spritzer

I was more commenting on "speaker like" presentation of the Sigma's which the Floats are also trying to achieve rather then the actual performance. If we go by that then none of the Floats even come close and only the K1000 makes an honest attempt. For me the Floats were all about impact which probably stems from using speaker drivers in the earliest versions. High voltage swing with high bias to get better dynamics. I don't know if what you heard were issues with build quality but they pretty much match my experiences. It also matches the figures as with an open baffle the bass is the first thing to go and the treble becomes more pronounced. There are some clever ways to get some of that bass back but the lack of earpads will always cause issues.

What exactly was I wrong about? Look at where the Jecklin design came from, or more importantly the drivers, and there is a whole lot of room for improvement. As for Stax not sounding natural, you are joking right? Which set and with what amp would be a much better question. If the Float sound is to your liking then it has to be a Sigma, preferably a Sigma 404.

I've been following the German thread but I'm not impressed to be honest. Sure, it may be an improvement over the PS2 but that was far from being a top end set to begin with and things have come a long way since then. They changed the connectors simply because Hirschman doesn't make them any more so it was a necessity but the cable looks like the same design. If any headphone would benefit from a lower capacitance cable then it would be those huge drivers... I don't think it is possible to run these drivers at a +600V bias in the open frame. The backwave issues are huge and the only way to overcome them is with brute force. The PS2 ran at +1200V if I remember correctly so these should be similar but more importantly the drive voltages are far higher. While Stax transformer boxes use a ratio of 1:25 for stepping up the voltage, the Jecklin boxes used 1:125. This poses a problem with Stax compatibility even though amps like the BHSE and KGSSHV should have no trouble driving them. These are all issues which we came across with the Purtscheller design ideas back in the day. He was going to offer a matching tube amp but with no Stax compatibility the design was doomed. The days of matching phones and interface devices are long gone and we are only going to see a further move towards the Stax standard in the future. To me this set looks like the old PS2 drivers in a slightly better chassis and with a better headband design though mostly borrowed from the PMB500/1000. Sure, they might sell a few sets but nothing compared to what they might sell with Stax compatibility. I do think the drivers could be redesigned to work at the lower bias and voltage swing ranges but it would take some clever baffle design and at least partial earpads (like the PMD's). This is no longer a niche market as can be seen by the hundreds of Stax SR-009's sold in just one year...

I like pie and I made some today. Also had to endure the sheer torture of comparing two cupcake recipes...

So it's sold for 100$ without a chassis or any ancillaries and it competes with 300$ dacs? I'd call that a pretty terrible deal when one thinks about how much that 300$ actually costs to produce....

1A on a 117V line is a bit optimistic as there is massive inrush current for the first fraction of a second. I use 2A slo-blo on a 230V line with no issues. Is the bias supply fully populated? There are effectively two bias supplies there so some parts are left out when you use the regulator.

Could be but they also claim they invented electrostatic headphones in 1968. Perhaps I'm just cranky from listening to the SR-009 all day...

I had a bit of interest in these until I saw the price. Also a transformer box in 2012? The Ergo Jecklin amp is cheaper to build than that box (300€ in parts with chassis would be generous) so why not use an amp? The Jecklin's always had issues with build quality and these appear to be a bit better but they still look like a DIY project gone wrong.

Is it just me or is anybody else really annoyed by the BS Koss have spewed claiming to have invented all of this? I very much doubt that they were the first ones to wire up each cup separately for stereo even though stereo was brand new at that point. So they do that in '58 and Stax release an electrostatic stereo set in 1959?

I just ran the numbers and the parts cost is about 150$ for the amp section. Most of that are the teflon sockets and all the PSU bypass caps though.

That does look an awful lot like a 6 pin din with a different collar. That would be my first place to look as you can get nice metal ones for not a whole lot of cash. It's hard to compare these with the Stax since the design is so vastly different. I'd also venture a guess that the actual diaphragm material and its tension is far more important than the pentagon stuff.

That's pretty much the same as here. We had a bit of snow mid-may (mostly in the north though) but now it should be clear sailing until mid Sept. After that anything can happen....

The assembly is more like the SR-Omega but with screws this time around. He's sent me a PM on the other site so I'll take it from here...

Can you post some pics of the plug? Most of these have some solid core which is then covered in plastic material so if you can simply peal off the cover, install new wires and then glue it all back together again then it wouldn't be too hard.

I have dozens and dozens of them so just drop me a PM with your address so I can figure out the shipping.

Blasphemy!!!!!!!!

These are not drop in replacements for either stock Stax sockets or the WPI stuff we have been using. They are fastened by a screw or collar from behind the panel but these teflon ones will need screws for mounting. On a thick panel it isn't an issue but on thin panels like the old KGSS boxes or most of the Stax stuff it needs visible screws.

Looks like the cable curse holds true. Gotta love mad design moments coming back to haunt us.

It could be done but will require quite a bit of work.

Just so you all know, a brave young Stax extension cable had to die to make these connectors fit perfectly so keep it in your thoughts...

Cool. The price comes to 2.71$ each and the shipping should be 2-4$ depending on location. Btw. Here is a pic:

I've seen how the dough is made at Eldsmiðjan so I'll never eat there again. The note the management had left to the people working there about serious complaints from the health department was just too funny. I just kept it simple and went with Domino's. The quality has always been great (run by bakers from day one) but it's been getting even better lately.

Those heatsinks aren't really needed but certainly won't hurt. Normal thermasil pads will be fine at these voltages though. If anybody needs PCB's for the teflon Stax sockets I have some extras. The fab house made way too many but the cost was pretty reasonable, 2-3$ each.

This thread is making me hungry after finishing a whole large pizza...

There was a brilliant piece I read about these less common tube circuits back when we were rebuilding the ES-1 but I can't find it now. It should be here somewhere but I have the annoying habit of just throwing everything in one folder and not sorting it... I want everybody to be able to build it so focusing too much on how the circuit works might put some people off. Some basics are necessary (why you can't adjust the DC balance at the output etc.) but I still remember reading the KGSS article all those years ago and trying to gleam something useful from it in that wall of stage this and feedback that.... I also like the idea to have the boards fully self sufficient so one doesn't need the BOM or any documentation to finish building it. All the necessary info should be on the boards and no stupid vertically mounted parts.