spritzer

That sounds like a plan. My transformers are the same SumR spec as most of the other T2's built to KG's spec. No megaohm tester I'm afraid but I'll wire up a bridge and a cap tomorrow. Edit: I'm with KG though, it's only the cap and the parts around it (the copper conducting the heat?) that get hot so this is bloody strange. If this was some stupid mistake on my end I'll be so pissed...

Turns out the cap wasn't mislabeled (unless the connectors were also mislabeled i.e. not likely) and after installing a new bridge as well the problem is still there. KG thinks the transformer is fubar and thus the AC is too high but I did test it before connecting anything and it was on spec. I'll test it again just to be sure but an internal short in the board or an incorrectly labeled resistor are all possibilities at this point. I'll probably fire up the +260V supply to see how it behaves since it uses most of the same parts. I can also swap the windings and see if it makes any difference.

Guess I was bang on the money WRT to the MSRP. I have already had a set reserved for me so I better get cracking on the T2. As for the MSRP, there is virtually no inflation in Japan so prices remain pretty much static for years. The SR-Omega was 180KYen back in 1993 and the same can be said about the SR-007. It wasn't until the A was released that the price increased a bit. Now street prices are a different matter and since the SR-009 is likely to be in short supply for a while at least so prices should be close to the MSRP for a while at least.

If I have a spare bridge then I'll replace it as well but first I'll just replace the cap and see what happens. The rest of the PSU was just fine with no excessive heat generated. Now I really need some sleep before tackling the high voltage...

Thanks guys. Kevin took some time to think about it and he thinks it may just be a fubar cap or that it is incorrectly labeled. Makes sense since the PSU works except for the noises and excessive heat. It's a good thing I bought a box full of those caps so plenty of spares.

I've been turning on the T2 PSU in steps these last few days and it almost blew up in my face. The -260V supply went into meltdown mode and the 680uf/450V cap was burning hot after running for about a minute. Now comes the utter joy of figuring what went wrong...

What you haven't opened it up yet? Btw. I spy some of my handiwork sitting next to it...

Yeah, I've tried the HRT and it isn't bad but not terribly good either. Fine for that role but with access to far better DAC's I'll take a USB->SPDIF over it any day. I guess I've settled on getting an M2Tech Evo and building a new PSU for it. Now I just need to find someone who'll ship it here or call in some favors from my US friends.

Happy Birthday!!!

Any version of the Gilmore Dynalo (G-lite would fit the bill) or a M3.

The HD600 is far from a bad headphone and since you are a detail freak I would suggest something DC coupled and with enough power to breath some life into the phones.

Not necessarily, the male Rean mini-xlr's should fit in the current holes: You still need to add a switch if you want to use both types of inputs though... Edit: The stock pot is 50K

LONG LIVE ENGRISH!!! Prices do appear to be all over the map but it's hard to pin it down without the price in Yen. Looks to be around 400K Yen once you factor in what the Mk2's cost in the EU. That would be the SR-007 Mk2. The SR-007 was the 7th TOTL round model Stax made, the SR-Omega the 6th etc. That's at least my understanding of how the system works...

Pfft... real men custom order 4-gang pots just for the hell of it...

Odds of finding a split section pot like the one Stax uses are zero so you have to get a new knob as well or do some drastic mods to the current one.

RIP Gary

I blink and my torrents are here. Hell, the ancient boot drive in my server is the real bottleneck, not the FiOS connection.

Jude thinks RSA makes quality gear so no...

The WES is fully AC coupled so input, output and inter stage caps. Output caps should be avoided at all costs in amps like these since they do a lot of harm. That's why amps like the Egmont and SRX (ES-1/2) do sound quite good despite the often quite humble circuit design, only one set of inter stage caps. There is no way in hell though that a AC coupled amp will sound clearer than a DC coupled one. You can throw a ton of money at the caps but no cap at all will still win hands down. The whole issue of "tube sound" is always a bit alarming to me as it so often based on an utter misunderstanding of how these things work. Take for instance a comparison between a SRM-007t and SRM-717, the tube amp will sound "tubey" by comparison but is that due to the tubes or how the output stage is designed? What would happen if we keep the plate resistors and construct and single ended SS output stage similar to the tubes? Same deal if we keep the tubes (ok use something better than 6CG7's though) and add a CCS instead of the resistors. Will this have the "tube sound"? I'm not saying that tubes don't matter but things aren't this clear cut... I think all the parts are ready for a KGSS and it just needs to be assembled. Check with Justin though.

Tell me about it. Then on top of that I can't find any good bakers to work for me...

I'd say no. Even if we look past just how fubar the WES is in terms of design then the 323 simply has more voltage swing and is more immune to the load it sees. The WES has more power but that advantage is largely lost due to those stupid inductors and any DC offset present at the output.

Mine is still about 95% done in terms of assembly with the last parts (RK50 and some transistors) sitting on my desk. Who knows when I'll finally get a day off and can finish this beast...

You can't go wrong with a Stax setup.

APL? What about some of the newer Accuphase units? Their players have had digital inputs since the early 90's.