spritzer

Very cringe worthy but if it works its all good. You could also do something similar to the SR-? arc where there is an additional plastic bit added to the bottom of the arc and the wire holder attached to it.

I've never been known for my ability to compromise... While you can drink more with more money it won't make you happy. Been there, done that... \ Congrats though I wouldn't start to celebrate until you get the address confirmation email from Alex. There were a number "will ship out next week" emails. Also I'm on the look out for a cheap 230v UX-1 to have ready for mods.

Nothing can beat the cRaptor but it should be a strong second place.

Maybe I should market that, you know to secure my investment... The dust is almost always stuck to the membrane. Only dust and the charred remains of arced mylar make this sound but basically look for anything that is protruding close to the stators and will move once the high voltage hits. Very nice!! The Pro drivers are large step up from the normal bias units in impact and bass quantity. One question though, how did you mount the cups to the headband?

You perv... The detail level is unbelievable but it isn't forced like with the majority of high-end sources. In fact there is nothing forced but still a slight bass deficiency which is probably caused by the power situation. The ability of the player to change the soundstage from track to track, album to album is nothing short of outstanding. I'm a very happy bunny... Who knows when that one will be avaialble... You can have Alex add a digital input for around 500$ to the 3910 and some of the other players.

It's a damn shame to see something like this...

Yup...

Good to know when the shit hits the fan... I'll have to check but I don't think so. I'll pop the hood someday and take some pictures but it's so damn heavy

I don't have any Lambdas left... I might. The shipping will be a murder though but by far the cheapest to the US due to some glitch in the system.

Wuss!!! I've been zapped plenty of times and you can barely feel it.

At this price point the 2050 Stax setup is a very good option plus some DAC of choice. It's far from perfect but has made a lot of electrostatic converts over the years.

It''s utterly outclassed in every way. Still it's a great dac and holds its own against the likes of the G08 in most areas. The only real drawback is in detail retrieval and treble extension. It's nice to see that there has been some improvement over the last 21 years... You bastard!!!!!

Epic fail on my part... I normally use my own cables which are basically very well damped, soft silver wires in cotton. The Poiema is damn good though if a bit unwieldy. I've had a whole lot of stuff here over the years, Wadia 861, Emm Signature combo, Meridian 808, Sony SCD-1 amongst others. There is a lot of stuff that I've heard in other systems but those impressions are basically worthless.

The bias isn't high enough nor the charge strong enough to do anything like that. Even electrostatic speakers can't as can be seen with the ML panels.

First impressions are just getting better and better though the player is limited by the need for a step down transformer. The one I'm using now isn't all that good but that will be rectified soon with a proper "audiophile" unit. Right now I'm running it via the my Poiema !!! XLR cables into the Blue Hawaii and the SR-007. I'd like to use my own cables instead but they are out on loan and I have no idea when I can get them back. It's not my fault that they eat the Valhalla for lunch... In the wrong system this player could be considered boring or lifeless much the same as the SR-007 is sometimes called dead and boring. There is no excess here, the sound is simply presented as it should be. There was some high end glare at first but it's gone now and replaced with a sharp treble that has plenty of bite when needed but it soft... ohh so soft. There is some slight etch on the midrange, ever so subtle but it slightly alters the sound of voices and some instruments from neutral. The soundstage is very tight and controlled but without any decent speakers at hand it's tough to get a handle on it. The bass is world class, understated and with the correct amount of bloom even with such bass monsters as the SR-007. There is also plenty of PRaT so Deacon Blues by Steely Dan has the tight beat but it's also understated enough not to intrude. Now for some more listening and to check if there are any 230v UX-1's I can find... They are a very recent design in tube terms so there is no NOS stock. It's pretty popular though and rightly so.

Hehe... Very nice transformers though and the same as Esoteric uses in their players. There are no other ECC99's that I'm aware of and since it is one of the best tubes you can get it will stay put unless I break down and order the gold pin version. Great tubes indeed. I didn't look but there is no Black Gate nonsense here though I would have liked to see some Elna audio goodness...

Well it's finally arrived after sitting at APL since December waiting for the 32bit upgrade. I'm not terribly bothered though as it arrived in one piece, the whole 20kgs. The unit is still warming up but first impressions are very positive though the whole system is stone cold so I might have a better idea tonight. Right now I'm listening to the SACD Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms and it is flat out stunning. The sound is just like it's from a great electrostatic, hanging in space and inviting you to take a listen. The first thing I did was to rip it open to inspect any shipping damage so I'll leave you with some internal porn... As you can see there is a whole lot of iron in the player and the output transformers are truly massive!!! It will take some time to get used to the two remotes needed if the internal volume control is enabled but they are still smaller then the Meridian monstrosity.

Cool. It's a fine player but reliability is an issue as this might be a TOTL Sony machine but it's a far cry from the design of the CDP-R1, R1a, R10 and the R3.

Stock or modified?

The main changes AFAIK were done to the diaphragm and how the coating interacts with the charge put on it. The HEV90 has a 10meg loading resistor while Stax never goes above 5meg with any of the energizers. Now whether Sennheiser just installed a 5meg resistor inline with the bias or altered the coating on the diaphragm I don't know but it must have been something along those lines. I had Sennheiser Staxify my set and I had no problems with it though the diaphragm would stick to the stators when forced.

I would never vacuum clean the drivers but that is another matter. You risk tearing the diaphragm as mylar has great tensile strength but tears like a very thin sheet of paper. The crackling comes from small arcs between the diaphragm and stator so the charge ring isn't really part of the problem but it's worth a shot to replace it with some wire and see what happens. I would look for some large piece of dust that is one of those 15% negatively charged and is stuck in one of the stators.

Odds are you will never see it. You can try to view the diaphragm at an angle next to a strong light and watch for something that stands out in the reflection. The driver assembly is the housing as the stators are attached directly to the plastic shell and the only other two bits are the small metal bit that connects the bias to the diaphragm and the diaphragm itself with the attached metal rings. With the housing shut tight there is nothing to rattle inside but the diaphragm can to some crazy shit when there is an intermittent short to one of the stators.

There is some debris in there!!!! Try unplugging them and shorting out the plug and hear the sound disappear. If you are getting sound then it isn't the bias pin and no channel imbalance means that the stators are still locked in place. A single particle of dust can cause the drivers to crazy things. I've watched a HE60 rattle and shake from oscillations of the diaphragm. It was like the vibration function in a cellphone and all caused by some dust. I hope that the drivers aren't close to the woodworking as there isn't really a dustcover on the backside of the drivers.

The only thing that can easily rattle is the small metal plug used to connect the bias plug to the metal ring holding the diaphragm. If the stator was off by even a fraction of a millimeter then the channel imbalance would be severe.

I've had something similar happen in the past but it was due to some debris inside the driver. Just open it up and (beware of the + stator wire as they almost always break!!!) and blow all dust of the diaphragm with you mouth. It's worth a try as there isn't much to rattle inside it.