Sherwood

I imagine they get a bad rap because they're associated with a time when amps were poorly designed, and could not function without them. The OTL amp was a revelation, or so I'm told.

Is that so, Salty? What's the chain as far as you know it?

The ZDT, by simple virtue of having a transformer, will sound very different than the ZD. It should, if I'm not mistaken, have a "tubier" sound, since the primary explanation I've heard for the good tube sound is an output transformer. Also keep in mind that having speaker-level outs is useful for more than just speakers. Stax transformer boxes run off speaker outputs, and are (in my experience) an excellent way to listen to Stax headphones for a lot less than a dedicated amp. And I much prefer the 4 pin balanced connection. Makes more sense to me.

I'm jealous of your SRM-T1, Manaox. I should have never sold that. I miss it all the time.

Straight up bought some, Larry. The only one pulling legs is my wife, and she'll likely pull them right off.

Thanks, Ari. I figured if I splashed around enough, someone would throw me a life preserver.

I believe it would be improved, and higher is better. Higher slew rates are one of the technical benefits of balanced drive. I say this watching the sky for clouds, as luvdunhill is bound to stop in here and show me to be the technical I most certainly am.

1/2 Tangiers Cocoa, 1/2 tangiers cherry out of my MYA QT -- great smoke. too bad the puppy pulled the whole thing off the table

I like it as much as John Marks did -- probably more. The DAC section of this bad boy sounds wonderful. Running my Stax transformer from the speaker outs and my RS-1 straight from the headphone outs. I really prefer it to my old ECD-1 in every way (so sorry, Monkey). It's an ESS chip (the lowest one), and it is just liquid smooth. Fantastic extension in the treble, without making either my Lambdas or the RS-1 harsh in the least. Everything is pure sparkle. One hiccup, though -- my audio preferences in Leopard don't show 24/96 as an option. The highest I can get is 16/48. Not bad, but not ideal considering it's specced as 24/96, and I have some recordings to make use of that. I've left a message with Jim Spainhour about it. The DAC is tied to a seemingly nice class A preamp, which is the same circuitry as the headamp. It's a nice headamp. I compared it to a bunch of junk, and it made it sound like junk. Not much more to say there. I'll run it up against some stars at this weekend's meet. Switching the lone 6922 on and off yields some difference, but not enough to make it much more than a gimmick. The low midbass seems to firm up somewhat with it on, so I leave it on, but I don't know if I could reliably identify the same passage with the tube on and again with it off. I got a gold pin Amperex 6922 to roll in and see if that makes any difference. It's my only remaining tube to roll, so I had to try at least one. My only other speaker amp to compare this to at the moment is the trends TA 10.1, and the Nova beats it soundly. In comparison, the Trends feels strained. Highs are etchy, and it's far less dynamic. It's also only 10 watts into 8 ohms, but how much does a Stax trafo really need? I've only had it a few days, so we're still getting to know each other. I'll keep you all updated.

4N6's old pair on HF. He's ditching everything lately -- anyone know why?

I needed to take a break from the Armenian genocide and focus on a genocide a little closer to home. A little quirky, sure, but good fun. "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters" is apparently in the works.

Any other notable augmented reality apps for the iPhone, JinP? I've read about a few for Android (notably the HTC Hero), but not much on the iPhone.

Welcome to the fucking future.

Well that's no good I would hope it's the other way around.

The big yellow things are called "tubes". Probably the blue ones too.

Mikhail made that cable for him at a meet two years ago. Glad to see he's still using it.

Went over to my friend Inan's house and learned how to cook authentic Turkish Pizza (pide) and make real Turkish Coffee. Cok Guzel!

My my, look at those tool marks around the stax plugs. It's like a cave painting

Dubious, dirty, British and vulgar. I'm sure Smeggy would agree.

AND some weird headphones made by a skeezy British guy.

Hey hey! Happy Birthday! Iyi ki doldum, Neil. Iyi ki doldum Neil. Iyi ki doldum, iyi ki doldum, iyi ki doldum, Neil....

Don't back down, Larry. Make sure he understands that you're offering the Amphora.

Lansche audio: That little glow is the plasma tweeter. Best speakers I've ever heard.

Don't ban them until I get to buy their pair, though.

Steel in the red shirt. Beef in the green.