spritzer

Nope, should never be a problem.

I just love how ghetto that is.

So I've had the Massdrop version of the Koss ESP/95X sitting here for probably a month but not spent any time with them. I know I'm awful... That changed today so first some pics: Let's start with the any real change from the stock Koss version, the earpads: Now the stock pads are terrible but these are somehow worse. Cheap and nasty fabric covering the same nasty foam...yeah they went into the trash. Get some Vesper earpads but more on that later. As for the amp, well here are some internal pics: This is the same as the last unit I opened, stock 1990 amplifier board but the new PSU board. It's the same circuit, they just had to update it for new parts such as the new nasty volume control. Now for some impressions of the phones. The cable situation is the same as before, rather short cable and then they supply an extension to make up for it. As if anybody is ever going to use these as portables... So I ripped out the stock cable and fitted a wide PC-OCC Stax unit and angled Vesper earpads. I also removed the foam they have on the baffle as the Vesper pads come with some dust protection. Now this is more like it, here is the true king of budget headphones. Granted you have to spend the 500$ for the set and another 200$ for new cable and earpads but that's still the same as Monoprice is asking for their very mehhh set. The angled Vesper pads I got were a custom order and they really add something to the set. The imaging is improved and the slightly smaller cavity really helps them spring to life. They are a tiny bit top heavy now but that helps them really, makes them feel more alive. All in though, very much recommended and nice to see this 30 year old design still shine. One small caveat though, this set which is one of the first from Massdrop did ship with some dust inside the right driver so they are no noise free. One kinda expects that from the ESP950 though so it doesn't bother me too much.

So much pressure!!!

More extension really, better bass, better top end and slightly superior imaging.

I will be getting a set.

I would rather tap off the B+ via a voltage divider.

Good luck with that.

Proof that FR graphs are useless as we all know?

The dust cover is inside the driver shell.

Given the SR-Omega is in 100% working condition (which isn't given at their current age) the Omega is warmer, with looser bass, more rolled off top end and the imaging is far less precise. A lot of this though depends on the earpads which were always an issue with the Omega.

The SZ markings are indeed useless.

That seems likely...

Not sure. Basically, he claimed that he got a shock from the headphones and he was numb in that ear after a while.

2SA1968 now will pretty much mean fake. I doubt many real ones are still in circulation as we have been dealing with fakes for about a decade now.

As it turns out...some people are not happy with the Jade.... I'm not sure how this could have happened. Last person on the planet here to defend Hifiman as they produce nothing but garbage...but the headphones are just made from plastic and PCB material. On the inside of the cups, there is a built in mesh into the pads, then we have a grill made from FR4 and doesn't look to have any traces on it. Now it is black so often tricky to see but yeah... doesn't make any sense to put a track on that part. Next up with a have a gap, then the dust cover, then the strengthening rib for the inner stator and finally something electrically conductive, the stator. Now all of this does flex so you could theoretically push your way to the stator but you are still nowhere near the bias. Now the amp is not fundamentally unsafe like the Woo Audio garbage but also not what I'd call safe. The earthing is suspect at best and the amp lacks the right value safety resistors but at least there are some in there. The audio output is AC coupled to the stators so no high voltage DC could be present there. The 1k output resistors would also seriously limit the current if something were to happen...

They fuck it up here even if I stand over them so I completely get that...

That must be it as this isn't terrible at all. I'd pick the ESP950 over it or any Lambda but it's nowhere near the old Jade level of shit.

Looks good!!

That is the best way. You could do something fancy and regulate the bias but I wouldn't bother.

Those are actually silistors and I'd remove them at this point. They don't age well and at 30+ years old... jut them off. The damping is on all sides of the housing and needs to be very dense or it won't work at all.

Yup, sounds like it. Could me a marginal part like a cap or something like that. Well either that or the PSU is failing. It's not the 100V unit, right?

There is nothing about it in the datasheet but in my experience it is a bit longer but not by much.

We've gone over this numerous times but storing any amount of energy after the ballast resistor can make arcing much worse than it would be otherwise. Normally arcing shouldn't be destructive unless something extreme happens. The schematic you posted looks like the ESL63 design which is very old at this point and Stax were even placing caps after the ballast back in '82.

There is no difference to the amp section, it just how they did the tube delay on the early units.