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Bumping this lively thread because TTVJ is no longer selling the Pinnacle -- don't ask why I was browsing -- but says to look out for the "Pinnacle 2" and (OMG) "Ultra Pinnacle".

Saw Sarah Jarosz (and opener The Brother Brothers) tonight. Both were great!

is it me or did the short bus show up this weekend? HS

Meanwhile, I'm at a friend's looking after his cat. Say hello to Oliver.

https://geardiary.com/2017/07/25/even-h2-wireless-headphones/ My Christmas present this year! So, I haven’t been able to enjoy high end audio gear for almost three years now due to an inner ear infection which left me with high frequency hearing loss above 8khz, tinnitus, and intolerance to spl above 80db ... all only in my left ear. If you’re interested, it’s called secondary endolymph hydrops. Basically I have too much pressure of the fluid in my left inner ear. It sucks. Nothing sounds good any more. Detail in my left ear... gone. Soundstage ... gone. Anything above a minimal volume hurts in my left ear. Minimal volume which is tolerable doesn’t allow me to hear any detail. I’m hoping this headphone will let me listen again because it will tune the frequency response to my specific hearing loss and allow me to enjoy music at a low volume listening level. Fingers crossed. Also wonder if other middle agers with known or unknown hearing loss may benefit.

"gall bladder" level? WTF?

Shit, Mike, I was hoping that things had gotten better.

Browsing the site, finding some interesting things. Thanks to Google Translate, I now have a new build level to always shoot for:

Shit, there’s even a faked Kerry built T2!

Sorry to hear about this John. I've been having issues with a form of vertigo, maybe related to migraine for more than a year. I also have a finding on one side similar to yours. I am finally able to go some days without almost constant nausea. Despite some improvement in that regard, I still have tinnitus in both ears to the point that I am on a 30 day trial with hearing aids that produce a white noise which my brain should adjust to and cover the tinnitus. Not sure whether it is going to work but since I get a full refund within 30 days, I figured I would try. I stopped listening to music, in particular headphones for a while. It wasn't painful but I was afraid of making things worse. I am not back to listening to speakers and headphones without an issue. With the headphones I can either take out the hearing aids or turn off the white noise as the music covers up the tinnitus. I've tried topomax (never again) and diamox for the vertigo. I find that the side effects of the meds are worse than the vertigo symptoms. Fortunately, I do not have much in the way of hearing loss other than. Certainly nothing that would justify hearing aids.

Good luck to the both of you, and I hope the vertigo issues are minimal as well.

So sorry, John. For a different reason I'm going through the very same process, with the same symptoms, even the same left ear. It started almost a month ago. If it doesn't improve a tiny bit I could be selling all my headphones, and I would ask you about those Even H2. I wish they work.

Another edit to your BOM. The transistors should be the BL type, not the GR. So the 2SC3324 transistor should have mouser part 757-2SC3324BLTE85LF

Hope these work out for you John and thanks for sharing the information here. Definitely subscribed to your updates.

You need one of these

Really interesting, thanks, and I hope it is a solution for you, John.

I really hope these help you get back to music John. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I did an empirical exercise to ascertain the current draw of the CFP amp, using a 1 ohm resistor in series between the Sigma22 and the amp boards. (My Fluke meters seem to have a hard time measuring resistance less than 1 ohm. Actually I don't even know if I can totally trust the 1 ohm measured resistance is solid.) Anyway, here it goes; with 200mA bias current, 22VDC rails and trusting the 1 ohm in series resistors are truly 1 ohm; For 4 boards combined: cold start: 1.1 A + 15 min: 988mA + 30 min: 970mA + 60 min: 963mA The + rail and - rail draw the same current. So, I think a trafo that can supply 1.5A is better suited for a balanced CFP amp. I ordered a 100VA/28v from Antek to use for my amp.

I was PM'ing with another headcaser about the practice of lifting the resistors off the PCB board for high voltage applications. I improvised a method that I have used for all my builds so far and thought I would share it here in case others may be interested. See the attached pics, I used a lead bender I bought which has a provision that works perfect for most of Kevin's layout where lead spacing for the resistors is about 11mm. To lift the resistors off the board, I put 5mm tall standoffs with a washer to make the total height about 5.5mm. This works great with KOA Speer 1/2W resistors which has a diameter of 3.5mm, thereby provides a 2mm gap between the resistor and the board. I make sure I do this on a flat, hard surface so all the resistors come out uniform height. I usually solder one lead first , exam to make sure it was not crooked, then solder the other lead.

Why not thhhhrowback ...

I am running 200mA bias current and 22 VDC rails now using a 200VA trafo with 22v secondaries supplying 4 boards and the Sigma 22 heatsinks are quite warm to the touch at 45 C. The Sigma 22's dropout voltage appears to be about 8-9 VDC which is consistent with the AMB documentation. If I had known how good this amp is I would have made it a full-blown, dual-mono, two chassis build with PSU in a separate chassis so I don't compromise its performance. Unfortunately the chassis I picked for it has barely enough space for a single GRLV so that's what I will do. Waiting for parts to finish the PSU and I will report back if a single GRLV is adequate to supply 4 CFP2 boards with 200mA bias current. In it's current setting, the current draw on each rail is about 850mA 4 boards combined. Here is a photo to show the chassis I am using.

quite a bit more power and heat and bigger power supply etc

Yay ! I got music, and no background noises even at max volume. No Hums, no hiss !! Oh my gawd! I am blessed by Dr. Kevin Gilmore!. I appreciate it so much sir Dr. Gilmore! Finally, I have reached my “ultimate dream goals!” With very limited knowledges. Thank you to George for making this Build a possibility!! Thank you so much to the community as a whole. The best Stax community out there ! Finally, some pictures, herself and in all her glory. Pure solid silver for wires . I am big fan of it I am smiling like a maniac! Yayyyyy! stacking up, and Amp is 130F, the PsU is 141F after 2 hours. Pretty warmth ! Can’t imagine the original The most beautiful amp I have ever had! Period. Time to “burn-in”

Not if you assume a percentage of time in which cat and PITA coincide. In my experience that is approaching 100%. If a cat is a PITA 100% of the time, then when the subject is not a PITA it must invariably be a giraffe or something. Science!

So sorry to hear. I lost my cat about a year ago and I know what you guys are going through.

Enigma has passed away. We loved her with all our hearts. She was kind. She was tough. She was smart. I'll never be able to express my gratitude for all she gave me. Tears on my keyboard.