[AmpDesigner333]

We just heard back from John Atkinson and Robert Deutsch of Stereophile Magazine.  They said that Stereophile doesn't do new product announcements.  We are looking for a high-circulation high-end audio publication that does.  Can anyone out there suggest one???  Thank you!

[art]

Hope that explains CLDjam for you. 

Hate to step on your toes, but I think his answer is going to be "NO!" If you make it any more detailed, the average reader may tune out. Besides, some of your competitors may be reading. (There is one instance on one of the DIY forums where a Class D "designer" appeared as both the designer and a satisfied customer. Obviously under different names. One waxed poetically about great it sounded; the other trolled for design help from more experienced forum members.)

I wish you luck, because I think you are going to need it. That is about all the advice that I can give you at this point. You're on your own form here on out.

I know.............shut up and get back to working on SB3 mods. (I am, just not fast enough.)

Pat

[AmpDesigner333]

Hope that explains CLDjam for you. 

Hate to step on your toes, but I think his answer is going to be "NO!" If you make it any more detailed, the average reader may tune out. Besides, some of your competitors may be reading. (There is one instance on one of the DIY forums where a Class D "designer" appeared as both the designer and a satisfied customer. Obviously under different names. One waxed poetically about great it sounded; the other trolled for design help from more experienced forum members.)

I wish you luck, because I think you are going to need it. That is about all the advice that I can give you at this point. You're on your own form here on out.

I know.............shut up and get back to working on SB3 mods. (I am, just not fast enough.)

Pat

Pat,

As always, thanks for the kind post.  You're not stepping on my toes at all.  I appreciate the insight very much.  At one stage in the history of Digital Amplifier Company, we went around to many semiconductor companies, all big names and all public companies, to get them to collaborate with us and make a chip for our application.  Their number one motive turned out to be picking our brains.  Most of them did this while hanging a development contract in front of us like a carrot on a stick.  One of them even brought in their PhD expert to "review our technology" and we thought we had the deal aside from some paperwork.  They pulled the rug out at the last minute and went on to develop something similar, but weren't able to make it work well.  This is proof that it's not the technology alone that makes our products work.  It's experience with practical implementation.  I believe this is why there are so many digital amps on the market that have been a disappointment.  The number of parasites out there is just amazing.  They see that you "have something real" and they try to find a way to get in the loop.  They come in many forms: marketing companies, semiconductor companies, and even brands.  A few semiconductor companies came back to us years later to ask if we'd like to resume talks, and we respectfully declined.  Fortunately, we learned to take this in stride and keep going despite how discouraging it can be.  Well, thanks again and good luck with your SB3 mods!

[jman66]

Hope that explains CLDjam for you. 

Thanks Tom! Appreciate the info.

[woodsyi]

I am one of those that have had general unease with the sound of switching amps in mid/high application.  I haven't tried the expensive ones which makes my experience incomplete.  I understand that implementation is more important in practice then theoretical tendencies of a topology.  I am willing to try your amp if you will do a tour.  I have mega watt tube monoblocks, medium power EL34 amp, 300B SET, Hypex, ICE and Class A SS amp to compare yours to.  I love the efficiency and damping power of Class D amps.  I just haven't been convinced yet that it is good in mid/high only application as I triamp my system. 

[sts9fan]

Can anyone out there suggest one???  Thank you!

Did you send it to 6moons?  They will for sure put it in their new section.

[TheChairGuy]

I am one of those that have had general unease with the sound of switching amps in mid/high application.  I haven't tried the expensive ones which makes my experience incomplete.  I understand that implementation is more important in practice then theoretical tendencies of a topology.  I am willing to try your amp if you will do a tour.  I have mega watt tube monoblocks, medium power EL34 amp, 300B SET, Hypex, ICE and Class A SS amp to compare yours to.  I love the efficiency and damping power of Class D amps.  I just haven't been convinced yet that it is good in mid/high only application as I triamp my system. 

Wow - what he said 

It's as succinct a statement as I could have made for myself regarding experiences with Class D amps. 

There is much to like about the previous ones I've tried (and heard), none of which megabuck topline ones (except ones I've heard), but all fell short of some expectation bettered by some 'traditional' SS and most tube gear.

John

[konut]

I am one of those that have had general unease with the sound of switching amps in mid/high application.  I haven't tried the expensive ones which makes my experience incomplete.  I understand that implementation is more important in practice then theoretical tendencies of a topology.   I love the efficiency and damping power of Class D amps. 

This echoes my sentiments exactly. All you need is 1 amp to do a tour. 1st stop, 6moons, 2nd stop, woodsyi. After that you can get a feel for who the members are here that have the experience and wherewith all to give a fair review of your amp. You walk a tightrope with the boutique segment of the high end audio market. Marketing on the cheap is fine as long as you can get some credibility, and there is no finer place for that than AC. As you've seen, the members here have given you the benefit of the doubt, so far, and are willing to invest the time to give your amps a fair hearing.

[Philistine]

The reason I was attracted to this forum was access to 'boutique' equipment that gives great performance and value, and the DAC amps may or may not fit very well into this categories.  The sure fire way of getting AC members interested is to get unit/units in the hands of members, either through get to togethers or tours - if the amps are good then sales will follow very quickly!  At the moment all that's being generated are posts going nowhere, I would like to see posts based on feedback reviews.

I'm not trying to be negative, on the contrary - if the product is good then I would like to know and, as I stated, sales will follow.

Yes!  That's exactly what we're trying to do, but this will take some time.  We are planning to attend a "rave" in October, and we are also offering demos to AC members on a limited basis.  DAC is a bootstrap operation, so units are built as they are sold.  We would have more units on hand if we had a pile of cash to fund higher volume production, but this is not currently the case (we hope someday it will be!).  We also offer deals to our newsletter subscribers (see http://www.digitalamp.com/news.htm) as units become available.

We AVOID a few things (mentioned in previous posts) so we can offer the best value possible.  We don't sell through dealers --- they take pretty high margins.  We don't attend trade shows --- these are very expensive.  We don't pay for advertising --- this is a huge expense for a small company.  We feel the benefits of skipping these three major expenses is very beneficial to our customers.  Our products are special; not the same old thing you see in your friends listening rooms.  We also had a massive development effort over the years to create these products, and we are stretching that expense well into the future.

So, if you're looking for customer reviews, look here:
http://www.digitalamp.com/DAC_REVIEWS.htm

... and there's one on Audiogon for Cherry:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?ramps&1216594678&read&3&4&

... and there's one on Audiogon for DAC4800A:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?ramps&1179282474&read&3&4&

...and for both DAC4800A and Cherry here (Amazon, all 5-stars!):
http://www.truedigitalamp.com/

We have some reviews that have not been added to our web site yet.  Life's busy, you know.

Well, thanks so much for your kind post!

Thanks for your responsiveness.
From the lively debate on this thread you can see that a lot of interest has been generated on your amps.  I've been hanging out on this forum for a couple of years and have a good feel for what other members have tried, their systems and sonic preferences - and this is why a review from AC membership is valid to me.  The references you quote are interesting but it's more difficult to reference these than feedback from AC membership.  Consequently I would encourage you to attend one of the raves or find another way to get your amp/s to a member who lives close by.  I live in Pittsburgh so I'm too far West from you, as I would love to volunteer!
If you have a good product this forum is a great marketing tool to generate sales, good luck.  
 

[THE_ANSWERS]

interesting topicmaybe something you want to comment on..................

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=50955.msg523750;topicseen#new

on another subject    the amp you had on ebay didnt sell     you are barking up the wrong tree on ebay and amazon    yoshould try again on audiogon and get reviews by people on ac      see my other ideas about that a few pages back      how about getting buyers to post here????????????????     maybe you need a course in sales and marketing because it looks like you are not trying to hard to sell or just going to the wrong places    have you thought of asking krell or bryston or somebody like that to put their name on your product or your guts in theirs??????????

[richidoo]

We have monthly audio meetings in NC, I would be happy to host a meeting to listen to your amplifier with our group of about 12-15 active audiophiles, should it become available for a stop on a demo tour. We have good gear and open minds so it would receive a fair review. I am looking forward to hearing it. Sounds very intriguing.
Thanks
Rich

[AmpDesigner333]

interesting topicmaybe something you want to comment on..................

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=50955.msg523750;topicseen#new

on another subject    the amp you had on ebay didnt sell     you are barking up the wrong tree on ebay and amazon    yoshould try again on audiogon and get reviews by people on ac      see my other ideas about that a few pages back      how about getting buyers to post here????????????????     maybe you need a course in sales and marketing because it looks like you are not trying to hard to sell or just going to the wrong places    have you thought of asking krell or bryston or somebody like that to put their name on your product or your guts in theirs??????????

I added a long post to the thread you pointed to.  Thanks for the lead on that.
 
Regarding EBay, Amazon, and Audiogon, please realize that we are taking many factors into account and believe we are doing the right thing for our business.  We are willing to adjust as necessary, but we have a plan to get the word out effectively and honestly.
 
We are not pros in marketing.  We are pros in engineering, however.  I find your related comment a bit insulting, but unlike others you have dealt with on this forum, we will not issue a personally disparaging conclusion.  I have seen your other posts, and they are marginally judgmental in many cases.
 
We plan to ask our subscribers to comment on Audio Circle eventually, but we want to wait for more dialog first.
 
By the way, if you receive an email from us, please don't post it on this forum.  We post what we think is appropriate ourselves.
 
If you are a fan of our products, you should consider buying something.  We do have a money back guarantee.  I see that you are a fan of "on the cheap" audio, but for the real deal, you need to spend some money sometimes.  Thanks again.

[AmpDesigner333]

I commented on another thread about speaker wires, and thought you all might like to see it, plus some additional comments:

It comes down to resistance and inductance.  If you can solder, buy 12 gauge or 14 gauge (if the run length is less than 15 feet) wire and get terminations from Digi-Key.  By terminations, I mean banana plugs or spade lugs.  I definitely recommend soldered connections instead of crimped for long life.  I agree that this is a typical area for spending too much when it really doesn't make a difference to the sound or your system.  This comes from an engineer with 20 years experience, not a marketing firm.

Speaker wires are a special subject to me.  Chuck, an old friend, who had Dunleavy speakers and Krell amps told me how he just bought new speakers cables for something like $2500.  I did an A/B test with him and concluded that he wasted his money.  I didn't want to tell him that since I knew it would just break his heart.  This was many years ago, and now I wish I would have spoke my mind at the time.

[THE_ANSWERS]

I commented on another thread about speaker wires, and thought you all might like to see it, plus some additional comments:

It comes down to resistance and inductance.  If you can solder, buy 12 gauge or 14 gauge (if the run length is less than 15 feet) wire and get terminations from Digi-Key.  By terminations, I mean banana plugs or spade lugs.  I definitely recommend soldered connections instead of crimped for long life.  I agree that this is a typical area for spending too much when it really doesn't make a difference to the sound or your system.  This comes from an engineer with 20 years experience, not a marketing firm.

Speaker wires are a special subject to me.  Chuck, an old friend, who had Dunleavy speakers and Krell amps told me how he just bought new speakers cables for something like $2500.  I did an A/B test with him and concluded that he wasted his money.  I didn't want to tell him that since I knew it would just break his heart.  This was many years ago, and now I wish I would have spoke my mind at the time.

nice    i just got don arguing about isolation platforms for cd players         this is a similar topic !!!!!!      but, im not arrogant enough to say i never fell for such stuff    later.....................

[AmpDesigner333]

I commented on another thread about speaker wires, and thought you all might like to see it, plus some additional comments:

It comes down to resistance and inductance.  If you can solder, buy 12 gauge or 14 gauge (if the run length is less than 15 feet) wire and get terminations from Digi-Key.  By terminations, I mean banana plugs or spade lugs.  I definitely recommend soldered connections instead of crimped for long life.  I agree that this is a typical area for spending too much when it really doesn't make a difference to the sound or your system.  This comes from an engineer with 20 years experience, not a marketing firm.

Speaker wires are a special subject to me.  Chuck, an old friend, who had Dunleavy speakers and Krell amps told me how he just bought new speakers cables for something like $2500.  I did an A/B test with him and concluded that he wasted his money.  I didn't want to tell him that since I knew it would just break his heart.  This was many years ago, and now I wish I would have spoke my mind at the time.

nice    i just got don arguing about isolation platforms for cd players         this is a similar topic !!!!!!      but, im not arrogant enough to say i never fell for such stuff    later.....................

Who is Don (ha ha, check your post)?  The topics of speaker cables and isolation platforms are very different.  Thanks for your post.

[AmpDesigner333]

We tried to add the DAC4800A amplifier (see http://www.digitalamp.com/4800a_amp1.htm) to Audio Review so we can get customers to add reviews there.  However, there is no selection for adding a new manufacturer.  The listing shows up with "unknown" as the manufacturer.  Here's the link:
http://www.audioreview.com/cat/amplification/amplifiers/unknown/dac4800a/PRD_419903_1583crx.aspx

We wrote to them, but no reply.  We posted to the help board, but the post was removed.

Does anyone on Audio Circle know somebody in charge at Audio Review?  We would like to get on the manufacturers list.  Locking us out is just not fair.  Thanks.

[AmpDesigner333]

Remember my comments on feedback around for the output filter (or not)?

Well, this became the focus of a thread on Audio Circle!

Check this post and my reply:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=58953.msg524187;topicseen#new

The brands mentioned:
Tripath, Panasonic, Hypex, ICE, Spectron, and Nuforce

If you've heard the DAC4800A or Cherry against these amps, please comment on this thread.

Thanks!

[AmpDesigner333]

Remember my comments on feedback around for the output filter (or not)?

Well, this became the focus of a thread on Audio Circle!

Check this post and my reply:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=58953.msg524187;topicseen#new

The brands mentioned:
Tripath, Panasonic, Hypex, ICE, Spectron, and Nuforce

If you've heard the DAC4800A or Cherry against these amps, please comment on this thread.

Thanks!

By the way, I did hear a PS Audio ICE based amp (even tested it on the bench) and several Tripath based amps...

[bummrush]

What does a input buffer do ?That was something i think Wyerd for sound  said made theirs sounds better?Also what does the output filter do?Thanks.

[TomS]

I believe it makes it easier for a tube preamp to drive.  61k ohm vs 10k or so input impedance of the module they use stock.  Ask Rick Cullen for sure.  Bascom King designed it.