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Hi zman01, spookydd,
yeah, for me at least, it is a larger project that is actually going on for quite some time now and I am very happy to see it completed soon, finally. This amplifier is not for me but for my best friend as he wanted 5 channel brilliant Technics sound. At this point he has the amplifier modules I did for him, so putting it all together in the case is up to him, I will be watching from a secured distance of about 4600km ...
Eventually sometime next year, I will visit to see for myself the final end product of this project and probably get a taste of 5 channel Madonna and Phil Collins concert recordings.
spookydd, these parts were made, yep you guessed it, in China. I am quite pleased with the manufacturer so far and surprisingly communication with them is exceptionally great, they understood immediately what we are after and they did not have a problem whatsoever as the drawings were all labeled in German. Altho my friend been somewhat pickey, he had requested one part to be redone as there were still some tool marks visible after anodizing. They had no problem doing that, they definitely want a happy customer. Also, they are very fast. I believe it did not even take them a week to fabricate all those parts. Altho I would have lasered the parts, my friend insisted to have machined engravings for the text.
I will definitely go with them on my coming up Technics A100 Tribute project again.
My friend had inquired with a few companies in Germany and Switzerland to fabricate this case for him. He supplied STEP and PDF files. Most companies did not bid and the once that did were asking for ridiculous amounts of money.
So whatever they smoke in these offices, I want some of this Kraut.
Soja, this is how we ended up going with China. Long live free trade ! Affordable ? We had quotes ranging up to US $6400 and about 5000 Euros for this job.
Now this is done for less than US $1500 including DHL shipping expense, still not exactly cheap, but very much competitive and fair when compared to the smokers.
Of course when the delivery arrives on European soil, there will be some custom fees extracted out of him for this, so at this point it a bit unclear how much exactly that will be, I guess a generic punishment of about 19% or so for daring to take business outside this wonderful EU.
yeah, for me at least, it is a larger project that is actually going on for quite some time now and I am very happy to see it completed soon, finally. This amplifier is not for me but for my best friend as he wanted 5 channel brilliant Technics sound. At this point he has the amplifier modules I did for him, so putting it all together in the case is up to him, I will be watching from a secured distance of about 4600km ...
Eventually sometime next year, I will visit to see for myself the final end product of this project and probably get a taste of 5 channel Madonna and Phil Collins concert recordings.
spookydd, these parts were made, yep you guessed it, in China. I am quite pleased with the manufacturer so far and surprisingly communication with them is exceptionally great, they understood immediately what we are after and they did not have a problem whatsoever as the drawings were all labeled in German. Altho my friend been somewhat pickey, he had requested one part to be redone as there were still some tool marks visible after anodizing. They had no problem doing that, they definitely want a happy customer. Also, they are very fast. I believe it did not even take them a week to fabricate all those parts. Altho I would have lasered the parts, my friend insisted to have machined engravings for the text.
I will definitely go with them on my coming up Technics A100 Tribute project again.
My friend had inquired with a few companies in Germany and Switzerland to fabricate this case for him. He supplied STEP and PDF files. Most companies did not bid and the once that did were asking for ridiculous amounts of money.
So whatever they smoke in these offices, I want some of this Kraut.
Soja, this is how we ended up going with China. Long live free trade ! Affordable ? We had quotes ranging up to US $6400 and about 5000 Euros for this job.
Now this is done for less than US $1500 including DHL shipping expense, still not exactly cheap, but very much competitive and fair when compared to the smokers.
Of course when the delivery arrives on European soil, there will be some custom fees extracted out of him for this, so at this point it a bit unclear how much exactly that will be, I guess a generic punishment of about 19% or so for daring to take business outside this wonderful EU.
I totally can relate to this, with such very long term projects. My own main project came to be in the 1980s, and has evolved rather little since then. I'm still working on it and making slow progress, hoping to see it coming together some time soon..
Could you share their contact info with us on this forum? Maybe even let them know you're referring people to them, so they'll be motivated to keep up the good work and get more business.
It's rather hard with the Chinese, as most of them can't be trusted to make good on anything. I've been dealing with many of them and most don't provide the expected results, so when you have one that is on the up and up, it's rather precious, as long as they keep that up too.
I'm sure more among us on the forum might be interested in trying them out..
I know what you mean. I'm having the same issue. Anything made in Europe is just way out of reach. They all are far too expensive. Perhaps the only ones that might be cheaper are from the eastern most European countries, like Romania, Hungary, maybe Poland...
So whatever they smoke in these offices, I want some of this Kraut.
It's mostly due to that "system" with high taxes, being copied all over Europe. The less taxed countries can do better, but they don't do it for very long, as they copy the others and start doing the same high taxing B.S. as well...
Affordable ? We had quotes ranging up to US $6400 and about 5000 Euros for this job.
Now this is done for less than US $1500 including DHL shipping expense, still not exactly cheap, but very much competitive and fair when compared to the smokers.
Ouch! Yeah, still expensive, but beats the heck out of anything in Europe.
This limits what we can get done, a lot. But maybe I'm hoping my current small project might become possible. If you can share the contact info..
Taxes in Europe are just like death, you just can't escape them. That sucks!
And it kills a lot of projects along the way.
Hi spookydd,
I have no problem with sharing the manufacturer info. But first I will have to wait for the parts to arrive at my friends place and get his opinion once he is holding these parts in his hands. All I have for now are these pictures, and they look great to me. If my friend is satisfied, I will give you guys the contact information.
As far as total project expense, my friend is a special nutcase in this respect, he had sunk an estimated 20000 Euros into his saga to get satisfactory sound for his system. Considering his expenses, the total project expense is on the lower end of this spectrum. He had tried out a few modern reputable amplifiers but was unhappy how they sounded. He tried Emotiva, AudioNet, Denon, Bryston and a few others that I forgot about and he complained they did not sound right to him. He stated, the most offending sound came of a modern up to date Denon. Please excuse me for not specifying the exact models. I don't know and don't really care. Also, I can not speak for myself on this as I did not hear these amplifiers on his speakers. Eventually he dusted off his old Technics SU-MA10, been old tech sitting neglected and forgotten for years in a dusty dirty basement and despite of having a scratchy volume control it sounded stellar compared the other amplifiers he said. This is how this Technics Tribute saga came about. So I dove in a bit deeper to explore what sets these Technics amplifiers apart, what is the secret of them seemingly sounding noticeably better than other amplifiers. I realize and understand, at least, a few points now that contribute to this exceptional massive, clean and brilliant sound these produce with remarkable low distortion while having a rather low idle current compared to other Class AB amplifiers. A feast only very few Class AB amplifiers can claim.
No phun intended, truly an eye and ear opening experience, in any respect !
This is how the soon to be completed A5 Tribute got of the ground. In the meantime I was not lazy
and recently did the A7 Tribute, which is berried in this Thread somewhere close. Later coming up the A100 Tribute. I think then I am done having proven a point that decent designed old commercial tech easily blows new commercial tech out of the water by a magnitude or so. I did some tests here with modest equipment I have and the A5 Tribute sounded totally transparent to the original A5 which I treasure.
I did further tests with the little A7 Tribute and again it sounds as massive and ballsy as the original A5 which is rated twice the power of the A7.
As critically as I try to make out audible differences in direct A/B comparison, I can not hear it if there are any. They sound exactly the same despite different power ratings.
Also, I done an A/B comparison test with a NAD C658 and a set of ZuAudio Omen Dirty Weekend [Mk.II] driven by the A7 Tribute against a Parasound A23. Clear winner stood out like a sore thumb to everyone in the room, the A7 Tribute.
And sure there still be better sounding equipment but IMO only marginal and definitely with an exponentially escalated price attached to it.
Regardless if my friend says the tested amplifiers did not sound right, I trust him on that, he is no fool. At last with the 5 channel A5 Tribute he is finally happy with the sound and I learned something really interesting from the ingenious Japanese engineers who dreamed up these amplifiers concepts sometime in the 80s.
That's cool. Better know for sure if they're on the up and up.
Yowzah!!!! Holy smokes!!!! That's NUTTY!!!
I'm also trying to get something that pleases me, but there is no way I could come even close to such a budget. That's crazy, bonkers!
That friend must be rich. I wish I could do that too.
And what is that? Anything in the topology?
Hi Spooky,
absolutely, they had submitted pictures of comparable jobs they had done before for other customers and they added also pictures of how they pack these parts. They do a very good job machining and packing, they care, they want business. For the time been, I would not hesitate to give them more jobs.
hehe, yeah I know its kind of crazy. But you know, if one has had something better in the not too distant past why would one settle for today's cheap yet expensive electronic junk ?
I don't know about rich, but he is doing very well for himself and is better off as many others who struggle dearly in out of control Merkel Germoney to make it every month, for sure. But you know, altho it might appear he is rich in comparison he is poor as Germany has lots of the other kind of Rich, you know the once that have a collection of Porsche's and own several properties and factories and stuff...
Yes, topology, brilliant - topology I would add !