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While being stuck home, recovering for the past two weeks, I finally got round to doing some more DIY electrostatic headphones. I wanted to try out some different materials, 2um mylar and Comfort fabric softener to do the resistive coating. I must say both worked well and if the Comfort stuff holds up long term, it is a damn good coating that costs pretty much nothing. First off my long standing test drivers in a Superlux HD330 housing... as I had some donor headphones in stock. I made a few of these but this set has the Stax wide PC-OCC cable and Dekoni Fostex hybrid pads. I've made so many of these drivers over the years that they are a good benchmark and they perform flawlessly. Charge up instantly, no charge migration or issue with humidity that I can detect. The drivers are also modular so easy to assemble and test: I didn't even spring for ENIG on these but yeah, super simple design that just slots into the Supelux housing. They are just a bit on the small side for my head and the partially closed housing has issues but it's a fun set to play with. Next up is a set of SR-5's that had severe imbalance. Time for a new set of diaphragms with the thicker spacers I made 10 years ago or. I simply replace the stock diaphragm and this converts them to Pro bias too. Throw on there an old Lambda cable which had a break at the cable entry and it's a great little set of headphones. I love the SR-X Mk3 drivers and they are fun to play with. It is a bit challenging to fit the thicker spacers into the normal bias housings as it can warp the drivers but not a big deal really. Then I put on some leather earpads from my stash and yeah, a great SR-5 Pro... something Stax really should have sold back in the day. While I was making the diapgragms for those SR-5's, I made a couple of more for a spare set of drivers which resulted in this: I'm always on the lookout for cheap open back headphones which can be "easily" turned into electrostatics. This is a Fiio JT1 which was less than 60$ shipped but is not ideal for the conversion as the baffle is not flat due to how the earpads are mounted. Still nothing a circular saw can't fix: I covered the stock holes with tape to seal the baffle and keep the glue out when I fitted the driver: The PU two part adhesive covers all the baffle vents and I put some tape on the earpad attachment points to just keep the glue out of them. Worked just fine and the seal is great No damping at the back and they are open enough. I fitted strain reliefs at the cable entry and plugs to seal off the top vents in the housing as well. This one has the stock earpads and the cable is the standard silicone 6 core stuff floating around with an aluminum cable splitter for the Y split and a prototype plug I was sent a while back. Pretty nice sounding set of headphones that don't cost a lot to make. Granted you need a SR-X Mk3 to donate the drivers and some custom spacers to make it work but I'd want to make something like this with custom drivers. It would be a great DIY project to release, buy this set of headphones, rip out its guts and make your own drivers from these PCB's. The cable is easy to source, so are the cable entry glands and a Stax plug can be 3D printed with basic XLR housings. Finally, a bit of a closure for me with what is probably the final version of the HD580/600/650 electrostatic conversion above. I was always battling baffle leaks on those as it is impossible to shave the stock baffle completely flat. I might try to laser cut a neoprene gasket or something like that but on this one I simply designed a new protection grill and glued that to the baffle. Not ideal but it works nicely. Then new stators and new spacers for the diaphragms and dust covers. The cable is the King Sound KS-H4 unit so it is removable. I just shaved down the socket a bit and glued it into the stock holes. The protection grill which is glued to the baffle. Earpads are the hybrid units Drop used to sell and then sheepskin headpad. New stators with full ENIG plating and purple solder mask because reasons. :) These do sound great if I dare say so myself, very much on par with the HE60 but with a fuller sound. Same spacing at 0.5mm so sensitivity is very close too to stock Senn units. Funny for me as the HD600 was my first ever high end set of headphones, so when I found this set with broken drivers it was an ideal candidate for conversion. Full circle and all that shit...

I got SO lucky with a local listing. Altec A7-500, and I added the supertweeter.

Completed servo controlled grid voltage. Works with EL34, 2A3, 300B and EML 20B-V4.

Between yesterday and today, giving and feeling good. I've been talking to two different (one partially) homeless people for several months, always giving a 10 or 20 when I see them. At my son's insistence (!) I just gave one of them $300 in cash. To say the least, he was amazed and driven to tears and hugs. As I walked back to my car, this woman drives up to me and chats with me. "He's not REALLY homeless..." she says. I knew that; he has a wife and a dog, and his father in law lets him stay at his place at times. Otherwise, they live in a van. I acknowledged that, but also just said that people need some help now and then. A man came out of the passenger seat, she told me it was her son, and he has autism, so don't be put off. He was fairly high functioning, but you could tell he'd always need help. Anyway, we got to talking and this woman has a home, but also has had a tough time of things. So, I took the other $300 I had and gave it to her. We both started tearing up. Now I need to pull ANOTHER chunk out to give to the other person. He knows me by name, knows I lost my wife, and like the first guy I give him something whenever I see him. He also told me that - even though he's homeless and has limited capability to help - if I ever needed something he could provide, to not hesitate to ask. These folks are amazing. So yeah, I'll get him something that I hope will help him this winter. On top of all that, today my son (staying with me while condo being worked on) has a friend over and they are listening to a few of my systems. Son brought back some speakers I gave him, so offering them to his friend. TL;DR version: it feels fucking great to give and help others as long as I can!

Within my PLOWED whisky group we have an annual gathering called Ardbeggeddon (which some know about). It takes place in an undisclosed location. Many years ago this became known as "Dick Cheney's Secret Bunker" as a joke for posting purposes. I have proposed to the group that the location should be changed to "Dick Cheney's Crypt".

Great video for all you Stax fans. Very rare insight which actually shows proper parts of the factory

Hardware finally arrived so we installed pulls and stops and we're done with this project.

Thanks all. Hope all is well with everyone! Trying to start a program related to my headphone correction research back in the day actually.

In the consumerism thread, I mentioned tracking down a copy of The Pillar by Stephen Gill, a self-published photobook that made waves a few years ago. Thought some of you may enjoy a few shots also. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/karl-ove-knausgaard-on-stephen-gills-bird-images-in-the-pillar https://www.1854.photography/2019/07/the-pillar-by-stephen-gill/ https://www.photohastings.org/book-review-the-pillar-by-stephen-gill/

That's how I felt after hearing Oswald Mill Audio Imperia speakers at his loft space in DUMBO years ago with JP#s. Big speakers with intimate live sound.

On No Kings day, Claire and I made an exception for Kingfish, aka Christone Ingraham. He's an amazing blues guitarist and a great singer to boot. I was very happy to hear some great blues and if the video works for you, it was a blast when he walked out into the audience while playing and ended up two feet from me. IMG_7503.mov

A Jazz Portrait Of Frank Sinatra by Oscar Peterson (1959) https://open.qobuz.com/album/0060254747135 Example: Jaunty morning jazz.

Just got back from a 2-day event at Sonoma. Track driving is the BEST. Had to give point-bys to an instructor in fiesta ST last two sessions so good to get served a lesson of how far i still have to go as a driver. 😂

Made a control board for filament smps today. Some pictures from my kitchen. Idle voltage – no tube 2A3 300B and EML 20B-V4

Happy shared birthday Chris. Happy smoked salmon to me. opened a half bottle that has been kicking around for a couple decades. 1968 BV Burgundy cheers

The New AirPods Pro 3 are night-and-day better than the previous generation in sound, fit and seal (for me). Absolute no brainer upgrade.

A breakfast almost worthy of a Grehaem. Venison snausage and bacon hiding in the periphery. I would also like to note that this is what happens when you give the humble potato to the French. 🫣

so here is the latest version of the kgsshv-carbon with the c3m series parts including the current source. Good for up to +/-600v power supplies. board file updated. kgsshvcarbon600v.PDF kgsshvcarbonv6.1c3cs - CADCAM.ZIP

Martin Denny - Exotic Moog ex.

Joseph Crowe Audio horns. Heard these at an audio show last week and they've basically wrecked everything I thought I knew about audio and redefined what is possible. The performance ceiling in high-end audio is far higher than I ever imagined and much closer to live sound than I thought.

I'm not sure anyone cares, but here are even more pictures of the jig demonstrating the various uses. Tenon, mortise, bridle joint, etc. Splining miter joints L-fence for ripping straight edges or long miters And a gratuitous shot of Steve on Grindr

Today I dropped my Prop 50 ballot in the mail. It's just one little vote, but it made me feel so good.

Lunch & Dinner Loaded Mac'n Cheese with Pork Belly And Burnt Ends, 6 oz's of slow smoked brisket point, candied and smoked again, served with Bread & Butter pickles & slaw on the side with toasted garlic bread

They selected "Well Done" - fuck that noise.

Superb sound quality, especially for a live show. Barber isn't the only star of the show. The band is amazing, especially on Black Magic Woman. The guitar solo on that song is like some Allan Holdsworth shit, the percussion kicks in and none of it is lost in the crowd who show appreciation. Ex.

Using a Star Wars reference Dick Cheney is/was Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sideous), Rumsfeld was Darth Vader and Trump is Kylo Ren (A pale imitation wannabe of Vader). Just Sayin’

"15 Worst Audiophile Snake Oil Products That Break the Laws of Physics but Still Sell in 2025" https://www.headphonesty.com/2025/10/worst-snake-oil-products-break-laws-physics/

Thanks all! It was a nice day, someone tried to beat me to the presents though: IMG_4844.mov

Need time to setup the GoFundMe

Got a chance to hear these at an audio show a few days ago and in short, they suck. I'd heard the Stax amps are less than ideal so I did plug them into the Mjolnir audio amp at the Audeze table which improved things but not nearly enough to make them listenable. My main problem with them is they suck at dynamics & impact, especially in the lower midrange to bass region. Metal, rock, reggae, anything with kettle drums, all that stuff gets ruined since there's not nearly enough weight or impact down low. There's also some kind of wonky resonance in the midrange & treble which pops up from time to time, it sounds a bit like the cuppy or slightly out of phase sound you get from most closed headphones, not nearly as bad but still enough to annoy me. Didn't pay much attention to soundstaging, imaging, or detail & resolution. There were just way too many issues with the frequency response & lack of dynamics for me to really care about that stuff. Overall, I'd have to say it was one of the bigger disappointments I've had in the headphone world.

Today Al and I pretty much finished up the table saw jig that I started a while back. This is basically where I left off... Today we mortised for the tracks, made the arched dados for the tenoning portion of the jig and fitted the L fence and splining accessories that Al made on Friday.

The Hifi Company So Good it Killed Them (Nakamichi)

Tried out the HP100SE at the audio show today and it's not for me, darn thing sounds like an SR325 with more resolution and a bigger soundstage. It's too bright for me and it doesn't have the midrange magic of my RS-1. The overall frequency balance sounds like it was tuned for fans of the Senn HD800 or Stax 9000 series, it seems made for people who like a brighter more clinical sound that emphasizes detail & resolution. Yes it's punchy, dynamic, and checks the usual audiophile boxes, but way too much of the music I like just doesn't sound good. I think the Grado S950 beats the snot out of it any day, that one sounds like an RS-1 with Audeze LCD-XC soundstage & resolution, way more musical & forgiving and as far as I can tell in show conditions it doesn't give up any detail & resolution to the HP100SE.

Sausage mushroom and black garlic pizza

Abandoned Japanese island:

Three kinds of switching mode filament supplies made in my kitchen. Right: Traco brick, only 5V with some fine adjustment, designed by Kevin Gilmore and slightly modified by me. Left: DC-DC Step Down Converter XL4015, adjustable voltage and current limiter, have used it for 2.5V to 6.3V. Middle: TPS62913 Low Ripple Buck Converter (green board) My own design but done with help of TI datasheet (all info needed is there). Copper color board is an Elekit regulator with 2A3 and 300B auto detection. I’ve added a trimmer for fine adjustment of voltage. All three seem to work all right with my electrostatic amplifiers. I also have Pete Millett, Tentlabs and Coleman filament regulators. They are all bulky with heat sinks and produces a lot of heat. Yes, I do agree. Yes, at some point it (probably) will be a different matter.

My favourite band in the world had their friend Clint Carney make a video for them as part of their Kickstarter. The song itself already tugged at my tear ducts, it's so powerful, and the video is everything I would have wished for and more: For those that don't know, or haven't followed Al1ce since 2020 (like I do), it is very rare that Tash goes without her stage makeup. I think there is meaning behind that choice in the video... For reference, the previous video that Clint Carney made for them is also a favourite:

Listened to the CRBN again this year, but with a Mjolnir Audio amp this time instead of whatever they were using last year. It's mostly the same but better and the improvements are what one would expect from an amp upgrade. Dynamics are better, bass is filled in and hits harder, and it pretty much sounds like my home setup with the LCD-XC. Take my LCD-XC, remove the last traces of the closed headphone sound, move the perspective back a row or so, add more resolution, and that's the CRBN.

My vote is received and counted!

Thanks friends, and happy birthday Carl and Peter! I capped off an incredibly busy week with a metal concert in a tiny bar in Winnipeg. Reflected on the passage of time and teared up a bit when my kid made friends in the moshpit and headbanged in sync with arms around his buddies' shoulders.

^^ okay Mr. Deep Dive... Cool stuff. I still have not subscribed to KEXP channel yet, I think it is just because they post too much for me. And I have priorities, like Irish people eating things, and movie reaction videos... anyway, released today. Melancholia by Rick Wakeman (2025) https://album.link/wxbctpcv6nhgs Example: 125th album release.. It's lovely. Solo Piano. Shows his deep understanding of melody and themes. A little mellow? maybe, but it is Melancholia.

Whoops.

Just finished listening to OMD's Crush 40th anniversary edition Just starting Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald, Take Love Easy and Fitzgerald and Pass...Again ...then, I don't know what, probably Tatekieto by Pulciperla (French band Pulcinella with Colombian female trio, La Perla)

sorry this is my fault, we were using it as a prop for a Cronenberg film....

Did someone say Fish & Chips? (Post sharing split) Which makes room for

The groovy sounds of the sixties, With Revolver On a glorious day by the water.