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jaguarmusicboy · 3rd January 2007

I'm always amazed at the ease with which people in this forum can get their noses out of joint and their knickers in a twist over this stuff; at which point a perfectly reasonable thread will become derailed as one or more parties weighs in with an initial salvo of "LET THE FLAMES BEGIN!" Now I know that musicians and sound engineers are a fiesty lot in general, but cmon folks! Save the venom for the people who need it (my candidates would be the ENTIRE Bush administration and everyone connected with the creation and marketing of BARNEY). Differences are a fact of life as are the conflicts they engender. Successfully managing conflict is an essential survival skill; it inhibits the ultimate social disease of mismanaged conflict which is WAR. So ... in the interest of fairness and a return to useful dialogue (two words never uttered in Pentagon speak) ...

1) Thank you Flute Player, for initiating this thread about a line of equipment I have had a LOT of curiousity about. It appears that the general consensus is certainly in favor of the sound quality being achieved at HCL.

2) Thank you King DaddyO and Not So New, for bringing attention to the wiring and build quality issues. The photo that King supplied the link for should - infact - instill
some caution in those of us who are thinking about purchasing gear from HCL. In particular, the proximity of wires to the heat generating tubes should be a MAJOR concern to the builders especially since only a little extra care in the design and fabrication of these products would eliminate the potential for major shorts and even a possible fire hazard.

In partial defense of the builders, much of the hand point-to-point soldered vintage gear that folks seem to LOVE to throw money at on ebay (RCA, Western Electric,
Federal, etc) looks pretty messy when opened up for inspection; but wires that run in close proximity to an unshielded heat source are absolutely unacceptable. It may be that that particular photo was of an older unit, or an unfortunate "monday morning" sample. In any case, were I the manufacturer, I'd be going back to the designer/fabricators and demanding they implement rapid changes to their design and construction process to improve the safety and longevity of the product. I am still intrigued to hear and try this line; but I don't care HOW good it sounds, I don't want to pay $1200.00 for something that spontaneously combusts in eight months.

After all, spontaneous combustion is for drummers!

Final two cents: HCL should be grateful for this feedback. We all learn from this forum, that's why we're here. What's been suggested is not difficult or expensive and if incorporated, it will greatly improve both the image and sales of their products.

Now play nice in the sandbox all of you, unless of course you're contemplating shooting a purple dinosaur, in which case, GO FOR IT!

Happy New Year All!

3rd January 2007	#29
jaguarmusicboy Gear Head Joined: Jan 2006 Location: NYC	There are things to be said for tolerating different views and managing conflict I'm always amazed at the ease with which people in this forum can get their noses out of joint and their knickers in a twist over this stuff; at which point a perfectly reasonable thread will become derailed as one or more parties weighs in with an initial salvo of "LET THE FLAMES BEGIN!" Now I know that musicians and sound engineers are a fiesty lot in general, but cmon folks! Save the venom for the people who need it (my candidates would be the ENTIRE Bush administration and everyone connected with the creation and marketing of BARNEY). Differences are a fact of life as are the conflicts they engender. Successfully managing conflict is an essential survival skill; it inhibits the ultimate social disease of mismanaged conflict which is WAR. So ... in the interest of fairness and a return to useful dialogue (two words never uttered in Pentagon speak) ... 1) Thank you Flute Player, for initiating this thread about a line of equipment I have had a LOT of curiousity about. It appears that the general consensus is certainly in favor of the sound quality being achieved at HCL. 2) Thank you King DaddyO and Not So New, for bringing attention to the wiring and build quality issues. The photo that King supplied the link for should - infact - instill some caution in those of us who are thinking about purchasing gear from HCL. In particular, the proximity of wires to the heat generating tubes should be a MAJOR concern to the builders especially since only a little extra care in the design and fabrication of these products would eliminate the potential for major shorts and even a possible fire hazard. In partial defense of the builders, much of the hand point-to-point soldered vintage gear that folks seem to LOVE to throw money at on ebay (RCA, Western Electric, Federal, etc) looks pretty messy when opened up for inspection; but wires that run in close proximity to an unshielded heat source are absolutely unacceptable. It may be that that particular photo was of an older unit, or an unfortunate "monday morning" sample. In any case, were I the manufacturer, I'd be going back to the designer/fabricators and demanding they implement rapid changes to their design and construction process to improve the safety and longevity of the product. I am still intrigued to hear and try this line; but I don't care HOW good it sounds, I don't want to pay $1200.00 for something that spontaneously combusts in eight months. After all, spontaneous combustion is for drummers! Final two cents: HCL should be grateful for this feedback. We all learn from this forum, that's why we're here. What's been suggested is not difficult or expensive and if incorporated, it will greatly improve both the image and sales of their products. Now play nice in the sandbox all of you, unless of course you're contemplating shooting a purple dinosaur, in which case, GO FOR IT! Happy New Year All!