the csx1 is probably the best and the most undervalued of all the VFets Amplifiers on the forum, to own one is to have already won the lotery
Just to add my own appreciation to everyone involved with this exercise, congratulations to the winners and to say I'm looking forward to round 2.
A plea to all the winners, please follow the spirit of this exercise - build and enjoy your new amplifier and don't leave it on the shelf or, worse still, sell it on for personal profit.
I've been active here for more than a decade but my interest has been primarily in forums other than Pass Labs so I know the odds aren't great for me becoming a winner, however, after various tube amp and DAC projects this exercise has certainly picqued my interest in building an amp of this genre.
Fingers crossed for round 2 but in case my number doesn't come out of the hat I'm making contingency plans and have ordered a pair of NOS THF-51S devices so I can either try one of the later iterations of this amplifier or, maybe, a ZM SissySIT - I have some reading to do.
A plea to all the winners, please follow the spirit of this exercise - build and enjoy your new amplifier and don't leave it on the shelf or, worse still, sell it on for personal profit.
I've been active here for more than a decade but my interest has been primarily in forums other than Pass Labs so I know the odds aren't great for me becoming a winner, however, after various tube amp and DAC projects this exercise has certainly picqued my interest in building an amp of this genre.
Fingers crossed for round 2 but in case my number doesn't come out of the hat I'm making contingency plans and have ordered a pair of NOS THF-51S devices so I can either try one of the later iterations of this amplifier or, maybe, a ZM SissySIT - I have some reading to do.
To Rafa, Nikon, and all the winners of round 1. I have just sent you all an email from the store's helpdesk email account. Please reply to the questions in that email so I can confirm you are successfully receiving email.
Can the following members please contact the store's helpdesk directly at contact@diyaudiostore.com because their email address is bouncing:
billyk
abadsantos 7
slimecity
seanny
We'll also try those members via the PM system.
I posted a detailed, step-by-step explanation of how the winners were chosen so the process was as transparent as possible.
This isn't the first and won't be the last amp that comes along. There's been a lot of buzz about this offering because it's rare and that makes it "desirable", but this amp isn't for everyone, and certainly not for every pair of speakers, and there will be many more amps in the future that might suit you better anyway. This amp won't sound good just because it's rare. It's just rare. Don't sweat it. One door closes another door opens.
I would like to second Jim's comment and say on behalf of the ~1400 entrants, thank you to the many Pass Labs forums' "heavy hitters" who stood aside to let newbies have a chance to win. Also the ~70 members who contacted the helpdesk about VFETless kits and said they would stand aside for the lottery. If all the PL regulars who have posted in the DIY VFET main discussion thread had entered (Nelson excluded), the ticket total would have been 19,509.
I didn't post the winners in the order they were picked previously, but it's no doubt of interest to some. This is how the tickets were drawn, in the order they were drawn. I've noted the members with the highest (>200, n=5) and lowest (1, n=6) number of tickets.
vemsom
albertnl
arthur
apk
cosmo61
seanny
koja
volpar
slimecity
tungstenaudio
juanitox
eslheadphone
d to the g
pki
adason
bosnarh (lurker since 2006)
buckaroo2 (lurker registered on the day of the lottery)
jugi63
dudeisms
carsten.witt
blues
asphalt
enochroot
mchu28
xrk971
apogee
monotube2
elwood625
budwiser
eric
marra
happyjack (lurker since 2018)
soundhappy (~300 tickets)
ekai65
wdecho
coolnose
rhthatcher
rebone
generg
alazira
rkh
super_bq
rafapolit
noelectrix
tubesguy
subbu k
mbrennwa
mega_amp (~250 tickets)
manolo47
rolandong
music2myear
claudeg
twitchie
dennis hui (~700 tickets)
rpower (lurker since 2013)
stoolpigeon
zman01
pathmark
codyt
tborzic
dyrevennen
abadsantos 7
studeb
crocko (lurker since Feb 2021)
kbergsson
oreo382
srmcgee
kevinheem
itsallinmyhead
jostwid
hifizen
farleybob
sampsonite
vvs07
spades
grataku (~250 tickets)
aud1out
nikon1975
william2001
overtheairbroadcast
sharpi31
billyk
von ah
biju55
meper
kt
baeijsman
pierrequiroule
I think we can agree the proof of the pudding is to see which people actually complete their amps and contribute feedback on their builds for the benefit of the community.
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There will be, and thank you.
My decisions are often made before coffee, after wine, or in haste. But as the saying goes "any decision is better than no decision". Make lots of mistakes and get better every time, I say.
I guess I could be considered one of the passive members, I read much more than I post. I’m a fairly skilled mechanic, definitely not an engineer, I truly enjoy being a member here. I won one of the kits. Let me tell you I am over the moon about it. I have built quite a few Pass designs
I just want you to know that this passive member is thrilled to have won and you can rest assured that this amp will be built and used by someone who knows it’s worth and values it for way more than that!
I just want you to know that this passive member is thrilled to have won and you can rest assured that this amp will be built and used by someone who knows it’s worth and values it for way more than that!
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I think that you should get your facts straight before you start insinuating things. This was me and i was absolutly honest about the situation. my kit is from the first release of Nelson's vfet kits, made about three or so years ago. i told you that in the email. everything I said was true, even the bit where I consoled about your loss and said that I had not built my kit because I had in fact lost my wife two years ago and felt unable to build it. Ieven said that you could check the original kit cost and postage costs yourself.
Thank you.
Email history:-
From me..
"
jotom750 said:
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No needs to woory so much The % of bad peoples in the diy community is well under average ( except ZM
oh yeah , I'm all bad ..... to the bone
Attachments
About that ZM... with a shave, haircut, and throwing on a suit might distract from your negative characteristics.
This was supposed to be a thread about the Sony VFET amplifier lottery (and poking fun at ZM).
Instead, we have greedy boys bickering about something suddenly losing focus in a thread about the lottery that could have ended quickly with a, "it was a misunderstanding. Nothing to see here people, move on."
Well, geez people...
I said it before the lottery and I will say it again. Thank you. The crack team of audio scientists, the circuit designers, the architects, the prototype artists, the testers, the guys with slide rules, the one guy who had the devices, the people who put parts of the kit together, the kit stuffers, the people who put the time and effort, the people who kept the website going, the minds figuring out how to make this whole affair fair, to everyone involved on the backend for putting this together. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and putting in the effort to make this all happen.
Why did those happy folks with far better things to do in their spare time do this? To mark 20 years of participation of Nelson Pass and the existence of the Pass Labs forum in a small and loyal diy community.
All for zero dollars.
I said it before, no one involved needed to bring this kit to the diyaudio community as it was voluntary. If Nelson Pass were corporate minded, he could have taken all those scarce devices, put finished units with his name on them out commercially, and made bank many times over. AND we would be left out in the cold. Not unimaginable that corporations would do that, but I don't see many big names in audio helping out a community with their designs (hey, McIntosh Labs if you are reading this, I don't see any of your vaccum tube amplifier unity transformers available to diy'ers).
Nelson Pass didn't do that. But he could have. I certainly hope he keeps participating and recent posts don't dim his view on the diyaudio community.
Anyway, others have written their thanks and appreciation here for the opportunity, so it has been proven that I am not mistaken in my own convictions.
My own Sony VFET amp? Well, it might be drop kicked off the truck by the delivery person and bounce 110 feet landing at my door, destroyed in a fire, (or a most unlikely where I am) lost to a flood, stolen and sold on eBay, or even thrown in the trash AFTER my demise. I can't control any of that.
However, when I do get the kit in the mail safely, I will open the box, wait for the guide, build it, use it, and knowing what I know... I am most likely going to be happy and enjoy the music.
Instead, we have greedy boys bickering about something suddenly losing focus in a thread about the lottery that could have ended quickly with a, "it was a misunderstanding. Nothing to see here people, move on."
Well, geez people...
I said it before the lottery and I will say it again. Thank you. The crack team of audio scientists, the circuit designers, the architects, the prototype artists, the testers, the guys with slide rules, the one guy who had the devices, the people who put parts of the kit together, the kit stuffers, the people who put the time and effort, the people who kept the website going, the minds figuring out how to make this whole affair fair, to everyone involved on the backend for putting this together. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and putting in the effort to make this all happen.
Why did those happy folks with far better things to do in their spare time do this? To mark 20 years of participation of Nelson Pass and the existence of the Pass Labs forum in a small and loyal diy community.
All for zero dollars.
I said it before, no one involved needed to bring this kit to the diyaudio community as it was voluntary. If Nelson Pass were corporate minded, he could have taken all those scarce devices, put finished units with his name on them out commercially, and made bank many times over. AND we would be left out in the cold. Not unimaginable that corporations would do that, but I don't see many big names in audio helping out a community with their designs (hey, McIntosh Labs if you are reading this, I don't see any of your vaccum tube amplifier unity transformers available to diy'ers).
Nelson Pass didn't do that. But he could have. I certainly hope he keeps participating and recent posts don't dim his view on the diyaudio community.
Anyway, others have written their thanks and appreciation here for the opportunity, so it has been proven that I am not mistaken in my own convictions.
My own Sony VFET amp? Well, it might be drop kicked off the truck by the delivery person and bounce 110 feet landing at my door, destroyed in a fire, (or a most unlikely where I am) lost to a flood, stolen and sold on eBay, or even thrown in the trash AFTER my demise. I can't control any of that.
However, when I do get the kit in the mail safely, I will open the box, wait for the guide, build it, use it, and knowing what I know... I am most likely going to be happy and enjoy the music.