spritzer

I just don't want anybody to get swept up in the FOTM madness and be stuck with a under performing product they can't sell. I'm not saying that is the case but the TakeT craze should be fresh in mind with a rush to buy something that is really still a prototype. There is one thing I really like about the 1.2B and that is the crappy box and the fact that it was still marked 1.3 but that was just scratched out and 1.2B marked instead. All that for the price of a used SR-007... What I'm saying it that just be careful as they are going up against some very formidable headphones that cost about or less then 1k$, SR-SC1, recabled ESP950, used SR-007 and 4070 and a modified Sigma. I never said that I had heard the amp but I fully comprehend the effect caps have on the signal path. Add that to the relatively small PSU and a lack of huge current sources to feed the difficult loads but I'm sure tube rolling it to eternity will make it sound great...

The PS2 Jecklins run at 1550v DC+ but I'm mainly future proofing the amp just in case I ever break down and start to prototype the driver designs I've been dreaming up over the last few years.

Kondo uses them as the...ahem... budget option in the preamps with a huge stepper as the 2000UKP option with hand made silver resistors.

No BH is complete without at least 3 bias supplies, Normal, Pro and one variable up to 1000v...

*High Five!!*

This is certainly possible and there are a number of transformers available for this, both in existing designs and new. Sowter and Plitron have new transformers and Just Real Music might also have a transformer that might do the trick. There are also plenty of output trafos that will work so look for a ratio between 1:25-1:50 or even higher. The bias supply can be constructed in any number of ways but the Stax SRD-7 Mk2 design would work just fine. I'm staying away from this particular can of worms in case I won't like them...

I would wait for the 1.2b FOTM to die down to get some solid feedback. You also have to read between the lines as owners ofter refrain from posting negative comments from the fear of getting mauled by the other owners. It's not pretty to be on the receiving end of that... There is one "budget" option for driving the SR-007 that I'm going to look into but it will be DIY unfortunately. That is to use the massive transformers from a Koss E/10 (the adapter for the ESP10) and hook it up to a 580v bias supply. They are about 4 times as large as the Stax transformers so the necessary current should make it through.

For 300$ that is indeed a steal!! Japan rocks for good deals but weakening dollar is making it harder to find any... :'(

We can talk about that all DHT amp when I'm done building the next BH... On a side note... the SR-Sigma Pro 404. I've said that this was a good headphone but I hadn't used it with the BH until today and all I can say is wow! Who knew that a Sigma could be this good and output enough treble and bass in the process. There are still some colorations from the box but they can be minimized by using a better glue so now it's down to a small thickening of the lower midrange and light reverb effect to the vocal area. It's certainly a welcome change from the bass bloat of the earlier models and the shut in sound. The Sigma Pro was always a bit of a disappointment for me as it simply traded the musicality of the normal bias model for a thinner sound that was nothing special except a bit more output at both the HF and LF. With the 404 drivers there is a tight and controlled sound stage which lacks the depth of a Sr-007 but puts the Lambdas to shame. The treble is still a bit rolled off when compared to other, less strange designs so cymbals lack the last bit of sparkle and guitars are a bit subdued but compared to the other models it is no contest. The midrange was always the selling point of the Sigma range and it is no exception here. It's a bit larger then life but that's why I like the Sigmas. The bass is tight... real tight with only the hint of a slight boom. It is a bit spotty though with a few irregularities here and there in the response and the housings soaks up too much of the energy for its own good but it is a welcome change.

I also hate the relaxed type of sound. Blasting Megadeth and Iron Maiden is more of my thing They all sound great but we are insane and arguing about small details... I think I need to hook up the old PS1 to a SRA-3S and get back to the basics...

I never said that there were any output caps in the ES1 but two of the three stages are capacitor coupled. I have a sneaking feeling that you paid some extortionate amount for AN silver caps for just that duty. All capacitor coupled amps are colored by the caps no matter how good they are and the ES1 is no exception. The stock BH is far from good enough to work for the SR-007 but it is a brilliant match to the less demanding SR-?. The BHSE should be a good upgrade but so far unknown as to how much. I would try to find an SR-? instead of the SR-007 as the sound would be much more pleasant to you. They are a real upgrade from the HE90 with a tighter, more controlled bass, better defined soundstage and less upper midrange glare though there is still some.

If you are comparing the headphone on an amp like the ES-1 or the GES you will always get a rose tinted view of the world compared to the brutal honesty of a good DC amp. Now whether you like the sound or not is a whole other issue but this something that is often overlooked as most users have no idea how an amp works and what the differences are.

They are (with the Nova Signature) my least favorite Lambda and far outclassed even by the Basic headphones or the Spirit. I usually rank it with the HE90 as a headphone I can't recommend without a long audition as they are so far from being neutral.

They are sort of the black sheep to me. Crappy bass, treble and a recessed midrange so I'd take the SR-Lambda or Signature over them any day.

The Shalco switches are much better made then the Elma units used by DACT and many others but they are huge. Fit some good resistors and you are golden.

Happy birthday and to be cool I'll also post it in Icelandic... Til hamingju me

I'm not really good at compromises so if it is good enough for Kondo it is good enough for me. The irony is that it will probably be disconnected most of the time if my damn APL 3910 ever gets here as it has a brilliant volume control.

It also bothers me a lot and I'll go for a single RK50 4-tier pot in my next amp.

Good to hear that you didn't have to pay anything. Btw. Stax is always FTW!!

That's true because they are called orthodynamics and are planars...

Yup. Back then I didn't really know what expensive really is...

Programming just makes me suicidal... I was always much more into the hardware side and doing crazy stuff to it. I loved the pirates but I usually ripped the kits apart with in a week and built something else. The ships were cool though and some of the forts and stuff.

I'm with you there. I really would have liked the programmable stuff back when I was 8 though...

Yup, you do more then qualify. A triple stacked ESL must have been something else as I was mightily impressed by a double stack. Who needs meets when you have the best...

That is a very nice and expensive amp you've got there. There is at least one published DHT amp design for electrostatics. It was in the second edition of the Morgan Jones "Valve Amplifiers" book and aptly called "The Beast". The whole chapter is a great read as he talks about how scary it was to test it and how none of his equipment was meant for 1kV+... The cost is a major obstacle so I went with a new BH instead as 15k$ for a headphone amp is insane. A properly designed DHT amp will drive the Quad ESL57, KLH Model Nine and Stax F81 directly with ease so it might be justified for a hardcore ESL nut...