Wanted to chime in and thank everyone for the positive comments and support in this thread. I certainly respect everyone's opinion, even the negative type, and I fully understand that tone is a subjective thing. Don't know that I'd personally approach my opinion in the same way as the OP, but it's a public forum and that's part of life.
The most important lesson I have learned as an amp builder is that I cannot build an amp that everyone will love. There are just too many variables for that to happen. And that's ok. It's why there are so many amps available. If anyone could build the ultimate amp, the rest of us would all be out of business.
What I do when designing amps is make them sound and feel the best they can to my ears and playing style. I get super OCD and will spend hours and hours on the most finite details. A successful amp builder will have an ear and sense of feel that relates to a wide margin of players. That's really what to comes down to. I also always remain critical of myself and solicit feedback from users to improve. You can never stop evolving and learning. I've even updated multiple amps for free for owners because I want them to have the best experience possible. That's more important to me than money. And by the way, there's a lot of easier ways to make money than building amps. It's a passion project, not a get rich project.
As far as the OP's concerns, one person's "plastic and chirp" may be another's "tight and dynamic". Or maybe something was off with that amp or rig that it was being used in. Or maybe it just did actually sound that way... It's the first time I've ever heard that, though. If I heard it more I'd definitely consider changing things or try to understand the issue a little better.
Overall, feedback has been excellent on the amp. Of course, they come up for sale every so often, and it doesn't offend me. I understand the amp buying/ selling/ flipping dynamic. I just sold one to the owner of Axe Palace, who posted on Facebook that it's one of the best amps he's played in a long time. I also sent one to Jeff Loomis (Arch Enemy) to check out. He called me up and told me how much he loved the amp and how he couldn't believe it sounded the way it does without a boost. He ended up buying the amp from me because he had to have it. I don't say any of this to make me look special, and I'm not. But the amp gets a lot of love from a lot of people behind the scenes. Some people don't like it. But it's a much smaller percentage compared to those who do.
Again, I'm not trying to convince anyone my amp is better than anything else. But I figured this would help others understand my perspective and where I'm coming from. It's an interesting journey doing this amp thing. And as always, I'm glad to be a part of the RT community. I do my best to help others out in the tech section, or with advice through PM's etc...whenever I can. Thanks again for all the support!
