spritzer

It's enough of a "problem" for Stax to take drastic measures to combat it. Special model numbers for Japan and the Export markets (i.e. the A and II models) and the amps have the 117V windings cut to make conversion tougher.

I'm sorry for your loss Chris

That seems to be pretty common these days. The datasheet is clearly just a rough outline that one can work around with enough audiophile parts...

So it's time for clueless noobs to enter the discussion? You clearly have no idea what's going on here... All will be revealed in due time but "the agenda" is that everybody plays by the same rules and the products are at least reasonably well executed. Cavalli fails on both accounts. There are some owners who are rightfully worried that they have indeed been sold a dud. They contact us and in the end full schematics will be posted.

Indeed and this is exactly the reason why there are small audible differences between rectifiers. Same deal with the Stax amps, simply replacing the caps in the SRM-T2 PSU did a lot for the amp and lowered the offset. With Woo amps there may also be something else at play since they routinely use large caps right after the rectifier and that may cause issues.

Indeed.

You don't need to match anything (if using LSK389's) to get a fully working amp with no issues but matching doesn't hurt. I for one wouldn't bother to match the output transistors unless you had a large stock to choose from.

If you knew even the smallest part about just how dishonest Cavalli and anybody associated with him are then you wouldn't utter such stupidity.

With Yama's it's always the same things, they never pick up the phone, even when dealers are trying to order something, they are overpriced to say the least and the repair service is shockingly bad, One amp I saw was as if they didn't even bother to find similar parts, just put anything in there and shipped it out still not working properly.

Happy Birthday!!!

Looks like the EOL is true. http://www.semicon.toshiba.co.jp/openb2b/websearch/productDetails.jsp?partKey=2SC4686A What I heard back from Mouser was that the EOL was due to market demand or probably lack there of.

This man speaks the truth! Ehh 4 paragraphs would be a long reiview by my standards but I'm sure I could go into overshare mode. Looks like I'm getting a cable this Christmas... Never seen one and I really can't see the need for the extra pin. Perhaps that's just me but I have a pile here of 5 pin XLR's from my days of having way too many ESP's and trying to run them off one amp...

Creative Soundworks 4.1 for me. I still have one part of it, the Alpha Taiwan 4-gang volume pot.

It really wouldn't be a problem to make a simple balanced cable for you. A HD650 cable is about 20€ and the connectors about the same. Even something using the Cardas cable wouldn't be too expensive...

It's well worth a try. I'm going to try and swing by the Senn distributor and bring what ever amps I can throw together for a shootout. Their source sucks so I guess I'll have to bring a DAC as well... Here's where the viking gene's come into play. for me since I don't mind the weight at all. I noticed it at first but after an hour they just aren't there. I guess I'm also used to the very heavy headphones such as the Stax Sigmas, 4070 etc. The soundstage doesn't bother me as it is about the same in size as the 007. No layering or depth though but given the price difference it doesn't bother be either. The headband is just bad and for this weight it should have been suspended. Much more expensive though...

The LCD-2 sure isn't perfect but I like it for the same reason I like the oldest Stax headphones, the flaws don't detract from the enjoyment of the beautiful, beautiful music. It's quite sad that a majority of people buying these headphones would believe it... Regardless I'm hearing that Kevin will be making a special limited edition vintage silver cable for these phones and I'm sure I will be sent a free sample in exchange for some shilling. This seems to be the normal arrangement on HF these days... I for one have never been able to like the HD800. It does some things ok but for that type of sound the HE60 is simply better in every way.

After a couple of days with the LCD-2's I dare say I like them a lot. The sound reminds me of the SR-007Mk1 and their faults are few and far between. The bass is just a tad bit loose (probably the M3 at fault) and the top end is even darker than on the 007 but other than that these are very, very good. Now the build quality is atrocious though. I was never a fan of the headband but it's just falling apart and I need to have the headphone hangers powder coated since the paint is flaking off. The old Stax units used a very similar system but they have held up for 40+ years with no issues. I just got some Rean connectors so the horrid stock cable is gone and in its place a Sennheiser HD650 cable. It's much thinner than the stock unit but it seems to be letting the basses through ok...

Urinating on an electrified fence?

I'd say the different between SR-404 and 404LE is the same as with the former and SR-SC1, subtle and mostly just that midrange etch that is under control. Now it has to be said that not all 404's suffer from this peak (my set doesn't) so the same could be going on here. Earpads also matter and the 404 has had 3 different versions.

Couldn't have said it better. Liquid Fire being nothing more than a EHHA with a crappy input stage is just too funny.

A cheap made in China electrostat designed by the Stax engineers? Hell yeah!!! A expensive, cheaply made in China by a certain mr. He who hasn't got a clue? Not so much...

Yup, Merc pushed for the Pro bias design to have accurate monitors when they listened to how the cars sounded (rattle, squeaks etc.). This was back in the day before Merc decided they spent too much on their cars...

Yeah, the SG reviews are in the same camp as 6moons for me, utterly useless. It's good that he's helping Tyll but Tyll's reviews are actually a rare breed, insightful and not clouded by sticker price or some other nonsense. AFAIK yours is pretty much the same as the rest of the amps.

Some 4686A's here: http://www.talonix.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=11984

Just got mine and I dare say I like them a whole lot more than the early units at CJ'10. They aren't Stax but at the used price they give the Lambdas and ESP950 a proper run for their money. Bloody heavy though so Audeze really should look into suspended arc setups. Now the M3 will never be considered the best amp there is so they might get a bit better once I finish the Super-symmetry Dynahi and Dynafet. Time to increase the standing current on the M3 though... Btw. What were Audeze smoking when they came up with this cable? No glue used to secure either the heatshrink or the techflex so it just slides all over the place. Just makes it easier to tear it down and do it properly but still..