spritzer

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.

Yup and as a testament to that I've been using mine non stop since I got them. I gave up on the first set I got in a couple of days....

More the undo...

They are bright but Stax have changed them. It's been all but confirmed that this was a deliberate act to fix them.

There were some slight teething problems but the current layout has been fixed.

Seriously, people just contact me and ask if I want to buy this stuff. It helps to be the Don.... The plan was to fix and sell it but I always missed my old silver one. There is a long road ahead before this one works properly though...

Here is what a stereo KGSSHV board looks fully populated.

The high frequency on the Blue Hawaii has been criticized over the years but it's not really true. The high frequencies of electrostatics require the most current so here is where a high power amp comes into its own. Granted, the BH isn't bright and it's easy to fake "good treble" by simply making something sound bright. I'm looking at you SR-009!!!!! Ohh and this was dropped off last night: It needs some TLC but isn't it pretty...

I never use one.

If they can be fixed by hitting them then all is good.

All the pre 1994 Lambda drivers look the same....

Yup, Stax ran out of 6 pin cables a long time ago.

That would be a normal bias Lambda then... with a 5 pin cable.

I've seen that a few times. Do they say "Professional" on top of the cups? Ohh and the resistors are actually silistors.

The diaphragm being stuck to a stator doesn't sit right with me for a few reasons. First of all, a diaphragm shouldn't be able to do that in the first place. The diaphragm is stretched tighter than the skin of a drum and there is no force inside those drivers strong enough to move it. It also stands to reason that if the diaphragm were to move from its center point between the stators at any point then the distortion would rise dramatically. It's a common misconception that electrostatics arc by the film touching the stator. The film doesn't have to touch the stator for it to arc, it just needs to break down the natural insulation of the air. That is ca. 100V/mill so certainly possible to do. Second would be how the "broken" driver sounded. I've heard drivers which have stuck to one stator a few times but all of them have been severely damaged and the distortion was easy to spot. This one was just lower in volume but it played just fine. Lastly how the bias supply in the KGST would have responded to diaphragm shorting out like that. Being a simple voltage doubler it can't (nor should it) maintain anything close to full output for the working channel. Granted it was a bit down in volume but it was one click on the DAC attenuator so not a major difference. Running Pro phones off normal bias can't do any damage what so ever.

Exactly the point, the 6+ has a huge battery for an iphone so use an ipad charger for it.

The 007 driver is held together in a resin frame and the 009 as well which is then encased in the alu shell so a lot of things would have to be loose on a lot of sets. I suspect the connection into the driver as the most plausible point of failure. The bias is indeed attached with a screw...