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If anyone is of the era, looks like a big show in November. https://www.darkerwavesfest.com

What, no Kajagoogoo?

Yesterday we visited Sterling Pond, which just so happens to be the highest elevation trout pond in Vermont

I'm not saying I'd ever pay that amount for any combination of living artists, but it doesn't seem crazy to me compared to a Rolling Stone show or Taylor Swift next month in a football stadium...

Completely different package so you need to match the pinout but that should be it. Could be some freak oscillation though to look out for. Still this wouldn't be worth it as real 2SA1968's are probably 50$ each now for low quantities and most for sale are fakes. I can't remember the rail voltages on those amps but if it is +/-300V, then a 700Vpnp would work. There are none in current production but they can be found.

As much as I grew up with and like/love many of those bands, I wouldn't pay that $ or face that crowd. I've been lucky enough to see my favorites, The Chameleons, several times in one form or another. And they definitely still have "it."

Jumping in here - I'm using a Grace/massdrop m9xx, and TBH I'm happy enough with it. (It's just used as a DAC, I don't have any dynamic HP's these days) I have some upgrades to my other gear incoming - a SRM-006ta from Birgir (modded) and some '007 mk2s. I'm listening to digital files from PS via USB. Am I missing out on much with my current DAC? I've been through this thread and most the recommendations are more than I want to spend at the moment. Is there something that would be much better (and maybe have balanced output) for < $600 USD?

That's actually a SRM-1, not a Mk2 unit. It seems Stax just had a bunch left over so they stuck them in a Mk2 chassis. These amps are less than 1% of all SRM-1 Mk2's so yeah, not a true representation of them. Still the 2SA1968/1967 would work there attached to a heatsink. Edit: Given the rail voltages, a 600V part might even work there or a 700V one.

Obsolete parts are better than obfuscated parts.

I bet I have the parts. they are probably available through head-case

it definitely matters on the coffee and roast type for how long it takes to get to ideal and when that drops off.

absolutely not. topping has potted modules including the bias module that are not available as spare parts. topping has a custom switching supply that may not easily be substituted. every one of these is likely to be dead in less than 5 years. where 40 year old stax amps continue to function even though all the silicon is obsolete. topping is flavor of the month throw away garbage.

Listened to the latest Death Spells yesterday and I liked it. A lot. Thanks for letting me know it was out!

Almost.

This amp is already costing us money ...but it's not what you think. People are buying entry level STAX headphones, thinking they've got a hot new affordable amp to use them with. Then it turns out to be a piece of garbage and we get a returned headphone to deal with. My recommendation would be to look for a used STAX amp in a similar price range. They work great for many decades.

Yeah, we're spoiled for choice. You almost have to consider your entire music library, playback software scheme and transport mechanism before you even start thinking about which DACs sound good. Digital music these days can easily be more work than cultivating a record collection. I got overwhelmed by all these new possibilities and didn't want to pay ongoing fees for something like Roon, so I said "fuck it", and am pretty much just going with USB transport from a PC. If I can fire up foobar, Spotify or Amazon Music directly from a computer, I'm a happy camper.

British and Aussie people know how to spell analogue, and solder, and aluminium, and say petrol instead of gasoline, etc, etc ad hoc, ad addendum, ad nauseum........ Also gaol is not spelt jail......

What's that in 80's money? https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=1&year1=198001&year2=202305 Divide by 3.91 apparently. Let's call it 4 for simplicity.