spritzer

Fair enough but that is clearly not the case here.

Plenty of Class A bias, yes. I personally don't care who designs something but the stuff KG and Ti give away is just better then the rest because they care enough and have the skill to make it as good as is possible. You could add Pass to this list but none of his stock designs are for headphones... Seeing people recommend that steaming pile of crap which is the Rudistor RB-010 as the bezt evah just makes me furious every time....

Better yet, use something like this...

Dynahi, dynafet or B22. About as good as it gets for those inferior dynamics...

KG tests his amps like that and I believe HFN tests all amps under review flat out. Didn't Marc use this amp flat out so why test it any other way?

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.