Headphone Amplification

Greetings I was wondering if I am missing out big time using my 007 mk2 with srm 007TII I never will be able to audition the Carbon or any of the electrostatic amps mentioned here, so kindly please can you put in perspective what will I gain in terms of sound by buying for example a Carbon, and what bout using the the ifi iesl with my ifi ican pro as Ifi claim in that combo it can swing out 730 vrms which is more than what other amps output. That is ifi claim not mine Also besides the Carbon just in case the budget will not allow for buying it, are there other options that really offer a big upgrade in sound compared to my 007TII

Ok, am wanting the SR-L700 model and am TOTALLY confused as to which damn amp to get, we have the SRM 006ts, 353x and 727 mk 2 . Are tbere any other brands that can be better suited up to this price ceiling?

The title says it all. My SRM-252S seems to be failing, indicated by hum. (It’s the 120V version.) I’ve been discussing it on the Stax thread in Headphones. While I lack the expertise & all of the tools to troubleshoot the amp, I do possess the tools & enough skill to refurb a working SRM-1/Mk-2, a unit I’d get from eBay. I understand the primary work is to replace the caps. Any experience?

This is something I've been wondering about for a week or two. Why can't I find a class AB design by Kevin Gilmore ? Am I missing something. I know the difference between A and AB, but am still interested as to why. Is switching so bad that one of the best engineers stay away from it all together or is it simpler than that: "Why AB when you can A" PS: I am a n00b so please be gentle :) Oneminde

Would like to hear some thoughts from the experts here? Most commercial boards are thrash just looking at the head-case forum posts. or you guys are super sceptical or both. No picture of backside PCB (yet) though. Thanks for any insight Cheers

Hello to all, I am looking for the original SRM 717 circuit diagram and could not find it with quick search - anybody can help ? Philipp

Does anyone know what’s the best amp and dac for the utopia excluding the cavallis?

Get your orders in, folks, don't miss out: https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=120&cp_id=12008&cs_id=1200801&p_id=33305&seq=1&format=2

I misplaced my charger, and I don't remember what I can change and what I can't. The DAC/Amp says 12V DC and shows the polarity. That means 12V, right? I can't use a 15V charger on it? I can use higher amperage, but the voltage has to be correct, right? 'cause the charger I thought I had for it says 15V, but the connector is correct and the polarity is correct. But it could well be for something else, like an external hard drive.

I finally picked it up and it doesn't disappoint... Jesus this is bad and one funny thing, the surface coating on the chassis is very different from the CarbonX. Same quality parts, ZWEE output socket and the "legendary" SANNI volume control i.e. crappy Alps clone. Now the chassis is the same one as the CX but much better surface finish. The other one scratches very easily (as in I've already scratched it) but this one seems more resilient. One funny thing though, the hole for the tube doesn't quite line up. I tried to take a picture of it but it might not be as apparent as in real life. The space on the right is quite a bit bigger than on the left... N…

is this worthy of consideration as an all-in-one dac/head-amp option for low-impedance single-ended headphones? https://www.bursonaudio.com/products/conductor-v2-plus/

So as a counter point to the Massdrop amps, I also bought one of these Audio-GD units used. The R2R15 seems to have been replaced by the R2R11 which is more SMD based but it looks very similar. So this cost 350$ new, is not balanced but has a discrete R2R dac, discrete headphone amp and can also be used as a single source preamp. The Chinese version of the product page is still active: http://www.audio-gd.com/R2R/R2R15/R2R15CH.htm I must say it does look really fugly in real life (as so many of the Audio-GD product do) but it's amazing that they can do this for 350$.

Needless to say, I invested in one of these works of art and well... it didn't disappoint. External build quality is way beyond the Cavalli Mk1 unit I had but inside...yeah.... So if anybody thinks this is good for 300$ they need their head checked. Every expense was spared here, just look at the high quality sockets used. I mean, who hasn't heard of the legendary "Hooya" sockets let alone "ZWEE". I mean quality stuff... Circuit looks to be identical to the LC minus the internal switcher. All the same issue as well plus the super cheap volume control...

Another electrostatic driver. Anyone seen/heard it? https://ifi-audio.com/portfolio-view/pro-iesl/

OK, be gentle- potentially idiotic question ahead. Please don't be offended- I have the people skills of a medium-sized shoebox. Hey, @spritzer - I understand that the lighting was really difficult and unflattering, but is the case on this intriguing little amp actually as wonky as it looks? It looks like the top plate is a bit short, and the bottom one overhangs a bit: While I'm sure it wouldn't harm the performance of the unit at all, it is tweaking my slightly obsessive nature. (Also, on a more useful note, I assume it'd be fine with L500 and L700? Are there any pro-bias Stax, esp current production, that you wouldn't use with it?)

Remanufacture of the Western Electric 300B to start........... https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-return-of-the-legend.870227/

Dear fellows, Maybe you can help me with an advice. A friend of mine gave me a Koss head amp E/9B but without the suited headphone. I want to know whether it is possible to play a Stax headphone (normal or Pro Version) through this head amp. If it does not work - it is possible to convert the Koss working with a Stax headphone, maybe by building an adapter? Many thanks in advance. I wish you a great happy new year 2018. Best, Andreas

Hello everyone, it's been years... (for anyone that remembers me anyway) I am researching what amp best suits my somewhat bespoke needs, and thought there might be some useful opinions here, especially since I've been rather out of it for ages. To cut a long story short, about one year ago I suffered an accident that damaged my ears, the result being that I have severely reduced dynamic range in my hearing. Though my sensitivity is normal and frequency response is good (i.e. little to no hearing loss), my pain and distortion threshold has been lowered to around 80dB. This means that for real music listening (classical in my case), I can manage with a level that …

in the past few days;I made some T2 PCB and start DIY. The transformer I made using the pure silver line.But the delay starts is a trouble；I don't want to use it.

Anyone here has one of these singlepower solid state amps around? I know they were made in a balanced configuration? I remember at some point there were a few units around

https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Enterprise-E-Lite-electrostatic-amp/1924356_32828582951.html?spm=2114.12010612.0.0.646370aboSblkp Anyone know anything about this amp? ?

Looks like a very potent candidate, but, alas, the only source of info is a sole thread on SBAF. Hopefully through this fora, more insights and opinions will be gathered from this product. I've mostly heard positive feedback from the EC products, save for some quality/longevity issues with the original Zana Deux.

Was doing some research on the available dac/amp combos to use on a desk. Noticed the Sony TA-ZH1ES. Anyone know anything about this? https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1295894-REG/sony_tazh1es_premium_headphone_amplifier_with.html https://www.sony.com/electronics/audio-components/ta-zh1es

Am I late to the party? https://www.massdrop.com/buy/headamp-gilmore-lite-mk2-headphone-amp It's pretty cute, I regret not grabbing a mk1 unit over all these years. I like the knob!