spritzer

I'd say the pins are less of an issue compared to the WPI socket simply not being the correct size for the Stax plugs. That's why they are such a pain to use compared to the teflon sockets or the SATO Parts Stax sockets.

Crap tolerances maybe. The oldest Stax connectors weren't so great either but the newer Sato parts are better.

Yup WPI is the company that makes them but these are the exact same molds as have been sold by Amphenol since at least the 1960's. My Heathkit tube checker has a socket like this and so did the old Koss ESP7,9 and 10

They have switched to WPI on everything now which makes no sense to me and yeah, that's the transformer box. I compared it briefly at CJ against my Lundahl box and even the the much lower ratio of the Lundahl's they were much smoother to my ears and the bass more controlled even off the WA5.

Can't be outdone by Kevin so 100 for me as well.

WPI connector fail. With everything sourced dirt cheap from China, how hard can it be to get teflon Stax jacks for next to nothing?

The 717 is an excellent amp and the best value out there for a pre-built amp. It is basically a KGSS with a few "tweaks" and the stock crappy Stax PSU. Now those "tweaks" could be removed and the amp turned into a KGSS... There should also be similar mods on the horizon for the 727 just as soon as Craig starts to read my emails...

Happy Birthday!!

That's not a flaw, it's a feature...

Lack of bass control can be two things with the SR-007, lack of amplifier power (which you no doubt have with that setup) or the fit is not good enough. Probably a comination of both but I wouldn't mess with the fit unless you sort out the amp first. I have and I wouldn't recommend it over any of the Stax amps.

Trendsetter.

Needs more Jena wiring...

The KGSS and KGBH are very similar in terms of design and their lack of sound signature is very similar. With the BHSE vs. older BH comparisons you have factor in that the old Headamp units weren't running at full power...

A bunch of LSK389-C's...

Sherlock and The Glades

Even the good units I've had here were far from perfect. I shudder to think how Larry butchered that particular set as the all important o-ring is at the back of the drivers...

I second that, these amps are as close to wire's with gain as you can come so either the listener likes more color or the source isn't up to snuff. The SR-007 and HE60 both like power, lots of it so GES, WES, Exstata (Cavalli's version but the KG one would work) and A-10 certainly aren't up to the job. The ESX would be an obvious solution, can be built quite cheaply and sounds very nice indeed. KGSSHV is one and so is something like the modifed Exstata. You could also build one of Frank Cooters designs for something totally different...

DIY or a commercial unit?

Well you could check the AC off the transformer and then do the math but yeah, the most simple way is just to replace them. Btw. Which of the SRA's is this? I might have the schematic if you need it. There was also a restoration thread here on the SRA-12S a while back...

One way to check the caps is to measure the HT rails. If they are on spec then the caps work properly.

There is 1 KGST in the wild and I have it. No boards as I'm using a modified board from another amp design and a Blue Hawaii PSU. As for modding the stock Exstata board, it might be a bit hard...

Stax 4070

Yup, that's exactly what I used. Yup, but I'll only do the SS version. For the tube version it would just make more sense to build the KGST...

Parts for any of the pre-Lambda models are very thin on the ground and Stax shows no stock. Your best bet would be with any of the larger Stax distributors which have been in buisness since the 80's (Germany being very big on the SR-5's back in the day) or watching ebay. As for running the bias a bit hot, the driver can in theory easily handle 500V bias but Stax have always been rather conservative with bias voltage in context of the D/S gap. I just replace everything but then again I'm not normal. That said, the caps in my old SRM-T2 measured like new but replacing them with fresh units cured the offset issues I was having and raised the voltage rails up to spec again. If I remember correctly the old SRA units were all AC-coupled so you might want to look into new output caps as well. My board haven't arrived yet to no testing as of yet but people were experiencing odd things like the volume of the system drifting as if the bias supply wasn't working correctly. There were also some issues with the first supplies (as in they never worked) but I converted mine to the voltage doubler with a voltage divider at the end setup from the start so I never had any issues. As for the exstata, I've been cleaning up the layout of the new boards to try and make them smaller for the last couple of days and I've gotten them down to 195x122mm which isn't bad for something which has the same number of heatsinks as the KGSS two channel board. A simple PSU coming up too and then I'll order some boards.

Yeah, ohm's law against some some fucknuts on HF who think moar expensive = moar better, moar bling = moar soundz!!!