spritzer

I was outbid at 60k+ so it wasn't me. I'm quite happy though since it means more money to spend on the two BH's. I'm also fairly certain that my PC-OCC wired version walks all over the stock, the kettle cable is just crap and I use a much better adhesive...

Yes they are but high expectations will only lead to disappointments no matter how good the gear is. The SR-007 Mk1 is also not showy or flashy in any way and will sneak up on you. The SR-007 was my first high-end headphone (HD600 is good but not high end) and even out of my then 313 amp they impressed me tremendously. Since then I've owned an shitload of headphones and have had even more sets here on loan from fellow collectors and the SR-007 is still the best I've heard and on my very short list of gear I will never sell.

The He60 simply loved the BH but it won't fix its slightly skewed midrange but the bass was a lot better and the soundstage was more focused. The 717 is a cracking amp though and a welcome change from the 6CG7 based tube amps and the SRM-1's while driving the SR-007A. It's nice to hear the sound not turn to mush when the pushing the amp and balls to the wall it hints at the amazing bass ability of the BH.

Damn noobs the lot of 'ya!!!!! I must say though that I preferred the He60 in some areas to the He90, espcially bass. The He90 has a lot more of it and goes deeper but He60 is quicker on its feet like a properly setup SR-007.

Fucking Stax!!!! I just got a 717 from Japan and before testing it at 100v I converted it over to 240v, flip the power switch and nothing happens. Hmmm... check for any damage and if I got the jumpers right and all is in order. No fuses blown or nothing. Decide to measure the transformer secondaries... nothing... fucking Stax cut the 120v windings so it was harder then hell to attach wires to them. I did manage to do it though and now I have a 007t and a 717 in my computer rig. That's how I feel about them, nice but flawed and very overpriced. They are ESP noob friendly and will impress anybody on first listen.

The tonal balance is a bit off on the He60 but it's been too long since I've heard one to go into much detail. The bass is quite fast and rather nice for what it does but the Koss has quite a bit more impact from memory.

The HE60 bass is very lacking in bloom compared to just about anything so it will go deep but there isn't much of it.

Makes it print moar!!!! On a more serious note I do like the RSA cables and while this seems simply an idiotic cable they are just responding to market demands. We all know how audiophiles are with their stock cables and it can't be good unless it has an external PSU and a zebra pattern on the techflex.

Well DUH!!!

Nothing but silver is good enough for the Pico!!!

Excuses, excuses... As for stands, why don't you have some made out of lexan or some other strong plastic?

There appears to be something wrong with those Quads!! It looks like they have moving coil drivers...

Looks good but I wonder if it wouldn't be better to rotate one of the output trafos 90

We are talking about the same thing but I just wasn't very clear...

I'm not a great believer in cryo but I had a SR-SC1 and a SR-404 here side by side and the SC1 doesn't suck. The 404 was a few months old but the SC1 I bought used but installed new pads when they arrived so that eliminates the pads out of the equation.

Sure does...

I flat out hate the Mk2 is stock form so you are certainly not alone. It's like they didn't even listen to the final product and the distributors all lack the technical knowledge to know what Stax really did so they blame it on burn in... With my mods (that sounded so much like markl that I threw up a bit in my mouth) they sound basically like a Mk1 but with slightly snappier bass and since they are more forward they engage the listener more then the laid back Mk1. I haven't done a driver swap yet but it looks like Stax messed with the drivers but this will be impossible to test or even see. I will have to get a second A/Mk2, mod it and send on a trip of the US meets. That will maybe filter the info back to Stax and force them to stop this nonsense. I would start off by bending the earpieces so the bottom of the two earpieces move further apart. Best bet is to bend at the break just above each ear and start off slow. As the output power goes up, so does the size of the transformers so 20kg for a 15w amp isn't so bad. Add some chokes and all bets are off. The old BH wasn't that heavy at about 12kg's but the BHSE has 3 transformers in the PSU and a lot more robust chassis so the weight will go up.

Have you tried to bend the arcs at all? This was also my longstanding objection to the Mk1 but once I found the perfect fit the bass is much better. You need the extra weight in normal tube amps due to the output transformers, two of them in fact. To avoid core saturation you need a lot of iron and it isn't exactly light weight. An ES amp doesn't use these so it could be lighter but one might get a bit carried away with the PSU transformers instead. I'm testing the filament trafo for my DIY BH and it weighs in a 1.9kg but not nearly everybody is going to need 20A for the filaments...

That would be correct but the SR-Omega isn't that much worse, a bit woolly and uncontrolled at high volume levels but that's it.

More weight is always better when it comes to amps and tube amps in particular. Transformers need to be fairly big to start with...

The tubes used are only a part of the puzzle and the key behind the BH isn't the output tubes but how they are used. I'm certain that we will get detailed internal pics from Woo when the time comes (it's called having nothing to hide ) and then we can see what design they based this amp on.

The 007 Mk2 is more forward sounding then the Mk1 so it apears to be easier to driver but they really aren't. I've never tried the GES so I have no idea how it will fair but on paper it would struggle. The 12BZ7's aren't the output tubes so they won't make any difference here. You could have Woo upgrade the PSU and use something larger as output tubes but it looks like they are already going in that direction... I didn't like either one of the new Stax TOTL amps so I would track down a 717.

You might be onto something here. Maybe we have been lied to all this time and heat isn't thermal radiation... This new discovery will completely alter how I run my bakery from now on.

RK50 FTW!!!