Banana Jack Amp Kit - No-solder Amplifier Kit on Kickstarter

[g1]

So start giving us some of your ideas on how you could make it safer.
Or are you not interested in doing so?

[Leo_Gnardo]

By all means. Anyone who doesn't think exactly like we do should be quickly banned lest they give other people ideas. And we certainly don't want ideas on our forum. They're infectious. People talk about them. Discuss them. Argue about them. Do we really want that kind of thing on a public forum? Soon ideas will be everywhere. Before you know it, people will be thinking outside the box. Thinking for themselves! God forbid! Nip those ideas in the bud. Delete this thread now! Mob rule! Mob rule! Mob rule!

Gerry, get this clear: Kickstarter is your fundraising site. MEF, not. In Storm Drain this thread will be visible to MEF members, and not a part of your public fund raising campaign. You got a free ride so far, and it will be over soon. Pull up your socks, stop whining, and try to behave like an adult. You got FREE PUBLICITY and contributed NOTHING. You have nothing to complain about.

I have no more authority than "most" of the other members here. But some are moderators and there is a site administrator, and if you get obnoxious enough to fall afoul of them they can decide what to do with you and this and any other thread you may appear on.

If you ever have any ideas besides "send me money" we'd be interested to see them. Your copper-tube rigs are eye catching and unique, and if they sound as good as claimed, you have something worthwhile there.

Of course you are always free to invest your own money in your project. That's what I'd expect an honest entrepreneur to do. If you could offer $64,000 to Richard Dawkins*, you can scratch up $39,000 for yourself, no? If no, why not?

The opiate of the people, is O.P.M. Other People's Money. If you waste it, you still have a house to live in, a car, a retirement fund, food in the pantry. Running the risk of losing your own money should sharpen your attention.

If your fund raising campaign isn't going so well, perhaps it's because people who might otherwise fund you, see it as folly. Have some respect for other people's opinions. Stop acting like a two year old who isn't getting his cookie on demand.

* for those who missed it, here's the link again:

https://fivepublicopinions.wordpress...rzeppas-money/

[Enzo]

The project looks good, I found it interesting to consider. having done so, I don;t see it as a safe product for the innocents.

As to the thread itself, anyone who doesn;t like the thread should simply stop posting. When the only one left is Gerry, even he will get tired of it and stop. The thread will disappear on its own. There is no reason to go postal on the thread and kill it. This forum is not on the tables at school lunch rooms, this is a forum for people who build amps. So no one here will likely suffer in their safety, nor will many of us likely invest. SO expending emotional energy on it here is not going to benefit us or Gerry either one.

[R.G.]

By all means. Anyone who doesn't think exactly like we do should be quickly banned lest they give other people ideas. And we certainly don't want ideas on our forum. They're infectious. People talk about them. Discuss them. Argue about them. Do we really want that kind of thing on a public forum? Soon ideas will be everywhere. Before you know it, people will be thinking outside the box. Thinking for themselves! God forbid! Nip those ideas in the bud. Delete this thread now! Mob rule! Mob rule! Mob rule!

You know, this is a pretty predictable result too. The last few decades have left anyone with odd ideas with the impression that any disregard for their own particular brand of aluminum-foil-hat wearing is censorship, suppression of free thinking, anything that's any-freedom and liberty. The idea is to try to shame anyone who opposes them by suggesting that any opposition is anti-whatever.

In meetings back in my first career, we called this trick "wrapping yourself in the flag", trying to push the discussion into a condition where the grouser could claim that shooting them or their idea would be shooting a hole in the flag, metaphorically. It's the equivalent of calling anything you don't like "racist" or "sexist" or "anything-else-ist" that's getting a lot of press. The technical term in spin politics and radical protest guides is "demonization"; anything that opposes MMMMEEEEEEE! is an ugly, even dangerous, and socially unacceptable position that's worthy of being outlawed. (literally!)

Gerry - stuff it back where it came from. When you start wrapping yourself in the flag, you're admitting that you're out of logical ammunition but don't want to condede.

What was the saying? Ah. Patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings.

[Enzo]

To be fair, he did mention in passing shrouded banana plugs. I had the same thought, my Fluke meter for example uses banana, but they are shrouded. So it is a lot harder to touch the end of the plug. That doesn't forgive other sins, but it is something.

[Gerry Rzeppa]

So start giving us some of your ideas on how you could make it safer.
Or are you not interested in doing so?

I believe I already did so in previous posts. I'll summarize here:

1. Limited funding: Liberally sprinkle the instructions with warnings, cautions, etc.

2. Moderate funding: Upgrade the "traditional" banana plugs/jacks to the sheathed kind.

4. Even more funding: Mount the modules on copper plates and supply a suitable cabinet on which to mount the plates.

5. Still more funding: Put the whole deal in a standard modular rack chassis and employ standard card-edge connectors.

6. Lots of funding: Hand the whole project over to an established manufacturer with lots of engineers (and lawyers).

[gui_tarzan]

Now that's funny. Never having met Mr. Rzeppa it would be hard to really know what he's all about but just from the two or three conversation threads I've read, I have a pretty good idea. The sad thing is it's not positive. If I were to meet him in person, say if we lived in the same town, I would stay away from him because to me he's nothing more than a snake-oil salesman or sleezy used car salesman from the 1970s. That may or not be a fair assessment, but from an outward appearance his own words and typed-voice-inflection say a lot about him.

I know a few people like this and I learned pretty quickly to stay as far away as I could. Like it or not, people judge you by those you associate with and I have had to remove myself from several associations in the past that weren't healthy.

[J M Fahey]

By all means. Anyone who doesn't think exactly like we do should be quickly banned lest they give other people ideas. And we certainly don't want ideas on our forum. They're infectious. People talk about them. Discuss them. Argue about them. Do we really want that kind of thing on a public forum? Soon ideas will be everywhere. Before you know it, people will be thinking outside the box. Thinking for themselves! God forbid! Nip those ideas in the bud. Delete this thread now! Mob rule! Mob rule! Mob rule!

How can you say such a STUPID thing?

You keep sliding down, from not-too-practical-but-curious-idea to hey-it's-dangerous !!! to snake oil salesman to plain boring asshole.

Do they give Nobel prizes for that?

[g1]

So Gerry, you are not interested in making any changes (re:safety) to your proposal at this time.
That is all we need to know and discussion is now pretty much pointless.

[J M Fahey]

To be fair, he did mention in passing shrouded banana plugs. I had the same thought, my Fluke meter for example uses banana, but they are shrouded. So it is a lot harder to touch the end of the plug. That doesn't forgive other sins, but it is something.

Yes, he mentioned them .... in the same breath said that the unsafe ones were already the most expensive part of his project and that the safe ones were 8X as expensive .... so he clearly meant: will NOT use them.

[Gerry Rzeppa]

You got FREE PUBLICITY and contributed NOTHING... Your copper-tube rigs are eye catching and unique, and if they sound as good as claimed, you have something worthwhile there.

I wouldn't say "contributed nothing". I've contributed food for thought. Which is pretty much all one can contribute on a forum.

Of course you are always free to invest your own money in your project. That's what I'd expect an honest entrepreneur to do.

I already did invest my own time and money in Banana Jack Amps. (Time, of course, being more precious than money since we can't get more of the former like we can of the latter.) The prototype in the Kickstarter video, for example, took a several months to design and develop, and cost over $500. Then I had to write that cute little song and record it. Take pictures, make a video. Buy a domain (Banana Jack Amps) and set up a website. Develop the Kickstarter site. I am invested, Leo. Personally invested.

If you could offer $64,000 to Richard Dawkins*, you can scratch up $39,000 for yourself, no? If no, why not?

Sometimes you're rich, sometimes you're poor. Sometimes your products and investments bring a big return, sometimes you go bankrupt. When I made the offer to Dawkins (quite a few years ago) I had a lot of extra money. At the moment, I don't.

* for those who missed it, here's the link again https://fivepublicopinions.wordpress...rzeppas-money/

I think this is a better (more complete and significantly more interesting) link on that matter:

Pleiotropy: The Rzeppa game show

[Gerry Rzeppa]

The project looks good, I found it interesting to consider. having done so, I don;t see it as a safe product for the innocents. As to the thread itself, anyone who doesn;t like the thread should simply stop posting. When the only one left is Gerry, even he will get tired of it and stop. The thread will disappear on its own. There is no reason to go postal on the thread and kill it. This forum is not on the tables at school lunch rooms, this is a forum for people who build amps. So no one here will likely suffer in their safety, nor will many of us likely invest. SO expending emotional energy on it here is not going to benefit us or Gerry either one.

Well said.

[Gerry Rzeppa]

So Gerry, you are not interested in making any changes (re:safety) to your proposal at this time.
That is all we need to know and discussion is now pretty much pointless.

Sorry, but I don't quite understand what you're saying. THIS is what I'm proposing (as above):

1. Limited funding: Liberally sprinkle the instructions with warnings, cautions, etc.

2. Moderate funding: Upgrade the "traditional" banana plugs/jacks to the sheathed kind.

4. Even more funding: Mount the modules on copper plates and supply a suitable cabinet on which to mount the plates.

5. Still more funding: Put the whole deal in a standard modular rack chassis and employ standard card-edge connectors.

6. Lots of funding: Hand the whole project over to an established manufacturer with lots of engineers (and lawyers).

Option #1 is the only one that appears on Kickstarter because that's the only option that is consistent with the stated Kickstarter funding goal ($39,000). I don't know how to make the thing safer with that budget, and don't want to promise what I can't deliver. If contributions sufficiently exceed that goal, I'll be issuing "Project Updates" on Kickstarter that explain how we plan to spend the extra money, as above.

[Gerry Rzeppa]

Yes, he mentioned [shrouded banana plugs].... in the same breath said that the unsafe ones were already the most expensive part of his project and that the safe ones were 8X as expensive .... so he clearly meant: will NOT use them.

I'd love to use shrouded plugs on this project. Think of the grief it would save me on forums like this one! Not to mention how much safer it would be for people who can't follow simple instructions. It's only a matter of finding a reasonably-priced supply of sheathed, solderless plugs and compatible jacks in a variety of colors, in quantities as low as 1000. Anyone know of one?

[Enzo]

Call Pomona and ask them...