Warning about Kyle of Reference Audio Mods - Page 3  

You did?

Yes. What part of the sentence you copied is hard to understand?

Once more, are you advocating that OP still has his warranty intact?

[quote=Bill Mac;20815680]
I read the very first post and the FIRST thing that popped into my brain was Bill Mac's summing up (which I have tried to highlight in red) and was getting ready to post exactly that. But continuing to read through the thread I saw comments about getting "banned" for this or that. I really enjoy this forum and its not worth getting banned for some imaginary offense so I'll just say +1 to Bill Mac's comments on this train wreck. This whole pitiful story is just flat-out astonishing.

I just had a look at RAM website. I have to say, it looks quite professional. I might have been a potential sucker for BD Player mod to convert to multi-region (I live in Brazil). But this thread was kind of a wake-up call. If I ever decide that I absolutely need a mult-region player I will........buy another player from that region.

I was amused to read the following on the home page of RAM:

In most cases our HP Modded players rival or surpasses highly regarded expensive stock players.

They neglect to mention that, in other cases, the result is a dismal FAIL.

amirm back to his usual dance, deflect, redirect, complain, make things up as you go... 1, 2, 3, 4...

I know what you were trying to tell OP but the examples you cited missed the mark as you commonly do on this forum.

Anything to make you feel part of the team.

I read the thread over at head-fi...what a mess. The OP has posted the following today (the bolding is mine. i find that disturbing)

This is a joke! There is no way "Kyle" is going to fix that CD player or anything else he butchered up. Just looking at the workmanship, he has no electronics knowledge what so ever. How can anyone expect him to fix something as complex as a modern higher end CD player? My guess is he damaged something stuffing the guts into that wood box. Or he zapped on of the boards by not practicing reasonable static precautions.

As for his relationship with Bob Carver mentioned before. Does anyone beleive an engineer of Bob Carvers caliber would become involved with a hack shop like this? Does anyone honestly believe this guy Kyle, came up with some improvement that Bob didn't think of? Come on.....

IMPO, the equipment pictured is far beyond repair. And even if someone did manage to get it working, would you even want it in that condition? At the very least it's a fire hazard! I have seen antique 1920s breadboard radios that were built with more precision and pride than the junk pictured. It's not the lack of specialized tools, that workmanship is just crap, plain and simple.

Yeah, we saw that above. Good luck with that.

Well this was an...interesting read.

I'm still on page 1, with Gizmo and the rest, asking how and/or why such spending would continue.

The equipment in the first picture looks very pretty, but how a simple re-case turned into this...I'm just speechless.

The only good thing I can think about this poor guy's situation is that it makes me feel better (well, less bad) about my various blunders over the years. This is monumental.

I presume that a shortage of documentation/written contracts etc. would render pointless any pursuit of this in something like a small-claims court?

Depending upon the state, small claims is limited to about $7,500. The rules in small claims are quite relaxed and many states do not allow legal representation. Actual written contracts are not a requirement even in civil suits. While civil suits typically have lawyers, you can also sue for legal and other costs in addition to actual damages or losses. I would not feel overly confident if I were Kyle.

After seeing the pics and reading the details, no one in his right mind would ever even think about having this guy "modify" (butcher) anything electronic, so why worry about "crediting" him for anything?

I wouldn't let this guy 'repair' anything, regardless of whether he was the one who 'broke' it or not.

Jim,

I had a similar experience. About 4 yrs. ago I had Kyle upgrade a previous mod that he had done to my Marantz
8260. It was already fully modded with the wooden chaise made with curly maple wood and signature parts. I
sent it back to him because they had the new Ultra regs, Ultra-clock, etc.... So I sent the unit in and paid
everything up front. Little did I know it would be nearly three years before I would finally be taken care of
after countless phone calls, ignored phone calls , unanswered messages and e-mails, threats, and
complaints!

I never got my Marantz back!!!! I don't know what has become of it!!! I never seen it again. After nearly
three yrs. of persistence and threats to go on public sites he finally shipped me a Statement Modded Oppo 83
SE with a super clock 4, which with further persistence on my part he sent me the Ultra-clock Mk2, Which I had
to install myself. The player had issues the I had to trouble shoot myself. I finally got everything working
properly. I fixed the problems myself because I was not about to risk sending it back to Kyle and maybe never
seeing it again.

Since then Doug Jesse at ASi Technology has taken the player to new heights by adding By bee music rails and
battery supply its truly a world class player now and is currently the best I've heard at any price.Doug Jesse
at ASi Tech has been a God send he is truly knowledgeable and is a man of his word and is doing some cutting
edge modifications. I can't recommend him enough.

In the end Kyle finally satisfied me but after 3 yrs of waiting and pleading for him to keep his word and do
what I paid him to do.

My cousin sent him a Sony 777es , it never got the work done to it and it was eventually sent back in
pieces.

What can I say? It was a bad experience for me. But a lesson learned. I now use Asi tech for all of my
mods.

Apostolicman

I made the mistake of sending my prized Wollensak 8-track player to Al-Awlaki Audio for modifications to the digital section. This turned out to be a complete disaster, with me waiting for mods for years and never getting the unit back! Finally, after reporting him to the Better Business Bureau and getting the unit back for two days, I sent it in to The Underwear Bomber to have him install Bybee Quantum Bolognification Osterizers. Let me tell you, The Underwear Bomber is the real deal! Tell Wally Underwear that Rock Bottom sent you!

You should have sent your player to the Northern Alliance for that new Opiumpoppy mod, This would have no doubt taken the unit to stratospheric Heights!! And you as well !! I'm sure this would have been right up your alley.

Here's the Address: 24536 BullShirt Blvd.
Afganistan, Answar Province

Ask for Ali he will fix you right up.

Doesn't seem like you learned a lesson at all.

Bybee music rails? Taken again...and happy about it.

Happy?

Yes, it seems to be the hallmark of those that have been taken in by these snake oil salesmen. At least until someone gets taken. And how many are willing to come on a public forum and admit that? For each person that gets taken there is many that will never come forward for fear of being labeled gullible - or worse.

At some point there is a diminishing return for the outlay of money. $28,000 will put together a world class sound setup that needs no modifications. What this guy got was considerably less for his $28,000 outlay. These are the ones that have more money than brains. All they needed to do is read this.

You are pretty typical. You spend thousands on mods that make little or no difference then get indignant when someone thinks you anything but smart.

Tests have proven time and time again who the fools really are. There are more examples like that showing little to no difference regardless of how much money you throw at something - but there is always someone like the guy who operates RAM ready to take it - all he needs is a sucker.

To paraphrase what you said - "Even a Fool is thought to be wise until he opens his wallet."

Even better: "a fool and his money are soon parted."

Waste your money on $1000 dollar speaker cables and $3000 CD mods if you like. Makes no difference to me. I enjoy my music through the $5 wires coming from a plain jane Oppo DVD player. Sounds just lovely. And it was cheap.