spritzer

I thought it would be fun to document the insane amount of work it will take to turn the Single Power ES-2 into something useful. Now Kevin had done quite a bit of work for me such as fitted new teflon tube sockets and teflon Stax sockets but that still leaves a lot of shit to do. Here is what it looked like when I got it: The wooden front for the amp section was cracked so Kevin threw it out. The weight of just the empty chassis was pushing 24kg so my first decision was to ditch the PSU and do it internally. First up do the back panel: Here is the reason why I don't add RCA's to my amps... Now for the front panel. Mikhail had plenty of very useless holes there for various functions that never worked. This makes things tricky but the front needs to have four 50K pots to adjust the offset of each output tube, two 5K pots with two test points for each to adjust the front end balance. One quad pot as well as a rotary power switch to hide some of those extra holes... Now comes the fun part of cramming power supplies into the chassis...

Indeed it is. I'm not too keen on external PSU's if I can skip them.

No way to move that resistor, just look at how cramped the PCB is. The boards keep getting smaller but the circuits more complicated. The stereo KGSSHV board takes this to the n-th level.

Happy Birthday Dinny!!!

This is Stax after all, their serial numbers don't make any sense. Some of the first 007Mk2's sold in Europe had a SZ3 serial number.... back in 2007. I think they might do this shit on purpose...

Indeed and I for one always remove the metal clip on these. Not a problem on the BHSE but the other amps have the trimpots on the inside and that useless clip can cause a lot of damage...

Holy fuck on a stick, the age of the tube and some BS story about where they have been sitting for 70+ years is crucial to the sound. Ohh yeah, pumping 30VDC into the shield of a triaxial cable makes it "ghost" like... I want to kill somebody right now...

Never seen one and SZ1 was almost always used on the export models and the BL was just that, an export unit. I've seen their amplifier repairs, Mikhail did a better job.

What is that supposed to be? A really short extension cord?

Fuck... what happened to just making bread?

1.5VDC? That's a lot and I think the servo can't eliminate that much offset.

Just because somebody is winding their own transformers doesn't mean they have any clue how to make something so niche as an electrostatic output transformer. Indeed the LLmk2T, a tube unit but also not. Hello tube Exstata with a totally unnecessary SS output stage.

That "T2" amp has either a choke or a transformer on the output. Think WES in quality... I have better things to waste money on. It probably a fit issue that's the core reason behind the change in sound signature. The first units have a solid resin ring below the earpads so the cable entry is obscured.

My earpads have already been modified, stuffed some foam under them at the back for a better angle.

One way to fix those headpads is to submerge them in water. It is a good idea to clean the top of the headpad too as what ever Stax used them dries out and leaves this nice black residue everywhere.

We have no way of knowing when Stax did the change but no way the amp is responsible for that change. Unit to unit variation could be a part of this but no way it's the sold reason. Two ways to do this, first unclip the two sections and they fall apart. Almost impossible to and shows that Stax never thought this stuff would be taken apart. The way that actually works is to unscrew the fork and remove it, then slowly pull the pieces off the arc while making sure the brake inside doesn't get caught. Hard to get it back together though...

This Blue Hawaii lives again. It will need a new transformer but for that I'm just waiting on Toroidy. Gone are the dual DACT's in favor of one quad pot and a front mounted, rotary power switch. I increased the current of the main CCS, changed out a bunch of parts and rebuilt the PSU. All good now and no hum at all which was the issue before the PSU imploded

I'd love to come and meed the So-Cal branch of the mafia. Not sure Jude and those other fucktards would like having me there though as I'm not known to sit quietly in the corner...

Something is very wrong here. How on earth are the phones affecting the source?

I have in the past but the key thing is to make them comfortable, then the fit is correct. For the cone people you need to make the arc into an inverse U shape and then adjust the angle above the ears. One good way to test is to place your hands behind your head and change the angle of the cups relative to the head without breaking the seal. Ohh and don't obstruct the backwave either as that messes up everything.

I have a melon of a head so it can be done. Seriously, when I was graduating from the Icelandic equivalent of collage we get these ceremonial caps to wear. Everybody was lined up to be fitted and when it was my turn the lady looked at me in horror and said "you're a special order..."

Now this does sound intriguing...

Yes, they are crucial. The biggest reason for this is the unique construction of the 007, they don't swivel on an axis to fit the angle of attack of the drivers to the shape of the head. This also controls the pressure placed on the earpads when they are worn. I for one have never met anybody that can use a stock 007, the fit is always wrong. Too much of an angle at the bend in the arcs on each side and the arc is far too shallow. That means the earpieces are placed at the wrong spot relative to the ears and the comfort suffers as well since the arc isn't supporting them properly. Yes and no is really the answer. There is nothing on the arc to adjust, hell just don't mess with that fragile POS too much or it will break. The earpads are the weak link here though and I like the effect you get by stuffing some scrap foam at the back. Helps the imaging.

Funny enough I just listened to a near NOS 007Mk1 just now and holy hell they sounded bad. Pads completely shot and the arcs have never been adjusted.... yeah not good but easy enough to fix.