spritzer

Where did I comment on the sound? Change the feedback, the operating point for the tubes or the PSU and the amp will sound very different from another one using the same topology. Right now I'm building my own version of the Egmont (everything different except the basic topology if the amp section and the input tubes used) so while it will have the same character as the crap that Rudi is peddling but not sound the same.

They are very upfront about some parts being made in China such as the chassis and I'd guess that they get their transformers from there as well. I know they've even offered to help some of their competitors get parts from China. As for them being assembled in China I don't know and don't really care. Their craftsmanship is second to none and the parts quality is on par or even superior to far more expensive amps from SP and RSA. When the upgraded GES will be released both of them will be in a world of hurt.

Happy Birthday Jay!!

Most use WPI sockets (which were used by Koss in the 70's on the ESP10) today and Woo has their own custom made. They aren't half as nice as the Stax sockets but do the job. WPI also makes male plugs which work but not much more then that. The Woo socket is custom made for them, probably in China like the rest of their stuff.

While the 5 pin XLR connector is very nice to use and work with it has no place in a world full amps with Stax sockets. It should be easy enough to move the Stax plug from the adapter to the headphones...

This project has been dormant for a while now due to lack of time and parts but the parts arrived early this week and I finally had some free time so now my Shigaclone is riddled with Blackgates. Since I couldn't pick up a LM7808 regulator before the weekend I'm still running off a 6v battery so the main 470uF reservoir cap is still in place and so is the critical 0.1uf electrolytic. The PSU should be done this week and then I'll replace the 0.1uf cap and remove the main reservoir cap as well. I'm using three 47uF/50v N and two 4.7uF/50v PK BlackGates for now and a Riken 390ohm resistor on the output plus a Caddock MK132 91ohm as a shunt to lower the output level. First impressions are good with the bass leaner then before but much more natural. The treble is more extended and less harsh with far more detail retrieval. Total cost is under 300$ for two units with parts to spare.

I use the AudioZone because it was cheap, sounds great and it is small enough to fit on top of the Stax amp. There are a lot of alternatives out there and since I've never heard the Stello so I can't help you there.

There is no added benefit of using a balanced dac with the T1S unless you really have to. The amp is balanced so you only gain about 3dB worth of volume and not much else. The quality of the dac is much more important then the connection it uses.

That's the the best review of any audio gear ever written IMO so you should be impressed. Here is another one of his, SR-Ω vs SR-007. Truly epic stuff.

Damn!!!!

The 007t has never done much for me with any of the Stax headphones and it cripples the SR-007. Switching to 6S4A output tubes could help but that requires major surgery. Good IC's do help making the combo sound less dark but it's like a band-aid on a bullet wound. A better amp wakes them up and shows what they really can do so I think you should try to audition the BHSE and a SR-007 Mk1 as well. Transformers are also an option but it doesn't matter how much power to try to use with the Stax boxes, it won't do much good. The transformers are tiny (fit in the palm of you hand) and simply aren't designed for anything close to the load of the SR-007 and thus can't pass the power needed. Even a low wattage output transformer is much larger then the Stax units which are nothing more then reversed output trafos so they can't take a lot of current. A simple solution would be to buy the cheapest Hammond push-pull output trafos and wire them up backwards with a bias supply but this hasn't been tried AFAIK. I've wanted to try this for a long time but shipping dead weight via Fedex over the pond isn't a wise investment...

So a bit like the HE90 then...crap!!!! I'll get to the hear the Jade sometime in the new year but this isn't promising since this is an aspect of the He90 which I hated. I assume open mic is where the mics are suspended above the performers so that they pick up the sound of the room as well as the performance. That makes life harder for the transducers.

The 1.3 was an epic fugly beast. So Mr. Doctor man... how do they compare?

Since Iceland has been officially bailed out of the financial crises I'll be able to continue buying stuff from abroad which will include the Jade. The whole customs deal will be a problem though. In theory I should be able to get a refund but it can take months and be a lot of trouble. The FOTM is definitely strong with this one and we will see a lot of "reviews" from owners with no clear point of reference to the other ESP's in the same price range. I do have an inkling that my impressions may clash with those of other owners based on my hyper critical nature. \ The lack of bass is really my only complain and I compensate for it by using the SR-Ω and SR-Ω/007 hybrid since their bass is a bit looser. Oh and the 717 is far from small. It's a huge brute compared to the SRA-3S.

Just to clarify, since the WA6 has output transformers the impedance switch is used to switch between two different windings to provide a better match to the load.

Any one of these will work and the BHSE will ship with the Mullard reproductions which are supposed to be one of the best new production tubes. I've only tried ones from the first production run and I liked the SED "Winged C" better but that's supposed to have changed now. You don't need a matched quad (only matched pairs) but the quad won't hurt. I personally wouldn't pay that much for the RFT tubes since they are good but not miles better then the new stuff. The Mullard XF3's are much better let alone the XF2's and XF1's which are the golden standard. If you like big, bloated bass then the GE and Sylvania (Phillips later on) would do it for you but they don't work well with the Omegas.

Happy birthday!!

Of course there isn't... what a silly thing to speculate about... honest...

They must all be cleansed with fire!!!

The HE adapter was modeled after the Stax jacks which can accept the longer pins but the WPI jacks used by everybody now are the original Amphenol design so shorter. There are quite a few HE90's there in So-Cal so you should be able to get one on loan if Reks's offer doesn't pan out...

So besides Beeeleee being an idiot I'd be careful with those WPI Stax sockets as they can fracture with very little force. The Stax units can do that as well so some support for the double Neutrik plugs would be a good idea.

Seems like I forgot to replay this morning but thanks a lot for the writeup Mike. I'm not a fan of the He90 but if Mr. He managed to fix what I didn't like and build on its strengths then the Jade would be a very good headphone and offer an alternative to the SR-007. I must admit that I'd like a bigger soundstage sometimes which is why I use the SR-Omega/SR-007 hybrid so much, all the precision of the SR-007 but with a slightly more forgiving soundstage and woolly bass. Btw. Have you tried any other tubes in the BH besides the Electro Harmonix?

I must admit that I'm most tempted to open it up and see if I can give Mr. He any feedback. As for the sub 1k$ amp, you can't really go wrong with the SRM-717. I didn't really care for it when I had the BH (didn't really give it a chance) but I've grown quite fond of it in the recent months. It has enough power to hint at the SR-007's greatness and yet imposes very little on the sound.

The Jade looks a bit bigger then the 1.2b but do the drivers look the same? I'm a bit tempted to order one and see if I like it...

The heat output of a tube amp has often very little to do with what ever class it is in since the filaments soak up so much power. A small tube consumes a few watts just for the filament and most of that power is converted to heat.