udurbalanced

I have a CCS modded Stax SR-006t from Mjolnir Audio that stopped working back in September. For a few weeks I would get no sound until I turned it off and on, but now I get nothing. I've tried multiple sources and cables but no dice. I tested the DC offset between + and - of both channels and between the bias and both channels' - line. After that I tested the AC voltage playing a 1khz signal and followed it from the inputs to the vol control and got nothing. Spritzer repaired it back in April of 2023. The HV- line wasn't working due to a failed resistor and a capacitor was starting to fail. At the time the left channel was much quieter and had a buzzing noise before I stopped getting sound at all. It had no issues until September or August of last year. Any thoughts or help are appreciated. I attached some pictures of the amp. Nothing looks obviously amiss to me.

Also selling Peruns since their website went kaput. Interested in reading a non-shill review of those.

I heard this yesterday at Canjam with a pair of brand new SR-007s, which the Viva rep made a point to tell me since that would apparently explain any deficiencies in the sound. Didn't spend a lot of time with it because I was waiting for the Grand Cayman with the X9K to be available but it was very okay for a $32k amp.

A fire, I'm guessing. How many Liquid Lightnings are even out there still?

I was thinking stack a Liquid Lightning on my AGD amp/dac Wire 4/5 of the Stax plug pins to the Cavalli Wire the 5th to an RCA on the back of the AGD I'm a mechanical , not electrical engineer, but I think this will do

Is there any hope for hybrid estat/dynamic amps? Seems like it's better to just do one very well than try to stuff both in a box.

A cheap Stax compatible amp that won't burn your house down is a great thing to me, but it is a Chinese amp. Just as much Audio GD as JR Audio.

I don't get the fuss. It takes exceptional skill to put a circuit components in a box, throw it off a cliff and then solder everything to make a working amp. They're succeeding where Mikhail failed, if you ask me.

Update: The left and right channel measured the same on the AGD, and when I swap the XLR the noise doesn't follow. I switched the AGD to DAC only to bypass its volume control and the noise and imbalance remain the same and it still responds to the volume knob. In DAC mode there's also clipping. I'm pretty sure it's the estat amp.

When my Mjolnir SRM-006t is connected to my AGD D27, the left channel is much quieter than the right, and there's a beeping/static noise in that ear which responds to volume control. This happens to both my 950X and SR-007. The D27 is connected to my PC via USB, and does not exhibit this behavior when my computer speakers are connected via RCA. I've tried swapping the balanced XLR from left to right on the e-stat amp and and had the same issue, i.e. the issue didn't follow the balanced connection. I've also measured the voltage when the amp is on in the places indicated with identical results on both channels. Even with the D27 volume control bypassed the issue remains. I've tried the following combinations for troubleshooting: Cellphone -> Nuforce Icon HDP via RCA -> SRM-006t No imbalance, no noise. Cellphone -> Nuforce via RCA-> D27 -> SRM-006t Imbalanced and some noise. PC -> D27 -> (via RCA) SRM-006t Imbalance and noise but not as severe as with XLR. It seems to be the estat amp that's the issue, and I was told in the Stax thread it's either grounding or in the volume control. Any thoughts/troubleshooting tips?

The rabid disdain for Audio-GD products over there has me questioning the veracity of any of their opinions. Measurements are useful for verifying manufacturer claims, but this is ultimately a hobby about listening to music.

Officially eliminated the headphones and the amp as the issue. I used another DAC/amp to test and the static and imbalance went away taking out my Audio GD D27's balanced output. Through the analog outs the left channel still seems slightly quiet but it's not nearly as bad. That's better news than my SR-007 failing after a couple days but I never thought an AGD product would fail me.

I assumed it was the headphones because the issue wasn't immediate. The Stax were fine when I got them Monday, the next day I heard the noise, today they got the imbalance. @spritzer Any thoughts? If I remember correctly the update to the SRM 006t I bought from you was the CCS mod.

I have the same issue with my 95X on this amp. Could swapping to RCA inputs from balanced fix the issue? My understanding is the balanced input is balanced all the way to the output but I don't understand circuit topology very well.

The noise varies with the left volume knob and now the left channel is much quieter than the right. Any way to clear dust without taking it apart and voiding the warranty? It's really disappointing to think they could fault like this so quickly. Edit: I found a fix somewhere to discharge at the plug and then smack the quiet side. Tried that and it didn't work unless I'm not discharging it enough. I'm not sure it's the diaphragm getting stuck to the stator because the imbalance started today as soon as I turned the amp on. The buzzing started after I almost knocked the stand over while picking them up.