spritzer

Get out while there are still suckers who want to buy them...

They can be a bit bright in the wrong system but the HEV70 isn't worth the Sennheiser badge and as we all know except for the HE range the Senn stuff isn't worth much... It's very easy to recable them and all you need is a 3$ connector, some heatshrink, something to act as a strain relief and one hours work.

I only hoped that the manufacturer would have the sense to replace the cable with something with lower capacitance and drop the 5 pin Neutric connector in favor of the Stax one.

I own quite a few... Tubes will get better and better as most of the experience that was lost is gained again but it takes a pretty serious investment to reach what Mullard was doing back in the day. You could try a really good tube pre amp and use the KGSS as a power amp. My KGSS was built to be a power amp with no volume control but I didn't have any really good pre's to try it with.

There is only the SE from now on. It's easier to build and the delay line in the PSU helps to make the tubes last longer even though my normal set of XF2's shows no wear after 3 years. They sure as hell aren't cheap but well worth it. I know you're not going to be happy but I've never payed more then 200$ for a quad... I'm sure the BH will look better...

The Mk2 is for export so that everywhere else then Japan. Some places like Singapore might be cheap-ish. The Yen is weak as well relative to the European currencies. That still doesn't explain the 2600? pricetag on the Mk2

The case work costs quite a bit and all the manual work that goes into a GES. PCB's were invented for a reason... A good manufacturer often sets the retail price at 3-5 times the parts cost to cover all expenses and labor so that would be a good guesstimate. It could be lower though as there is no stock and they are built to order and the tubes are fairly cheap unless you start going down the NOS ECC83 rabbit hole...

Is that it in the background next to the Meridian? Just look past the crappy RSA stuff and Vince Vaughn...

So there is a SS amp as well. The tube amp they were shown with in prototype form was a Stax design from the 60's, pretty much the same design as the ES-1 is based on. $1350 is a good price but there is some steep competition in that price range.

That's not bad. The amp could be pretty good for as it is a Stax design... since 1968...

I'm going to buy either a Mk2 or an A but there is no rush especially if they are having some teething problems. You do know that he's making a few more BH's, right... I'm such an enabler... I prefer the Sylvania 6CA7's to the GE's but neither is even in the same league as the Mullards. It's a startling difference...

How much do the clones cost with an amp? Not that I need another stat or anything...

I think you just need a Blue Hawaii and a SR-007 Mk2/A in your life. Pop in some GE "Fat Boys" 6CA7's for some mad bass

It has less power then the KGSS, the parts quality is not as good because of the more complex design and it doesn't have a balanced input stage for those that still care about that. OTOH it should be more rounded, with more bloom and I'm sure it would make a great amp for the HE90's with about 1.5k$ in upgrades. I'm dying to buy one and mod it myself but there is always something else that is getting in the way.

Things have gotten a whole lot better in the last two or so years as the O2 system now only costs 3.8k$ instead of 6k$. Damn Stax and their distributor policies...

Sure.... you say that now...

Those are indeed the Mk2's. They will be called SR-007A's in Japan and be silver and I'm holding out until I get a price quote on the A's as I don't really like to pay the US distributor extra just for the black housing. There are a number of changes but they are mostly down to the pads and they are borrowing from the 4070 design there. There seems to be a small port hidden inside the pads (maybe more then one) that eliminates the fart for the most part, increases the bass impact and changes how the bass behaves. The Mk1's bass was out of control if you didn't have the exact right fit while the Mk2's don't have much bass at all under the same circumstances. That is pretty same as the 4070 so when you get the right fit the ports are closed and the bass is just right.

At least here under the Euro nanny all PC's need to be CE marked or your insurance won't cover any electric fires. Luckily I have a friend at the agency that tests this stuff and they tested it for me so I have a certificate that my DIY PC's are safe. It can be great to live in a small country where either you know somebody or they are related to you... The first step is to install better wire in the wall with a dedicated line and better wall connectors. Otherwise the cables are just acting as filters and a lot of them are designed to do just that, VD, Shunyata, Kimber Palladium etc.

We are always watching...

I do have to admit that I'm a very picky SOB. Extremely picky even as a small change can drive me nuts

An ego boost...

Could very well be. Teflon and metal-film resistors are best marketing success stories in hi-fi that are not caused by idiot reviewers. You should really try cables without any teflon and some good wire. The Lambda Pro's are amazing headphones and show people just how bad most dynamics are but they are still a black mark on the Stax lineup. The SR-Lambda is a true successor to the SR-X Mk3 fame and the SR-Signature carries on that legacy. I'd love to listen to an ES-1 and tuberolling isn't an issue for me but using tubes like the 12XX7's and tetrodes isn't the way forward. Stats need more power and I really do hope that Eddie Current does design and build a 845 based amp as he's a very good designer and will hopefully come up with something that is better while expensive. I was thinking about building one but I'd much rather not spend the money on something that is possibly worse then the Blue Hawaii and certainly very close. DHT's are only way forward but the cost of something like that is prohibitive for a no compromise design. Designing the case alone is a huge headache due to the extreme heat a thing like that will throw off. Right now I'm more focused on a cheap tube amp for the Stax community that would also power speakers such as the Japanese Masters amp but with DHT's for output all under 1k$.

I wouldn't go much above 14AWG solid core but that's the recipe for a good PC. I use Furutech connectors (as I need Schuko plugs and they are the cheapest good ones there are) and soft silver in teflon tubing all properly damped. Plug it into a dedicated line and who needs power filters

Of course I meant Stax... \ My brain is really not functioning all that well today SP is best if you buy into the hype that endless tuberolling will solve anything

Now that I've mostly got rid of this damned flu and me back to 30% brain function we can continue this discussion. My first point is the different construction of the phones and the simple reason why the Pro's are crippled by design. The HE60 has a open back and completely sealed baffle (if the rubber o-ring has been replaced or fixed otherwise they are severely compromised) while the Lambda Pro's have a partially sealed backwave. The thin layer of faux fiberglass has a huge impact on the sound and was put there by Sennheiser to combat some issues they were having in the bass and HF. The Pro's were the last Lambda to have the backwave diffusion and the difference is profound with it removed. The only conclusion that I can reach as to why the you think the He60 is inferior is that the ES-1 is punishing the more resolving headphone. This is nothing new in the hi-fi world and the design of the ES-1 does suggest this. This is pretty much the same deal as with the Stax amps as they dull down the sound and makes you draw the wrong conclusions like I prefer the HE90 on my heavily modded T1 over the HE60 but on the much more resolving Blue Hawaii the tables are turned. This holds true with a wide range of sources as I've been using a lot of different CDP's these last few months with my Meridian mostly out of order. You gotta love friends with expensive surplus gear...