spritzer

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.

A solid ground plane is the best way to go and linking it with vias (and I assume either planes on separate layers or with traces) is never the best of plans. Perhaps they are in an off way talking about the 4 spoke thermal connection we use on PCB's?

The EAR isn't pretty but it's not that bad in person. The plain black box does help the "look at me" front end. Not sure what they are on about with the PCB stuff. The Kelvin wiring is used for high current sensing so how would that apply here? It applies to measuring "out of the signal path" so to speak.

I think the coating on the diaphragms is the most likely culprit. Beyer used a simple voltage doubler to generate the bias voltage in the N1000 with the input limited by a 90V transient suppressor. Same as Stax did but Beyer used 1uf caps for the doubler and they could overload the coating, slowly burning it off. If the diaphragms are in one piece and the cable shows contact then this is pretty much the only thing that can go wrong.

Forgot about that one but this is still fuglier.

Beyer have made one good set of headphones, the ET1000. Find a good one and it compares favorably to the SR-Lambda which is no small praise...

I think we just found the ugliest amp ever made. RSA looks classy and restrained compared to this...

Good point...

Can I have one of those to match my BHSE? Kthxbye....

I'm a big fan of just cutting through all the BS and being forward helps with that. Otherwise things get buried by all the shills, just look at the Liquid Gold thread on HF. People who have nothing to do with "the Gilmore group" want to see what a 6500$ amplifier looks like but all the shills and halfwits step in to try and bury them. "It's difficult to open up"... well it isn't and I don't see why they are delaying matters. As soon as I have some time to spare both a Liquid Gold and a LLmk2 will be sent here for a full tear down. Some of the owners bought this crap thinking it was worth the money and now they want to know the truth.

Wow, that's.... ehhh... quite dramatic.

Yup, the Stax SRS-2170 is quite cheap...

6SN7's are never going to work in that role. Mikhail already tried that and it doesn't work. Here's the thing, meet impressions are utterly useless. The noise level in those rooms is very high so even with closed headphones it would be difficult to make any meaningful impressions. You can tell if something is really not to your taste but there are too many variables to say that this headphone X sounds like this. This has been a pet peeve of mine as these same people obsess over the most minute of details in terms of assembling system but take meet impressions as a gold standard. If there had been another real CanJam then I would have setup a test for people to try. Three identical looking amps with three identical Stax phones and ask people to say which is the best. One would be a true high end design, one would be a basic but good design while the last one would be as bad as they can be. It would be interesting to see if people could pick the good one... Well, there are a few of them. The Stax SRM-323S is excellent for the price. It's scaled down to meet the price point so don't expect it to do the 007 justice but for the rest of them it's excellent. It may be a bit too matter of fact for some though. Both the 727 and 007t are excellent designs but let down by some questionable choices. Close the feedback loop on the 727 or swap out the tubes in the 007t for 6S4A's and both are excellent amps. Unless Woo have done something recently to the GES then it is also a great amp. Don't bother with the upgrades or other such BS and stick with JJ ECC83's for input tubes. It's a cracking little amp for somebody wanting tube flavor. A more refined version of that sound would be the Headamp Aristaeus. Now the actual HEV90 ranges from "what the fuck were they thinking" to decent but Justin simply does it better. BHSE naturally and the Stax SRM-252S is pretty amazing for something so tiny. That's about it though... I saw you asking for the schematic for the Alo piece of crap and the shill enforcing agency getting all hot and bothered. You are right about the Woo though, it deserves a place there with the WA5 (utterly flat and lifeless) and the WA22.

The sole ray of light in that abyss.

Better safe than sorry...

I don't like lists or care at all about dynamic stuff but here are a few: Woo WES, took a good circuit and utterly fucked it up. Basically a quad single ended amp with no option for adjusting anything so everything drifts like mad Any of the Rudistor SS amps. All based on the same circuit and again, a quad of single ended amps that drift all over the place. All of the Rudistor electrostatic amps, all based on the Egmont circuit. Fine 500$ amp but 5K€? Terrible build quality and a bias supply that will destroy your headphones as a bonus. Alo Studio Six. Joke of a circuit and they think using a TKD volume control and 20cent Koa SPR2 resistors (aka Kiwame) makes up for the crappy transformers. Rule one for tube amps, budget everything for the transformers. Anything RSA though the A-10 and the Darkstar are the standout performers. The A-10 has to be witnessed by anybody looking for the ultimate "how is this crap possible!!??" EC Electra is utterly fucked but then again everybody knew that. Zane Deux also gets an honorable mention. Stock it is nothing special but then he did a "low impedance" version which simply takes the cake. Probably missed a few as I've been up for way too long... The Zana Deux

I think they are just caught up in the hype. This is heavily plugged into the verbal diarrhea that are those online "review" sites. Just look at those endorsements, Mike Mercer? That guy is 6moons quality

Here's the thing though, they aren't well regarded. It's just the same people (who don't pay full retail for the product) who hype it up. They will sure look like idiots when we post what the Liquid Gold really is like. Ultra high end it is not... The LF is a dud now, nobody will touch one and they are worthless on the used market. That was well before this thread.

Here is an update, both PSU boards have been worked on and we dare to call them the final versions... Here is the updated "k" version: Red is the top layer while blue is the bottom. The major changes are more clearance around the entire ground plane, less chance of a short around the rectifier diodes (different footprint), no ground plane or traces on the top layer under the main PSU caps and all traces on the top layer cut down as much as is possible. There is now the provision for a fuse for the bias supply when running it off the prereg (500V version) as the voltage doubler naturally limits current for the 450V supply. Also added is a bias test point before the ballast resistor to check the bias supply. No CT connections for the HV line as nobody used them. Also we added markings to make the setup clearer, what should be used where and all that. Here is the new version of the large board: Same changes as above but also moved the mounting holes to decrease the chance of shorts. The design was also updated to the same spec as the "k" boards. I'll order up some proto boards later today.

Best would be to abolish post count.