[RonN5]

@mfsoa    Mike

Thank you for providing a little more insight for all of us into Tommy....the person.  His designs/products were truly special.  One question for you....was the company Tommy and only Tommy or did he have employees helping him build the products that he designed?

[mfsoa]

Hi Ron,

As his son said at the funeral service, it was really just Tommy. On and off I think he had some help but it was largely a 1 man show. Certainly the industrial design, circuit design, dealing w/ the various places that assembled the boards and made the chassis, ordering the mucho expensive transformers etc., the customer service   - All Tommy (except for the sorbothane footers on the bases of the Maraschinos - my idea!!).

You guys don't know the number of times I heard "I was a up all night so I could get this XXX product out to this guy I've been talking to..."  The reason he was up all night was often because his kids needed him during "normal business hours"

I can tell you that as far as I know he was selling all of his gear for as little as he could - There was never the slightest hint of "He-he, ya' know what I really pay for each board...".

For years we were discussing subwoofers - He wanted a ~1 cubic foot enclosure from billet aluminum. Oh man, what could have been.

I know it's corny to say that noone is gone if we talk about them or take some other step to remember them, but if this can ever be so it surely is when we keep enjoying music through Tommy's gear.

-Mike

[FullRangeMan]

Any of you Tommy friends and custumers want facilitate this Circle?
Please apply here:
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=179862.0

[mfsoa]

Tommy loved the number 3.

He loved the particular mathematical things that 3-ness can bring.

That is the root of his "AmpDesigner333" handle here!  I always told him that he was not the 333rd best amp designer around

-Mike

[FullRangeMan]

I like 12 that sum 3, the 12 apostles, the 12 hours, the 12 months, the perfect number.

[Shear Bliss VMPS]

OMG in total shock hearing this very sad news. Was checking in to see what might be new after the Holidays and found this, so sad. R.I.P Tommy Sir.

Have Tommys MEGAschino upgraded to what he called a 2.5 version, loaded as far as it could go. The MK-3 was almost finished, or might have been, not sure. Also running his 1st DACDAC - TL version.

Have been with Tommy since 2012 enjoying his products, the man shall be sorely missed.

[RJH65]

So sad to hear this! I have (5) Golden Cherry monoblock amps I want to get rid of that I purchased in 2018 and have been trying to get a hold of Tommy and could not figure out why he hadn't responded yet because he was a PROMPT guy and a classy act so sorry to hear! Is this the best place to sell these?

[FullRangeMan]

Try the Trading Post Circle:
https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=109.0

[Zynec]

Hi everyone,

I haven't been in the scene for quite a few years, and recently have been downsizing a lot of things in my life, including selling off most of my audio gear.  I came back to the DAC circle to sell my Cherry when I saw this posting - absolutely gutted!  Tommy was a class act, and it was obvious he tried to pass on most of the 'bang' out of the 'bang for buck' to his customers.  Was also really cool that he was so innovative with his designs, especially in the early class D era where the "conventional wisdom" was that class D could only do bass.

RIP Tommy!

[Geworthomd]

RIP. I hope that his company will continue. I wish I owned one of his amplifiers.  They are getting harder to find on the market. That shows you how good of an engineer he was. If anyone knows of one for sale please let me know.  Piece of nostalgia

[virtue]

I've been out of the game for a while but was listening to my Marachinos this week and wanted to see what Tommy was up to.  Upon reading all this I wailed out loud.  Tommy deserved to live and he deserved to see his genius bear fruit for his children.

At one point we had discussed relaunching Virtue Audio with Cherry boards.  He was working on a lower cost version of the Marachino board that did not require such high-tolerance, expensive parts.  I had helped him with some promotional videos. 

He had big dreams of huge production and I'm sure it would have happened.

When we spoke he was really struggling to keep all the dishes in in their air.  He loved his children. 

Tommy was a man in the arena.  He was fighting so hard to do his own thing.  He was great and was on his way to more greatness. 

Legendary audio engineers are so few.  I don't know any others personally who designed their own ICs.  Tommy used FPGAs; I don't know anyone else except XMOS who took that route.

Tommy O'Brien was incredibly special.  If you are related to Tommy and reading this note, you should be incredibly proud.  I hope his children go on to be engineers and carry on the work.

He left behind so many delighted customers and admirers.  I'm one.

[MttBsh]

I too listen daily to my Stereo Maraschino and although I've had it for 5 years, I'd be surprised if any newer amp out there can significantly outperform it. Class D has continued to evolve, no doubt Tommy would have followed his vision and who knows what breakthroughs he would have made. I don't recall the details, but Leo Ayzenshtat of Orchard Audio had in some way been working in collaboration with Tommy's designs and there have been rave reviews lately about the products coming out of his shop - perhaps Orchard is in a sense carrying the torch that Tommy lit, it will be interesting to see where it leads.       

[FullRangeMan]

RIP

[RonN5]

I owned a 2Cherry for a couple of years.  When I purchased it, it was like opening a window into the music compared to my Parasound Halo.  Since then, I've sold it and I've had several of Leo/Orchard Audio's amps in my system.

Tommy's amps were discreet parts, not modules, class d.  Leo's are his own design modules, class d, GanF.

By comparison, Tommy's was ever so slightly "warmer"...but, Leo's amps have more clarity, a better/more powerful low end and honestly, I would say and evolutionary not revolutionary improvement.  Some might prefer the "cherry" sound but many would like the bigger/bolder sound that Leo's amps provide.

This isn't really a surprise because where Purifi, Hypex, Benchmark and others have taken design is to "almost" the complete elimination of audible distortion....and that is what Leo's GanF amplifiers have also achieved.

But then again...there is a huge market for a more euphonic sound with some 2nd or 3rd harmonics....because many prefer this sound and to them, it is the more correct, more natural sound.

Tommy was ahead of his time...and the same could be said for Leo.