But it is disappointing, on technical oriented board to hear comments like:
He doesn't publish specs to prove they sound better because he, like a lot of us, does not believe that the specs he could come up with would have any meaning whatsoever to how the modded unit sounds
and
We don't cheer blindly based on useless information like specs
I don't find these comments to be disappointing at all. Specs are just one way, and a pretty poor way at that, to understand if a piece of audio equipment is any good. As you alluded to, if we relied on specs nobody would be using tube equipment, which many people do in fact use and like tremendously. And if we relied on specs, we probably would all have pioneer or sony playback receivers purchased from Best Buy. Face it, there are tons of games to be played on developing specs and plenty of very mediocre equipment sport fantastic specs.
What I do find disappointing is posts of yours like these:
But - I cant help but wonder if this device's reputation has been manufacured by Oade. The guy offers 4 mods to the thing...he is doing a nice business. Is it possible that Oade picked this device simply because of the oppourtunity to mod? Maybe the parts used in the UA5 are more common and have more alternative parts available.
For all we know the M-Audio DUO may sound better but not offer as many "mod oppourtunities" to Oade...so he pumps up the UA-5 instead...
Nothing wrong...Oade is genius! Mr Oade has apparently discovered that he can create 3 different(note: different...not better) sounds from this device by swapping various sets of parts out. He has given each "mod" a name and charges double the price of a stock unit. Pretty slick...epsecially when there are few specs available for this device (for comparison) and he publishes no specs to support the advantages of his mods. Oade must have gotten a sweet deal on a raft of UA5s when they were discontinued...
With the sarcasm, innuendo, and accusations you go far beyond stating your opinion or even being mildly cynical as you keep stating. I and many others apparently read your posts as pretty hostile, bashing what the Oades do and suggesting pretty clearly that they are just hucksters taking our money from us and giving us nothing.
You keep acting like the specs are absolutely imperative to judging equipment. I don't. To me, you can judge equipment via several different means, including:
1) specs
2) reputation of the company/individuals making or modifying the equipment
3) performance of past products made by that company/individual
4) reputation of the product among people you know and trust who have used it
5) your own analysis and judgement about how the product performs
So the Oade modded UA5's don't provide one of these means of judging the product, so what? For me and for many others, the Oade modded UA5s get very high marks on the other 4 metrics for judging them. Which is good enough for us, especially since at least some of us find specs to be the weakest of all the metrics and the one most easily manipulated.
Bottom line, and once again, if you don't like them, don't buy them. And if you want to insert your opinion ("I don't find these mods offered by Oade to be worth the money"), that's fine. But I still say I find your sarcastic, inflammatory, and accusatory tone that you use to bash the Oades to be tiring and I really wish you'd just drop it.