Elephas

Yeah, why are these Sylvania 5751 so expensive and hard to find? I've tried some Gold Brand, some also with gold pins, some with regular pins, some black plates and some gray plates. They're all good, as long as they have the triple mica. I like the ones that also have black plates the most, and without gold pins. I've also tried some non-triple mica green lettering types and Gold brand that were apparently made later, in the 70's and maybe even early 80's. They're good, too, and also match very well with the O2Mk1 and O2Mk2, but not quite as good as the older ones. I think the old ones have very good details, soundstage, notes separation, and imaging precision, which enhances the O2's strengths and minimizes its weaknesses (smallish soundstage, a bit dark). I've found that with some other types of tubes, the O2's even become a bit muddy and blurry, losing the definition and crispness of each note. Ugh. These old Sylvania 5751 work great in the Aristaeus and ES-1. I also have 12AX7 types that I like, but it seems that nothing can compete with the old Sylvania 5751 in terms of soundstage, details and the clarity of each individual note. I guess I'm very late to the game and demand is so high because everyone have already realized they are high quality tubes.

Happy day, happy happy day today! I got a bit tired of Rihanna - Umbrella (Remixes) after listening to them for over forty times. But I found a worthy substitute, and I'm listening to them now! SR-007Mk2 earpads caressing my ears. Driven by 2x Sylvania 5751W triple mica black plates, 2x Sylvania VT-231, 4x Mullard xf1 in the ES-1. ALAC > iTunes > RME > Esoteric D-05, word clocked at 176.4kHz. The songs? Rihanna - Take A Bow (Remixes)!

Very nice. I like the housings, the double headband and copper-colored adjustment parts. The only parts I don't like are the mounting points to the housings, the square red boxes that seem to be plastic. Also, the earpads don't appear to be real leather to me.

This is no fair! Probably less people have heard the AD2000 than the other three headphones. Presumably those who haven't won't vote the AD2000. Therefore I think the AD2000 should get an automatic +10 votes. -- BTW, what are the additional funds needed for Eagle + HD800? Wouldn't that make everyone happy?

My order for a BHSE included the RK50 option. The dual 45-step attenuators were one of the upgrades made to the ES-1 when I sent it in. They are supposedly Shallco. After using these the Aristaeus' stepped attenuator seems a bit inadequate. I agree that HeadAmp's build quality and design seems very good. But ultimately for me, it's how happy I am with the amp overall which includes how it sounds (subjective impressions) as well as how it fits into my usage requirements (size, features, appearance, etc. The thing is, I'm very happy with both the ES-1 and Aristaeus. Sure, I think the ES-1 could be smaller sized. As for build quality, I'm not sure. I only know it has worked fine so far and sounds very good. If it's a bad design, has bad parts or crappy wiring/soldering and will break one day, that day hasn't arrived yet. You are right. I'm counting the clicks and forgot to count the first starting step. Apparently some elephants can't count, this is embarrassing.

Wow, someone's bitchiness quotient is high. As far as I can tell, no one has continued talking about the O2Mk1 and O2Mk2 earpads. All right, all right, we won't talk about anything having to do with earpads anymore. We already know what Spritzer's impressions of the O2Mk1 + BHSE is going to be. Best headphone ever! Best sound! Perfect! I've been very pleased with the ES-1. I know Single Power's reputation is in the tank, and it seems that few people are buying new or used SP amps recently. I haven't had any problems and it drives all my electrostats very nicely. I've actually been thinking of canceling my BHSE order, even though I've been waiting since late 2007 and it appears to be almost ready to ship. I feel that I'm "done" with the ES-1 and I'm not sure another electrostatic amp, even one supposedly as good as the BHSE, will be able to improve upon it. And even if the BHSE does drive the O2Mk1 and O2Mk2 better, I doubt it will also do better with the HE90, HE60 and Jade. One thing I really like is using the ES-1's 45-step attenuators. I counted, and there's actually only 44 steps, though. I also have an Aristaeus, and it is a superb match with the HE90. The ES-1 does have greater dynamics and details, but I'm not sure it is better than the Aristaeus when driving the HE90. They're different, not necessarily better. The Aristaeus has a smoothness and liquidity the ES-1 can't match, even when it's using the same 12AX7-type tubes.

Ouch! Told to shut up by a mod, that hurts a lot more than being caressed with a hammer.

Oh, no, don't poke me with the hammer, please, no! Especially with a two inch long, cheap plastic, probably made in Taiwan, tourist trap "authentic replica" mjolnir. I'm so scared. Look at the Mk1 pads. Feel the Mk1 pads with your grubby humanoid paws. Touch them. Then do the same with 4070 and SR-404 pads. Feel the similarity? Don't tell me that your clumsy fingers aren't as sensitive as my trunk.

Ha, so now there are two Stax models with real leather earpads. The pleather pads are actually not bad, I think the 4070, Airbow SR-SC1 and SR-007 pads are quite smooth and comfortable. But real leather is real leather.

Haha, fancy running into a fellow ZD user in this thread. I've owned a ZD since Jan. 2008. It's a very good amp and drives low or hi impedance headphones well, AT, Grado, K701, Senns or Sony. But I don't use it often, because I usually listen to electrostats. I think an O2 + KGSS would easily compete with a ZD system. Even though it is more expensive, I think the KGSS is an excellent value compared to the 007tII or 727. I haven't heard a 717. If you have the budget to go for a better amp than a KGSS, I think you'll be very close to being "done." You might even find the dynamics + ZD superfluous, like I have. I sold the KGSS after getting an Aristaeus. The Aristaeus definitely drives the HE90 and SR-Omega better than the O2's, but at the time I thought it did as good a job as the KGSS with the O2's. I put the KGSS up for sale at a local shop and let prospective buyers try it and compare against a 007tII. It sold after only 4 days. Now I'm using a SP ES-1 with the O2Mk1 and O2Mk2. It is more dynamic than the Aristaeus and a much better match with the O2's. I would expect a BH or BHSE to be at least as good as the ES-1. It's a bit difficult to imagine anything better.

I think Justin deserves an SR-Omega. Now might be a good time to buy one, possibly there's less demand and consequently lower prices.

Team Big E rules!

Didn't some people hear a prototype A-10 already? I vaguely remember reading about some people going to Ray's place after a meet and using a Jade with an electrostatic amp.

x2 The Empirical Audio products seem very overpriced to me. I've been using an RME HDSP 9632 for more than two years. RME drivers are very good and super solid. Its digital output is excellent. I use AES/EBU with a DH-Labs Silver Sonic cable (about $70 from Moon Audio) to connect it with an Esoteric D-05. I've also used it with a Chord DAC64. Sound quality using the RME is close enough to the P-05 transport that I use iTunes and foobar as my primary players. SACD with the P-05 is better, true, but the difference isn't very large. Foobar with high quality files (eg. B&W Music Club FLAC24) is very good, too, as well as upsampled regular files, so I'm happy using the PC and not having to swap discs.

So, does anyone here admit to even the slightest possibility of buying an A-10? Someone with an HE90 or Jade, probably? Anyone willing to take one for the team? I'll send a couple of headphones for evaluation, if needed, maybe an SR-Omega? I assume a used A-10 would be quicker and easier to resell than a Single Power ES-1, but probably not as easy as a used BHSE.

Ah, I see what you mean. Yeah, I agree that it's useless to have an HE90 output on an amp if you're never going to use an HE90, don't own one/won't buy one, or don't like the HE90. But I do think that if there are going to be two types of outputs on an electrostatic amp, they should be one HE90 and one Stax Pro. When we ordered the BHSE, Justin gave us the choice of outputs. People could also choose two Stax 5-pin outputs. Maybe Ray would provide this option? The round space for the outputs looks like an HE60 output would not fit. Two Stax should be easily doable.

This is great, we can comment about the A-10 here instead of in the official thread. What's wrong with an amp having an HE90 output and a 5-pin Stax output? I have two amps configured like this, and also requested the BHSE this way. I figure if there's anything wrong with this Justin would slap me upside the head and refuse to do it. Having an HE60 output is useless for those like me who have reterminated their HE60's with a 5-pin Stax plug. Same thing with a Jade XLR output. I look forward to the A-10 showing up at some meets and reading some impressions, especially versus an Aristaeus when driving an HE90 or Jade.

Tempt people? No way, I wouldn't do such a mean thing. Here's an old photo I remember seeing before. I'm told that one of the L3000 is gone, as well as the W2002. The elite Team ATH numbers are dwindling while the hordes of AD700 take over, and they might soon be gone, lost forever.

They're not that rare, at least not on Head-Case. I know someone has two units and the second one is supposedly NOS. Both are pristine condition and sound pretty good driven by a ZD. Team Animal Avatar members might get a special discount, too.

You're no panda! You're not even Team Animal Avatar like Monkey and me! I think there are some who would say O2Mk2 + no amp = no problem. I was chilling out listening to the ES-1 last night, and suddenly I pictured the chassis splitting open in half and wallwarts come flying out. With Mikhail's disembodied head hovering over it laughing maniacally, and Justin's and Craig's heads to the left and right shaking their heads and rolling their eyes. Too much imagination, or maybe a bit too much beer perhaps?

All you people get to DIY and build amps, and solder, and poke around inside amps, and talk about resistors, and order parts from Mouser, and criticize Mikhail's work. And we don't even have thumbs, or even hands. All we can do is listen to music. With one of Mikhail's amps, which might blow up and start spewing wallwarts at any moment. *cry*

I don't really care about people pointing and laughing at the hobby. People point and laugh about a lot of things, particularly things they don't understand or don't appreciate. People have different value systems, they can laugh at mine if they want but I won't care. I'm more concerned about sound quality. I also admit to being influenced to some extent by appearance. But the Equinox Voice's wood parts and thick cloth cover don't strike me favorably in the appearance category. I doubt the wood parts have any influence on the sound. I assume the design, the thickness, number of strands, cloth covering, etc. all improve the sound to some degree, that it was designed and made that way for a good reason. Listening will be the only real test, as individually subjective as that can be. Comparisons and some longer-term usage would help to confirm the level of its quality. As for price, damn, $1400 for a headphone cable is pretty ridiculous. I say this as someone who owns an Equinox cable as well as several other 3rd party headphone recables. In most cases, I found the recables to be an improvement over stock and generally worthwhile to me in terms of value. But they are already close to my limits. I think the Equinox Voice is over the limit of what I would be willing to pay, even if it does sound marginally better than a regular Equinox or other cables. And marginally better is the most I would expect of it.

I would've gone for an all-silver one, like one Aristaeus unit I've seen photos of, but that wasn't available. Some panels are black only. I don't like the two-tone look very much so I went with all-black except for silver tube rings, like most Aristaeus were configured.

I wonder who's amp is that all-black BHSE #1 in Nate's photos. Someone with excellent taste opted for the HE90 + Stax outputs instead of two Stax. A-ha, so what did you use with the Jade? If not a BH, then it was obviously an inferior amp and therefore your evaluation is suspect and invalid. I officially submit a petition to the Stax Mafia to disqualify all Spritzer's comments about the Jade!

Gah, that thundercloud is scary! At least there wasn't any scary sound, I'm afraid of loud thunder. Yes, Justin asked when he should send the Jade back to me and I said to keep it until the BHSE is ready. I believe he intends to buy one for himself afterwards. I forgot about the Jade. If Justin didn't bring it to the NY meet because it wasn't his unit, I regret not telling him beforehand to bring it, I wouldn't have minded. Now now now, your explanation about the devil in the details makes some sense, but ultimately it comes down to each person's perception of the differences among the headphones, whether the differences seem large or small. That's completely subjective. One person might say the O2Mk1 and O2Mk2 sound completely and very different, night and day different, while another could say they sound very similar, and both people would be correct. I think that's the source of many of the arguments on Head-Fi and other audio forums. We judge the differences we hear differently, and value them differently. These kinds of arguments go around and around and never result in anything concrete. But there's no question that we are all hearing differences among the headphones, so at least no one's hearing acuity is being questioned, unlike some of the more heated cable arguments. I'm not saying the Mk1 and Mk2 are the same, I'm saying they are very similar and the differences aren't enough to consign the Mk2 to horrible or inferior status. And if the people at the NY meet are saying the O2Mk2 + BHSE combo sounds very good, it's one counterpoint against the negative comments about the Mk2. I just think the Mk2 has been unfairly maligned. Nyah nyah nyah, I'm wearing a 4070, its large mass will protect me against any puny Mjollnirs.