spritzer

For the KGST, it should be both. Try the MPSA.....

Well it is either that or start trimming ones own with a laser.

That will be fun to watch. I'll tackle Accuphase in the near future as I want one of their Class A integrateds but I believe that they are multi winding as a standard.

Yeah Kevin was talking about the TI super expensive film resistors or the crazy pants stuff found inside high end multimeters. Those are power resistors so not the same thing.

No idea.

I've heard that they use 100V only transformers on the Japanese gear but haven't verified it. On the cheaper amps it was usually just a matter of missing leads but on the 007/727 they cut the actual winding's.

Yeah only the MPSW and MPSA transitors work on that board. Is it also a reflection or are the 1486's in backwards? Also those thick film resistors will work but not a great idea in the feedback line. Also all those 1/4W resistors have to go as those are the spots that either need higher power handling or more voltage handling.

Ahh yeah, the mighty detail machine that is the HD800. Now let's pair it with an amp that has the transparency of a puddle of mud and we are golden.

Post some pics of the boards as then stuff is easier to spot. A super bright LED is not normal...

Indeed, you can sell people anything. That's why I like to see the reaction of non-audio folk to some of the utterly retarded crap audiophiles throw about as fact. Using an amp with 2% distortion is a good example of this, why would anybody do that? Tyll's KGSS has what, 0.02% through the transducers of a SR-207?

Because it isn't real? First of all, how are you going to hear any meaningful difference in a SET? They are high distortion/high noise amps by nature so how is the volume control going to change anything with such a flawed circuitry behind it? Secondly, it is very difficult to compare attenuators in circuit as they are so different. I for one will never put steppers in my amps except to clear out those that I already have at hand. They all go bad with dirty contacts, I've lost count of how many DACT's I've had to take apart and clean over the years. They also won't last, the plating on the PCB's wears out very quickly. I was ordering some custom made pots on Monday and they are rated at 50000 rotations, no way the Elma switches can pull that off. Then we have stuff like the Penny+Giles RF15 which has been in use for almost 40 years. They still custom make them if you ask nicely and will outperform any stepper I've come across. Also there is no high quality optical attenuation, it simply doesn't exist. They are all high distortion devices but they sound cool so people settle for that.

That one is a GES or some slight variation of that. Those pencil tubes are kinda nice, they are what I used in my micro GES...

The fuse size is always about the transformer and its inrush current. 4A could be normal.

You can't match tubes, that is pretty much the gist of it. As for the KGSSHV, the mini uses a completely different power supply and standing current so no doubt there are some differences. There we are talking about major circuit changes. Also only volume matched (with a voltmeter that is) blind tests really apply for something like this. Assumption is the mother of all fuckups. Also a warmer climate with higher than 23°C ambient might require the amps to be readjusted. I can't mimic hot conditions here so they are adjusted at normal room temp.

The whole KGSSHV's sound so different is blown way out of proportion. The only real difference is with warmup and thus the offset of the amp and the tolerance of the components. Once they are all running at optimum temp zero them out and see how much difference there is in a volume matched blind test. I've done that, I wonder how many others have done so... All of this reminds me of the tube rolling stupidity. How many have actually compared tubes with identical specs? I mean the same trans-conductance , not just throwing one fresh set in there and one burned out "NOS" set and claiming the NOS sounds so much more mellow. Something to ponder...

I think most high end Stax owners have 009's, doesn't mean they use them though...

There are no products I'd recommend over all. Most good vinyl re conditioners will work just fine. I've thought about making aftermarket earpads so something for the todo list I suppose. Wouldn't be cheap but the Omega's are worth it.

That wouldn't be a problem.

I wouldn't use leather cream on the earpads as well...they aren't leather. They are vinyl so they need some plastic treatment instead.

I always liked the 202 but it's been way too long since I had one for any meaningful comparison. Going by the basic difference between the x0x and x07 series the 207 would be a bit brighter with a more open top and tighter bass.

Also...electrostatics.

Ahh yes the voicing thing, does anybody actually believe that shit? I mean it takes a complete lack of understanding on how things are designed and how amps work to pull that off. It is quite clear that all of our amps are basically wires with gain where the only real limitation is down to the topology and the parts used. That was the initial plan with "special 009 amp", find a circuit and components which would deal with with the sub-par bass and treble/upper midrange performance in the same way the HEV90 dumbs down the HE90. Something like the Blue Hawaii would have been a natural starting point as it starts rolling off in the audible treble region (which is why it sounds a bit dark and boomy at times) and to roll on from there. Given that Stax are trying to fix the 009 it was a bad idea to try and design for a moving target. Still this wouldn't be voicing, more finding compatible transducer and amplifier pairing which has been a cornerstone of audio through the ages. The bottom line though is that you can't voice amps if you want ultimate transparency. You can throw feedback at, change the topology, run devices at the wrong operating point etc. it to alter the sound quality and the performance of the circuit but I don't think anybody would believe that is done with the aim of making an "honest" amplifier. All of this also stinks of the same BS as the whole burn-in mess. There people assume a certain gold standard, that they hear like an AP measuring station so it has to be the component that is changing. I mean it couldn't possibly take a while for our very flawed hearing to get to know a component and break down our own mental blocks? Nope, has to be the thing we can't prove or measure in any way, which is the but of all jokes when you talk to engineers. Yup... makes sense... Same thing here, why is the amp blamed as bright when all it is doing is amplifying what it is fed and driving the phones to its best ability? It isn't possible that the source is bright (which many, many are now) or there is something wrong with the transducers when they are actually fed properly? None of this makes any sense to me....

I like it. The 009 does belong there and there are other crazy expensive sets which also can't quite live up to the hype. The Orpheus was so far from being neutral that it wasn't even funny, large parts of the bass spectrum simply missing and the top end only sounds ok if you feed it through a broken amplifier with enough polyester caps in the signal path. Let's not get started on that soundstage or what ever it was supposed to be... Sony R-10. Nothing wrong with them except they have a very unique sound but my gripe is people paying way too much money for something nobody can service and where the crucial foam parts are degrading so they will never sound right.

Having built hundreds of these PSU's over the last 10 years I know they will only act like that when there is a short on the board. Now what's causing the short can be a number of factors, sloppy soldering, flux or just a sub-par PCB. It is so often over looked that PCB's aren't the same and some are just crap. Are the pass transistors sourced from Mouser? There are some fakes out there which could be a factor...

One more data point on the 207, to date three of my KGSSHV mini's have been bought by recording studios as the final mix monitors. I'm not allowed to name the studios but they are...well known... let's just say that. Anyway all of them use the 207 for this even though price really wasn't an issue. Granted they need to take into account just how much abuse they must suffer but primarily it was the sound. I must say that the measurements Tyll did helped a lot as honestly, how many chains will give you these THD numbers? This is at the same time that there is some consensus on HF that the KGSS is super bright and the KGSSHV even more so. Everybody knows that the KGSS is slightly on the warmer side (due to the third stage lack of CCS which I countered in Tyll's amp) and the KGSSHV is pretty much dead neutral. If it is bright well then how about looking at the phones or the source? These amps are wires with gain (and a lot of it at that) so they must naturally be the culprit. Yeah that makes sense...