spritzer

How the diaphragm is tensioned and the glue used to hold the drivers in place are probably factors as well. I have a vintage SR-404 on the way that I'm going to rebuild with different types of glue to test that theory (and have a new test headphone for amps as well). It is quite astounding how 11 phones which are almost identical can sound so different.

What sets them apart isn't all that much in the grand scheme of things but to my ears it's a big break for the character of a Omega headphone. For the first time they have "a sound" which is super imposed on everything (like the Jade, He90 etc.) and that is a deal breaker for me. As another example, lets compare the LNS and the SR-404. Both phones are nearly identical except for the diaphragm material yet sound completely different. Throw the SR-SC1 into the mix and there is the third type of sound, all from the same ingredients. All of the Lambda phones sound very similar to one another but a small change goes a long way.

Just give me a shout if you need some BH PCB's...

No dissing the glorious Lada!!!

Ditto. If that said amp would have two Stax sockets then that's just golden...

Yup. The only thing that has to be verified is which lead on the transformer is which but that is easily done with an ohm meter.

This is the largest one I've found. It's quite clear though that there is a lot of wires entering the transformer on the right. That means the amp should be easily configured for 120v and 230v use.

Stop torturing me, I've been without a BH now for 9 months... :'(

Me thinks Micheal is working for Stax to try and rebuild some of the Mk2's reputation!!! What headphones will they return to you once you are finished?? My point exactly. I'm a very picky and can obsess about the smallest thing so to me they are very different but to a layman they are pretty much identical. Even Yama's claims that is the case to Stereophile (latest issue, Recommended components) and that the changes are merely cosmetic.

Most Japanese gear for their domestic market isn't grounded since there is no standardized ground connection over there. The gear is double insulated instead (so a live wire can never reach the chassis).

You know it is all about perceived bass and being impressive which is what the Mk2 does well. It's impressive at first listen (something the Mk1 definitely isn't for most first time users) yet with time those aspects which impressed become tiresome. To somebody who hasn't had these phones on his head for the last 6 years the difference between the two is small and easy to over look but the same could be said about any of the Lambdas. To a large extent they all sound the same but the devil is in the details and once you notice those details, they stick out like a sore thumb. Once I heard just how much bass detail the He90 drops/skips over they were useless to me. Great headphones but the flaws far outweigh what they do well. I just realized one thing... why didn't Justin send the Jade along? With both Fang and Aaron there it could have been interesting... Ohh and it is Mj

The only internal picture I could find was from the brochure and it is tiny. I do believe that there are more then two wires on the primary of the transformer.

Having separate versions for domestic and international markets is quite common over there so it wouldn't surprise me. Goes of to hunt for pictures in Japan...

That's brilliant. I count 6 primary wires on the transformer so this thing can be wired for use anywhere in the world.

They do have the largest drivers ever crammed into a headphone so no wonder they can produce a lot of bass. The hard part of designing any transducer isn't producing the bass, but controlling it. One of the reasons I need to buy a SR-007Mk2 is to see if I can boost the bass just a bit, yet keep everything else inline. Damn recession messing with my research...

A quick search turned up this one for 34$.

want....

Using larger resistors is much easier when doing P2P work but you can always drill out the holes on a PCB. I had to do that on the BH boards I was working on as I was using resistors with higher wattage rating.

The SR-Omega earpads aren't sealed in any way at the baffle so if you lift them you open up a small port. If you open it up some more you shouldn't experience distortion (I've run the SR-Omega drivers in open air and no distortion) so this could be a hint that something is wrong. My first cause of action would be to tighten the 3 screws at the back of the housing (the odd numbered of the 5 ones there i.e. 1,3,5) and if you feel up to removing the pads, tighten the screws there as well. To get accurate bass you need the seal, add a port and you boost certain frequencies (frequency bands really) but usually cut the available bandwith of the drivers.

WE NEED PICS!!!!!!!!

If you check out the image above you can see that the rest of the amp is all discrete. Good point, one can get too single minded with what is sitting here. Transformers FTW...

The rest of the amp is fully discrete so the phase "combiner?" should have been as well. Not a big deal but I would run this amp using the RCA inputs...

Could be... and it's Doug's burpday soon!!!

Me too.

Happy Birthday Al!!!