Rawson Amps

I'm a DIY. I just built my own Aleph 3. It's very nice. I do feel that if I were to crank these out and sell them new, it would be violating Mr. Pass's policy. I have a degree in Industrial Electronics from the University of California school system so my DIY units are magnificent, both electrically and cosmetically. My Aleph 3 runs 20 degrees Celsius cooler than a factory Aleph 3 because it has 25 percent more heat sink surface than factory made. But here is something to think about. With a college degree and a build quality that would pass muster with Motorola as a design prototype, my Aleph 3 cost me $1200 for parts. If I had to cheapen my costs so that I could sell them for $500, something important would be missing. I would not buy such an amplifier, neither would I sell one.

Chewrock, is the heat sink you used also DIY or is it commercially available retail? I may buy a First Watt something, but the Class A heat and wasted energy especially WHEN IDLE bother me quite a bit. Given your expertise, I'd appreciate any thoughts how to alleviate those concerns, such as circuit mods to reduce power consumption on Standby but keeping the amp warmed up and charged up. Would it to difficult to accomplish?

Thanks, -- William

There are people out there that download music illegally and think nothing of it. Just as in this case there are people that will reverse engineer products of simply take someone else's diy designs and market them for themselves against the express written wishes of the designer. for me, this is a no brainer. Just say no. But as you can see, some people find all manner of justifications to do things. even when people tell them that is is not right. I listen to college student argue about how expensive music is to purchase, so they justify downloading music for free. Wrong is wrong. Taking someone else's design and marketing it is simply wrong. Buying such a product, knowing it was marketed that was is wrong also. Places such as China may feel it is okay to steal from western countries, and sell them as something else, until it happens to their designs and then they because all "legal". People like Nelson Pass have gifted us with many of his designs and correspondence to help the field appreciate what it takes to design and build equipment. His policy is, as long as you don't market or sell it, have fun. It doesn't get better than that. His website explains the engineering and formula behind his designs better than most books I read in College. I'll build it myself before buying someone else's ripped off design product. I'm not holier than thou, but in this case, nope, I'll pass, thank you. I appreciate Nelson Pass' work.

enjoy

What Tim Rawson has done is theft plain and simple. Nelson Pass has let the DIY community in on his designs with the understanding that they are not to be sold commercially and used for the builders personal use. He did this because he has an affinity for the DIY community. Nelson got into this business because he was a DIYer in the beginning. Because of people like Tim Rawson Nelson Pass no longer pusblishes the service manuals of obsolete equipment on his website. Even though they are obsolete those designs are still copyrighted. Minori hit the nail on the head. People will justy their illegal deads as long as it benefits them. There is simply no excuse for being a low life thief. If the shoe fits wear it.