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Cheap Forum Amp by Captainbeefheart


MEH Synergy

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2 hours ago, Steve. said:

When I ordered my amp I received an invoice that brought me to a secure site where I used my Visa and it literally showed up on my card within minutes.  
 

I did the same thing when I put a deposit on the preamp he is building me now.  He sent build photos with the amp and is putting the parts together now for the preamp 
 

I already have a level of trust and I know in a few months he will build me another amazing piece .

 

As far as friends and family goes, no thanks.  I rarely buy anything used that requires PayPal    I use Pay Pal to buy stuff like tubes and accessories, that’s pretty much it.   
 

I think if it was anything over $100 or so I would just eat the PayPal fee just to play it safe So in Shakey’s case $90 would have been cheap insurance 

 

What makes Captain Beefheart a real low life POS is that he used his wife’s PayPal account making her an accomplice to fraud.  Nice guy.   And he doesn’t have the b@lls to ask her for the money back I’m sure 
 

 

 

Of course, you were dealing with a legitimate business.

 

I’m thinking more apples to apples here. Let’s say Henry says I’m going to do another amp build thread. I like Henry’s amps (I really do) so I PM Henry - scratch, Henry has long track record. Switch it to Jim “Solder Man”

Cheatum. New guy, very bright, says he is an EE for a chip maker in Austin, TX, his first love is audio, loves the forum as it has inspired him to get back into audio. He has designed an amp he is going to build and show in talkin tubes. He lays out what his plan is, what it’s going to do and how it will spec. Bunch’s of people, who we all respect, say wow, that’s going to be so cool, when do you start? Jim says, the parts are $2,400, so 60 to 90 days to keep wife happy. So I PM Jim and I say, if I bought the parts, chassis, etc. for your project, would you build me the amp? How much would you charge me? Jim says, well if you pay for the parts, my labor is free, you can have the amp.

 

First, an observation: This is all Nobel, I’m trying to get a very good amp for cost of parts, Jim can start sooner. Educate the forum, people I know and trust have said this is going to be a great amp. I solicited him with an offer, he wasn’t asking for money.

 

Am I foolish for making the offer pay for parts for Amp? I don’t think so. A win win for me, Jim, and the Forum. Anyone disagree? 
 

Hindsight is 20/20 so everyone is a genius at this point, but in this situation, my hypothetical I don’t think anyone is acting foolish or crazy. And of course if this ever happened to one of us now, there would be a number of other steps we would all take at this point, but if we are honest with ourselves, what would our next step have been?

 

Mine would have been, get me a list of parts, the cost, and where to send money. Jim sends me parts list, says it is 1800, but 3 parts I have options on, I can go with garden variety for $200, run of the mill for $400, or audiophile grade for $600 which includes cryogenic treatment, wires gut to 7.125”, silver solder. Me being an audiophile and astute buyer, I select audio file, even though he says run of the mill will be more than adequate. Engineers know nothing about sound, think all caps sound alike, go big or don’t go at all. Thus Cost is 18 + 18 (3 * $600) $3,600. 
 

What is my next step?

 

The point of all of this? I think there are many, a majority, who would have done exactly as SD did in this case on entering into the agreement. Why? Because you are not solicited, it was our idea, we approached them, the normal spidey senses don’t kick in. 
 

This really isn’t about what SD coulda shoulda would’ve, everyone is a genius now. 
 

So when I ask, would not using Friends and Famiky helped? I am try to see if a transaction, between two private parties, like dropping off a lawnmower for repair for someone on Facebook, have made a difference because of certain protections or not. 
 

I already know that none of us wouldn’t have used Friends and Family, because we are all geniuses (now). SD ain’t dumb, naive, or fall off of a turnip truck.

 

If it’s about anyone, it’s CBH. It’s all on him, and people need to know. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Audible Nectar said:

Craig and Mark would set up their customers with preamp and amps respectively, then their customers (also known forum members) would come on here and do all of the talking. It was so ridiculously and consistently good that I drove across three states to hear what they were all talking about. A number of us did similar.

 

Too bad I wasn't here when said subject was insinuating the build of equivalents for a third of the cost. Anyone who knew Mark and/or Craig's gear knew that was BS because I've run across very few who gave you so much sonic quality for the $$$ and anyone who has handled that stuff knows the same.

 

I realize that a manufacturer has to start somewhere but the lack of track record might have been a tipoff. Did CBH ever deliver a product to a member here successfully?

Guy wasn’t a manufacturer. Guy was Jim Cheatum, talking about doing an amp build to educate the forum. Said it would spec X and cost this much in parts.

 

I’m not sure if CBH gave cost comparisons, he may have said something like, for parts costing X, you can expect performance of amps costing Y. He didn’t compare to Craig or Mark, at

least U don’t recall. Sorry for the confusion, I was just giving an example of legitimate people in audio business, however small, as compared to an EE doing a project for fun.

 

Of course, I own multiple Juicy Music and amps Valve products, because I’m . . . . 

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1 hour ago, Marvel said:

IIRC, they were built for parts cost only, and one customer changed the design wanted more than once. Money was refunded to one customer (or did he not mention that). It's not his full time job. Great!

 

Still love my JMA Merlin.

I think the person who got money back posted in this thread that it was for some parts, finally got a resolution.

 

Bruce, I think it started with all good intentions. But at some point it took a turn and some people, rather than admit they are in over their head, make up excuses. They get deeper and deeper, always saying to themselves, I can get it done. I can say, unequivocally, SD was more the. Patient on this, I wanted this resolved before year end, SD had more Comm with CBH and asked for early Jan. I was able to protect Forum in interim, so I let it ride. I think we are all hoping a miracle will happen, the amp will arrive over the weekend, SD and I will apologize profusely (at least I will) and SD will post his impressions of his amp plus photos. I just had to nip this, it’s a stain.

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1 minute ago, Travis In Austin said:

I think the person who got money back posted in this thread that it was for some parts, finally got a resolution.

 

Yes, after much kicking, gnashing of teeth and cajoling, I get him to cancel the unfilled sale of tubes and refund my money (not via PayPal as I paid him [actually his wife], but going to Walmart for a money transfer). Of course, after the ordeal,  which was occurring at the beginning of issues with Shaky & MEH's amps, I don't trust he actually delivered what he promised. Lesson learned: you get what you pay for.

 

And @Fido; if I just had that 300mm lens...

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I really hope Captain sees this thread , I’m sure he has seen it actually just not logged in as a guest.  
 

DO THE RIGHT THING !!!!   Send Shakey his money back 

If you have any conscience at all that’s what you’ll do. 

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6 hours ago, Khornukopia said:

One bad character is now causing everyone else to look at paying extra fees, and is tarnishing the image of the forums.

I don’t think so, at

least I hope not. In Garage Sale there are a whole host of terms, rules. Basically every transaction should be buyer beware. I think what the comfort level is - acceptance of risk. You know everyone on here, how long, etc.

 

However, we have first time posters, so they have to be approved, selling all kinds of Audio equipment. I don’t approve non speaker items, amps, etc., nor non-Klipsch speakers from first time posters.

 

It was supposed to be for Forum Members, like active members, not wheeler dealers looking to save Avon/eBay fees.

 

For scammers, a web forum is the perfect place to do a scam. No feedback system, no money tracking, fraud protection like eBay. 

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4 hours ago, Steve. said:

I agree these comparisons aren’t apples to apples but unfortunately this hobby can cloud your judgement a little when you are daydreaming about a piece of gear you really want

With you the whole way, wasn’t picking on you in particular, lots of people were mentioning “I had a a great transaction, with Mark, Craig, etc.” and I just wanted to make sure no one was confusing these folks with the the type of person involved here.

 

I also wanted to be clear, that what we might observe as better options in hindsight are not a judgement on SD. I think many, many would have a tendency to act, as you eloquently described, with clouded judgement.

 

Travis

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5 hours ago, Fido said:

Instead of pimping oneself about how great you are maybe its better to be quiet and let your work do the talking. Who know if CBH ever designed and actually built any amps let alone any SUPERIOR amps.

 

Sorry Shakey and WCD got scammed by CBH! 

 

 

30074-5140113-IMG_8087nik2.jpg

 

 

I could have taken way better pictures than those.
 

What’s funny is if you had been at a CES when PWK was there and you were given an assignment to photograph him, he would have asked you about your equipment, asked what lens and lens speed, he would have looked around at the lighting and asked what film, what speed, he would have told you, “your meter showing about [f stop] at [shutter speed], he would have told you about bracketing exposures, and a whole bunch of other things. And you would probably have listened and learned one thing just like Matt Sommers did. Matt said he was dead on with the exposure and had factored in the fast 1.2 50mm and every other lens he used.


What film was that taken with, the picture above.

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2 hours ago, Travis In Austin said:

I could have taken way better pictures than those.
 

What’s funny is if you had been at a CES when PWK was there and you were given an assignment to photograph him, he would have asked you about your equipment, asked what lens and lens speed, he would have looked around at the lighting and asked what film, what speed, he would have told you, “your meter showing about [f stop] at [shutter speed], he would have told you about bracketing exposures, and a whole bunch of other things. And you would probably have listened and learned one thing just like Matt Sommers did. Matt said he was dead on with the exposure and had factored in the fast 1.2 50mm and every other lens he used.


What film was that taken with, the picture above.

Ha ha ha - film? What is film? Jk - I shot most of those pictures at iso 200 and used my 300mm f2.8 lens or my 70-200mm 2.8 lens. There are a number of great photographers on this forum, for sure. I have many lenses and used them dependent on what my goals were. Shooting a large lens like a 300mm is great for shallow depth of field but you have to be careful with the extreme compression when shooting people.

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