Kaldas Research

[Aumkar Chandan]

2 hours ago, EdipisReks1 said:

Respect. After all, why re-invent the wheel?

Yup. Walls, wheels and earpads. They are promethean. 

[faust3d]

Looks interesting. If reviews are positive I am getting a pair.

[robm321]

Same

[jose]

I think that we are all in the same position. 

[jpelg]

Closed version on the horizon? 

[Aumkar Chandan]

I thought I'd share this here. Yesterday, I flew down to meet some of the most prolific Electrostatic collectors in Bangalore, India. 

This was their first time seeing or listening to the RR1 Conquest - 



A lot of the people there were STAX owners of course, many owning 009s, 007s etc as well as some very sophisticated Amplification was present there as well. 





  



I also brought along the XP1, which stands for "Experimental Prototype 1". The XP1 was our original test mule that was created to be subjected to the worse possible conditions and also served as our stress mule, having over >3000 hours of service. It was on our dummy head running various impulses for 4 months, 24 hours, all day every day. It still lives but I had to open and clean the drivers once as there is intentional lack of dust protection on it. The XP1 is named after the McLaren F1 XP1, which I regard as one of the greatest examples of man and machine harmony. The XP1 is a special chassis that I intend to keep for my personal collection. 

  


Here are some impressions from the folks at the meet (I have taken a direct screenshot from the TIAF group) - 

  

I'm glad they liked it but I will say this - I don't like hype. It's the worst thing in the world. These guys are quite experienced and have been in the game longer than me but I still say, take it with a grain of salt. I might be the only Manufacturer in Headphone history to say that but, that's how I like doing business. I don't like hype, that's why I will be travelling around the world to show the Headphone this year. Hopefully, people get to hear it for themselves! 

Also, this was my first time listening to RR1 on the KGSSHV Carbon and oh boy! I have two "normal" KGSSHVs on order from Spritzer as my primary Amplification for international shows, I think I will need to get the Carbon too for my home setup. That thing is pure lunacy. 

[Aumkar Chandan]

17 hours ago, jpelg said:

Closed version on the horizon? 

Hello Sir, 

I don't think a closed E-Stat is a good idea.

[chinsettawong]

Waiting for your coming to see me.  

[Aumkar Chandan]

1 hour ago, chinsettawong said:

Waiting for your coming to see me.  

Yup, soon!

[stax lover]

very interesting

hope to be able to buy one soon

[xEcuToR]

So I received my pair of RR1 Conquest yesterday #2. I played with it for an hour or so. I will post impressions about it as I get more time with it and hopefully will be able to do some comparisons with 007 Mk1 & Mk2 in the coming days. I got the premium version which comes for 650 USD,  in a nice box and longer 2.5-meter cable compared to the base model which comes in a regular Kraft Box (IIRC) and standard 1.5-meter cable at 500USD.

Link to some photos of the literature and headphone. 

https://imgur.com/a/6WeVBRb 

 

[Rossliew]

Is it ready for orders? 

[morphsci]

11 hours ago, Rossliew said:

Is it ready for orders? 

Wondering the same myself. Nothing indicated on the web site.

[Aumkar Chandan]

On 5/14/2019 at 7:17 AM, Rossliew said:

Is it ready for orders? 

 

17 hours ago, morphsci said:

Wondering the same myself. Nothing indicated on the web site.

Not ready for official orders yet. I am currently delivering a couple dozen units to some of our local customers who have placed their orders since last year. 
Birgir and Wachara will be among the first to get theirs internationally, hopefully by the time their opinion is out we will be ready for international orders. Will be an epic fail if they don't like it. 

[Scgorg]

1 hour ago, Aumkar Chandan said:

 

Not ready for official orders yet. I am currently delivering a couple dozen units to some of our local customers who have placed their orders since last year. 
Birgir and Wachara will be among the first to get theirs internationally, hopefully by the time their opinion is out we will be ready for international orders. Will be an epic fail if they don't like it. 

You know, even if it ends up being an "epic fail" as you describe it, you still seem to have made a product where you account for everything (within reasonability). The product does not appear rushed, you are not price gouging etc. You've used a lot of time and knowledge in making the product a reality, so I feel confident that EVEN IF the product is bad you will still use it as a stepping stone for making even greater products in the future. Making a bad product isn't an issue, never making a better one is  

Just some encouraging words from someone who is very much looking forward to the headphone, and who will most likely buy one regardless of what consensus ends up being.

[morphsci]

5 hours ago, Aumkar Chandan said:

Not ready for official orders yet. I am currently delivering a couple dozen units to some of our local customers who have placed their orders since last year. 
Birgir and Wachara will be among the first to get theirs internationally, hopefully by the time their opinion is out we will be ready for international orders. Will be an epic fail if they don't like it. 

Thats cool, I can certainly wait. Thanks for the quick reply.

[Aumkar Chandan]

22 hours ago, Scgorg said:

You know, even if it ends up being an "epic fail" as you describe it, you still seem to have made a product where you account for everything (within reasonability). The product does not appear rushed, you are not price gouging etc. You've used a lot of time and knowledge in making the product a reality, so I feel confident that EVEN IF the product is bad you will still use it as a stepping stone for making even greater products in the future. Making a bad product isn't an issue, never making a better one is  

Just some encouraging words from someone who is very much looking forward to the headphone, and who will most likely buy one regardless of what consensus ends up being.

Thank you for your kind words! 

[Mach3]

When will it be available in Australia. hurry up and take my money

[Aumkar Chandan]

Today was a very special day. They say, never meet your heroes but today I met the man, the myth, the Legend of the Spritzer. I flew down to Reykjavík to deliver the first production RR1 to ever leave Indian shores. 
It was an honour to meet Birgir, I still remember reading his posts 7-8 years ago when I got into the hobby and owning an Electrostat seemed unfathomable. So, delivering my Headphone to the STAX Mafia is an occasion to celebrate.  







Had commissioned 2 custom KGSSHVs. Our primary Amp of choice for upcoming shows. 



Really fortunate to be lucky enough to visit Iceland. Even though it was a short business trip, will be back with the family someday. 

[spritzer]

It was awesome meeting you and getting the headphones hand-delivered.    My impressions will be coming soon but a small sneak preview after a very limited time with them (aka I couldn't help myself), don't let the price fool you to think these are budget headphones...they don't sound like that. 

[tumpux]

Great..

Can we have more pictures of that special edition packaging?

[stax lover]

On 5/25/2019 at 9:49 PM, Aumkar Chandan said:

Today was a very special day. They say, never meet your heroes but today I met the man, the myth, the Legend of the Spritzer. I flew down to Reykjavík to deliver the first production RR1 to ever leave Indian shores. 
It was an honour to meet Birgir, I still remember reading his posts 7-8 years ago when I got into the hobby and owning an Electrostat seemed unfathomable. So, delivering my Headphone to the STAX Mafia is an occasion to celebrate.  







Had commissioned 2 custom KGSSHVs. Our primary Amp of choice for upcoming shows. 



Really fortunate to be lucky enough to visit Iceland. Even though it was a short business trip, will be back with the family someday. 

awesome pics of 2 awesome people

On 5/25/2019 at 11:20 PM, spritzer said:

It was awesome meeting you and getting the headphones hand-delivered.    My impressions will be coming soon but a small sneak preview after a very limited time with them (aka I couldn't help myself), don't let the price fool you to think these are budget headphones...they don't sound like that. 

that is just amazing news

[spritzer]

This has been a killer of a week for me so I'm late with the impressions.  Then all of sudden we had a holiday today so I finally have some free time.    I'm too lazy to find my camera so I'll take some pics later.  First off, this is set nr.4 so I very much view it as a "work in progress" but...they are pretty awesome.  From the first impressions and until now they keep reminding me of the SR-007.  Clearly power hogs (I measured the system with stock cable at 160pf) too and a bit dark sounding.  Now in my book this is a welcome reprise from all the bright models out there now.  Doesn't mean the treble is subdued or anything like that, it is just not as apparent as with the L700 or 009's for instance.  This also gives it a fuller sound and well...that bass.    The cups are ported so the bass could have been compromised due to that but not so here, it's deep, tight and tuneful.  It doesn't match a closed SR-007 but I frankly don't mind that...I can always grab my 007's if I want to listen to them.  These are a bit more tuneful with more presence higher up.  One of the first tracks I tried on them is the one which 009, 009S and 009BK all fail miserably at, but no issues here.  They replicate the snare drum perfectly and same goes for everything else I've thrown at them. 

The midrange is perfectly fine and really showcases the difference in mastering on some tracks.  The soundstage is just about perfect, follows what the tracks should sound like and doesn't pull a HE90 on us.  Not quite up to the layering of the 007's but then again...that is the gold standard.  Overall they are very neutral and do what any transducer should do, get out of the way.  For me the biggest compliment to any headphones is me willing to listen to them as well, I have a lot of headphones at hand.  I've used these almost exclusively since I got them, only swapping out to do comparisons. 

Now for fit and finish, I have no complaints.  The headband is very sturdy with nice spring steel for the main span and they fit my head nicely.   A bit snug but then again, I have a melon for a head.    I did bend the arc a bit and now I can use them for hours at a time.  The housing is attached to the earcups with a single M4 bolt and I did experience some rubbing there.  This joint wasn't really supposed to move but for my use, they fit better that way so I place a nylon washer between the two parts and that has fixed this.  I've already relayed this to Aumkar who should be arriving back home soon. 

The only major issue I've had is with the cable or rather one of the connectors.  One channel started to drop out and after some troubleshooting this was traced to the mini XLR plug.  I bought some new ones and made a quick replacement cable this morning and now it works perfectly.  To keep the cost down the mini XLR does work for this but yeah... I'd like something better but given the cost constraints I get why they use it.  Same for the cable, getting anything which works for this is difficult and costly.  The cable is still better than what Hifiman are using so yeah... I'm not too worried about that. 

So over all, I'm very, very impressed and I will be working with Aumkar to see if we can't improve on these small issues.   

[Laowei]

How long did you burn them in? ? /joking

[spritzer]

23 seconds... any longer and you will ruin any headphones!!!