DIY Holton amplifier builds underpowered and distorted

[noiseangel]

Very sad for the builders.

 

[dc-sound]

Thank god I ran into this forum. This makes me so angry - I have been reviewing HiFi gear over the past 6 months in order to rebuild my system and Holton was up on the list, as were a great many Aussie suppliers. But slowly the wheels are beginning to fall off and not unexpectedly. When the hell did this country lose its pride and integrity. Thanks again, I wont go near them with a barge pole now and I am going to do a lot more research with the other Aussie suppliers before I commit.

 

[noiseangel]

Thank god I ran into this forum. This makes me so angry - I have been reviewing HiFi gear over the past 6 months in order to rebuild my system and Holton was up on the list, as were a great many Aussie suppliers. But slowly the wheels are beginning to fall off and not unexpectedly. When the hell did this country lose its pride and integrity. Thanks again, I wont go near them with a barge pole now and I am going to do a lot more research with the other Aussie suppliers before I commit.

If you were going to do a DIY then you should seriously consider Purifi. Check out Amirs test rankings. You wont be sorry.

 

[noiseangel]

Thank god I ran into this forum. This makes me so angry - I have been reviewing HiFi gear over the past 6 months in order to rebuild my system and Holton was up on the list, as were a great many Aussie suppliers. But slowly the wheels are beginning to fall off and not unexpectedly. When the hell did this country lose its pride and integrity. Thanks again, I wont go near them with a barge pole now and I am going to do a lot more research with the other Aussie suppliers before I commit.

March Audio make Purifi amps and he is an Aussie manufacturer that will back you up and support you. Honestly at the price March sells at I wouldn't even bother building, I would just buy from him. He has a great reputation. Don't buy Elektra either.

 

[AudioJester]

Whats the issue with Elektra?

 

[noiseangel]

Whats the issue with Elektra?

From what I have read on DIYAUDIO he has been outed for using other peoples DIY designs. He didn't reply to defend himself after the post was made so make up your own mind about his integrity from the silence. Other members on there also felt that this is what was going on and commented on it. So although there are many good DIY designs out there you wouldn't really know what you are getting if you bought one. Also there are no published results to back up the validity of specifications he quotes which is very little since the guy makes them in his backyard and doesn't have a website. Basically this amplifier hasn't been scrutinized to the extent that an amplifier at this price should be scruted. (My new word) If I was spending 5k I would need to see the bench test results done the way Amir does them. An Audio Science Review is what is needed here and not a 10 line specification page with a picture on it. Just my opinion.

 

[thibaw]

Elektra isn’t a DIY backyard operation. They are a well established part of the Australian market making very highly regarded amps and an excellent reputation with their users. In my experience their back up and support is personal and very good. I bought a 15 year old Elektra pre from ebay which had a problem. It was fixed by Elektra for cost of parts.
I can’t see how badmouthing businesses and spreading idle rumours without substantiation is of much use to anyone.

 

[AudioJester]

My recollections of Elektra were some strange variations in pricing. Back in the days you could source it from some guys on DTV forums for almost half the retail price.
I have heard the multichannel version in a buddies HT setup. Could not fault it and was a definite improvement over the previous AVR. He also got good support when it developed a problem in 1 channel and had to be repaired.

But yes, on a site like ASR measured performance is what is scrutinised and there is not much that I can see for Elektra. Verbal hyperbole of an "expensive" product without justification merits caution.

I do like to support local business. We Aussies are also good at shooting each other down.......

 

[thibaw]

Yes, sure, hyperbole needs to be challenged but I don’t see a lot of that heavy handed marketing or extravagant claims from Elektra. I have the old Elektra and it does exactly what it says on the tin, and very well.

 

[noiseangel]

Elektra isn’t a DIY backyard operation. They are a well established part of the Australian market making very highly regarded amps and an excellent reputation with their users. In my experience their back up and support is personal and very good. I bought a 15 year old Elektra pre from ebay which had a problem. It was fixed by Elektra for cost of parts.
I can’t see how badmouthing businesses and spreading idle rumours without substantiation is of much use to anyone.

Tell that to this guy. Straight from his thread on stereonet which has more than likely been deleted by Marc. His experience is certainly not what yours was.. There is nothing idle about the rumours.

Just an update on my Elektra situation guys.

As I mentioned above I got in contact with Arthur and after a few months of back and forth finally got my Elektra to him for diagnosis in early September. Initially he thought it may have been a relay issue but ultimately it was a loose ground wire on the centre channel that was the culprit so a fairly simple fix.

Anyway he's had it nearly for 2 months in his possession and I've tried numerous times to get him to issue me an invoice for his costs being mainly freight, insurance and packaging so far without success. He just doesn't reply to my emails at all and fobs me off every time I call him always promising to send me back my unit but so far no action whatsoever. It's been a quite frustrating process if I'm being brutally honest.

Thankfully I have an extremely patient Perth buyer lined up but at some point he will lose interest and buy something else and frankly I wouldn't blame him.

I first contacted Arthur back in July and now it's about to roll into November with no idea when I might actually get my Elektra back other than so far empty promises. I'm trying to be as understanding as possible but being polite isn't getting me anywhere atm.

I wish I could be a little more positive about the situation and I'm at a loss at what to do next. Unfortunately not living in Victoria I'm entirely reliant on Arthur to act in good faith as I can't rock up to his business premises myself.

What kind of turnaround times have others experienced sending their amps to Arthur for repair? It will soon will be coming up to around 4mths from initial contact for me and counting.

Felix

Edited 56 minutes ago by Felix..

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/315571-faulty-channel-with-elektra-theatron-amp/

 

[Tranquility Bass]

Elektra isn’t a DIY backyard operation. They are a well established part of the Australian market making very highly regarded amps and an excellent reputation with their users. In my experience their back up and support is personal and very good. I bought a 15 year old Elektra pre from ebay which had a problem. It was fixed by Elektra for cost of parts.
I can’t see how badmouthing businesses and spreading idle rumours without substantiation is of much use to anyone.

So why is he on diyaudio all of the time fishing for free design information ?? Just go on diyaudio and search for PHEONIX. That is him.

He's been doing this for years. He big notes himself and takes credit for other peoples work and doesn't even have the decency to compensate them for their time and effort . Instead he rewards his mates in the shop who contributed nothing to the design process

And when I was still talking to him all he ever did was bag the crap out of all of the other local players for no reason at all except they were there having ago. That was their only crime in his eyes. Never a bad word about the imports that his mates in the shop sold. He just hates anyone else here having a go which would explain why he kept me in the dark for so long because he didn't want me to get involved in this industry. I was just there as his free advisory service whilst he was running to his mates in the shop and putting money in their pockets.

As a consumer you have no idea what goes on on the other side of the fence. It is truly a culture shock to be in this industry here in Australia as I found out the hard way. Little wonder there are no real internationally recognized Australian Hifi brands It's like dealing with the mafia and if you are not part of the mob then you'd better watch out. They'll run you our of the town like it's the wild west. Seen that happened over a the years to a few of the local players

Then when you mind your own business and seek out your own market space and customers as I did there's that one, drunk on power, running that silly rubbish over censored forum, trying to hatch up a plan to take customers away from you. Of course it's always a conspiracy theory with him and he never knows anything about it when it's convenient for him. Just takes the money

cheers

 

[noiseangel]

Yes, sure, hyperbole needs to be challenged but I don’t see a lot of that heavy handed marketing or extravagant claims from Elektra. I have the old Elektra and it does exactly what it says on the tin, and very well.

I think every audio product should be scrutinised to the extent that is done on here. I wouldn't buy anything that I could not see the test results of anymore. That eliminates about 90% of the market straight away. Now you may say I'm probably missing out on a lot excellent equipment but a glossy brochure and a flash looking website (or no website) does not cut it for me any more especially when Im going to spend 5k plus on something. Show me your 5k price tag is justified and I will give you a go.

 

[Chrispy]

I think every audio product should be scrutinised to the extent that is done on here. I wouldn't buy anything that I could not see the test results of anymore. That eliminates about 90% of the market straight away. Now you may say I'm probably missing out on a lot excellent equipment but a glossy brochure and a flash looking website (or no website) does not cut it for me any more especially when Im going to spend 5k plus on something. Show me your 5k price tag is justified and I will give you a go.

What, you don't go for fancy metallic faceplates with nice laser engraving, with a nicely lit vu meter and volume knobs that feel so silky smooth when caressed by your fingers and the resultant increase in sound fidelity achieved that way?

 

[noiseangel]

What, you don't go for fancy metallic faceplates with nice laser engraving, with a nicely lit vu meter and volume knobs that feel so silky smooth when caressed by your fingers and the resultant increase in sound fidelity achieved that way?

Nope

 

[noiseangel]

I do like watching CNC machines at work but it doesn't make the product sound any better and since I listen with my eyes closed I don't see what I'm listening to anyway, I hear it. Can't hear a 5k CNC machined case unfortunately. I wouldn't care if it had no case as long as it did what it says it does.

 

[thibaw]

Tell that to this guy. Straight from his thread on stereonet which has more than likely been deleted by Marc. His experience is certainly not what yours was.. There is nothing idle about the rumours.

Just an update on my Elektra situation guys.

As I mentioned above I got in contact with Arthur and after a few months of back and forth finally got my Elektra to him for diagnosis in early September. Initially he thought it may have been a relay issue but ultimately it was a loose ground wire on the centre channel that was the culprit so a fairly simple fix.

Anyway he's had it nearly for 2 months in his possession and I've tried numerous times to get him to issue me an invoice for his costs being mainly freight, insurance and packaging so far without success. He just doesn't reply to my emails at all and fobs me off every time I call him always promising to send me back my unit but so far no action whatsoever. It's been a quite frustrating process if I'm being brutally honest.

Thankfully I have an extremely patient Perth buyer lined up but at some point he will lose interest and buy something else and frankly I wouldn't blame him.

I first contacted Arthur back in July and now it's about to roll into November with no idea when I might actually get my Elektra back other than so far empty promises. I'm trying to be as understanding as possible but being polite isn't getting me anywhere atm.

I wish I could be a little more positive about the situation and I'm at a loss at what to do next. Unfortunately not living in Victoria I'm entirely reliant on Arthur to act in good faith as I can't rock up to his business premises myself.

What kind of turnaround times have others experienced sending their amps to Arthur for repair? It will soon will be coming up to around 4mths from initial contact for me and counting.

Felix

Edited 56 minutes ago by Felix..

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/315571-faulty-channel-with-elektra-theatron-amp/

less than 2 months for the repair of an old and discontinued amp. Is that so bad? actually we don’t know how long he’s had it, but seems 6 or 7 weeks is more likely. Not a great repair turnaround but hardly demands legal proceedings. Getting anything done for the past few months in Victoria with our hard lockdown has been incredibly difficult.
Oh well, At least it’s given everyone an opening to vent their personal feelings.

 

[AudioJester]

Yes, sure, hyperbole needs to be challenged but I don’t see a lot of that heavy handed marketing or extravagant claims from Elektra. I have the old Elektra and it does exactly what it says on the tin, and very well.

Look on stereonet - loads of purely subjective hyperbole about Elektra. On the flip side I dont think I have seen much criticism from owners who are generally satisified like you.

In this objective forum - my and your - personal opinions about product performance count for very little. Independent measured verfication is the gold standard. Would love to see that with an Elektra amp, they have been around for years.

In this situation I would suggest go and enjoy your amp as your happy with it. Further debate here will just upset/annoy you as clearly there is venting going on.....

 

[noiseangel]

less than 2 months for the repair of an old and discontinued amp. Is that so bad? actually we don’t know how long he’s had it, but seems 6 or 7 weeks is more likely. Not a great repair turnaround but hardly demands legal proceedings. Getting anything done for the past few months in Victoria with our hard lockdown has been incredibly difficult.
Oh well, At least it’s given everyone an opening to vent their personal feelings.

I think its the lack of communication that has Felix upset. He just wants his amp back.

 

[thibaw]

I think its the lack of communication that has Felix upset. He just wants his amp back.

Yes, wanting communication is understandable and fair enough - no argument from me. OTH a little perspective wouldn't go astray here. I'd like a haircut. I haven't been able to do that for 4 months - today I can. The melbourne hard lockdown has meant that apart from essential services most businesses, shops, offices are closed. People have been allowed out of the their homes for an hour a day. These are not normal times for Victorians.

 

[naviivan]

Yes, wanting communication is understandable and fair enough - no argument from me. OTH a little perspective wouldn't go astray here. I'd like a haircut. I haven't been able to do that for 4 months - today I can. The melbourne hard lockdown has meant that apart from essential services most businesses, shops, offices are closed. People have been allowed out of the their homes for an hour a day. These are not normal times for Victorians.

i haven’t been able to retrieve something from my work since beginning of aug. for my client as my work place is further than the 5km radius from home. By the time that restriction was lifted it was too late.

Arthur Rappos of Elektra might have had his hands full home schooling kids (just like me)? so he was probably too drunk to do anything else (also like me).