:::Mike is a fool for believing he has complete control over an ancient design.:::

I try not to engage you... as I realize your starved for attention... but... I find this claim to be fascinating.

Can you offer a definition of what or when a design becomes "ancient"?

Yesterday, I was talking to a friend who is also in the audio trans business... and he prays that he never falls on your radar screen...

anyway... he suggested a practical learning plan that you should try out with your various theories...

what he suggested was for you to build "copies" (i.e., clones) of one or more of the following products...

here's an "ancient" product... so surely ALL the rights must have evaporated by now... why not build a clone Bose 901 speaker... it was originally designed in 1968. So it's approx a 37 year old design. Go buy a pair in the second hand market and then "clone" it... then start hustling your clone on the GB forum.... be sure to use Bose's name and goodwill and make sure you remind the readers of the "likeness piracy" of your 9001 clone to the original (yeah, just try to change the number a lil' bit)... be sure to try to skirt any legal issues by claiming that you've made some modifications to the original design. And, then, wait and see what Bose's reaction might bee.

Second product you might like to try cloning... try making and marketing a very thick speaker cable... make sure you show and tell the readers that it is a 'clone' or a 'copy' of the original Monster Cable (R) product that was introduced in the early seventies if my recollection is correct. Now... can't be anything proprietary about a 30 plus year old speaker cable design, can there? And given that the original cable design is thirty plus years old... that should satisfy your "ancient" requirement... so offer a group buy on GB of some Monster Cable (R) look-a-likes (no matter the age of the product) and bee real sure to use Monster Cable's (R) namesake and goodwill in promoting your "knock off" speaker cables... want to see Monster Cable's reaction? Or, do the above and say your knock off is better than the original because you are using a "better" dielectric to cover the conductors. Give it a try if you feel lucky.

Doug... you have this crazy warped notion that if you buy a product then you have acquired all the rights to the design of that product.

So... for a third test... pick up a really old (say first generation) Audio Research preamp.... clone it... bee sure to use Audio Research's namesake and be sure to tell folks that it is identical to the original except for some minor modification you've made (say a change in the volume control from a potentiometer to a stepped atten)... and then be brazen and email Audio Research a link to the offer you post on the GB forum.