spritzer

It wasn't really a stab at you but vcoheda on HF but it is easy enough to check when you have more then one identical amp and headphone sets... like I do. One should look at this logically and see where things might actually change their temperature with use and headphones dissipate a minute amount of heat with use. You might get something extra from the transformers in the K340 but it should be minor compared to the changes that occur in the amp. Ever tried to bias a cold tube amp?

I never rule that out...

Headphones?? I do notice a nice warmup effect in my RCA connectors but it is strangely absent in XLR's.

The only SS gear I have right now is the AudioZone dac and it doesn't even have a power switch so it's on 24/7. I do leave one of my T1 amps on all the time over weekends and such when I'm working on some headphones or something like that. Those 6CG7's are cheap as dirt so who cares if they die early...

Being diplomatic is so HF... so fuck that!!! Can't wait to see some pix.

Every piece of kit I've ever owned benefited from warming up and some I've always used 24/7 such as DAC's and the like. The difference on my old BH was quite startling between 10 minutes and three hours... More power can indeed be very bad news, large and nasty power transistors and pentodes come to mind, but that's not nearly always the case. You can have a great sounding SS amp with high power but that takes a lot of heat to be dissipated with all the trouble associated with that. Same goes for tube gear, loaded with 845's but a 6SN7 driving them...

The B22 can be just a bit sterile sounding when cold but let it warm up for a bit (30-60mins) and it's just a very open window into the music. This is with the very transparent Fostex T-50 which will let you know everything that is going on. It may look like overkill on paper but the truth is that you can never have too much power.

Here I was trying to be all diplomatic and shit... Nice to know you aren't in denial but enjoyment should come first, all else be damned. Get a new source though... the SR-007 is worth it. I'm guessing that this is a design issue and not related to a faulty part or something like that. It would be cool to see some internal pics as something could look out of place.

That could most certainly be it. The SR-007 takes no prisoners when it comes to sources and cables so the Dared could be glossing over things which the SRD-7 does even more of. Capacitors in the signal path and transformers stepping down and up again will sound very different to a DC coupled SS amp.

Great comparison and a tube head will always be a tube head... You are how ever in a bit of a pickle though there are a couple more options plus those that you listed, the new amp that Woo will release soon (which I know nothing about) and a better transformer box. Fixing the McAlister would be my first step though so what's wrong with it?

I do it to discharge the diaphragm before putting the phones away for storage. They will attract less dust this way and I'm trying to prevent the dreaded "electret effect". You don't have to do this with electrets as there is nothing to ground, the bias pin isn't connected to anything.

Wuss!!!

Decades would be my guess. Mine have been sitting on a Stax stand for 5 years and they are still pristine with a lot of use. I've owned quite a few Stax headphones and they will last 30 years easily even when treated like crap so when babied they will last 40+ years. They should last longer but the oldest Stax is only 49...

Like I said I've never tried it and it will depend on the amp. You would have to capacitor couple the output and put some load on the tubes to ground but that's it. I would stick with pentodes for now as DHT's are a lot of trouble to get right and need a separate heater supply for each output tube which is rarely done on speaker amps... let alone the cheap crap.

It's impossible to tell how long they will last. Could be a week, could be decades...

It's certainly a lot of amp for the money and it is even well built. Dew eet!!!

Take the signal off the output transformer primaries. The tubes output high voltage which is then stepped down so you should be able to tap into that and bypass those two transformers. It's one of those things I've always wanted to try out but shipping a 30kg amp is never cheap... Goes to check out cheap Chinese crap on ebay... You will also need a bias supply so something like the supplies found in the Gilmore amps would work when fed of the amps B+.

Very cool. I wish transformers were in plentiful supply up here...

Hmmm indeed! What are you planning, a GES or a some of the smaller Stax amps? ..and it's

Tuberoll and mod it!!! Edit: Isn't it a P-P EL34 amp? Hook up the Omegas directly to the tubes.

I've now lived with the latest mods for some two weeks and I think I've reached my goal of making these phones worthy of the Omega name. I did go back to the Mk2 springs but I bent them to about 110-115mm and I fitted Mk1 foam inside the Mk2 pads. The springs stick out a bit under the pads but the extra width was necessary do to the crappy pleather Stax used on the Mk2 outside flange which holds the pads in place. It's much looser then the leather in the Mk1 pads so the extra width of the springs clamps the pads in place and forces them to sit closer to the drivers. I also changed the angle of the center pin on the springs to make them stand out less so this works in tandem to force the pads to sit closer to the drivers. I also swapped the foam inside the Mk2 pads with foam from a fresh set of Mk1 pads to make them a bit softer. I didn't do this in isolation from the other mods to the springs so I'm not quite sure if this had any effect. I may reverse it later on but the effect should be very subtle if non-existent but this isn't verified. The end result is what I set out to do, accurate bass response with zero midbass hump and the midrange honk removed. They don't sound completely like the Mk1 though, the bass is a bit lighter on it's feet and the midrange more forward which makes them work a whole lot better on "lesser" amps like the SRM-1, T1 and 007t. I will reserve final judgment until I get to hear them on a Blue Hawaii again with the rest of my Omegas but as it stands right now I quite like them.

Feel free to post some impressions to get the thread back on track.

Guess it was far too much work to redesign the PCB with a lot of ventilation slots and a new chassis design...

retarded necrophiliac? He is probably the biggest idiot on HF and that says quite a bit...

The M-L panels are terrible by design with thick film and more attention paid to how they look then how they will sound. Kings Audio is also supposed to be even worse with nobody at the company having a clue how to design ESL's...