spritzer

Kind of reminds me of this picture: V-Caps in the bias supply? Not that the other caps pass signal either... Sounds interesting. Will this be RSA and MarcE only system or will it expand later on?

Ditto...

That's not a bad idea. When can I order my MarcE special edition?

Without knowing why they were added I'd leave them in place for know. What output sockets are connected to that bias supply and is the one in the PSU populated?

Adding resistors after the bias supply only makes sense if you want to go up to 10Mohm to better suit the HE90 or install a dividing network to drop the voltage. The latter makes no sense with the pot already there...

It might be time for some drastic measures such as a sharp angle on top instead of the gentle curve. Both are great headphones and my current incarnation of the Mk2 mods bring them a lot closer to each other but that's with Mk1 earpads in place. Not really an ideal solution... ...and ohh I'm definitely nuts...

You may need to adjust the arcs for a better fit and sound. Btw. Thanks for the comparison, nice to know I'm not completely nuts...

Who uses Caddock's in a bias supply? I was also trying to figure out why they were there as the amp already has a HE90 output.

The cmoy is a great way to start but a Millet SS is also a good beginners project as it isn't very complex.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-100926089806656515&hl=en http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-100926089806656515&hl=en This was posted over on HF earlier today and it deserved it's own thread. It's a Swedish film about audiophiles with a guest appearance from a unique headphone. They turn up about 30 seconds in. A small teaser...

A separate PSU isn't always a good thing and can even cause more trouble then it "fixes".

Now that I've spent a week with the Mk1 springs in place there isn't enough of an improvement to call it a day. Next step was to modify the Mk2 springs so that they were 100mm across and so that they didn't lift the pads quite as much, basically make them like the Mk1 springs. It was relatively easy to do by hand and I fitted brand new Mk1 pads while I was at it. On a direct A-B comparison to the Mk1 the sound is much closer now with the A/Mk2 a bit more forward and the midrange a wee bit colder. There is still some honk but only time will tell if I can live with it or not. I also compared the Mk1 and Mk2 earpads while I had the phones open. The new leather used on the Mk2 pads is indeed very nice unlike the Mk1 units they aren't all leather. The lip used to hold the pads to the phones is now made of vinyl which is much looser with even less tensile strength. This makes the phones easier to assemble and the pads deeper but it's a clear compromise over the snug fit of the Mk1 pads. The new pads are stiffer then a brand new set of Mk1 pads (possibly to make the last longer?) and foam construction and materials are different. The angle of the pads is also smaller on the Mk2 compared to the Mk1. I will now run them like this for another week to see how it is but the next step is far more drastic, a driver swap between a mk1 and my A which is something I'm not looking forward to...

Neither would be my vote. If you want a huge soundstage get a Stax SR-Sigma and either a transformer to drive them off a normal power amp or some electrostatic amp. You could for instance bug EC to make one for you. The soundstage on the Omega line is small yet precise so not what you are looking for but the Sigma was built for soundstage.

It's the "always on" bias supply and shouldn't be like that. Send Justin a PM and he'll sort it out for you or tell you how to do it your self.

Rebiasing is indeed necessary but it's pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it.

Thanks. It will be fixed one of these days...

That's what I've been doing and have found nothing besides some very bad soldering. I will fix it eventually but since it has been completely surplus to my needs I have just let it sit there. I'm going to use it in my computer rig for awhile to see if that will make me get off my ass and order a full set of new components for it.

Could very well be but Stax in their infinite wisdom had to make it black... There are still quite a few parts that haven't been replaced and I haven't gone to the next step of swapping parts between channels as I don't want to mess with the good one. Who needs stereo anyways... Still the amp works with a -180v offset in one channel. New tubes drift like crazy so they need some time to settle and they will change. It's not the drastic transformation needed to make an RSA amp any good but it's there and varies from tube to tube.

Happy birthday Todd!!

It's a very sick amp. With most of the channel replaced it still won't behave and some of the parts are impossible to find. I'm with Hirsch on this one as the 60's Toshiba tubes are the best you can find... if you can find them. These were used in the SRA-3S back in 1968 and my stock was intended as replacements. They aren't for sale so don't ask... Later models are virtually identical though and well worth it to track down. The signature short plates and often a bent top of the tip make them easy to find even if unmarked. The US made tubes are good as well with Stax often shipping the amps with GE's installed.

I know it isn't nice to laugh at people who can't count... but what the hell I'd love to see something that would prove this but more then one company does polish the conductors. I guess they are trying to achieve better conductivity through skin effect (electrons take the easiest route which is on the skin of the wore) but shiny cables just sell better.

Considering the insane power requirements ortho's have I'd say the Pico wouldn't work well. Just get a B22, works wonders on the T-50.

You will be crying if a nice show would take out all those 1968's... Lucky you... I've been too busy at work and fixing my backlog of headphones. Hell I still haven't found out what's wrong with the 007t...

It's not going to make it any cheaper, that's for sure. You should also stock up on spare parts since if something goes wrong odds are you will get a nice fireworks show with resistors flying all over the place.

Tough to say really. Could be good and could be crap depending on the silver wire used as well as the build quality but the description isn't really helping them...