spritzer

I'm glad you liked them.

It's on my list. Perhaps I should ask Craig to keep an eye out for them...

Completely forgot to respond. I'll also opt out since I've found plenty of XF2 quads around the 200$ mark over the years. In other news, I'm right now listening to the Egmont falling flat on its face when put under some pressure. It has handled most things I've thrown at it relatively well but when playing the DVD-A of Maiden's Dance of Death on the Mk1's it is just being slaughtered. \ Now, it has never been able to show the depth of field which the Mk1's do so well (a sure sign that the amp isn't up for the task) or small bass details but now it has entered HE90 mode and simply skips over huge portions of the bass plus a lot of the small detail. Damn I miss having a BH here...

As the keeper of the Wiki, me thinks you should get a set to play with. I can't think of a better way to promote a new ortho and get some constructive criticism at the same time. They are probably also in NYC so no shipping hassle...

The build quality of that ortho set is stunning for a prototype. Stick some nice leather on that foam and it's all set.

Damn noobs asking stupid questions... Welcome Santa!! For 40$ you should be able to score an OEM Stax setup from the 70's with an adapter or a Koss ESP6. Having two pounds of 1960's electrostatic goodness sitting on one's head is hard to beat.

I believe you are correct. It's a shame it can't handle more voltage though...

I'm in. Nope, they are still in Japan.

Precisely! With the dwindling supply of BG's we should switch to moar Elnas and Muse's..ssss

The Omegas even use the same cable as the SR-007 Mk1, though in a bit nicer color. Yup and that is also true about my hybrid. The bass is also rather different since on the SR-007 Mk1 it is a bit subdued and rather lean but it is more prominent on the SR-Omega. It's also influenced by some chassis resonance so it isn't quite as linear as the Mk1. I've never been a fan of the RFT tubes and the Tesla's never sounded like an XF2 to my ears. I need to get some Treasure series tubes... The original brown headband is indeed no longer available but I managed to get a couple of gently used examples. One of which is on the replacement arc Craig got for me. The arc on my hybrid is also new which was clearly evident when I got them, Stax had put the SN on the wrong side... The arc's do loose their tension over the years but only on the Omegas. Must be due to the very heavy earpieces. It's also quite easy to move the headbands if you want to do so. There are two screws holding the assembly together, undo those and it falls apart. Just be careful not to loose the small spring inside and the metal disk used to secure it. Also note that the guide pins are directional so the end with the rounded corners goes either up or down, can't remeber which.

We may have tin ears but at least we have some sense and great mods.

Indeed it is and as such should be demo'd exclusively with Megadeth at loud to insane volume.

The etch is rather subtle and doesn't show on most recordings but when it does, it drives me mad. Regardless they are the second best headphones ever made and quite a ways away from anything else. Andy really needs a new arc on his set since it is supposed to be dark brown and not white...

The SR-007 is moar better once you notice the damn upper midrange etch. That's why I kept my SR-Omega with SR-007 drivers since they combine all the good aspects of both phones, brutal honesty with a bit of fun thrown in for good measure. I'm set for spare parts though with a spare set of drivers, earpads, cable and arc assembly. I'm certain that most of these broken phones can be fixed in the right hands, I even have 1.4um Mylar-C so that I can change out the diaphragm. Btw. It's nice to have you see the light, ALO fanboy...

We need comparisons to other new production EL34's, such as the SED, Mullard or JJ. Back in 2004 I utterly hated the Valve Art (absolute crap and they showed burn marks after a few weeks in the BH), the EH's were ok but the SED's really stood out.

Ditto. There is no way in hell for those tiny transformers to make the Mk1 shine, no matter what amp you use to push them.

This is an audiophile forum but what you are looking for is an audiophool forum filled with people that buy anything without questioning it. That's what HF is, so go there to ask stupid questions like this...

This wouldn't be the first time Sony added the XLR outputs as an afterthought since they did the same with the DAS-R1a and the SCD-1. At least they used a transformer on the DAS-R1a...

The SR-404 pads work great on the Signatures so go for it.

How can it be mean when it is the truth? Just look at the PCB and tell me that the amp is any better then all the other basic chip amps being sold? RSA products are badly designed (even dangerously so) and overpriced but he's no Rudistor, I'll give him that...

Did Frank ever fire up the smaller KT88 amp? That's a rather more "sane" approach to a SET electrostatic amp. Ohhh and Andy, you need a new arc on those SR-Omegas or use some plastic/vinyl cleaner on it. Autoglym Vinyl and rubber care has worked wonders on Stax arc's for me in the past.

I've never had to open up any of the new drivers (or seen pics for that matter) but from the outside it looks like the SR-202 uses the old style drivers with an etched copper plate for stators encased in plastic supports. These are then bonded to the metal rings used to support the diaphragm and carry the bias voltage. The new drivers are certainly different and appear to be some form of plastic with a conductive layer on the bottom. There is no way to be sure and I won't split open a working driver just to take a look. It takes a lot of delicate work to get them back together but if somebody had a broken set that's another thing...

Franks amps are stunning to look at and the impressions I've got via PM's are WOW and more WOW. The non sealing pads on those Audeze phones may account for the lack of bass. Planars really like an infinite baffle or the bass begins to roll off.

The BHSE looks stunning. Have a great time you guys and know that I hate you all...

Bingo!!!