spritzer Posted February 22, 2008 Report Posted February 22, 2008 I think I just missed something here... I'm confused You know it all already. I'm not going to fight any more for tubes then I have to... Edit: Btw. Did you get my email?
luvdunhill Posted February 22, 2008 Report Posted February 22, 2008 You know it all already. I'm not going to fight any more for tubes then I have to... Edit: Btw. Did you get my email? yeah, well that bit me in the ass as you got first dibs somehow.... hrumph! yes, I got the pics
spritzer Posted February 22, 2008 Report Posted February 22, 2008 yeah, well that bit me in the ass as you got first dibs somehow.... hrumph! yes, I got the pics I'll find some more for you since well... I need some more...
luvdunhill Posted February 22, 2008 Report Posted February 22, 2008 I'll find some more for you since well... I need some more... i love metal base tubes <3
spritzer Posted February 22, 2008 Report Posted February 22, 2008 i love metal base tubes <3 Me too. It's also good 1cm wider then the socket and heavy (87gr) for such a small tube.
deepak Posted February 22, 2008 Report Posted February 22, 2008 They definitely look really cool I'd like to mount them so the whole thing is showing.
spritzer Posted February 22, 2008 Report Posted February 22, 2008 They definitely look really cool I'd like to mount them so the whole thing is showing. They need to be on adapters well clear of the PCB so they will be standing proud out of the top of the amp.
deepak Posted February 22, 2008 Report Posted February 22, 2008 They need to be on adapters well clear of the PCB so they will be standing proud out of the top of the amp. Nice
luvdunhill Posted February 22, 2008 Report Posted February 22, 2008 They need to be on adapters well clear of the PCB so they will be standing proud out of the top of the amp. that's just crazy talk
spritzer Posted February 22, 2008 Report Posted February 22, 2008 that's just crazy talk Well I am a bit nuts...
spritzer Posted February 23, 2008 Report Posted February 23, 2008 A bit? Ok....quite a bit... Happy now...? :'(
Dusty Chalk Posted February 23, 2008 Report Posted February 23, 2008 I think he was happy, see him rolling around on the floor?
spritzer Posted February 23, 2008 Report Posted February 23, 2008 He looks happy but looks can be deceiving... I just got a nice confirmation that cables make or break an Omega system. I hadn't used the Blue Hawaii for a while so I turned it on and started to listen to some old best of disc that was in the drive and I though the Mullards were giving up the ghost or there was something wrong with the SR-Omega as there was no low level bass detail and it just sounded odd. The tubes were fine but I had replaced my own DIY cables with Kimber Silver Streaks some time ago and forgot about it so I swap them out, rewind the last minute of the song and there is my low level detail and smooth highs. Who says cables don't matter and this is with my temporary source, a 1987 DAC...
Smeggy Posted February 23, 2008 Report Posted February 23, 2008 So you're trying to tell us your home made crap sounds better than expensive wires made by professionals with their own company and billions in R&D and a marketing department? Yeah right! Next you're going to try to persuade us DIY or public domain design amps can sound better than real ones
spritzer Posted February 23, 2008 Report Posted February 23, 2008 I wouldn't dare to say that the new Single Power, tube powered cable, won't beat everything under the sun. I don't know how we could do without it. We also all know that the ES-2 is the best amp ever made and it is so pretty too...
spritzer Posted February 27, 2008 Report Posted February 27, 2008 Time for a bump. I got a care package from Switzerland today and it contained two headphones I've been waiting for, Koss ESP950 (recabled by APS) and Aurex HR-1000, a vintage Toshiba with very unique electret drivers. I've left the Koss to charge overnight so the Aurex gets center stage. It was athe TOTL model in a very extensive range of headphones that are mostly forgotten now. It comes with a solid aluminum block that houses the transformers while the phones them selfs are very lightweight and quite comfortable despite being supra aurals. The sound is much like the Stax SR-X line, very midrange centric, but the bass is loose, flabby and rolled off while the treble is a bit rolled off as well. They can't reach the detail level of the little Stax. They are also a bit claustrophobic but the backwave is highly damped so I might need to open them up and change the stuffing. The midrange is stunning though and certainly on par with the Fostex T-50 and Stax SR-X. Here you can see some pics of them as I'll have to wait until tomorrow to snap some. You can also see the price so at 35kYen they were around the same price as a SR-Lambda so high-end indeed.
deepak Posted February 27, 2008 Report Posted February 27, 2008 Cool, looking forward to your thoughts on the ESP950 (recabled with Stax cable?).
spritzer Posted February 27, 2008 Report Posted February 27, 2008 Cool, looking forward to your thoughts on the ESP950 (recabled with Stax cable?). Yup they are recabled with the old Stax PC-OCC cable used on the Lambda Signature and Sigma Pro. There was some channel imbalance but it seems to have subsided but using the ESP950 with a Stax Pro bias supply is just nuts. They simply sound like crap compared to the E/90 bias supply while being driven by a Stax amp. No more bloated bass and a generally recessed sound signature. I also got some old electrets made by Phillips, Phillips N6325 and Aristona EK400, which have the transformers in a small hub on the cable so they use a normal headphone connector (TRS and DIN). This is the same headphone at the core but the Aristona has a channel imbalance while the Philips has the lovely 5-pin DIN plug and I have no adapter.
kpeezy Posted March 4, 2008 Report Posted March 4, 2008 Now that I have a speaker amp, my stax options have opened up quite a bit I think. Anything to keep a look out for? I really miss those babystax and need a full size replacement without spending tons of money
spritzer Posted March 4, 2008 Report Posted March 4, 2008 I posted this over on HF but it should also be here. What I did for those not in the "mafia" is to rip apart a SR-Sigma and a SR-404, swap drivers and cable and then put them together again as a SR-Lambda and SR-Sigma 404. The Sigma line used Lambda drivers or rather the SR-Lambda used the SR-Sigma driver design so swapping them is relatively easy. Stax has been doing this to broken Sigmas for the last few years but why pay them to do something I can do in a few hours. Before anything like this could be done I put a lot of hours into ripping the SR-Sigma apart, cleaning it thoroughly and removing any glue residue that was left over. That is a nasty, time consuming job and leaves you with very sore fingers and no fingernails. I didn't do any mods to the original design so the drives are out of phase like they are supposed to be and I even replaced the glue that holds the damping material in place and provides a better seal. SR-Sigma and SR-404 drivers side by side. It's startling how much things have changed in 30 years... Here are most of the parts that make up the headphones. The damping material was still drying out after the cleaning treatment and the arc was still in pieces after a thorough cleaning. Also missing is all the glue needed to mount the drivers and the damping material. The cable has been fitted and glued in place, drivers mounted to the metal baffles and all the glue to hold the damping material is in place. Drivers soldered to the cable and damping material fitted. The only issue is that the soldering connections for the bias are now facing the baffle and thus useless so I had to be creative. It would be possible to solder the cable before the drivers are mounted to the baffle but it would be much tougher to work with. Here they are ready with the "left over" SR-Lambda. I used Sigma earpads but Yamasinc has used Lambda pads for some reason in the past. I know that the Stax factory uses Sigma pads for this job so I went with that. I haven't had much time to play with them but first impressions are positive and they outclass the SR-Sigma Pro, that's for sure.
postjack Posted March 4, 2008 Report Posted March 4, 2008 Hey Stax Fans- I was looking at my SR-Lambda the other day, and noticed that the mesh grill on the inside of the right cup has a slight inward bump, and appears to actually be touching the gold surface underneath it (is this the driver itself, or some kind of driver covering?). This appears to have no audible effect on the sound at all, I'm just wondering if its something I should be concerned about.
spritzer Posted March 4, 2008 Report Posted March 4, 2008 Hey Stax Fans- I was looking at my SR-Lambda the other day, and noticed that the mesh grill on the inside of the right cup has a slight inward bump, and appears to actually be touching the gold surface underneath it (is this the driver itself, or some kind of driver covering?). This appears to have no audible effect on the sound at all, I'm just wondering if its something I should be concerned about. It would be touching the stator then but it's very hard to fix and could damage the driver in doing so. If you don't get shocked then I wouldn't worry too much about it as the grill isn't connected to anything.
postjack Posted March 4, 2008 Report Posted March 4, 2008 It would be touching the stator then but it's very hard to fix and could damage the driver in doing so. If you don't get shocked then I wouldn't worry too much about it as the grill isn't connected to anything. I've never gotten shocked, per se, but the other night while listening to some Lionel Richie on the Lambdas I did pee my pants and forget my name for about a half hour. Thanks for the help Spritzer, I'll just enjoy the music and not worry about the grill.
ojnihs Posted March 4, 2008 Report Posted March 4, 2008 I've never gotten shocked, per se, but the other night while listening to some Lionel Richie on the Lambdas I did pee my pants and forget my name for about a half hour.
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