eloz do you guyz realize that these type of IEM really easy to spoilt if you plug into ur laptop or desktop pc?
currently edi spoilt 2 philips IEM lolz.. one side of the earphone sound not coming out edi...

not craping on this thread here but give brader PCdude's super mod ksc75 v2 a listen with a good source+amp. even uncle WALA's jaws dropped! and we're ABX'in with his MS2i

yeah, no doubt...after amped, ksc75 beat m3 anytimes...but if u try m3 amped by high-end amps.....i think u will not forgot the sound as well....dont underestimate it as wel...  

 

bro...hornet is waiting for u...    

i know this not the correct thread to discuss this but IMO there are some conveniently forgotton elements in your assumptions. while it maybe common for diy amps to be cheaper, they also usually look and are built cheaper. taking SQ out of the equation for the time being, i've had nothing but ooohss & aaahhss whenever anyone sees my RSA Tomahawk. its one of the best built (and argueably the best looker too) small porty amp and i'd pit it against anything anyone can diy.

as for value, if u check in headfi's classifieds u'l find that rays (and indeed most other branded too) products are highly sought after and retains a very high resale value. infact if one buys it used (which i did btw), i can almost say for certain that any losses in reselling would be minimal if at all. so in reality if one discounts initial purchase cost, one can actually buy, use and resell at very minimal costs. now if thats not value tell me what is? and then there's Xin amps which can often fetch more than what they retail for!!!

lastly there's SQ and pride of ownership. i dont know whats the best but on synergistic headfons, even yuheng and wala (both of whom auditioned my Tomahawk and my ex. ppav2) cannot proclaim the Tommy loses to the highly rated diy PPAv2. they share a lot of similarities and all 3of us concluded that its a matter of sonic presentations rather than sonic superiorities. indeed i saw more than afew smiling faces (at our recent Bolehtown headfi meet) after listening to my Gmod>Tomahawk>AT W5k combo. and as of yet, i've never had an amp that provided me more pride of ownership than the Tomahawk. plus 2aaa batteries lasts me over 400hrs! talk about true portability  !

so if u take all my above points into the SQ/performance/quality/value/prde-of-ownership equation (excepting initial purchase costs), DIY components may or may NOT be the great deal that it seems. perhaps its thie other way 'round    

Hey no offence taken. Whether u are arrogant or a loudmouth or an intellectual giant for that matter, is interpretory.  All I'm doing is making an attempt to provide some balance to the commercial vs diy argument that u began. I do believe the best way to provide that balance is to stick to facts and figures.

Whether Ray Samuels makes good amps or not can be argued but whether RSA products sell and whether they are highly desired or not, cannot. A search on Headfi will provide all the data to verify that RSA (and a lot of other Brands) are highly prized. While I respect diy'ers, the sales figures will attest to the fact that 99% of the population purchase commercial products. Perhaps even diy'er would buy commercial too if they can afford it. Again its my opinion that value is of prime importance in any purchase and taking the points elaborated in my last post, it is shown that commercial branded products can be not only very economically viable but great value as well.

Now I do tip my hat off to people who believe that they can build a better mouse trap and perhaps in their own minds, they can. However where I come from we have an old saying - "the proof the pie is in the eating". Just as accusations and claims are NOT considered evidence nor proof, true respect is gained by "making the pie, putting it out there and let the public tasteand decide". Else what respect one believes one can garner by assumptions, suppositions and claims will start to smell like what pops out of the rear-end after a heavy meal of beans (or in our case, durian and petai).

While Team NATO members might disagree, it is my humble opinion that true respect comes from physically DOING what is claimed rather than performing gigantus feats of oratory poop. But that's just my opinion of'coz. Everyone else is entitled to theirs.

Before that, honestly I am having a same opinion as Littleghost, "nah, tomahawk is so overpriced (even I am selling them/I dont open customer's package)", "so small, need 1.5k meh?". But then you have to try it, try with various setups, with rigs you are familiar with.

before more folks go over board on OT, let me remind everyone that this is a Mylarone appreciation thread. i wont say anymore more as my views are clearly expressed by my last 2posts. i'll end by saying that although everyone is entitled to their opinions, making false bravado claims is akin to sniffing glue IMO unless of coz one belongs to the glue sniffing Team NATO. best way for real leadership and respect is through substantiating all claims with facts and figures (again unless one is just out to blow smoke and sniff glue ofcoz )