Loaner Idea Bakoon 13r

This is kind of a stretch, but would it be possible to add this to the SBAF loaner cadre? I know these Bakoon and Enleum amps have generated some interest around here, but are generally a bit too rich (for me) to grab on a whim, even at used pricing.

 

I'll second this - Bakoon and Enleum are on my list of manufacturers I'm interested in, but like you I also can't justify it at the moment, even at the great price for a 13R in this listing. Could help @Josh Schor make the quick sale he needs now, a brief loaner tour could get members interested, and someone is bound to buy it back from SBAF at the end to refill the coffers. Good idea, I hope it comes to fruition. Or if not, that Josh has an easy and quick sale.

 

I have not heard this amp but based on what I have read about it -> if you have Susvara or LCD-4 then you can’t go wrong with this amp as far as headphones go.

 

I have not had the pleasure of hearing this amp, but I have been using the Enleum AMP-23r with my Klipsch Forte IV for about a year now and it is superb. I don't think I have found a perfect headphone pairing yet, but that is not my primary use case. It certainly brings something out of any headphone I have tried with it though, and I know folks rave about the Susvara.

My understanding is these amps sound quite similar with some folks even preferring the Bakoon. This deal is frankly bonkers for anyone with a Susvara and/or high-efficiency speakers. It took me from like to love on my Fortes.

 

@ChaChaRealSmooth can SBAF buy this for a loaner? I’d love to hear it too.

 

I won't dispute much aside from the claim that it's physically big; it's roughly 9" - square and about 3" tall with the footers. The amp case itself is only about an inch tall.

Also, (and this could be relegated to another thread), isn't one point of the SBAF loaner program to allow friends to experience gear that falls outside the typical, i.e., easily returnable/refundable or limited production/difficult to source by normal means (i.e., Amazon, etc.) to audition gear? I don't want to sound like a dick, but there's a reason we normally don't have a ton of easy to get/easy to return gear on the loaner program, and it's precisely because "we" tend to value gear with "little audience," e.g., ZMF Caldera and Atrium, Holo Spring KTE, Yggdrasil LIM, etc.

But hey, if I'm off base, just tell me!

 

I'm not a Friend (Pyrate), but I've participated in a few loaners and I would definitely be interested in participating in a Bakoon 13R loaner.

 

I don't think it would be a bad loaner (physically smaller than some of the dac or amp loaners that I've had pass thru my hands), but the audience may be smaller... isn't this primarily a speaker amp? (I know, susvara... but how many people does that cover?)

Question... how many loaners does SBAF purchase and then try to resell at the end of the tour vs loaners that find our way to us due to the generosity of the manufacturer or a member? (costing SBAF nothing) My impression is that most of the expensive loaners come from the manufacturers, but I might be wrong...
-----edit-----
cross posted with @zerodeefex 's veto post...

 

I will just add that a loaner of a product that is OOP/headed toward being unobtanium doesn't make sense as a loaner, even if it would give people a taste of the current production Enleum AMP-23r.

I would just say anyone who is serious about wanting to hear Bakoon/Enleum should just pony up. $2600 is not chump change, but it is a screaming deal compared to the current $6250 MSRP on the Enleum. Josh offering a great bro deal here.

 

I disagree. I’m with @yotacowboy and think the loaner program should be about more than just letting people “hear before they buy”. I think letting people hear new stuff and rare stuff is a lot of fun and sort of integral to this hobby being a fun thing. But I get it that the current staff and I don’t see eye to eye on the loaner program anymore.

 

If we have enough people interested, why don't we all just pitch in a couple hundred bucks and make it happen? I'll pitch in.

We could make a thread to lock it down and if we have enough people we coordinate a group buy. At the end, we sell it to someone and we all get most of our money back.

If you're all interested, put your money where your mouth is and don't depend on SBAF to do it for you. Allow the group to crowd source it.