spritzer

Ahh the M10, a bad clone of the Stax SRA-10/12S... Please report if you find anything as I love this stuff. We also haven't ripped apart anything in a while which just can't do.

It's actually a Lemo plug (most definitely a clone though) but I did have them ask for a Stax socket. Are there any other electrostatic amps on TaoBao that I might have fun with? I can search for Stax but that only brings up the KGSS clones and the tube amp by the same guy

About 20 days or so. Just got a confirmation that they've ordered the amp.

It could be a GU50 or something like a 6V6 etc. Chinese equivalent.

Just that I needed to be weary of any electronics bought in China. Basic covering of the ass... Can anybody spot what power tubes the amp uses? I see 6C?P MARCHEO... Definitely not 6C4P as that is a rectifier.

They are split primaries so you need to wire them in series or in parallel. See the wires going from 0 to 0 and 120 to 120? Remove both and solder just a link between the 0 and 120 in the middle, i.e. change from parallel to a series setup.

I kinda like it too and I wonder what those heatsinks on the side are for. Funny enough I just got an email from the deputy service I used warning me about electronics from China...

Fuck it, I just ordered one... Has to be a variation of the Egmont but yeah, it will be fun to rip it apart.

Nope, that is evil!!! There is so much stigma and BS associated with that word where it is mostly "hey we used fancy parts" with no thought behind it. Sorry, nothing you can do on those circuit boards. Just build it as it is. Stax will never, ever, never repair drivers. They will always exchange with what ever that fits in there so SR-Omega will get SR-007Mk2 drivers etc.

This has been a problem when gauging just how hot is too hot on heatsinks. I'm so immune to heat that it isn't even funny...

Well the old Lambdas you can't take apart really as they will never go back again. At least not properly. The new ones follow the same design logic as the original Omega, the drivers are stacked in a container of sorts so they are easy to open. That said, one wrong move and the drivers are FUBAR. I wouldn't call the KGSSHV in any variation warm because it simply isn't. The Carbon though is an improvement over every other amp we've ever done so yeah, it is the best SS amp out there. It is a little bit my baby so i spent a lot of time tweaking the circuit which is why my amps are so different from the version we released.

With enough skill you can repair them but keeping them dust free is the truly hard part.

You can also just post pics of the transistors and we can see if they are fakes. Super cheap and from China will mean they are fakes though.

Diaphragm size and the D/S gap are the same or similar as on other models such as the SR-Omega so that isn't a factor. There are really only two variables here, coating material and the diaphragm tension. I think so, can't remember... When tweaking we have to take risks!! Next step is submerging it in molten lava!!

Only the special edition mods feature that and well you can guess what the reference series of mods entail... Btw. Did any of you see the NOVA episode last week where they might have uncovered another viking settlement in Canada? Truly epic stuff and it also mean we own you bitches... The instruction manuals have always stated that though it was something like 90% but non condensing. Change the humidity and you change the breakdown voltage of the air dramatically. Normally it is around 100V/mill so the drivers are setup around that though with plenty of headroom. I don't think humidity is the culprit in the recent driver failing though. It might contribute due to its effect on static charges and stuff like that but at the end of the day the drivers just aren't stable. Being able to restore them to full operation by hitting them is a giant red flag to this fact. Converted to balanced operation.

Authentic 2SA1968's are very rare and expensive too so one does wonder.

Couple of other obvious questions, are you sure all the sand is genuine as that could cause massive issues. Also are there any shorts on the boards or has the flux been cleaned off?

Nah, it will be close enough. Just made sure the resistors is a high voltage unit rated for at least 600V.

You should add a 5M resistor in series with the bias line. The Stax output has a 4M7 resistor on it so you need the extra 5M to meet the Sennheiser spec.

Yeah, Class A is no joke which is why I have so much respect for the companies that do attempt it. Accuphase and even Denon make Class A integrated amps that seem to sell well enough to warrant regular updates.

Even a 30W Class A amp runs very hot so yeah, very low Class A biasing.

Nope, highly nonlinear transducer which needs a less than honest amp. Simple as that. The inside story from Sennheiser is that the HE90 driver yield was truly terrible so they did have some very stringent testing.

Sure, they can be repaired but you will have noise issues unless you just happen to have a working cleanroom...

Even if we were to use all film caps in an amp then there are other stresses that go with high voltage. Film caps are also vulnerable to heat so that is clearly a factor.

Hello servo!! Ohh and running amps 24/7 will drastically cut their lifespan.