Laowei

Requires a little more concentration than the simple One Hand Rule.

That is a good price. Already have a variac: Yesterday, the room outlet voltage stayed right at 120.8VAC +1/-2 all day. More stable than I thought. After tech support emails back and forth with Schiit, the Eitr is on its way back for a refund. Will try the self install Gen 5 when available.

Good tip! Thanks. It's been hot here lately. So a heavy draw on the grid. Forecast for 110F Thursday. I'll monitor for a while with a Fluke.

Ouch! Schiit slap! ?

Well, that happened quickly. The Eitr took a Schiit on me. Got it a week ago, and kept it powered on while passing a signal to my Yggy. Occasionally there would be a dropout when the refrigerator or other appliances were powered, even though those were on separate electrical circuits. Puzzling, but WTF it was not happening too often. Got up this morning, and my Yggy was clanking the input relays about every 20 seconds. The Eitr was constantly dropping out, and sometimes resenting 48Khz data, sometimes 44.1Khz as indicated by Yggy LEDs. Troubleshot by powering down all, and individually, rebooting, replacing USB and coax cable, and selecting different USB ports on my Mac mini. Then reinserted my Airport Express as the Toslink source to my Yggy, and its runs without a hiccup. When working, the Eitr/Schiit USB circuit is very good. Got an email into Schiit. Would like to return the Eitr for a refund and will later buy the Gen 5 to self install.

No finished schematic that I know of. Kevin just did a quickie concept and used bis Carbon as the basis for the GG PCB, by directly substituting triode connected EL-34s for the Carbon's SiC outputs. Also, Q11&12 in the tail of the Carbon output were replaced with a pair of KSC2690A. So use the Carbon schematic (but think Triode for Q9-10) to understand the functioning of the GG circuit.

Thanks for the detailed answer. Really helps in understanding your perspective.

Jose, which is your preference? Carbon or GG?

Never heard a Carbon, so no opinion. Got crossed up on the casework of the one I was building. Have the stuffed Carbon PCBs so one day I could swap out with the ones in my GG. Would use the same PS. One day.... But by that time Keven will have designed at least 8 more stellar electrostatic amps to build.

Thanks Joe! You are a BIG factor in how nice this amp turned out. Earlier in my KGST, I loosely swapped in the RK50 to the Alpha pot I originally bought from Spritzer. A noticable improvement. Never the less, that Alpha is a really nice sounding pot for the inexpensive price. Also in the KGST, tried a 50K Dale RN60 in series with the input, with the RK50 as a variable shunt volume attenuator. That configuration did not sound as pristine as the conventionally wired RK50. The TDK 4CP-2500 currently in the GG sounds really good. Its in a new fresh circuit so everything sounds good compared to the KGST. Lol.. No comparisons yet, it will be a while. Things have to settle in and I have to get more familiar with the character of the amp before I start to fine tune the sound to my preferences. Will report back.

Would like to try a quad of NOS Sylvania 6CA7s too, but those are going for ridiculous prices. Guitar players who want the Eddie Van Halen Big Tone sound are hot for those.

Going to try that for my next pair. Have the first pair of pads to take apart the leather and use as templates. The foam will be more of a challenge to reproduce.

Here's a few of the Amplifer Case interior. Signal input is not final. Assembled with a TDK 4CP-2500 volume control from s recent GB. The ALPS RK50 is waiting for me have a machine shop make me an adapter plate (already designed). Wire from the PCBs to the STAX jack is not final (too short). Longer solid silver/gold teflon wire on order. Also, to do: devise a permanent Star/Chassis Ground connection. A better solution is needed, The photo of with the top plate installed is from an earlier trial fitting. Shown with Svetlana Winged C EL-34 (2000 vintage). Even on a short listen, they sounded like "Meh...." Now up and running with a matched quad of JJ 6CA7s. Highly preferred, this amp sings now. Thanks for the tip Whitigir! Also to note, in the umbilical with the heater wires tightly twisted and all the other wires scramble wound, there is zero, zip, nada, NO hum. Deathly quiet.

A couple of years ago I did a detailed search, and only found STAX USA would respond. Suggest you get with your Australian Distributor. Don't believe they are a commonly stocked item, so most dealers won't have them. Expensive. $350 from Yamas at the time. I'm sure he was gouging me as I bought my SR-009s from PJ, and he checked the serial number.

Thanks! I owe everything to Kevin, joehpj, and The Head-Case community. I bought cases, transformers and bits & pieces from Head-Case member joehpj. Finished the PS around a month ago. Posted some details and internal photos here: I'll post some more photos of the intervals of the Amplifier case after I get home tonight. It's still a little messy, but WTF.

I think joehpj may have more. That's where I got mine. Mine's up and running and doing long listening tests, finally enjoyable. Details to finish, along with getting the left channel opt servo to work. Sounds glorious. Thanks to Kevin and Spritzer. These electrostatic amps that Kevin designs and Birgir fine tunes are just an incredible learning resource. They are damn near fool proof and bullet proof. And drive my SR-009'with TOTL SQ. Also, kudos to all the experienced members here on Head-Case for the elevated discussion. Now back to my listening. Nanci Griffith is singing to me in my living room.

Next day follow up after an 18 hour run in. The Eitr has relaxed and the fatiguing edge is gone. Bass has fleshed out and the highs are natural. The clarity and tonality is startling. On quick A-B USB-Toslink input selection comparisons between the Eitr and the AE, the AE now sounds more processed (Velveeta like) and the Eitr has just a more natural "there" there. Not an absolute repeatable endorsement of what others may hear, but only my thoughts relative to the cheap shit alternatives I've tried. I'll be buying the Gen 5 to install in my Yggy when available. Keeping the Eitr to use wth my iPhone at work to stream uncompressed Tidal to my system there.

Recieved my Eitr today and put it in my system: Mac Mini/Audirvana > Monoprice USB > Eitr > BJC Belden SPDIF coax > Yggy > DIY balanced solid Silver/Gold alloy ICs > KGST. Previously using Mac Mini/Audirvana >WiFi > Airport Express > Lifatek glass Toslink > Yggy > DIY balanced solid Silver/Gold alloy ICs > KGST First impressions, lots of detail, a little fatiguing, accentuating the sharpness of the SR-009, and a loss in low frequency weight and dynamics. The AE had more natural sounding high frequencies, and overall sounded more liquid, dynamic and "analog", with a slight loss in resolution -listenable for hours. Swapped out the BJC Belden SPDIF cable for a Monocable analog RCA one, and the drop off in the lower range was worse. But the mids were a bit obscured to where they were not as fatiguing. In my system, seems that the Eitr has the possibility of cleaning up the USB feed, but might be hindered by SPDIF coax cable quality. I'll play the Eitr 24-7 for a few days and swap some more cables. But I suspect the best sound with a Yggy will be with an internal Gen 5, and no SPDIF connection to worry about.

I've got an Eitr on the way to try out with my Yggy. Figured if I don't like it, I can return it in 15 days. If I do like it, maybe sell it (or keep it for another system) and go for the Gen 5 USB upgrade for my Yggy. I really don't like using Gen 3 USB input to the Yggy. Tried too many cables, Mutek AES, Regen, MicroRendu w/ LPS1, W4S Remedy..... finally settling on a denuded Apple AirPort Express via WiFi and SPDIF toslink as sounding the best of the bunch. Even with the Buy Better Gear light on. I think it's the Gen 3 USB implementation in the Yggy that is subpar. Hoping Mike Moffat got it right this time with the Eitr and Gen 5. Got a lot respect for him and his digital experience gained over the years. Jason Stoddard and his analog "skills" not so much. I really do not like the Schiit amps. Just like I never liked SUMO amps. Can't wait for the inevitable mod threads on the Eitr.... gotta know where to place those Quantum Dots.

Older workforce, more financially conservative. FAX machines and bank transfers still the norm with long established homegrown Japanese companies.

RIP, Martin. Landau was brilliant as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood.

Try emailing Douglas Ip: [email protected] He's the one still in the process of setting up new US STAX distribution in Fort Worth. I went thru him to get a cable replacement for my SR-009 several months ago. He arranged my purchase from STAX HQ and their export shippers in Japan. Lots of archaic bureaucracy dealing with STAX. Douglas helped.

Finished up the separate "Universal" PS that will be used to power my GG. Maybe try it with a Carbon later. Measurements: GRHV+: 404.5VDC GRHV-: -406.4VDC GRLV+: 15.01VDC GRLV-: -15.00VDC Pro Bias: settles at 580VDC Casework by Head-Case member joehpj Awaiting select parts on a slow boat from China to finish up the GG.

Not many houses have the the square footage for the circlotron.

Pretty sure the GRHV files with .sw and .sws suffix are power supplies with an optocoupler controlled B+/B- delay. Useful only in circuits with vacuum tubes, to allow the heaters to fully warm up before blasting plate volts. Will help the tubes last longer. Not needed for an all SS Carbon.