Author Topic: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark  (Read 18126 times)

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Offline SolderSucker

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #150 on: December 19, 2024, 09:36:11 pm »
There's some new info about all of this on Mark's Patreon Page (this info can be viewed with the FREE membership option on Mark's Patreon). Mark has been approached by a journalist from Heise.de ("News and forums on computers, IT, science, media and politics. Price comparison of hardware and software as well as downloads at Heise Medien.").

Firstly though, read the info that is allegedly from Tom Evans on page 3 of this thread, second message down, this message:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/other-blog-specific/25-000-audiophile-pre-amp-repair-video-by-mend-it-mark/msg5742219/#msg5742219

With that in mind about what Tom Evans states regarding the method of delivery, the packaging and the state of the amp, plus Mark sending the Pre-amp to Tom Evans, etc, now read Mark's Patreon post.

My very brief summary of the info in Mark's Patreon post regarding the postage/shipping is that basically the Pre-amp was INITIALLY sent to Mark by mistake - the owner had intended to send it to Tom Evans but there were two labels on the parcel, the larger one addressed to Tom and a smaller shipping label with Mark's address on it (I am assuming that Mark had maybe sent his customer a repair in the past and the customer used the old packaging without removing the old label first?). Parcel Force decided to refer to the smaller label addressed to Mark and so deliver it to him, presumably as it had a barcode on it. There are photos and more details on Mark's Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/c/MendItMark/home

There's also a transcript of a chat between Mark and his customer, the customer sent Mark a new label to ship the Pre-amp on to Tom Evans. After that of course the customer requested that Tom Evans send the Pre-amp to Mark for repair, as we know from Mark's repair video for the amp.


Should the customer have addressed the parcel more clearly? Apparently so.

Should the customer have sent it to Tom (accidentally reaching Mark instead) via a courier instead of Parcel Force? Apparently so.

Should the customer have wrapped the Pre-amp a lot more carefully? Based on the message from Tom Evans, apparently so.

When the new label was sent to Mark from the customer to send the Pre-amp on to Tom Evans it's not mentioned which shipping service was used but we would have to assume Parcel Force/Royal Mail, hence why Tom Evans mentions that Mark allegedly shipped the parcel via the local post office. Mark did this because that's the label the customer sent him according to the chat transcript.

So there have been some errors by some parties but, from what I can tell from Mark's info, he is most certainly NOT at fault here and he didn't do anything wrong AT ALL, didn't even make a mistake. He didn't even know what was in the parcel when he sent it onto Tom Evans!

But as I've said, read all of the info and see the label photos and customer chat transcript image on Mark's Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/c/MendItMark/posts

All of this diverts from the takedown of Mark's repair video and points the finger at Mark for matters other than the repair, nevertheless it too needs addressing and ALL of the facts stated.

We need to remember that the video takedown, etc is what is key here and what has driven people's attention towards the video and its many copies.
« Last Edit: December 19, 2024, 10:05:35 pm by SolderSucker »
 
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Offline Stringwinder

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #151 on: December 19, 2024, 10:03:59 pm »
Don't worry - he won't get away with trying to clean up the mess he orchestrated all on his own.
The very renowned forum Audio Science Review has a critical thread that just now has 222 posts.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/repairing-the-questionable-%C2%A325-000-tom-evans-audiophile-pre-amp.58548/post-2138955

The earlier link that went dead contained a link to the YT video that started it all.
The link above is just critical opinions (without any video links) that totally obliterates all
the reputation he might have had before the Mend It Mark video appeared. He won't be
able to polish and clean away embarrassing facts there.

Audio Science Review is engineering and fact centered and as a test and measurement engineer I
feel at home there. I use "medium end" audio stuff but get facts about room equalization, acoustics
and test equipment there. No "Boule Sheet" discussions at all.

edit - sprelling errörs
« Last Edit: December 19, 2024, 10:05:46 pm by Stringwinder »
 
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Online BrianHG

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #152 on: December 19, 2024, 10:10:17 pm »
There's some new info about all.....
Hmmm...  I don't know.  Even if I was a multi-billionaire, I would still not send a 30k$ piece of electronics through regular post without real shipping insurance.  Though, at that income bracket, I wouldn't be the one personally shipping the device as others would be doing all the labor for me and they would be smart enough to realize that this device should be insured when sipping.
 

Offline coppice

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #153 on: December 19, 2024, 10:14:05 pm »
There's some new info about all.....
Hmmm...  I don't know.  Even if I was a multi-billionaire, I would still not send a 30k$ piece of electronics through regular post without real shipping insurance.  Though, at that income bracket, I wouldn't be the one personally shipping the device as others would be doing all the labor for me and they would be smart enough to realize that this device should be insured when sipping.
Shipping insurance? What a very American response. Most Europeans would have invested in more substantial packaging.  ;)
 

Offline SolderSucker

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #154 on: December 19, 2024, 10:34:55 pm »
There's one ray of sunshine in all of this - Mark's subscriber count keeps climbing, he's gained 10K subs since yesterday and even more since this all started. I hope he's going to thank Tom Evans for all of the free publicity.  ;)  :-DD
 

Offline Stringwinder

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #155 on: December 19, 2024, 10:55:44 pm »
The mechanical design is so bad that carrying by hand on a soft eider-down pillow
is the only safe way of transportation. The stilts for the PCB's are very narrow and
very high with the mass on top so a mild whack with a hand on the side of the amp will
break them. A few millimeters wide and much longer (like 60 mm in total) will amplify
any sideway loads until the plastic cracks. Width 6 mm, screw 2 mm in the center leaves
a L-shaped fulcrum with a 60/2 force increase on soft plastic. Either the threads in the
plastic will strip or the stilt cracks. The swedish word "klämlängd" (that I don't know
the engelska translation of) is what every designer MUST know. Long levers makes small
forces BIG.

... but it worked on the lab bench!
Now you ruined it transporting this gold-plated design!
 

Online themadhippy

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #156 on: December 19, 2024, 11:03:29 pm »
see the cardboard shims have made another  guest appearance  in marks latest video,wonder if they'll become a regular contributor.
 

Online BrianHG

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #157 on: December 19, 2024, 11:22:27 pm »
see the cardboard shims have made another  guest appearance  in marks latest video,wonder if they'll become a regular contributor.
His latest video was a repair of a 'MOST Broken' Sinclair Spectrum+2, where are the shims?
 

Online themadhippy

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #158 on: December 19, 2024, 11:37:09 pm »
Quote
where are the shims?
24:22
 
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Online squadchannel

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #159 on: December 19, 2024, 11:38:59 pm »
see the cardboard shims have made another  guest appearance  in marks latest video,wonder if they'll become a regular contributor.
His latest video was a repair of a 'MOST Broken' Sinclair Spectrum+2, where are the shims?


24:22  :-DD :-DD :-DD
 

Offline magic

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #160 on: December 19, 2024, 11:52:01 pm »
The very renowned forum Audio Science Review has a critical thread that just now has 222 posts.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/repairing-the-questionable-%C2%A325-000-tom-evans-audiophile-pre-amp.58548/post-2138955

THD+Nphools are audiophools too.

So Amir can't see any connection between a shorted rail capacitor and possibly blown ICs, in a devices which consists in 90% of voltage regulators, preregulators and postregulators? ::)
 

Offline thm_w

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #161 on: December 20, 2024, 12:49:07 am »
THD+Nphools are audiophools too.

So Amir can't see any connection between a shorted rail capacitor and possibly blown ICs, in a devices which consists in 90% of voltage regulators, preregulators and postregulators? ::)

eh, thats equivalent to saying voltnuts are fools. Or essentially any area of a hobby focused on fractional gains. We all know the benefit is minimal.
At least they are chasing after real world measurable results.
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Offline SolderSucker

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #162 on: December 20, 2024, 07:54:24 am »

My very brief summary of the info in Mark's Patreon post regarding the postage/shipping is that basically the Pre-amp was INITIALLY sent to Mark by mistake -

haha this is so fishy
it makes me think this is like a scam ?
$30000 product and you dont check labels ?

It was initially sent to Mark by mistake (by his customer) due to there being two address labels on the parcel and Parcel Force referring to the wrong one (not their fault to be honest), hence Mark initially receiving the Pre-amp when it was supposed to go straight from the customer to Tom Evans.

It's fully detailed in Mark's free Patreon post.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2024, 08:01:13 am by SolderSucker »
 

Offline magic

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #163 on: December 20, 2024, 08:15:37 am »
THD+Nphools are audiophools too.

So Amir can't see any connection between a shorted rail capacitor and possibly blown ICs, in a devices which consists in 90% of voltage regulators, preregulators and postregulators? ::)

eh, thats equivalent to saying voltnuts are fools. Or essentially any area of a hobby focused on fractional gains. We all know the benefit is minimal.
At least they are chasing after real world measurable results.

I don't think there are many voltnut-minded members at ASR. Most of them are in it for the "better sound" like cablephools, and just like them they have convinced themselves that their measurements matter, whether they actually hear anything or not.

The fact that Amir rants about "science" and "objectivity" and then writes things like "it sounds completely transparent to me, based on a sighted listening test performed after taking measurements" is rather ironic. For all we know, his Golden Ears™ might well be worth as much as those of any run-of-the-mill cablephool, but he sure talks about them a lot.

I don't recall him ever bothering to actually demonstrate any ability to tell 0.00001% from 0.001% or 0.1% or 10% or anything. I think it could be entertaining to make him do a blind test with one of his favorite THD+Nphool amps against Tom Evans, a random AliExpress special or even some half-decent valve contraption. Maybe he thinks so too and that's why he never attempts such demonstrations.

Besides, that's not his point. As an audio salesman, he is more interested in making you buy "high end" gear than finding whether you actually need it.

And it gets better, because Amir isn't then only THD+Nphool of course. I recall one TomChr who manufacturers THD+Nphool amplifiers himself and is quite vocal on ASR and other forums about them sounding better than other solid state amplifiers. Of course none of his "science" is actually backed by any strict subjective testing, he just listened to a couple of amplifiers and heared differences. Like a cablephool.
 
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Offline SolderSucker

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #164 on: December 20, 2024, 10:34:17 am »
It's kinda fun typing Tom Evans into YouTube's search bar because most of the results feature Mark and people rightly defending Mark.  :)
 

Offline 5U4GB

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #165 on: December 20, 2024, 10:48:26 am »
The swedish word "klämlängd" (that I don't know
the engelska translation of) is what every designer MUST know.

Can you attempt a translation?  A word that sounds like someone pushing a shopping trolley down a flight of concrete steps really needs to be inserted into a conversation somewhere.
 

Offline Xena E

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #166 on: December 20, 2024, 11:36:58 am »
The swedish word "klämlängd" (that I don't know
the engelska translation of) is what every designer MUST know.

Can you attempt a translation?  A word that sounds like someone pushing a shopping trolley down a flight of concrete steps really needs to be inserted into a conversation somewhere.

Literally "clamp length" I think in this context meaning mechanical amplification, or increase of mechanical advantage or force?

X
 
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Offline langwadt

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #167 on: December 20, 2024, 12:02:21 pm »
The swedish word "klämlängd" (that I don't know
the engelska translation of) is what every designer MUST know.

Can you attempt a translation?  A word that sounds like someone pushing a shopping trolley down a flight of concrete steps really needs to be inserted into a conversation somewhere.

Literally "clamp length" I think in this context meaning mechanical amplification, or increase of mechanical advantage or force?

X

https://www.nord-lock.com/sv-se/inblick/skruvsakrings-tips/2017/tips-och-rad-sa-optimerar-du-skruvforbandet-med-ratt-klamlangd/
 
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Offline timeandfrequency

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #168 on: December 20, 2024, 12:44:06 pm »
It's kinda fun typing Tom Evans into YouTube's search bar because most of the results feature Mark and people rightly defending Mark.  :)
For Tom, that's just how to become a YT celebrity without posting any video^^
 
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Offline SolderSucker

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #169 on: December 20, 2024, 02:17:51 pm »
It's kinda fun typing Tom Evans into YouTube's search bar because most of the results feature Mark and people rightly defending Mark.  :)
For Tom, that's just how to become a YT celebrity without posting any video^^

Hah, true! Although I don't think that Tom Evans has any celebrity status right now, at least not of the positive kind. On the other hand his actions have certainly drawn Mark to more people's attention and raised HIS already very good credibility even further.
 

Online themadhippy

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #170 on: December 20, 2024, 03:56:46 pm »
Quote
Although I don't think that Tom Evans has any celebrity status right now,
reading around various forums etc it would appear his only claim to fame is taking others work and passing it off as his own .
 

Offline timeandfrequency

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #171 on: December 20, 2024, 08:13:21 pm »
It's kinda fun typing Tom Evans into YouTube's search bar because most of the results feature Mark and people rightly defending Mark.  :)
For Tom, that's just how to become a YT celebrity without posting any video^^

Hah, true! Although I don't think that Tom Evans has any celebrity status right now, at least not of the positive kind. On the other hand his actions have certainly drawn Mark to more people's attention and raised HIS already very good credibility even further.
Yes : Mark raked in about +32 k subscribers since he posted the video that was taken down.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2024, 10:12:02 pm by timeandfrequency »
 

Offline Coordonnée_chromatique

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« Last Edit: December 20, 2024, 08:43:13 pm by Coordonnée_chromatique »
 

Offline thm_w

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #173 on: December 20, 2024, 09:53:38 pm »
The fact that Amir rants about "science" and "objectivity" and then writes things like "it sounds completely transparent to me, based on a sighted listening test performed after taking measurements" is rather ironic. For all we know, his Golden Ears™ might well be worth as much as those of any run-of-the-mill cablephool, but he sure talks about them a lot.

Thats a bit of a different argument, IMO, just the regular meaningless audiophile speak.

Quote
I don't recall him ever bothering to actually demonstrate any ability to tell 0.00001% from 0.001% or 0.1% or 10% or anything. I think it could be entertaining to make him do a blind test with one of his favorite THD+Nphool amps against Tom Evans, a random AliExpress special or even some half-decent valve contraption. Maybe he thinks so too and that's why he never attempts such demonstrations.

I don't think you need to demonstrate it, its a number on a screen.
But it would still be entertaining to see yes, In reality its something like 3% distortion before you can actually notice it: https://www.axiomaudio.com/blog/distortion so 1/10th of that would be good enough.
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Offline coppice

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Re: £25,000 Audiophile Pre-Amp repair video by Mend It Mark
« Reply #174 on: December 20, 2024, 09:57:22 pm »
Could you tell what an EE think of this kind of preamplifier please ?
A more elaborated scam ?
https://www.thetadigital.com/generationviii/
https://tmraudio.com/components/d-a-converters/theta-digital-generation-viii-s3-dac-d-a-converter-remote-24-192-upgrade/#mz-expanded-view-218174910527

In terms of value for money, there is quite a lot in there, so for a small volume product $10k is not an entirely stupid price. I expect its post office tolerance is far superior to the Master Groove pre-amp, for less than half the price, so that's a plus. Whether it offers any useful performance is another matter. It says is uses pairs of 24 bit ladder DACs. These are rather bogus products. I very much doubt they have made their own silicon, and if a 24 bit ladder DAC is built from a bunch of chips its very difficult to stabilise their temperatures well enough that the various chips track each other sufficiently well, even if you ovenize them. At one point the big silicon vendors tried making 24 bit ladder ICs, but matching problems killed them off.

I believe the original Theta goes back to the early days of CDs when most CD sound quality was quite poor, due to the performance of affordable early 80s DACs. However, the world has moved on. The results people like AKM achieve these days with cheap audio ADC and DAC chips is quite impressive.
 


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