spritzer

You would be surprised by just how much the earpads on the SR-007 matter. They are completely useless after about 3 years of use and the phones sound like crap so a totally new design like those on the Mk2's might be something very special.

Yup it's on a boat.

The HE90 is both bright and has a nasty upper midrange coloration but you'll never hear it with the HEV90. The soundstage isn't even close to being real as it is always huge, no matter what the recording is like and by doing that they destroyed the imaging that makes an ESL so special. The bass is a big bag of worms and where the HE60 pulls ahead as the He90 gets confused when a lot is going on. This is the real test for any electrostatic transducer as the bass energy can and will overwhelm the driver so the housing needs to dissipate the energy into the head and this is where both the He90 and SR-Omega fail while the He60 skips the issue by just eliminating the really deep bass altogether. In the end we are talking about two very different ways of designing headphones. Sennheiser was trying to pull off a speaker like aura while Stax has already done that and know it isn't the way to go, so they designed the most accurate transducer they could. They did things that are usually frowned upon when designing ESL's such as increasing the shunt capacitance (extra unwanted capacitance that just makes the phones harder to drive but can give superior control over the diaphragms) and PCB stators with the conductive element facing away from the diaphragm. The O1 is quite a bit better then the He90 in my book with the O2's a few levels above. The O1 is also a bit bright at times, with a fake soundstage and they get confused, much the same as the He90, when a lot is going on but they aren't diffused, can handle a lot more bass then the HE90, can pull of a little soundstage layering but nothing compared to the SR-007 and the midrange is almost as good as the O2's. This here is a required reading as well as the epic SR-007 review as darth nut goes into the subtle aspects of soft focus and spatial cues. http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=general&n=80474&&r=&session=

He's right that the high end, as in the companies that make it up, will many die as a lot of them have missed the point but the hobby will live on.

I haven't spent much time with the KGSS recently but these are very different phones with a clear nod to the O2's in over all SQ but the HE60 is just so much fun. It's this combination of a really fast sound with the detail retrieval of a 1um film under enormous tension. They are lacking in bass the same way as the 4070 is but it's not all that rolled off as the information is there but it is pretty subdued. Just be careful to have the He60 under a dustcover at all times as they do not like dust...

There really is a sucker born every minute...

Somebody paid 25k$ for that!!! I've been offered way more then 8k$ for mine but I passed.

It was around 5.5k$ but the wait was priceless. I didn't get mine till January 2006...

It's not a rumor as the electrets will die with time. They should last a long time as the technology was pretty good, even in the 70's so no worries.

Does anybody know how many phones there really were in the Jan Meier sale? I think there were at least 20.

I thought Nordost was the only company with the beyond-the-speed-of-light technology? Speaking of Nordost, stop raping my culture to sell your crappy cables!!

Nahh they aren't that good.... It's been way too long since I used mine...

Welcome Dave!!

It's either a pot, some on chip thing or relays switching between resistors. There are some other ways though

The best wiring guide is in the HE90 service manual as they use the same color code. You can find it here http://www.audiogeek.net/files/he90.pdf. The wires are pretty thin and also have strings amongst them for support but its pretty easy separate the two. The WPI plug is something like 3$ and does look ok but the Amphenols are a bit harder to find and you might need to do a bit of work on them. They are microphone connectors and that has the pins surrounded by a collar while the socket is exposed so you need to remove the collar.

Can't wait for some new designs!!

The first batch was sold out and the extra ones are going fast. I dunno why but I'm usually the second to know after Justin that somebody as ordered one... Kevin, have you published the KGST design yet, or am I simply having a major brain fart and have completely forgot about it?

Hey!! Threadcrapping on our threadcrapping isn't cool!

Ok, that's nasty!

Just keep telling your self that...

I know it is unlikely but stupidity knows no bounds. I'd like to try a set of these but I doubt I'd buy one because I know how hard it is to make a good, reliable ESL.

Yup. The other one is easy to find but some idiot might try to run his balanced headphones from the 5 pin jack

I would. Just put a Stax socket on the HE60 plug so the amp can still be used... if you are desperate

It will gain strength as this current situation will not last. Still the weak dollar actually helps the US now with the current troubles. It's fun to watch this from the outside but I shudder to think what will happen here in Iceland when the shit hits the fan. The nation has about 117 billion dollars in debt (not bad for 300.000 people ) which has accumulated in our largest economic boom ever but it is all tied to the ISK which is the smallest currency in the world. The interest rates up here might even make a grown man cry as 20% is the norm on short term loans...

Huge!! The SRM-Xh is a big improvement let alone a nice Class A amp.