spritzer

Did you setup the board properly? The new " I " labeled parts around the upper right hand corner of the board are for the IXYS parts but not the CCS.

The pinout is the same but electrically they are very different. We would only endorse changing tube type if it was actually better in any way, though we would probably have used said type in the first place. Also rolling in different tubes without recalculating the operating point and swapping out the resistors as needed is a terrible idea. So basically, just because something fits doesn't mean there is any reason to put it there. Stick with the stock tubes.

That should be just fine.

Nothing was touched up or altered, I'm not even sure how one would do that as my solder joints are quite clearly different from what was on the board. I would need to find what ever solder was used and then desolder it all without any damage. Any experienced tech would know this makes less than no sense. First off we have the issue of the tiny lands around the components. They are miniscule so soldering something like the TO-92 units is very hard to do, let alone any rework needed. Same thing for the 1/4W resistors, almost impossible to do any work on them without lifting the traces. Also to curtail any thought that the crappy soldering is due to the RoHS, see this: Brand new Stax SRM-007t which is RoHS compliant. The soldering is perfect as it is always on the Stax units.

1A... yeah that is utter fucking overkill but not really of the good kind.

The 5W resistors used in the SRA-10/12S are larger than the 12W Mills units. The Mills are nowhere near accurate (more like a 7W unit max) but goes to show how things have changed.

You can try the Wima distributor instead. They sell small lots.

While I was installing the new 2SJ74's I decided to do some further modding... Why use a transistors when a LED does a far better job and looks pretty at the same time. I'm listening to it now and things are improving. Doesn't have the hard hitting nature of the KGSSHV but it is fast approaching neutral.

Some PSU upgrades: Now the output has 20uf instead of 0.44uf. I'm sure the PSU will act up somewhat but it is time to fix it anyway. Also, terminal blocks... you know, if one ever needs to remove a PCB... Reworked the bias supply a bit and added a connector for it as well.

Those are C-core transformers btw... same as Lundahl. The resistors are just 5W units but they used to be huge in the 60's. The diodes need to go if I were ever going to use that bias supply. It has no input limiter though so it won't work off anything but 100VAC.

Mine is the real deal, a gift from Kevin.

Stax really didn't skimp on the transformers back in the day: Might have something to do with this: Given how rare these are it might be one of the first ever made.

I for one would take my soldering over this blessed assembly... Speaking of which, new input section: Pain in the arse to drill though as it is all folded Alu. Milspec silver wiring dating back to 1955...

Most excellent. The lower serial does make me wonder what they are up to as all the sets being replaced have to end up somewhere.

I've been redoing the input section on the LL as who can use an amp without loopouts? So when I was removing those useless GRFA sockets a nice Cavalli feature was revealed, no earth connection on the right RCA socket. The wire was there but nobody bothered to solder it in.... No shared ground either for the two channels so it was floating all the way to the amp PCB. I also got some parts in so some more PSU upgrades soon. Large film caps on the output and some local bypass on the amp board should help this pile of fail. Probably as all the wires would have to be replaced as well. It's not obvious from the pics but all the wires are dirt cheap PVC crap and that combined with the tiny lands on the PCB's means all the heat from the iron enters the wire. This melts the insulation and the wires really need to be swapped out.

He was pushing hard for Rudi back in the day, convinced it was actually good. I think he might even have had the ECC83/EL34 Egmont which I'd love to hear. No way that sounded good or even decent...

How is charging people for about 20-30 times the number of parts that actually need to be replaced customer service? It's comparable to bringing a car in for a worn timebelt and have the whole bloody engine changed out. Fine if you don't have to pay for it but I doubt anybody having the repair done out of warranty would be happy about this. That connector BS is why I bought single terminal blocks to make this much easier.

Those are all 8 pin circular units and micro phonics aren't something I've noticed but as of yet it hasn't been put into proper use. Never been a fan of the inline mounting either though it makes fitting them much easier. These were not fun as the markings on the Soviet units didn't match up to the pins, not even close.

Fairly sure your amp has a transformer output. 300B's don't work well as OTL's...

I think it has more to do with being clueless. Even the DIY projects are fucked in this regard.

The problem with that is the lack of benefits from using monoblock headphone amps. With speakers it makes a lot of sense as moving the signal over long interconnects works much better than long speaker cables.

Exactly and that's the stuff you buy on ebay when you need the cheapest transformer money can buy...

For me the sub-mini is more of a "can this possibly work" challenge and I guess it is the same for Schiit. Why not waste some money on a crazy project... Of all the stuff I've done this has the biggest WTF factor from my friends. Being able to hold an 8 tube amp in the palm of your hand is very cool... Its it as good as the full size GES Mk2? Nope but who cares...

Looks like the Mk1 might be better build than that one. Just look at how many wires are soldered to the amp board...

We are all for overkill when the goal is better performance. Making some lackluster circuit seem impressive to stupid people isn't really our thing... Yup, people used 6n6's instead of unknown origins instead... well that or 6SN7's...