Dave R

Because I did Carpentry / Joinery at college [ along time ago ] I could've built an all wood audio rack if I'd had the tools, but I just prefer the security with the strength of a metal frame rack. However supposing I was to have built an audio rack from wood, I'd have still had the legs on the outside of the shelves, but I'd have used metal rods going through the legs and shelves. The only problem with doing that is the shelves would need to be thickish.

Thank you for the link, but my new audio rack is made and is being powder coated. I also prefer this audio rack to any other because it's the exact look and size I wanted, as well as that it's extremely strong. Regarding the shelves, I'm using plyboard covered with carbon fibre wrapping, but I could use any wood. I was going to have 1mm metal shelves done to fit under the plyboard, but Mick ( the owner of the place that did the frame of the audio rack ) said there'd be no need because the thickness of the plyboard would be sufficient.

OK I'll do that. What I'll do is complete the new rack by putting the plyboard shelves in after I've covered them with carbon fibre wrapping, then take one photo of just the rack frame, then with the shelves in, and one with my audio equipment on. I'll also show a photo of my audio equipment as it is on the audio rack I have now, which will show the difference between the two layouts. While I'm very happy with the wenge wooden shelves, I decided to use carbon fibre wrapping on the shelves for my new rack because my BHSE and Bybee power purifier have silver faceplates with matt black enclosures, and my source and Macmini are all silver. I also decided to use carbon fibre wrapping on the shelves because that's what I put on the headband I did for my 009's, which I very much like.

Thanks John, I've just noticed a thread for audio racks in Miscellaneous, so I'll post the photo of the new one on there.

With this being the BHSE thread, I guess I shouldn't really be posting photos of my audio rack, or mentioning anything about it, but my BHSE is placed on that rack so I thought it would be OK to show it on this thread. While I came up with the idea of having the legs at the outside of the shelves and the frame being made of mild steel and welded, someone else might've done something like this before me, but I've never seen any racks similar to the one I have. I decided to have the frame made of mild steel then welded because my source is around 33kg, and because that rack will hold many times that weight, I'm not worried about it collapsing. You are more than welcome to use the design of my audio rack guzziguy, but you might want to wait until Tuesday when I'll be getting my new audio rack where I'll be posting some photos. I won't have the plyboard at that time because I need to have the rack to get the exact measurement of the inside of the angled steel. I'm just waiting for the powder coating to be done but this new rack is a similar shape to the rack you've posted, but the legs are on the outside of the shelves like with the one I have, and the frame again is made of mild steel, the 5 shelves are also a different distance apart. With this new rack though, I've decided to get some 1mm metal sheets which will go under the plyboard shelves, this is just to give extra support. I'll be placing a strip of foam rubber on the inside of the angled steel, then putting the 1mm metal shelves on that foam rubber which might stop any unwanted vibration. The photos are of my audio rack with and without the wenge shelves, the shelves just fit inside the angled steel. I took those photos sometime ago so I've had my living room decorated since.

Thanks morphsci, however I've seen the new audio rack and even though it hasn't been powder coated yet, I prefer it to the one I have. I also think the lay out of my audio equipment will look better than it is on the one in the photo.

While I'm happy with the 3 shelves audio rack I had made from a drawing I did, the only shelf I can put the BHSE's amp section is the top one, and the problem with that is it leaves the tubes open and more susceptible to being caught. So I did another drawing of an audio rack where the BHSE's amp section will be placed on the second to top shelf which in turn will protect the tubes more. With how I've designed this new audio rack, there'll be plenty of ventilation for the BHSE, and the way I'm rearranging my living room this new audio rack will fit in better than the old one. I'll still be using the old audio rack, but I'll be having the legs cut below the top shelf, which will be almost splitting the rack in half, I'll then have turned in to two coffee tables. The frame of this new audio rack is made of the same stuff as the old one, mild steel. The new rack is made so I'm now having it powder coated matt black, it also has 5 shelves but with me having them 20" wide, only one unit can be placed on one shelf which is what I wanted, apart from the bottom shelf where I'll be placing the BHSE's PSU and my MacMini. I use the MacMini as a music server to my K-01's DAC. This is a photo of my old audio rack which the shelves are wenge wood, the shelves of the new one will be plyboard and covered in carbon fibre wrapping.

With me having a smaller than average head , and that I've been shaving it for sometime, I never had a problem getting the 007's to fit properly, however with the shape of the inner ear pads reminding me of a half moon, and the cups swivelling, there was a bit of messing about getting the right fit, but once got I was quite happy with the comfort. As I mentioned though, the comfort of my 009's are a lot more comfortable than the 007's, in fact I also have the HD-600's and I think my 009's are as comfortable as those senn's, even though the HD-600's are quite a bit lighter.

Because I'm so happy with how my 009's now sound purk, I'm not that bothered about trying the 007mk1's again. It would be interesting to hear how they'd compare to the 009's while using the PH tubes, but I did try the 007mk2's with my BHSE while using the PH tubes and I wasn't impressed, they reminded me of how the 007mk1/ SRM-007t sounded, and even though I've read the mk1's are better sounding than the mk2's, I still can't see them sounding as good as I find the 009's do while using the PH's. I also find the 009's are a lot more comfortable than the 007mk1's were, plus I'm very happy with how my 009's now look.

I wouldn't mind trying the NOS mullard XF2's with the BHSE, but that doesn't mean I'm not totally happy with the PH's, because I am. I've also read the XF2's give more detail than the PH's, but I'm not sure I'd need that extra detail because the source I have gives plenty of that. I had the 007mk1's for 11 years but let them go in 2011, and while I had them for 11 years I was never that happy with them, but I blame the SRM-007t for that because I got to hear someone else's 007mk1's with the BHSE and they were totally different Earspeakers. When I was hearing my 009's with the BHSE while using the stock mullard's, and at the same time hearing the 007mk1's, I was regretting letting the 007mk1's I had go, but since using the PH tubes I never give the 007mk1's a second thought.

When I first heard my 009/BHSE June 2012, obviously the stock mullard tubes were being used and I was extremely happy with the SQ from songs in my collection, especially Pink Floyd's, it was when I started listening to Peter Gabriel's songs when the problems started. When I first heard Sledge Hammer I expected my ears to be bleeding because the SQ was so uncomfortable, and I was only listening at my normal volume, so I decided to get a quad of SED's hoping they'd sort out the problem, but they didn't. After that I started using my HD-600's and Pico Slim when I wanted to listen to Peter's songs, but because the HD-600/Pico Slim didn't give me a detail and transparency that the 009/BHSE gave, I ended up getting the GS-Xmk2. Peter's songs as well as the rest of my song collection did sound pretty amazing with the GS-Xmk2/HD-600 but I still ended up getting the LCD-XC, I found the LCD-XC gave better detail with more authority than the HD-600, however when I started using the Psvane PH's in January this year the SQ from my 009/BHSE sounded so good I ended up hardly listening to the GS-Xmk2/ LCD-XC so I sold them. I still have the HD-600 and Pico Slim which I find do sound very good with the source I have, but I mainly use my 009/BHSE. I plan on getting another stats amp, but this will mostly be for if anything happens to my BHSE. There were some suggestions that my source could've been at fault with my 009's sounding bright, but using the same source I've never had a problem from my other headphone gear or while using the PH's with my BHSE.

I got my 009's from PJ in 2011, and while using the stock Mullard and SED tubes with my BHSE, I found my 009's did sound bright, but since using the Psvane PH tubes my 009's no longer sound bright and give me the most realistic SQ I've heard from a headphone combo. I still have both the stock Mullard's and SED's, but I don't think I'll ever use them again.

I saw a BHSE Birgir built a couple of weeks ago on his website in which the last time I went on his site that BHSE was no longer there, so I'm assuming you have that BHSE, that being the case you've got a very nice looking amp IMO.

When I got the SRM-007t in 2000, after a couple of years I could hear a difference in the sound coming from my then 007mk1's, so I had the tubes changed which cost me around £200, the second time it happened I decided to change the tubes myself. I used both the 007t and 007mk1's as part exchange in 2011 for the source have, so if I start to hear a difference with the SQ from my 009/BHSE, then I'll change those PH's straight away and throw them. When that happens I'll be biasing the second quad of PH's I have like I did with the first quad and my SED's. I only started doing the tube biasing with my BHSE after seeing the video Justin did which I'd like to thank him for doing, without that video I don't think I'd dare try doing the biasing myself.

I believe TheAttorney got his first quad of Psvane's on eBay, to which I think he also had problems with them, Golfnutz on the other hand got his from Grant Fidelity and AFAIK had no problems with them until they eventually packed up, I'm not sure how long that took to happen though. It was from Golfnutz I got the recommendation of getting them from GF, and I've been using them since January 2014 without any problems, in fact because I was so impressed after first hearing my 009/BHSE with the PH's, I bought another quad. Goldnutz has the NOS Mullard XF2's [ I think ] and prefers them to the PH's, but I'll be waiting until my PH's pack up before I decide to get any of those NOS Mullard's, assuming there'll be any available when that time comes.

I got my 009's in 2011 [ I also got them from PJ and have had no problems with this imbalance that others have said [ on HF ] they were getting ] so I'm wondering, if Stax might've increased the spacer thickness, which in turn might be making them less sensitive, could the spacer thickness be altered on the earlier models ?

I'm only going with what I was hearing which was a similar problem I had with the stock mullard's, however I'm not having the same problem with the PH tubes even though the same source is being used. Well before I got the PH's, I read about their build quality being an issue, which is why it took me sometime before I ordered some, and I only did that after Grant Fidelity were offering some kind of guarantee. Some have said they get a noise from their PH's, but the only noise I get is a kind of crackling sound which only happens when I first turn on my BHSE, but this noise isn't loud and goes to virtually no noise after a couple of minutes.

I've been using the Psvane PH's with my BHSE since January without any problems, and since using the PH's I find the SQ from my 009's has more body with comfortable highs. I also have a quad of SED Winged C's ( which I haven't used since getting the PH's ) and I found those tubes made my 009's sound thin with uncomfortable highs. I've read the NOS Mullard XF2's are regarded as better than the PH's, so I'll probably try and get hold of a quad when I've the spare money, but in the meantime I'm very happy with the PH's.

The Esoteric K-01 which is the source I have, has the three things I look for in audio equipment, Sound quality, Build quality and Looks, but in the UK it's £15,000. Is it worth that amount of money ?, IMO No. Yes it does sound pretty amazing but if I was able to buy it directly from Teac, I bet it would be around £8000 to maybe £9000, but to my knowledge it can't. This is one of the reasons why I've got and I'm getting my headphone amps from Headamp because they're got directly from Justin. If the BHSE was only available the same way the K-01 is, then I'm guessing it would be $10,000 to $11,000 maybe more. P.S. I paid £10,000 for my K-01, but I used my previous headphone system as part exchange, to which the headphones were SR-007mk1's. It didn't bother me letting those headphones go because the amp I had to drive them was the SRM-007t and I wasn't impressed with that combo. I've since heard someone else's SR-007mk1 with my BHSE and I'm regretting letting the SR-007mk1's go.

Just got a 4 pin XLR custom cable for my HD600's to use with the new GS-X when I receive it, so it'll be interesting to hear the difference between that and the stock HD600 cable.

I've got some Johnnie Walker Gold label whisky and its not bad, the beer I usually drink is John Smiths

I'm trying to figure out the best thing to do for everyone.

I think rather than try and write about the audio equipment I have, I'll just listen to it. DaveR,

I'm only writing about the headphones and audio equipment I've got, because I can't make comments about gear I haven't used. but I am rattling on about it so I'll stop. However I do enjoy going on Head-Case so I can't see any problem in reading the posts written and not do any myself.

I've got and are getting the amps I've been after so I've no plans to get anymore, it's true I am clueless which is why I read about the audio equipment I'm thinking of getting before I buy it, I've had to read about Justin's amps because in the UK it's next to impossible to audition them. I was able to audition the source I have which is why I bought it. Like I said though in my previous post, I think this clueless cunt will just read other's posts rather than write the same useless shit.