Rawson Amps

I wish people would stop trading Rawson amps on A'gon.
First they are not his amps, they are all except for the gainclone, stolen intellectual property belonging to Nelson Pass. Nelson Pass shares his First Watt designs with the DIY community on the grounds that they will not be traded for commercial gain. Tim Rawson has taken the schematics and reproduced the amps which he then sells on A'gon ore Ebay.
There are many threads on this issue on DIY Audio, including a plea from Mr Pass, for people not to trade in stolen intellectual property.
Rawson's amps are often poorly constructed with dubious electrical safety standards.
The Aleph and F series amps by Nelson Pass are exceptional both in the sound that they reproduce and their build quality. They are without a doubt some of the best sounding Solid state amps around... period. They sound very different to the chip amps (gainclones) and only put out about 15 watts so you need a pair of very sensitive speakers. I think the Alpeh's put out about 60 Watts.
My recommendation would be to avoid Rawson's amps.

I know nothing about the quality or performance of the Rawson product. I do agree that it is inappropriate, and probably illegal, to sell Pass's designs commercially.

Two questions, Extra-action:

1. Have you owned a Rawson amp or had any personal experience that would support your statement that the amps are "often poorly constructed with dubious electrical safety standards"?

2. Do you honestly believe that Mr. Pass is losing business to Mr. Rawson?

I have owned several Rawson amps and found them to be reliable and a good value for the money. Clearly they are not being passed off as anything other than what they are.

Just my two cents.

I have had the opportunity to look inside a Rawson built amp (two years ago at Burning Amp), and it may have been an anomaly, but there was some scary wiring going on. So yes i do have direct experience with these amps.
And just like a pirated copy of Windows or Auto cad is good value for money, it is still stolen intellectual property. As a designer who has to trademark and copy right everything i take personal offense to these practices
Rationalise it anyway you like, selling and trading Rawson amps is morally dubious, at least for me anyway... just my two cents