Jon L

WE300B tubes were only making 5.5 watts vs 8 watts of Shuguang 300B-Z in this video. It's a bit puzzling and I wonder if other 300B tubes may be a better option in the 'stat amp?

I can hear people warming up their Stax 4070's...

What's the price on Ray Samuels B-21? Just to get perspective on Eletrostat/Dynamic combo amps out there.. Audio Valve Solaris $4900 https://www.headamp.com/products/audiovalve-solaris Mal Valve Head amp three Mk 4 6000+ Euro https://www.malvalve.de/Headamp3-E.htm Linear Tube Audio Z10e $6950 https://www.lineartubeaudio.com/products/z10e-electrostatic-headphone-amp-integrated-amp

Makes ME feel good about my soldering skills at least 😁 Shouldn't this Viva STX stuff be posted to Head-Case Viva STX thread so that other people seeking wisdom can find it in google search?

Why does Devore O/96 sell for $16K when it's a copy of the Audio Note copy (some say pirated without paying license) of Snell type E/III?

I sure hope this Topping EHA5 transformer box turns out to be reliable and good-sounding, not causing harm to 'stats, etc. The masses need a 'stat transformer box that is readily available from a "big" company. BTW. Why the heck did Stax stop making tranformer boxes anyway?

ZMF has many fanboys, but take a look at this (for measurements): "Heavily boosted upper bass lack of energy in lower treble" https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/zmf-atticus-review-headphone.24191/

He said in an interview he has the driver manufactured to his specs from China. Then again, where else?

I love these types of speaker designs. 1.4" compression driver is a nice touch. I assume Reflector Audio and this top module can be used without subwoofers, in which case what are their useful low frequency response?

Which "PC" are you powering? I've tried quite a few different power supplies for my PC/server, and the largest difference in SQ seems to occur when better power is given to the very end of the PC signal chain. For example, if using USB out, giving decent power to the USB card. Giving good power to an outboard usb-to-spdif converter makes a large difference also.

I noticed both Nahre Sol and Jimindorothy are Korean musicians. K-Pop is not all there is...

At least there is light at the end of the tunnel with the T2!

Controversy stemming from ASR and Reddit...always a fun read 😄 Another fun read: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/audio-science-review-review.9827/

I had a similar quandary in the past in a tube amp trying to bypass the "evil(?)" Alps Blue velvet. Used the amp with the pot just bypassed completely. Later, Alps was changed to better-reputed TKD for sources that needed volume control. These days, I mostly use the TKD with volume open all the way to "effectively" bypass it. To be honest, I wouldn't want to bet any amount of money I could consistently identify sound quality differences in blind testing, in any mode above. 😥

The well-heeled Phi TC owners seem to eventually declare the Woo WA33 (10 watts at 32 ohms) their favorite, but this is probably not because of the power output but the flavor.

Cavalli Liquid Platinum on "50% off" sale at $399.99. Is this a legit sale or is this always on 50% sale?? https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=33305

I have been listening more and more to Raal SR1a, and it really is a beautiful thing. I do have to wonder about how this little Jotunheim R's balanced, differential "Nexus" gain stage is claimed to deliver "up to 13 amps" into Raal's low impedance, and how this cheap raal direct-drive amp will compare.

What are you using for amp?

At the other side, LTA rep posted this info: "Frequency response (8-ohm load): 6Hz to 60kHz, +0, -.5dB Input impedance: 47k Electrostatic Headphone Output: 5 pin Stax interface, 580V bias One additional bit of info that's not on the page is the output voltage, which is limited to 410Vrms on the Z10e. STAX themselves recommends that "maximum output with 470 Vr.m.s. or below for any amplifier driving STAX headphone in order to avoid damages to sound elements." "there are no transformers. The electrostatic signal comes straight off the tube, and due to ZOTL's unique topology, the tubes run natively at 750V, for a 1500V peak to peak (each channel has two tubes, one is for the bottom half of the signal and one for the top half, so the full voltage swing is both added together). The ectrostatic headphone output is live all the time, because we didn't want to degrade the audio signal with a switch."

I'm glad this Bottlehead doesn't have input and power connectors on top of the chassis and everything is enclosed in metal case. Awaiting sound impressions from customers...

Does that mean some (many?) of you have/will buy Raal SR1a 'phones? It certainly offers a nice counterpoint to Staxen. 0507201154a by drjlo2, on Flickr

Glad to see people other than myself who are quite sensitive to EQ. Like you found, manipulating EQ by as little as 2-3 dB in midrange seems to really reduce that "you are there" transparency and realness for me, to the point I will not own headphones or speakers that require this type of adjustment..

I first met Albert (RIP!) when he was introducing his original VR4 for the first time in public. I thought they were incredible value for performance, which was true of VR4 Jr that came later. Seems like many pioneers in audio are passing away one by one...😰

"I'm running a 3-way active crossover (DBX 234XS) which gives me so much control over my speakers. I can really fine tune the sound I want in the room" Seeking opinions on DBX 234XS 3-way stereo analogue active crossover. I'm trying to avoid digital crossovers that necessitate A->D->A conversion, but $260 for 3-way stereo analogue crossover seems too good be true in terms of loss of signal fidelity and introduction of noise/artifacts?

In panic, I just checked and Springbank 10 is still $65-83 range in SoCal local stores (BevMo, Total Wine). Still, I have noticed the price increases for Macallan, which is hard to say if due to tariff or just because Macallan is a huge ahole about price in general. I am taking this tariff/covid as an opportunity to cut back on whiskey consumption, which must be a good thing...🤔