Have you tried the ART SLA-1 amp yet?

Just to be clear.

I'm not against threads with folks who have commercial interests so I agree with David and Ears above. Often they are knowledgeable because they deal with things every day and we are all amateurs. If D911 has them who cares if they are disclosed. On the other hand "anonymous" (puppet) posts from people with commercial interests are intolerable.

It is somewhat difficult to balance commercial interests with valuable advice but it is certainly possible and can make for a better forum. Rives' excellent contributions on room acoustics come to mind. Disclosure and a certain restraint (which is rather hard to describe) is important though.

I was just wondering why the information in the thread was removed. If the moderators thought that there were commercial interests being unfairly presented at least I can understand their motive and thinking in removing the post.(and as I said above I missed the thread and have no idea of its content) Otherwise it appears as some sort of censorship that makes you wonder along the lines of Fiddler's last sentence.

Sincerely
I remain,

I stumbled upon the thread in question last week while doing due diligence on the Parasound JC-1. It made for a fascinating read, especially when D911 admitted to doing mods for the SLA-1. I assume Audiogon removed the thread because they rightly saw it as a shameless commercial effort (badly) disguised as a question, "What's the best amp you ever heard?" I think they were acting to preserve the integrity of the site, and I applaud them for it.

That said, I have to tell you I was intrigued enough to buy the amp, for fun. I just spent the weekend with it, and I can say without hesitation that it's a pretty worthy little amp that didn't embarrass itself in my $50,000 system. Plenty of caveats and reservations, though, which I'd like to explore in a separate review. I think this amp deserves some exposure, so a thread should be started by someone who hasn't already used up their credibility. I'll try to post tonight, when I have more time, or I'll add to another thread started by a trustworthy member.

I hope I haven't offended you, D911, but you really did blow it with that post last week. Run an ad, it's cheap, and I'd probably call you.

I am posting this in two places:
The way I look at this is that D911 has a financial interest on the line here and is really doing some major league bragging about is his modded amp. In and of itself no hurt to anyone. But on the other hand, whats the difference between this and every one of us who is about to sell a piece of gear using some "gimic" to start a thread saying how good it is. We would be swamped.

D911 started this game and should show his cards. It seems reasonable for him to send one of his modded units to an audiogon member who we all feel will give an impartial evaluation. In this way Don has one unit tied up in testing so there is no big financial anchor for him, unless it doesn't pass the test. But if it does, he benefits. If this works it can be benchmark for future self promotions.

I agree with Clueless, especially his assertion that a certain level of restraint is warranted. Like he says, it's hard to describe, I guess it's like pornography...

However, once that line is crossed, we are now into the area of free advertising, and not only do I find that offensive and in bad taste, but it is unfair to other manufacturers, distibutors, technicians, salespeople, etc.

I have always been of the opinion that rather than bar these interests from the Audiogon Discussion Forums, they should be encouraged. It adds to the wealth of everyone's audio experience.

With certain provisions.

First, there should be full disclosure. Which is something that Don did not do last week(no problem, everyone gets a free mistake) but seems to be coy again this week(resurfacing again to blow the horn and get some chatter going) - which should warrant at least some comment. Secondly, and stating this again, there should be no free advertising. I pay Audiogon to get the word out of something I have available, as does everyone else.

I do want to make clear that I have no axe to grind about this amplifier, I have not heard it. In fact, it certainly would be welcome to have an inexpensive amplifier provide audiophiles with good sound.

So what is the dividing line on audio boards for pushing products? Yes Don did cross over many people's imaginary lines in posting about his mods on the deleted thread, but isn't audio gear pushed on internet audio boards all the time? You or I like a product so much that we post a rave about it on an audio board. It happens all the time, right? So in a way we're acting as salesmen for McCormack, Plinius, etc etc by pushing their product with free internet advertising for the manufacturer. We've had positive personal experience with a piece of gear, liked it, then recommended it when someone asked. Don comes in on a "What's the best amp you've heard" thread and says that his modded amp is the best he's heard, while others chime in with Plinius or McCormack or whatever. What's the difference (besides a little financial interest by Don)between Don's suggestions and ours? No one knows the motivation of everyone who says something positive about a piece of audio gear and industry shills are all over the audio boards, subtly and not so subtly pushing their wares. Dealers and manufacturers aren't doing any of us a favor by hanging out on audio boards soft-selling their products. Don didn't do anything different on the deleted than what happens here and on the other boards in some shape or form every day.