you wrote:

::::I would be really impressed to see you create a brand name, maybe Magnetone or something like that. Or maybe that's too close to Mike's name, just throwing something out there.::::

yeah... it would be nice to see him ride on and create his own coattails than than freeriding on someone else's coattails.

And maybe if he ever does go into biz or create something of value on his own he will begin to appreciate and cherish the notions of property and ownership and etc.

Take an amp manufacturer who's whole line is the copying of, reverse engineering of circuits that were created and designed by another company and marketed as a complete finished product. How much rep would you build by simply copying other people's work and then selling on the basis of.... well... mine is a copy of a Audio Research amp but we have it made for less money...

you'll get some sales but ultimately... not much stability in the marketplace is my guess.

best to develop products that are truly and uniquely your own and take the long road... and build up a rep for yourself on YOUR merits not on the merits of another product who you pirated your product from.

:::Have custom winds made that are possibly compatible with early popular transformers, but superior.::::

And you don't need to pirate say an Electra Print trans, or a One Electron trans, or a Peerless trans to do this...

as just one quick example... the original Williamson output transformer design is in the public domain. The complete blueprint had been published over fifty years ago... and the intent (as far as I can divine) was to put this design in the public domain.

It was a 10K CT output trans complete with a materials list and all the winding information including wire sizes, number of turns, insulations, and even told ya (if I recall right) what size lead wires to use.

From this blueprint (which is actually a pretty decent design) you could easily (with a bit of knowledge) scale this up or down impedance wise to create a 2500 ohm CT primary, a 5,000 ohm CT pri, a 6600 ohm CT pri, a 8000 ohm CT primary...

with a bit more work and understanding of magnetics you could take this same design and use it as a pattern for output transformers at twice the power rating and half the power rating... and again figure out the turns needed and wire sizes needed and isulation spacing to produce your double and half powered designs properly.

and...now... your not ripping off Electra Print, One Electron or Peerless or anyone else...

but it takes a commitment to learning and to doing things well.

I could get fifteen really nice tranneys out of that one public domain design.

Mike

That part you already have down pat. Build brand recognition by using your iron in excellent amps and take 'em to shows. I think that would be excellent. People sure have responded favorably to your amp designs, and I think having your own transformers wound sets you apart and ahead. Sure could be coooool.