Blue Hawaii Special Edition

[rod]

Before I do so I want to make sure,   I am going to run a blue hawaii out of my T+A PA300HV integrated amps pre outs . I want to use the T+A amp for volume control, as I can just use the remote then, am I right in thinking that it will be fine  to turn the BHSE volume control to full and do this?

thanks

[jamesmking]

25 minutes ago, rod said:

Before I do so I want to make sure,   I am going to run a blue hawaii out of my T+A PA300HV integrated amps pre outs . I want to use the T+A amp for volume control, as I can just use the remote then, am I right in thinking that it will be fine  to turn the BHSE volume control to full and do this?

thanks

Like most pre-amplifiers the blue hawaii topology is actually an attenuator followed by fixed amplification stages. (in the case of the blue hawaii totalling x1000 times gain). The amplification stages will amplify by a fixed amount regardless and independently of the blue hawaii volume control. The blue hawaii volume control simply reduces the input voltage before it is then amplified by x1000. This means any noise on the inputs will also be multiplied by 1000! if you bypass the volume control so you need a quiet pre amp and sources.

One thing to be cautious of is, when you switch off anything connected to the inputs of the blue hawaii if thing being switched off creates a thump or generates a dc offset as it is shutting down the blue hawaii will be multiply it by x1000 and sent it to the headphones... THUMP! SIZZLE! So its highly recommended to have the blue hawaii volume at full attenuation before you switch anything else on or off. You can get a similar situation if you switch off a preamp before switching off the power amp in a loudspeaker setup.

Other than this their should be no problems and in fact some forum members have built blue hawaiis and similar without volume controls in them.

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by jamesmking

[rod]

Thanks  James

[rizena]

We got information that the price of the headamp grand cayman amplifier is 2.5 to 3 times that of bhse.

And they only produce 25 pieces a year. The price is too high, so there will be few users.

[audiostar]

A "high-end" amp with a build in power supply...

You can buy a T2 for that kind of money. 

[n_maher]

1 hour ago, audiostar said:

You can buy a T2 for that kind of money. 

Where?

[audiostar]

Kerry?

3* 6995 = 20k, no?

And I can sell you mine as well 🙂

 

[n_maher]

I’d trust Kerry to build a T2, sure. 

And I haven’t seen Justin post a price, just speculation from folks like you, but I suspect that whatever it will be priced at will be a fair approximation of how much it costs to build, how many he might be able to sell, and how much it costs to bring something like this to market.  There will always be lower-cost options to boutique items like this and folks like yourself are free to make choices and build other things if they’re able.  

But I trust Justin more than anything to have managed the power supply requirements to the point that if he found a way to put it in one chassis I’m not worried about it being there.  I’m not sure I’ve met someone more obsessed with noise floor and the ability to actually measure what he’s building. 

Lastly, putting quotes around high-end in your post bugs me more than anything else. 

[spritzer]

Yeah, it's in many ways worse to have an external PSU but let's not get some actual engineering involved here.  Go buy the Woo 3ES with a 500$ opamp electrostatic amp.  That is 14K$ all in and has an external PSU... well kinda as they saw the need to have the power transformers right next to the output sockets. 

[audiostar]

Also not to forget that everything got much, much more expensive today, huge inflation, supply shortages, etc. So, to be honest, today's prices aren't comparable to what we had few years ago.

[simmconn]

Since many of us would never be able to afford one, might as well take a guess what’s in it. A Megatron with SS CCS and 12AU7 cathode followers driving the DHT final stage?

[n_maher]

1 hour ago, simmconn said:

Since many of us would never be able to afford one, might as well take a guess what’s in it. A Megatron with SS CCS and 12AU7 cathode followers driving the DHT final stage?

Wrong forum.

[simmconn]

19 minutes ago, n_maher said:

Wrong forum.

Sorry, wrong thread…

[justin]

On 2/22/2023 at 8:35 AM, rizena said:

We got information that the price of the headamp grand cayman amplifier is 2.5 to 3 times that of bhse.

2-3x is what I wrote in my email that must have been published on a Korean forum

On 2/22/2023 at 8:35 AM, rizena said:

there will be few users.

Yes..

[luvdunhill]

Lol pabbi1 started this thread.

[jsts]

Friends, my compliments!

Finally, in addition to my SRM-600 with CCS-mod (mr. Gilmore, every time I use the amplifier I mentally thank you!) after years of waiting i purchase a Blue Hawaii SE from a USA owner. Please can you give me hints on how to change the voltage for PSU? Need to change from 117 to 230V (Germany).

I'd appreciate it!

 

[justin]

remove the PCB on the power supply front panel

there are 2 sets of wire jumpers

for each one ,cut the 2 wires that go into pin 3+4 and solder them together

The necessary pin connections are written on the board

You should also reduce the value of the AC Input fuses by 50%

WARNING: Do not attempt any of this unless you are qualified and experienced

Edited October 4, 2023 by justin

[jsts]

Justin, you're amazing! I appreciate your friendly, open and caring attitude! After I get the amp, re-solder the pins in the PSU and verify operation, I will report back. Thank!

[jsts]

Progress report.

I opened the PSU, took out the board:

Jumpers before:

Jumpers after:

When replacing the incoming fuses, I was surprised to find that the 250 volt / 4 amp fuses were installed. I assumed they would be 3.15 amps, so I bought 1.6 amps for my 230V ones. I've put them in for now, although apparently I need to replace them with 250V/2A.

Turned the amp on. It works!

[jsts]

And now the question.

I decided to check the balance and offset.

Regardless of whether the amplifier has just been turned on or has already been running for 2 hours, the balance between L+/L-, as well as between R+/R-, is always around 0V.

 

When measuring the offset I was confused by the following:
1. After turning on the amplifier for the first time, the L+/GND value was -9V, and the R+/GND value was -11V.
2. As the amplifier warmed up, these values began to increase by about 1 volt over 3 minutes.
3. I left the amplifier to warm up and after 2 hours the L+/GND value was +20V, and the R+/GND value was +20V.

Let me remind, that the balance between L+/L-, as well as between R+/R-, is always around 0V.

It seemed strange to me that the offset values had such a wide spread and, by analogy with adjusting the STAX amplifiers, I adjusted the offset value to 0V.

In short, after 4 hours of operating the amplifier, I achieved that both the balance and offset were around 0V.

I connected the headphones and started listening to music and it was, as expected, great (impressions later).

I turned off the amplifier and went to bed. In the morning I turned on the amplifier, after 10 seconds it SUDDENLY turned off. I realized that these are input fuses. And so it was - they burned. I replaced the fuses with new ones (back to 250V/1.6A for now) and the amplifier turned on successfully.

I decided to check the offset again and found that L+/GND was -38V and R+/GND was -39V. After about an hour and a half, the values reached 0V.

Actually, the question is: what should the offset value be when the amplifier is not warmed up and when it is warmed up?

[justin]

the reasoning was to set the adjusted value slightly high, rather than slightly low, due to ice cold power ups in the winter just minutes after it comes off the UPS truck

[jsts]

Justin, hello and thank you!

I understood. So the "run-up" is 43V. So now, basically, if after turning on the amplifier the offset is -43V, after 3 minutes — -28V, after 30 minutes — -15V, after 60 minutes — -5V, and after 90 minutes — 0V, there's no need to worry about it?

Or would you recommend to adjust it so that the offset is, for example, -35V when power is applied, and +8V when it is fully warmed up?

I'm not talking about sound quality. I am talking about observing the correct parameters that you have determined by your engineering thought.

[jsts]

And one more quick question.

After warming up, the amplifier begins to make noise. The noise is not loud. But clearly distinguishable, in the form of a continuous hissing/rustling sound. It's like water running through the pipes. I tried to cover the amp with a towel and found that the source of the rustling was to the right of the far right tube (as viewed from the front), towards the rear panel, near (but not beside) the RCA1 inputs. According to the photos, it could be a film capacitor (red)? Or something that looks yellow?

 

I haven't opened the chassis yet, but I plan to figure it out myself and eliminate the annoying noise. The parcel with the amp went from USA to Germany something could be loose.... So, what to look out for?

[Craig Sawyers]

A hissing/rustling noise sounds like corona breakdown somewhere. Unlikely to be physical damage during shipment, but not impossible.

Justin should be able to help more specifically than me.

Your unit seems to have the super-expensive super-dooper Alps RK50 pot BTW. Very nice.

[jsts]

Do you mean corona discharge ? That's interesting...

Yes, it just so happens that I was able to purchase an amp with Alps RK50. I like it too 🙂 Thank!