My Apologies to Miller Carbon

I'll add another thanks to MC, I've never asked a question or input from him direct, but have gained a wealth of information by reading his input/comments and trying out some of his recommendations for myself with gains on my audio system, cheers.

An Australian aboriginal boy would have picked up the snake by the tail, cracked it like a whip breaking it’s neck, and taken it down the mountain to cook it and eat it. Probably with Sweet Baby Ray’s Chipotle and Mesquite sauce, because Texan BBQ is pretty good!
I look forward to MC Ribs!

@tsuchima1 - evidently you were being a tool to chazzzy007, right?

I was onboard with MC until I read his post about charging someone 500.00 to put together a simple beginner audio system. That doesn’t sit well with me. We should be welcoming new blood and offer help as often as possible, and for free……..

Oz

Nice thread.
Ozzy, maybe they had already been $1000 of pita, lol. 
Miller, thanks for your help.

I was on board with ozzy62 until I read his post about passing moral judgment on things he knows nothing about. Posing as moral authority over one and all doesn't sit well with me. We should be supporting each other and not passing judgment. Virtue signaling is free. Actual virtue, not so much.

Apologies, but I will never purchase the following products because I am concerned that the hype here is due in no small part to a certain prolific poster receiving undisclosed “good customer” discounts: tekton, perfect path solutions,  better records stampers, raven, Townshend… I know I’m missing some. Again, apologies. 

@coys21...Quite ...Caveat Emptor indeed

@coys21,

"Apologies, but I will never purchase the following products because I am concerned that the hype here is due in no small part to a certain prolific poster receiving undisclosed “good customer” discounts: tekton, perfect path solutions, better records stampers, raven, Townshend… I know I’m missing some. Again, apologies."



Say it ain't so, because if it is true, it might invalidate an awful lot of recent hot rhetoric.

As they say, when it comes to hi fidelitas, caveat emptor indeed!


As for leaving amps on all the time, I did that with my Naim amp for years and years with no issue. 

Did they really sound any better like that? Who knows? 

My Creek amp permanently remains in standby mode as a matter of fact. To actually switch it off means reaching around the back and switching it there. Or the mains.

However I certainly wouldn't recommend leaving  valves/tubes on all the time.

That's just asking for trouble.

"Apologies, but I will never purchase the following products because I am concerned that the hype here is due in no small part to a certain prolific poster receiving undisclosed “good customer” discounts: tekton, perfect path solutions, better records stampers, raven, Townshend… I know I’m missing some. Again, apologies."
  

  Its very obvious to anyone with the ability to think MC has been schilling quite a few companies on this site for a long time...Tekton for sure! ...As far as celebrating this user for coming up with the ingenious idea of leaving gear on,maybe just read your owners manuals,lol

Yes oz I am an ass. A big enough ass to teach the children a lesson. If only they will listen. Which being children they will not. But seeing as the whole point of this thread is there are adults reading along as well they will maybe get a kick out of it. This is after all a lot of what I write. The kids are clueless but the grown-ups get the in-jokes.

I’ve been a big enough audiophile long enough people would seek me out. Like one day this co-worker comes and says hey I would like to buy my husband a really nice system for his birthday, would you be willing? We talked about it, agreed on a price. I went out to their place to check out the room, make sure everything would work. I bought everything, set it up at my place and burned it in, then came and set it all up to be perfect for his birthday. For $2500 she got service nobody gets for $50k.

When her husband heard it he called me up and the first thing he said was how much was this tell me the truth she says only $2500 but I’ve been in some nice homes no way this has to be at least twice that. No, she is right, $2500. Second thing he says, "I hope she took care of you."

So there may be an ass here but it sure ain’t me.

Now, seeing as you know nothing of the true circumstances and therefore have no legitimate excuse to be preaching to anyone but did so anyway the question is, why? What did you hope to gain? One would be to put me in my place. On a thread the subject of which is to apologize to me. What kind of ass butts into a thread like that with insults like this? So could be you are arrogant and selfish on top of moralistic and preachy. Or could be you see this as an opportunity to let everyone know what a great person you are. That my friend is virtue signaling.

Now as for the other crap, this is gonna be a challenge but please try and think things through. Suppose for the sake of the argument everyone is paying me. Yes, I waited the same as everyone else for zero discount on my Moabs, I can’t even get Raven to build me a Reflection, at all, and even the Blackhawk is not shipped after 2 weeks, again zero discount, and I could go on but again for the sake of the silly story we will assume it is all true. Ted Denney himself called me up and sent me $30k of product (review to follow), Tom Port got me a White Hot Year of the Cat (for which I paid full price, but he got it for me) so it is not like there aren’t opportunities.

So what? As long as my reviews and evaluations are spot on, so what? This gets right to the point of this whole thread: I have a record of credibility, of helping people, of giving good solid actionable advice. The people following it are all over this thread saying yes indeed it is good advice.

Because it is. The only way that changes is if I set aside my integrity and start calling a sows ear a silk purse. Which ain’t never gonna happen.

@millercarbon wrote:

This gets right to the point of this whole thread: I have a record of credibility, of helping people, of giving good solid actionable advice. The people following it are all over this thread saying yes indeed it is good advice.

Amen.

@ twoleftears  - I nearly moved on an Inakustic power conditioner, until I had another Agoner tell me about the Puritan PSM 156. I did however purchase their demagnetizer disk and music. 

Did you buy any of their cables? I have heard good things of them.

What a turn of events here. This start's out complimenting miller, then turn's to insults. The more appropriate clip would be when she pukes the green stuff! 🤢  

Johnny on the spot! 😄👍

"What a turn of events here. This start's out complimenting miller, then turn's to insults."

Highly predictable, unfortunately. MDS.

Sometimes you need to gather several points of comment on equipment from different users to form a more informed opinion.  Townshend podiums for example I recommend as a critical component.  Synergistic Research fuses I can't recommend because they have failed in my system (blown) twice with different equipment.  Synergistic Research HFT's yes they made a significant improvement in my room.  Just my two cents worth. 

Thanks, middlemass. MDS, indeed.

goose, that is the idea, to share actual user experience in a way others may find useful. Thanks!

dweller. 
I own a PS Audio S300 amp. They specifically say to leave it on.  This is why I hate this forum. Down is up and up is down so often. 

"The proof of the pudding is in the eating" was the original phrase.

https://www.npr.org/2012/08/24/159975466/corrections-and-comments-to-stories

that is the idea, to share actual user experience in a way others may find useful.

experience or imagination?
There is a difference

Just when you start to think MC isnt quite so bad, he then has to post something. You let others take about your merits other than talking about them yourself. So even if half of what he posts about himself is true, I am still not interested in what he has to say. 

Leave on or turn off?  My amp, Hegel H590, as well as my CD Transport, both go into standby mode when sitting idle for about 15 minutes.  Not sure if this equates to disconnecting the power supply but the manufacturer clearly did not intend to have the equipment left "turned on" all the time?  

I think millercarbon knows his stuff and his recommendations are solid. You might not want to "go the distance" like he does but his path to the best sound is true.

I’m going all in on Townshend vibration isolation and F-1 cables as I’ve been wanting to upgrade my cables for awhile. I’ve had Townshend Seismic Sinks for a long time and believe in their products. I’ve seen plenty of nice system pictures with Townshend Podiums under expensive speakers so that has nothing to do with MC.

Vibration isolation matters. Whichever product you use is better than none I would imagine.

Going with Moneoone power cables as well.

My favorite Millercarbon story is about the night I got the 10 pm phone call from him as he took a break from listening to his system:

Me: "Hello?"

Him: "Frank ... this is Chuck. I had to call someone who would understand!"

Me: "I know how you feel."

Him: "This is unbelievable!"

Me: "I know."

Him: "Goodnight."

Me: "Goodnight."

I still laugh about this. In fact, I’m laughing as I write this.

Frank

@oregonpapa 
was MC calling about his system or his intoxicants?

Is he overconfident? Usually, but justifiably so because he has tried whatever he recommends.

A fact check...because it's pertinent.

He was recommending Tekton well before he received his Moab loudspeakers, yet he had not heard Tekton speakers in his system. Although he has been promoting Raven Audio integrated amplifiers for well over a year, he has not heard one in his system. He will soon, though.

"Apologies, but I will never purchase the following products because I am concerned that the hype here is due in no small part to a certain prolific poster receiving undisclosed “good customer” discounts: tekton, perfect path solutions,  better records stampers, raven, Townshend… I know I’m missing some. Again, apologies."

What???

I don't understand the correlation.

I could see never purchasing the following products because:
They don't sound good
They don't match what I have
They are constructed using child labor
They are poorly constructed
They are too expensive
They aren't worth the hype
They throw off dangerous radiation 
or a myriad of other reasons related to the actual product

but to restrict your options due to the promotion of someone you disagree with sure gives that person a boat load of power.

I'm a tube guy so I turn my stuff off at night but it's usually on for the hours I'm home.  Not sure the reason whether it's real or imagined (does that really matter?) but it does seem to sound better late at night.

I've had solid state Rowland Model 12 monoblocks since 2009 and I've never left them "on". They've always been in standby mode. I thought that was how it was supposed to be.

I never read it addressed in the owners manual that it is ok, or recommended, to always leave them on.

However, my Model 201 mono amp and Model 102 stereo surround amp ARE always on. There is only an on/off power switch in the back.

Things that make you go hmmmm.

Missed this thread earlier, but I, too, have learned a lot in a relatively short space of time from MC's years of experimentation. Almost everything he recommended worked in my system, and much of it had stunning effects. I pay attention to when he discovers something new, even when I can't afford it :-)!

+1 for more civility on the forum.

  ieales >>>

• "Was MC calling about his system or his intoxicants?"

  
Um, I don't remember. :-)

All this will surely go to his already huge head, but hey--I'll chime in, too. MC is opinionated, arrogant, but, well, sort of brilliant in this weird corner of fetishland. His occasional revelations of political leanings scare me, but I guess that that's just another expression of his passion. And he's a very good writer, which (sorry) can't be said for many on this site.

But all that's beside the point, right? The only relevant question concerns his "expertise" in things audiophilic. And in that arena, his knowledge is vast, and he offers it with real generosity. Shilling for products? I don't believe it, and anyway, I don't care; we're all adults here, we can make brand decisions for ourselves. All I can say is that he has helped me with fairly obscure problems I've had, proposing solutions no one else came up with, that worked. He's also advocated for things that, IMO, don't work, like Schumann resonance generators. But that's ok; it was fun giving those a try anyway.

Chuck, if I may call you that, I hope we have the chance to meet one day. We'll disagree about a lot, but what's the point of associating only with those who mirror one's own worldview? You've given a great deal to this forum, and as this thread proves, many of us appreciate it. So: thanks.

I’ve tried some of MCs tweaks, maybe not to the letter but in theory (Gaia instead of Townsend), and Schuman generators are examples of this. They have improved the performance of my system and I’m grateful for the advice.

@georgehoffman60 wrote:

"Missed this thread earlier, but I, too, have learned a lot in a relatively short space of time from MC's years of experimentation. Almost everything he recommended worked in my system, and much of it had stunning effects. I pay attention to when he discovers something new, even when I can't afford it :-)!"

Exactly. George nailed it.