Smiley aside, what does the time he has equipment have to do with morality.

I'll let you know, once you let me know why you'd want to read that sentence smiley aside?

As for the other allegations, can someone point me to their origs? I'm afraid I missed that thread and a search comes up empty.

not for $500

If it's single ended then it's not that far off.

Aren't they $500 each single ended?

The BG upgrade was 500$ for the BH back in 2004 if I remember correctly so the KGSS should be something similar.

and seeing as you cannot get the BG caps anymore and last I saw some people were asking $200 each....

personally, I think the price is fair.

here is some detail on this amp:

- Black Gate capacitors

- No XLR input/switch

- Single GoldPt stepped attenuator

I'll let you know, once you let me know why you'd want to read that sentence smiley aside?

As for the other allegations, can someone point me to their origs? I'm afraid I missed that thread and a search comes up empty.

Hey Ric, first things first. Here is the thread on HF. It was referred to here in the "Favorite Posts ..." thread. He managed to get both of his accounts banned on HF. While that's really no trick, I believe it's warranted in this case. Be warned, this thread is really long.

The reason I ignored your smiley is that you spent the entire post defending him. To me, the last part was an attempt to trivialize something that I don't find trivial. He used multiple accounts when there was really no reason to do so. I wonder what he'll do when he needs money fast.

Here is a set of pictures:

So how much did the extras cost?

What are those stacks? I did not see them on Justin's pictures on his site.

Guzzi, as I mentioned I couldn't defend multiple accounts, although I think that matters less until you actually use them in some unethical way. Not to sound defensive, but since having multiple accounts was all that was mentioned in this thread, if I came off as trivializing other unmentioned/unknown activities, I apologize for them and being in the dark here (been cruising HF much less lately). I appreciate the link and now that I've read the first ten pages of that thread I certainly see the cause for concern. While it had more than a bit of the "For Sale Forum is falling apart" gang-banging irrespective of the actual cases and I think Wad was upfront in his posted email (and of course my previously very positive listed experiences), if a couple of those actions were actually taken on bidding prices, certainly public response and warnings should be made.

EDIT: And slwiser that is the same model Wad had. Pipes and SE (one volume knob). Sounded pretty good when I heard it with the O2 (though to be honest I still can't get over the O2s politeness even with it), but my listen was probably less then ten minutes with music I was unfamiliar with so I can't say much about how it compares to other electrostatic amps in the range or any more detail than I was impressed.

Smiley aside, what does the time he has equipment have to do with morality. I don't really care if he made a profit or not. I don't care if he is a flipper trying to make a profit or not.

What is morally wrong is that he used multiple accounts, sometimes to bid against others for things he was selling in an attempt to raise the price. He would also use multiple accounts to talk up the product he was selling. This kind of action is morally inexcusable.

Lastly, I don't really care if anybody still buys from him. Now that he has been outed, it's anybody's choice. As I said in my original post, he hasn't totally cheated anybody yet, so you'll probably get what you buy. I hope that it remains true when the interest starts on his credit card and he gets more desperate to pay it off.

Same here as guzziguy mentioned. I found it deceiving that he used multiple accounts to talk up his product, and bid against others to attempt to raise the price. Right now there is a HP-2 on sell on Ebay that he is selling and now the highest bidder is someone that has no feedback. That just looks fishy since we know his pattern. But as others have mentioned I'm sure if you do purchase something from him it should be okay. Good luck on whatever you decide slwiser

Here is a set of pictures:

So how much did the extras cost?

What are those stacks? I did not see them on Justin's pictures on his site.

Those stacks are BlackGate WKZ caps... can't read the values here at work on my POS PC... maybe at home. They will be either 350V or 500V caps, probably 500V, and something like 100+100 uf if I am guessing correctly. And yes, they were expensive (as in ~$100 ea. when they were available and weren't being gouged).

Those are the black gate power supply caps (I'm pretty sure) which as others have mentioned were probably a $500 upgrade.

However, after reading Justin's post about the "options" on this particular amp I'm sort of confused since it sounds like it's somehow single-ended instead of the normal balanced configuration?

Those are the black gate power supply caps (I'm pretty sure) which as others have mentioned were probably a $500 upgrade.

However, after reading Justin's post about the "options" on this particular amp I'm sort of confused since it sounds like it's somehow single-ended instead of the normal balanced configuration?

the jacks are just wired that way.

Those are the black gate power supply caps (I'm pretty sure) which as others have mentioned were probably a $500 upgrade.

However, after reading Justin's post about the "options" on this particular amp I'm sort of confused since it sounds like it's somehow single-ended instead of the normal balanced configuration?

the jacks are just wired that way.

I really don't understand either of these posts. It is dangerous to purchase something where understanding is significantly lacking on my part. That is one reason why I went into the Stax world with the SRX-1 Mk3 first and I would appear to be moving up fairly quickly but I want to move wisely. At least attempt too.

Electrostatic amps are balanced by nature, but this one does not have balanced XLR input or a switch to go from RCA to XLR. Justin also said it has one single GoldPoint volume pot, so it is not duel stepped attenuators like normal. He also said it was originally made and sold in 2004 to somebody in so cal. That is the info available to you.

Thanks for all the help everyone..

Now it is decision time and I am leaning away from this unit right now.

It shouldn't be a problem for anybody to add an XLR input to this amp and just replace the Goldpoint with either a 4 channel RK27 or a DACT. One side of the input section is grounded when in SE mode so it's easy to reverse.

and seeing as you cannot get the BG caps anymore and last I saw some people were asking $200 each....

personally, I think the price is fair.

It was much more then fair and why I opted for them back in the day. Now the question is whether the BG's are better then the TOTL Nichicon or Elna caps which isn't the case to some designers like Kondo.

Yeah, those honking caps out the back are the BG upgrade as far as I know which in some ways would explain the high asking price. Still not sure retail would push $3k, justin is really the only one who can answer that definitively, or someone else who bought a BG'ed KGSS from Headamp.

IIRC, KGSS DX Edition, which had all sorts of upgrades, including BG caps, silver wiring, GoldPoint stepped attenuator, always-on bias power supply, and compact chassis, went for bit over $3K.

It was much more then fair and why I opted for them back in the day. Now the question is whether the BG's are better then the TOTL Nichicon or Elna caps which isn't the case to some designers like Kondo.

sorry, I meant the seller's price on Audiogon is more than fair

sorry, I meant the seller's price on Audiogon is more than fair

You say that now!!!! It's a good deal but this amp was sold on HF so you can look up what he paid for it...

price paid isnt' a factor in determining value.

price paid isnt' a factor in determining value.

I'm well aware of that and if somebody makes a buck on a listing that's fine by me but it doesn't hurt to check out the listing price and the description posted. The final price is also often not what is listed on the site but I always look up the original listings to check for any issues.

price paid isnt' a factor in determining value.

It is, to most people who shop on Audiogon.

It is, to most people who shop on Audiogon.

It is all relative there as well. A classic example is the older Museatex DACs. They usually sell for quite a bit more than what their SRP was.

Any discontinued, desired, item will reflect the true demand/availability in any market at the given time.

Edited June 20, 200818 yr by CD44hi
fixer-upper spelling bee

Just wait a few more years and someone will be paying 2k just to get the black gates out of it

It sounds like this unit may not even be burn in yet with a little more than 100 hours total on it.