spritzer

Yup, the TKD is just installed as it comes. Shouldn't need any extra resistors. Those on the Khozmos should be Caddocks but those look like Takman's which is an option they offer. Are you referring to the 400$+ monster metal stepped attenuators? If so then I've never tried them as they are stereo only and who needs that... The other simply have steps but are 100% pots based on a resistive track so you don't loose any resolution. Why people use those I truly don't get though...

There are known issues with Khozmo pots so I'd advice against installing another one. No way to fix the pot too as it's just a fucked design/build. I'd replace it with something else, Alps or TKD spring to mind. http://www.partsconnexion.com/controls_pot_tkd.html I think there is a 20% off deal going on now...

No idea who designed the Studio Six but they are right to not advertise it. Transformers wound with silver is a good way to waste money but I'm far more interested in the core shape, material and winding techniques. Now if all of those aspects are already taken care of then why not drop a few thousand on silver transformers. They did it in the Manhattan Project after all...

Looks good Adrian!! Some news on my end as this landed on Thursday: These are all the latest HV boards and hopefully this is the final version of both power supplies. No more issues with the stacked capacitors shorting to ground, about 4 times the ground plane clearance compared to the first version, better instructions on the board and the bias supply now has a fuse when used off the prereg feed. I also ordered some of my power boards which make wiring the multi voltage transformers easier, especially if using more than one transformer. Small problem as the holes intended for the CL60 are too small but they can go in the transformer mountings anyway.

Is it wrong to see so many problems with such simple amps? I really like the second from the top, thinking that adding Muse caps to the DC heater supply will make up for it being unregulated. "Heater supplies for people who like buying new tubes all the time...."

A switcher asked to deliver this amount of power and on the cheap is never going to be clean. Laptops are even worse as they need a lot of DC-DC converters to function.

The output transformers do the majority of the work in an amp like this so they should be the most expensive piece in the bloody thing. There is also another issue, when connecting many different headphones (with different impedance or even many of the same value) then the load on the transformer is fucked up. Any transformer coupled amp for headphones has to have an impedance selector and this one should have six different settings to fine tune the output to suit the headphones. Now this steaming pile of fail is done on the cheap so they would never do that. When ever Kevin and I can agree on what tubes to use and sit down and design a SET amp for dynamics a wide range of impedance selection is a crucial design point for us. Each one of those tubes has it's role to play. One tube rectifier for the B+ (high voltage line feeding the tubes), two regulator tubes for the power supply, then we have the solo input tube for the amplifier and the two output tubes. What's truly lacking in this amp (and should be there for the price) are custom transformers all around, DC heaters for everything except the rectifier tube, no electrolytic caps anywhere in the amp of HV psu (as in all film caps) and some impedance matching setup.

Even with a desktop unit the USB power supply is less than ideal to say the least. There is also a question of how much of the dac the computer is powering and how the two power systems are interfaced. I like the MSB way of simply letting the computer power the USB input and then send everything optically into the dac. Nothing shared at all... As for splitting the cables, I really can't see an upside to doing that. This is DC and low power at that plus the USB spec is very strict in terms of impedance which this is bound to mess with. While looking for the Studio Six review on 6moons I say they had some piece about this cable as well. A quick glance at what their IT experts say (and king fucknuts) say that HDD's and who makes them matters as well. Citing that Cat6 supersedes Cat5e as some sort of argument just goes to show how clueless these people are. The only bit inside the computer which might make any difference is the RAM as it's acting as the buffer. I doubt it though... For what it's worth I went from a slow as fuck computer to a nice i5 unit with a SSD and 16gb of ram and I didn't hear any difference. Same Belden USB cable though (the one MSB recommends) so that might be the problem...

We knew that was coming. I do wonder if any of those people have ever heard any good amps at all as this one is shit. Look at the pics here and tell me if it is worth it: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/studiosix/1.html So the cheapest transformers on the market, nice enough parts that won't make up for the crappy amplifier design, being pushed by shills as nobody with any sense would ever buy it... yup that has to be ALO.

The stators are brass so they oxidize a bit but all the old units do that. No crazy/stupid enough to try and fix that... No S/N on the set but the original box has one, nr. 170.

There is no doubt in my mind that a properly designed circuit board is better to p2p wiring. Consistency being the nr.1 feature but the PCB also offers safety, parts can be placed in much closer proximity and with a full ground plane the PCB offers a lot shielding and thus better noise performance. The only snag is with AC filaments running on the PCB, twisted wires pushed right up to the chassis is a better way to do that. The problem though is that the wast majority of PCB's just aren't that great. The layout and execution is lacking so the end result is below par. Now I like to do p2p amps but now we have dirt cheap PCB's so it's just as easy to draw up a circuit board and have it made. I'm pretty cynical but it also always seems to me that manufacturers try to sell very simple circuits off as good when done p2p.

Now you need to shoot some arcs at them...

So they are rolling crap that hangs off the cable? These were the people who Mikhail was building the cable amplifier for.

The Cob is also less of an issue with dynamic drivers.

Well here is the super rare SR-2: Stock earpads were probably from PWB and perished all to hell. That baffle looks very much out of place but identical to the link above. Some of the SR-1's were made in that color though. Standard late model SR-1 driver. Notice how much smaller the stators are compared to say the SR-X Mk3 units. That adhesive ring is found on all the very early models and just falls off now. The baffle needs to be resealed somehow though or the lack of bass will become quite overwhelming.

Ray didn't post those internal shots of the Dorkstar, Skylab did. I love the all bold reply in the comments. Nothing wrong with the transistors though I always prefer BJT's. How they are mounted is the real problem. Reminds me of a crappy Shangling amp I once serviced. Nobody had given servicing any thought on that amp either...

Some of them had the Alps RK27 while others used Noble AP25. I guess they just used what was at hand.

I opened them up last night so some pics will be coming when I have time. Identical build to a late SR-1 but I'm sure they did some internal changes to the drivers. Aside from the PWB baffle (same one as found on the yellow model here) the rest is 100% Stax so I might try to change to a SR-3 baffle.

It's nice to see that they are trying to keep people from the truth but the cat is already out of the bag. The more threads that are locked, the worse it gets. As with any OTL amp the output impedance is governed by the tube used. No good way around that except adding more tubes in parallel. What Craig did was mess with the feedback which is dumb thing to do as it completely changes the amp and thus how it sounds. The change was also far from subtle, more akin to a proverbial sledgehammer.

Just picked up my super rare Stax SR-2 (aka the set that doesn't officially exist) and they are even more a conundrum in person. I got these from the UK and what makes them truly odd is the yellow baffle and odd earpads. The baffle is off a PWB headphone so these were modified by the importer or PWB at some point. I haven't cracked therm open yet as I was eager to try them first. The earpads look a bit like the AKG 240 series but were utterly shot so I put on the first earpads I found A-T W3000ANV. To call this headphone rare would be an understatement though as according to Stax it never existed. No mention of it on the official product page and the unofficial Stax site (which is now defunct) didn't list it until one popped up on ebay. I've seen exactly two of these for sale in the last 10 years and this is one of them. I've found one review from 1968 of these and that's it. Stax have never explained why it was so short lived as the SR-3 was released in 1968. I plugged the set into my SRM-007tA and both channels came up to song in an instant. Always a good sign from vintage sets that the drivers are in perfect condition. The sound is typical of vintage Stax, midrange, midrange and a bit more midrange which is heavily damped. There is some top end and there is "enough" bass for most music but nothing like the modern sets. Still a far cry from something like the Koss ESP6 which is from the same time.

They are RN60D which is a military spec so what is usually a 1/2W resistor is rated at 1/4W. Any of the LSK389's will work.

We are often being accused of being the mob, a clubhouse or some such BS but that is much more what HF is and has been for at least the last 10 years. The rules are just for show and some people can get away with anything. It used to be RSA but now that Ray is old news it is Cavalli and ALO. If any other MOT's would have the same army of shills or "reviewers" then they would all be banned. I know the sponsors are not happy about this blatant preferential treatment. There are some good news though as Hifi News talks about stepping into the headphone game more and everything will include measurements. They reviewed the SRS-4170 last month and it didn't fare too well. Hardly surprising as neither the amp nor the headphones are all that good but subjective tests with measurements will just sort the wheat from the chaff. Now something like this would never happen on HF as it is bad for business.

Put me down for one. I mean it!!!

This is also why stuff like the Schiit Mjölnir is over looked though it is superior to the Lau in ever way, it's simply too cheap. Same problem for Ragnarök but it might sell well outside the HF bubble. It did get a mention in the Hifi News coverage of RMAF... What Justin should do is a 10K$ version of the super sym Dynahi. Two BHSE boxes, one on top of the other. Let's see, fully balanced so no need for that idiotic DRV134 circuit to use SE inputs. More power than you'd ever need and with the right PSU it could be a ca.20+20W Class A speaker amp as well. It would actually be built well and no fucking mosfets. To go back on topic a bit, I did a short A-B comparison against the BHSE yesterday and this morning. I've been using the fixed LL exclusively for the last two weeks though work has been hectic so not as much use as I'd like. Still it's never been annoying or made me wish I was listening to something else. As I said in my first impressions, it sounds like the SRM-727 after the feedback mod. A bit flat and uninvolving next to the KGSSHV, lacking bite and presence at the extremes but over all a nice amp. Now place it against the BHSE and the difference is a bit bigger, the amp is clearly holding the transducers back though the effect is subtle. How voices are projected and made into a 3D space is gone on the LL and so is effortless nature of everything played on the BHSE. Still the modded LL shows what Cavalli could do if he actually had any idea what he's doing. Also this was on slow forum yesterday and kinda fits with this... Hmmmmm.....

There are so many great tubes out there with zero audiophile cred. That's why I like the L-2 so much, tube that is disregarded by pretty much everyone and one that can't be rolled. The TV tubes are a treasure trove though for electrostatic use. Take the 6CM7 for instance, I bought a large box of them for pretty much nothing and they work just fine in a HEV90/Aristaeus style amp. The structure is also very similar to the 6CG7 and thus the 6SN7.