philodox

He is working on the balanced version and said he would have something by Friday. Not sure if he is going to send me the schematics or what... if he doesn't I will ask, but I'm not going to push him on it. I can understand if he doesn't want to divulge that. One thing that he said which sounded interesting is that he uses a seperate tube off the plate of the gain tubes to create an 'infinite plate resistance circuit' [at least I think that is what he said] which allows the tubes to perform quite a bit better and lowers the impact of tuberolling. [ie. crap tubes sound nearly as good as 'great' tubes] The amp will be using 6H30's [4 of them] and 12sn7's [2 of them] as well as other tubes for regulation and such...

Can it handle the power draw of the singlepower? I'm just worried that it will limit dynamics.

You're not going to plug your amp into that thing are you?

I voted for 3&4 as they are the only ones that don't have something drastically wrong with them. I can't believe so many people voted for #6... Here is hoping that none of these chicks are Eaphans girlfriend.

Yep, Peter McAlister... He is the guy that builds that low cost electrostatic amp, the EA-1. He also has a bunch of dynamic tube amps. Inexpensive, but mine is going to be a little more 'overdone' of course. He has some interesting design choices. We talked over the design and I came away very impressed with his knowledge. He is also the first tube designer [other than mikhail] that has not shyed away from balanced. He had a bunch of reasons as to why he prefers solid state... but he likes tube regulation. I guess we will just have to wait and see what he comes up with. I'm using a bunch of those metal can caps that you are so fond of in the PSU.

Wow, tubes are expensive when you go exotic. It should be relatively cheap for me though as with the 6H30 there are only 2 types and I would expect them both to sound identical in any case as they were made in the same factory and likely to the same specs [just at different times]. The 12SN7's are nice and cheap, so I will probably hunt down a set of every kind of those to give me some fun with tube rolling. And I'm pretty sure rolling regulator tubes is pointless... and he said that he is going to go with solid state rectification since it is superior.

Good to hear about the tubes. Are the el34's the ones that you were previously using NOS hard to find and expensive tubes? If so, a new tube that outperforms is a godsend! Is the amp internally balanced? Or are we talking a complete rebuild here?

"building me give me" Goddammit! I hate not having an Edit function.

I'll take that bet... it means you have to come to the meet though.

The Headroom Max Modules put out quite a bit of voltage swing and current... you are a lucky boy. The Headroom Max Balanced I heard at the National was my favourite amp at the National meet. I can only hope that the custom balanced tube amp that Peter McAlister is building me give me that kind of enjoyment again.

You suspect correctly... though they need a fair amount of current as well. Without it they lack dynamics... as with my current setup. [The Lavry]

If you come to the meet you can hear for yourself... trust me, the foam must go!

I personally think that this is the more likely explination. The negative aspects that aerius is attributing to the rescreen are simply not there on my headphones. I can only imaging that something else must have been going on to cause that.

I understand where you are coming from... but I just dont see how removing all that plastic can be a bad thing.

Huge difference eh?

DO THE RESCREEN!!!! I think I have a picture, one sec... let me check my ftp share. http://home.cogeco.ca/~philodox/K340/screen.jpg There you go. I really don't see how a rescreen can be a bad thing. Just makes things more tranparent by getting rid of all that plastic. I say go for it.

You wanna know what? Best mod for K81DJ. Remove the stupid insert. I'm a little drunk, so sorry if this isnt making sense, but the pads have a speaker cloth like overlay that covers the driver. There is also a more foam like insert that you can pull out without even taking the pads off. Just stick your finger in there and feel around. Pull that out and see what you think. Renato [looser101] was over tonight and we figured this out. After removing that thingy from each earpiece it sounds awesome. Way more AKG like. Almost like a little portable K340. And so easy to do. Try it and report back.

I don't know about that... The details certainly are not washed out on my pair.

Sealing it doesnt increase resonance in my experience. It just improves imaging/soundstage slightly and adds a touch more bass. Rescreening adds a lot of clarity and makes the sound more coherant I think... might be a little more treble, but nothing that bothered me. You might want to ask aerius as well since he knows better what all the mods do individually. Or just ask Larry. He has redone enough of them. I personally would get them both done. The sealing is reversable... and the rescreening is relatively without risk. Improves comfort for me as well.

I can't believe you started AND finished a sentence with 'at times' in your sig. You are classic Mark, never change.

Yo mama so nasty she has to creep up on bathwater!

Who you callin' fruit, fruit!?

GET USED TO THE BAGELS YOU FRUIT!!!

Every time I read that acronym it comes out as "I'm a ho"