not say in house "hey ! Those friggin borbely Boards are too damn expensive.Highway robbery.Let's copy it and sell it cheaper and rake in the dough"


I hoped most here would have a clue as to the difference btween the legit and the shaky but i guess this says all about what pisses me off so much about the new DIY crew and why I have mostly zero use for this forum and only had visited it because it WAS my area of responsibility as a mod.

I fully expect some knucklhead here to try to reverse engineer the borbely designs and then sell them either here or elswhere.no doubt in my mind where that is going considering the comments here and in other threads.

Quote:

The group buy boards are no more or less authorized than the Diycable boards. Indeed, the Diycable boards are closer to what you are talking about than the current group buy ones. As far as I can tell, Pete has very little to do with them. These, at least, gave members here an opportunity to learn a bit about layout of a PCB by commenting on various stages of the design and watching the design process in public.

the entire thing started out as a way to avoid paying $40 and was said to be "highway robbery" openly as the very first post then went on to design a board that is now $20 and links to guess who ?

MR "I don't want to pay" is who.Am I the only one that sees a problem with htis and aslo a pattern ?
Probably and another reason to wash my hands of the DIY forum.They have been harder to clean lately anyway.too much of this crap is sticking.


Quote:

With Pete's blessing.

after everything was already in full swing and i am convinced it would not have mattered but just would have changed the method of distribution.Just my gut feeling though not any evidence.Pete Agreeing made it a moot point anyway soo......

Quote:

But only learn in the way that Rick thinks is appropriate. If you happen to be someone who learns by doing, then you are not invited.

None of this is about learning anything but how to turn a profit at headwise and not pay out for the priveledge.

simple

and i am out of this discussion.anything needing saying has been and i am not going to start repeating myself

enjoy

Rick out

 

[Clutz]

Hello everyone,

I think it's a pretty crappy thing when people attempt to make profit on the work done by others, either as a hobby or professionally. In academics its plagerism and when it has happened to me it made me extremely angry, so I can relate to that but this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 II think DIY has gone from Do It Yourself to "let me do it for you" and if you don't have the skills and want to build something AQUIRE THE DAMN SKILLS ! do the homework,do the learning curve like everyone else but don't try to justify being cheap as DIY.

I cannot agree with. Please be aware through the rest of this post, that I am not attempting to detract from your right to have an opinion- I just wish to share my opinion about this fairly complex issue with you, particularly because I do not think I'm alone in this position. I've really gained from the answers and insights you've provided on this forum, and it is not my intent as a junior person in this hobby to tell you waht to think. I just hope that perhaps by seeing my position, you will gain a better appreciation of the fact that not everyone who is just building their own headphone amplifiers (for example) by following designs and group-board-buys are in it with nefarious intentions.

I'm a pretty decent programmer and I learned a lot of my programming skills by looking at example code that other people gave me (granted, I never attempted to make any money off of it) and "played" with it to try and gain an understanding of how things worked. Once I got a handle on some of the basics I was able to sit down and learn the theory on my own and proceed from there. I'm currently teaching a few of my friends how to program and I do this by giving them my code filled with lots of comments, explaining the logic of the code and then encouraging them to try to change the way the program works to suit their own needs.

In terms of building "Do it yourself" amplifiers I'm at the beginning stages. I've bought a PPA board and a TREAD board off of tangent and I'm really enjoying assembling it and at the same time trying to understand the process. At this point in time, I'm still really enjoying dealing with some of the simplistic issues of ensuring I'm soldernig things on boards correctly- I find it very relaxing.

If I had've had to sit down with a book on the theory of electronics design I don't think I would be participating in this hobby, principally for two reasons. a) I would not have been exposed to it and so I would not have understood how much more I can enjoy my music by having a headphone amplifier. b) I would have been far too intimidated to sit down with a schematic and attempt to just put the parts together correctly.

I do my best to read the threads relevant to headphone amplifier design and understand them. I really appreciate the feedback and answers to questions that the more experienced amp builders/designers are able to provide. Without the help provided by tangent in terms of building a first cmoy and then the PPA I would never have been able to get off the ground. A schematic is great - but having people who are able to outline exactly how you go about translating from a schematic to connecting all of the parts correctly is a real bonus to me.

I think it is also important for any field- be it hobby or professional, be open to having new people join the field who do not necessarily initially have the skills required to participate in the field. In any field that I am aware of, significant contributions have been made by people who do not fall into the category of being an expert in that field.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 What happened to the "one of' project that a person wanted to build as both a working audio amp to be proud of AND as the means to understand basic audio electronics where the hell does plug part A into Hole B enter that ? what part of DIY is this where the players are no better than unskilled low paid laborers on the average assembly line ?

I think that this is part of the process of learning how to design and build your own amps- you have to learn to walk before you run and being able to follow upon someone elses footsteps is important.


Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 Personally this place jus tpisses me off and i have little desire to "play" in this sand box anymore.

I think that's unfortunate and I hope that tihs does not remain the case. But perhaps there is a better alternative than eliminating people from the hobby who just wish to be able to buy the desired parts and enjoy the finished product. It is pretty clear that you gain a lot of enjoyment out of the discussion and design of audio DIY- but I don't think that means that it is a pre-requisite that for anyone to be able to enjoy DIY they have to want to understand the details of audio DIY design.

I think that there is possibly a solution that everyone can be happy with. If the groups that put the design together copyrighted their design- and have the final designs left in a form on head-fi (or some other DIY website) with a copyright notice stating that people are allowed to build these amplifiers for their own purposes but are not allowed to use them for commercial / profit purposes. Something like the GNU public license so often used in shareware / freeware software? It's just a thought- and I have no idea whether or not it is feasible solution. However if it is not, it might be considered to take a look at how large group programming projects handle problems similar to this, which I am sure must exist.

Cheers,
Clutz