spritzer

I'm not buying the cryo crap but the SR-SC1 sounds a lot like the SR-404LE from memory. The drivers assembled a bit differently perhaps?

It could be a new version of the 252 as the 353 should be close to being released. The old amp was certainly just a rebadge with a new PSU but I don't know if they actually did anything with the amp circuit.

No, no she can just keep it as a bonus...

EAC to rip the disks in FLAC and you need nothing special besides that. For a Windows PC use Foobar to play it back and I'm sure the Ayre comes with some form of ASIO output to bypass the Kmixer built into Windows (it resamples everything to 48kHz and does other nasty things). HDD's are all way too fast to ever become a bottleneck and if anybody can hear difference then I'd like some of those drugs they are on. You can naturally use iTunes as well with ALAC but I never use it. Audiophile USB cables are a bigger scam then digital cables as next to none of them adhere to the strict USB standard. With the Ayre in particular you are feeding the dac an asynchronous data stream so the cable should not matter here just as the cables inside the computer won't matter. I'm sure that there are differences but are they from interference/dropped bits or just the sound being moar better? One thing you should consider later on is a NAS solution with some form of RAID for data security. HDD's don't really like the rather violent movements found on ships so show absorbers would be a good idea.

Happy Birthday!!

Congrats on the double amount of presents!!

Happy Birthday Ken!!

I do have a lot of ES-1 wire left and solid core is great for filaments. It's also supposed to be pure silver...

Went to work, made a shit load of breads then had to deal with crazy cash registers that refused to work correctly. Went home and cleaned/waxed the car. Too tired to do anything but Christmas starts in less the 4 hours here so I'd better get cracking... I quite liked that one. Truth be told I always set DC offset by touch, much better then any stupid "measurements". My gauge of physical pain must be as accurate my ears, right?

For 22AWG/600V this is hard to resist (I've ordered 3 times already), they also have a 18AWG listing.

I second Castle, very good show.

A two gang is not that expensive and a nice Shallco input switch isn't either. Hmmm I do have a spare +/-15V S22...

The real modding opportunity would be to replace that cheap volume pot with something better. There is also the option to DIY a Dynalo, strap it to a S22 with a nice attenuator for a killer amp/preamp.

The only Stax gear to use those switches in bulk were the preamps and they are rarely talked about so data is limited. They were also used in the SRM-T1W and I haven't heard of any issues. If this amp has no serial number then it could also be a late prototype and/or very early production model since AFAIK, the SRA-14S should have an external PSU.

It's arrived but I'm going to hold out until the 24th before I open it. At least try...

I'd love to see some pics but as usual with Stax, service manuals are hard to come by. The amp section is supposed to be identical to the SRM-1 Mk2 so the standard DC coupled SS affair.

I'm with Doug, if I'm going to buy music it has to be something I can hold in my hand. The HEV90 is rather overrated to say the least. Still the HE90 likes an amp that is a bit vague.

Nah, somebody had to stay behind and keep the driveway clear...

Pass XA200.5?

Ahh but how about ELS57's with thinner membranes and mounted to a steel stand? Then we might be getting somewhere but I'm sure the SL's would play louder and with moar basses.

i.e. the reason the Krell MRA's were invented. Well that and arc welding...

Yup the heater feed. It makes sense to twist all AC wires to minimize hum and that setup is just asking for trouble.

Want me to fedex you one of my shovels? Seeing I have no use for any of them...

Replacing those copper bus bars with twisted wire should help with the hum.

Why do you need that strand setup? Extra flexibility and/or the cable will withstand the flexing better? 26AWG would make sense for rewiring headphones...