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Repairing The Questionable £25,000 Tom Evans Audiophile Pre-Amp

I will refrain from dunking on the price, because if you're hand-building something and paying retail for all your components it might cost a whole lot to build. However:

1) Not trying to repair a $25K component? Wack
2) Filing down part numbers? Wack
3) Filing bogus copyright claims on YouTube, presumably because you're embarrassed of your product? Wack

This Tom guy seems totally wack to me.
 
AndyChambers said:
I don't think Tom comes out well from his actions. If you stand by your product you should welcome feedback and engage with comments, not try and remove the source.
Click to expand...
Agreed. The quality of the workmanship and the lack of component quality were exposed and he retaliated like a child. That is what you get when you are malicious and try to deceive customers. Why can't you just create a quality product and let it sell itself? His ego is top notch though! His overpriced, "bespoke" audio equipment will go the way of the dodo sooner or later and no one will remember his name; at least not in a positive light.
 
Is it just me or did 3 users with normal first/last names as usernames just join today and immediately start posting in this thread?

I wonder if Tom has some competitors or detractors looking to pile on...?
 
You can still read some on his site. I watched before it was taken down, very enjoyable.

With the tantalum capacitor replaced, [Mark] had repaired the unit, but even though the preamplifier isn’t terribly designed, the illusion of its price tag has been shattered worse than the contents of a parcel kicked across the parking lot by the Royal Mail.
Click to expand...
 
kemmler3D said:
Not accusing anybody, just looking at what may or may not be an interesting pattern among a few new users. Welcome aboard, BTW!

Did those two other guys follow you in? ;)
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I'm not sure who the other two members are. I wasn't paying attention to the number of posts. I just googled "quality phono pre-amp" and this Tom guy popped up along with a lot of bad press. I just have a negative propensity for people who try to take advantage of others... I should probably calm down.

There really is a lot of good stuff on this forum!
 
Wil_Bloodworth said:
I think YouTube will allow anyone to claim copyright without validating it. They'll simply consider you guilty, take your video down, and then threaten to take your channel down if it happens again... with no arbitration or discussion at all.
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Partly correct. There is an automatic system for copyright strikes, but it can be appealed by the YouTube channel. If the uploader appeals, a qualified employee associated with YouTube will mediate the dispute.
 
kemmler3D said:
Is it just me or did 3 users with normal first/last names as usernames just join today and immediately start posting in this thread?

I wonder if Tom has some competitors or detractors looking to pile on...?
Click to expand...
I've been a skulker on this forum for a long time, I've just never posted before. I don't work in audio and I have no axe to grand with Tom, I just felt the need to post. I see Tom's actions as poor, hence I wanted to voice my opinion.
 
Palmer said:
It would be fun if Mend it Mark would know about this forum, and could talk the owner of the pre to send it to Amirm for testing. I wonder how that would go...
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Would not bother. This preamp is so boring. Waste of time for Audio Precision analyzers :rolleyes:
 
I watched the Mend it Mark video when it first came out. The pre-amp in question was one of the most amateurish things that I've ever seen. There might be some valid principles behind its design and operation but honestly it looked like a bunch of kit boards strung together.

tom_evans_mastergroove_sr_mkIII_open_mend-it-mark_youtube.jpg


Tom Evans has no business calling Marks video out, there's no basis for a copyright claim. The charlatans and snake-oil vendors do not want the veil lifted on their products. Charging 25,000 quid for this collection of junk is totally unjustifiable and the maker knows it.

By the way, I was impressed with Mark's professionalism in fault finding and not casting any aspersions on the amp itself. At no point did he level any criticism at the design or workmanship of the unit in any significant way.

P.S, the components that have had the part numbers sanded off are likely to be nothing more than linear voltage regulators. Our man Tom claims to have designed his own.

"Tom's development history of Lithos voltage regulation, you're probably wondering what Lithos 7 is all about. Lithos refers to the range of regulators that Tom has developed to dramatically increase the performance envelope of his designs, each of which Tom has designed to be optimal for different tasks."

LINK
 
Last edited:
Punter said:
I watched the Mend it Mark video when it first came out. The pre-amp in question was one of the most amateurish things that I've ever seen. There might be some valid principles behind its design and operation but honestly it looked like a bunch of kit boards strung together.

View attachment 411610

Tom Evans has no business calling Marks video out, there's no basis for a copyright claim. The charlatans and snake-oil vendors do not want the veil lifted on their products. Charging 25,000 quid for this collection of junk is totally unjustifiable and the maker knows it.
Click to expand...

I also watched the video when it first came out and enjoyed it very much (as I do all of Mend It Mark's videos). Agree 100% that this is bush-league behavior by Tom Evans.

I would think there would be a market opportunity for an attorney who would specialize in representing YouTubers who have been victimized by bogus copyright claims like this - YouTubers with large followings could sue for lost income from the videos that were taken down.
 
Punter said:
I watched the Mend it Mark video when it first came out. The pre-amp in question was one of the most amateurish things that I've ever seen. There might be some valid principles behind its design and operation but honestly it looked like a bunch of kit boards strung together.

View attachment 411610

Tom Evans has no business calling Marks video out, there's no basis for a copyright claim. The charlatans and snake-oil vendors do not want the veil lifted on their products. Charging 25,000 quid for this collection of junk is totally unjustifiable and the maker knows it.
Click to expand...
If you charge this much for your phono (!) pre-amp, you should bloody well provide a comprehensive warranty on it, and service the thing. But noooo, go after the bloke who fixes it. I love how Mark made a whole booklet of the circuit, and I have a feeling this is what stung the maker the most.
 
Wil_Bloodworth said:
This Tom character seems a bit a dodgy. He's adopting the Starbucks mentality of, "Let's charge $15 for a crappy cup of coffee" to make everyone believe it's good coffee. It has to be good since it costs so much money right?
Click to expand...
Where did you hear Tom Evans got the video taken down? If it was a copyright strike, it's more likely down to the record Mark was playing.
 
Wil_Bloodworth said:
I just googled "quality phono pre-amp"
Click to expand...
Have a look at this.
www.audiosciencereview.com

Classic Audio MC Pro Phonostage Review

This is a review and measurements of the Classic Audio MC Pro by Michael Fidler. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $850 (£650/€750). As non-fancy enclosures go, this is pretty nice looking and with some unusual features such as low frequency blending to reduce noise, mono switch and...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com
Spoiler, there is a lot less stuff inside.
 
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