tyrion

dac, amps, phono pre's, I'm looking forward to all this stuff going into production. It looks like he will have a kick ass lineup.

I think the Yiddish word is shillaber. The fact the we agree on at least 5 things tells me that the world is safe. As I recall I received at least a couple of calls from Fred whenever I defended SP, which I did on more than a few occasions, including in the SP internal amp picture thread. I don't remember the details but I do remember that after the calls, it was pretty clear he had an agenda.

I was addressing the fanboy comments that had been made. I believe he had carried it way beyond just fanboyism, which is why I used the term shill. I didn't just jump in for that reason. I believe that the appearance of impropriety can be just as bad as if there is actual impropriety. Again, this imo. I believe I said earlier that the way I define the term shill may be different than how others define the term. I agree with this. It does appear that it maybe more than this going on but I don't know it for a fact. It's the problem that people like that can create. I have been paying attention. Getting back to the point that I thought I understood from KG, its the rampant fanboyism unchecked that leads to the problem that now exists. Whether it's done openly in the forum, through pms, email, phone calls. You're right about this, it doesn't matter if I get it or not and I can't make another persons decisions for them. However, I have the right to express my opinion on the subject that we are discussing. I hope that is not the case. I don't know if that is the case. I probably should have put a smiley after that last sentence about suffering from the same insanity. I obviously wasn't comparing amp to amp when I made my comment that you can get amps as good or better without the bs. I believe you can. Which amp is the best is up to each of us to decide. On the issue of the bs part, it's one thing if a builder says, I'm going to build you the best amp I can, to the specs we discuss, however, because I'm busy and have do all this custom work, it's going to be 12 to 16 months to get the amp. If someone wants to to do that I kind of understand that. What appears to have happened here is quite different than that. As Ken pointed out, it's not for me to make decisions for others but I was expressing my opinion that I don't understand why someone would put up with the bs. If I came off too harsh to either you or Ken, I apologize. It wasn't my intent. Well, at the time I guess it was. I probably should not post late at night, after having a long political discussion/argument at dinner with a friend and a couple too many drinks. You guys are friends and I shouldn't let this stuff get to me.

Ken, it's just semantics. Whether KG thinks someone is or isn't a shill doesn't matter to me. I wasn't looking to KG to provide my opinion anymore than he would look to me for such an opinion. Each of us are capable of coming up with that on our own. Did you read what KG wrote. He and I may not agree on the term to use but I think we agree on the what Earl is. We may choose to use different terms to describe it but it doesn't mean we are talking about different things. I don't know why you would spend the effort to point out that KG doesn't believe Earl to be a shill yet says that he is a fanboy to the extreme and Earl's feeling relative to Mikhail and SP borders on insanity. Is that is some how better than being called a shill? Warning of schedules that are overly optimistic, is commendable but don't you think this has gone a bit beyond overly optimistic? My god, 2 years to wait for an amplifier to be built or repaired? I waited less time for my kids to be born. I'm curious, what do you think my agenda is because I don't believe I have an agenda. I do have an opinion, however. I have zero vested in any of this. But I do believe that there are some that follow Mikhail and SP like sheep to slaughter and I guess I don't get it. I think in the end it hurts the community but if you are willing to put up with it, so be it. Dusty, if you believe that SP amps are the greatest thing since sliced bread, no problem. But do you really believe he has cornered the market on the best sounding amps? Do you really believe that there is no one out there that can create an amp that equals anything that Mikhail produces? If so, you may be suffering from the same insanity that KG was talking about.

Jp, get that beast out to the DC meet. Post some pics when you get a chance. I've liked both the previous versions of this amp and if this one is better, then it is quite an amp. Have fun with it. Let me know when you sell the HD2.

Slept for an hour, woke up and had a decent falafel. At the moment, listening to tunes.

He certainly does blame Ray's fanboys but I think the point is that he believes fanboyism led to this. I think the better term is fanboyism that borders on being a shill. It's one thing to be excited about a product, it's another to take it to such an extreme that you are posting in every thread posted asking for an amp recommendation and recommending the same amp mfg. over and over again. It's great your ears are getting licked by your amp but there are others out there that will do the same and better without the need for putting up with so much bs.

Woke up at 4:30 am, at the beach by 5:30, ran 10 miles. Came and chilled for a few while my wife, who was up an hour ahead of me and ran 14 miles, slept. Looking forward to some good beer and whiskey at The Pub tonight.

Dusty, I think what KG is getting at is that the reason Mikhail had sold so many amps to people at HF is because of shills like Earl to name one. It is my great hope that there is a rule at HF that better defines the term shill. If the rule I have in mind had been enacted, I believe Earl would have been banned a long time ago. New members and long time members alike took his word as gospel and that gospel spread with little restraint. What happens to SP is something that the market and perhaps a court or two will determine. I can't imagine anyone buying anything from him. I don't care if the amp sound like angels licking my ears (Jp's term) I wouldn't buy it, certainly not from him directly. There are just too many horror stories about late delivery, poor quality, amps sent back multiple times for repairs, expensive as hell upgrades, lousy resale value.

Happy Birthday!

My cell number is on the way. This will save Dusty a trip out. Thanks!

Ken, I arrive at 5:20. I'll wait around the airport for you. No reason for Dusty and Vicki to come to the airport 2 times, well 3 times for Dusty. Always room for one more.

I am using the NY Times, AOL Radio, Pandora and Remote apps. While I can pull up the NYT in Safari, the app format is easier to read and use. The Remote is excellent. I need to change the setting on my mac mini. Everytime it goes to sleep, the remote has to reconnect to the library. AOL Radio really requires a wifi connection to get most of the stations. The Bop Jazz station is pretty good. Pandora works fine on the 3G network and is an app I like. The tethering was one of my concerns as I used to tether my Blackjack to my notebook via bluetooth and my Blackjack II by usb. I find browsing with the iphone good enough to not care if I can tether.

Wiseguy, eh?

I may have worked it out so I will be free to make it. I just need to get my wife a plane ticket to Orlando, get my daughter to pick her up, they can pack up and drive home together. It should work like a charm.

I don't think anyone can repair Mikhails mistakes other than Mikhail. However, it might help for some of those with money at stake to try to meet and work through the issues so this doesn't get to a point where Mikhal takes action to protect himself which in turns could end up screwing those with significant money at stake. Just a suggestion. I don't pretend to have all the answers.

If people don't want to make public statements then perhaps they should send Aaron a pm. He could at least come up with a number that could be posted without the need for naming those that provided the information.

Now that I know you are a member here, I'm going to have to ban you at HF. Sorry about that.

I'm not going to speak for Wayne but he sent and ES-1 to Mikhail for upgrades almost two years ago and it still hasn't returned. He just recieved the ps for the SDS-XLR he sent to Mikhail more than two years ago for upgrades. The amp portion was delivered to me at CJ. Everyone makes their own decisions on how much of this type of behavior that they can tolerate. Some I'm sure think it's worth it to some extent to get one of his amps. That's a personal choice. It's one I would never make. Especially sending the kind of money that it requires to enter the SP high end custom realm. There has to come a point where anyone has to begin to question their loyalty to SP. Maybe we've finaly reached that point. Hopefully, the backlash will finally give Mikhail the push he needs to get SP's act together.

What was kind of sad is that when I went to the ATT store and advised them of the problem, none of them thought to either see if there was an issue with the setting, suggest that it might an issue with the setting or suggest I call Apple. On the other hand, I should have known this would be the case and called Apple first.

I decided to call apple to see if the could find a setting that was causing the fast drain of the battery. After doing a restore, we went through the settings and found one that allows the gps to track me. Once this was turned off the battery issue was resolved.

I have one issue to work through. My daughter is coming home from college that weekend. The question is whether we are going up there to move her since she is changing dorms.

I can show you if you make it to the DC meet.

I'm debating whether to return mine and reactivate my BJ II until they get a new batch in at the store.

Thanks for the offer. I will let you know. It's crazy for people to come out to BWI to get me when I can jump on a train and get closer, either Union Station or Shady Grove or get stevieo to drag his sorry ass out to get me. I only say that since you are going to Baltimore earlier to get Vicki. If you happen to be in Baltimore, that's another story.