drp

Thanks for the reply, Spritz. Would too low a bleeder resistor value then cause a higher charge than the coating is designed to handle, causing premature wear (not to mention degradation in sound?)? In addition to sonic performance, I'd hate to spend money on gear (especially at this and higher levels) that degrades more quickly than if better matched. I've always wondered this about driving, say, an HE60 with the KGSS or other non-Senn amp... 8~) Not that the lucky few that own the HEV90 would do so, unless their HE90 became unusable, but I was also wondering specifically how an HEV90 would drive the HEAudio? Additionally, how the Aristaeus or other HEV90 clone would drive the HEAudio?

Also trying to grasp rudimentary e-stat concepts and guidelines for suitable performance and gear matching. So . . . how well would the HEV90 (or HEV70 in an extreme case), which I believe has a bias of 500V, drive the HE90 clone, which has a bias of 600V?

I believe it is this one. http://www.agent18.com/scripts/prodview2.asp?idproductpages=7

Another vote for the Agent 18 case. I like the open clickwheel area with the plastic ridge, as it makes it easy to find the controls without looking (or operate through lighter pants while in a pocket). Good protection and not too bulky. I snapped a quic pic:

Happy birfyday Haj; I also hope Nate has some good news for you tomorrow...

Ha . . I just watched another (used, mint) D-25S auction hover at $180.00, high bidder being the same one that just forked over 317.50 for the NOS. I was very tempted to raise the bid just so this guy would have to beat it; buy lunch for the seller. Good thing I did not play because the auction ended at 187.50; I would have owned the player. Not that I think it a completely bad thing . . . I would like another D25 so I can perform (again attempt) the dual dac mod from scratch, given what I learned from the last one, but since I already have one that is modified, and since it sounds stupendous, I'm not as driven for one. Crazy-ass price structures, driven even higher by the shillers and the uneducated. Too, damn, bad.

Has a shill smell to it. I've been watching this posting from the beginning and just this morning it was still at 47.00, then all of the sudden sky rocketed to its current price. Seems unlikely that experienced bidders would go this high, this soon. Too bad; I was considering a bid.

Ian, I hear Kittery is very nice this time of year. Hey, while visiting, how about you host a mini-meet? Salty - Actually, that was you buy her the gear and I borrow it... And the gym excuses do eventually run out. I made it to excuse #756 and 20lbs overweight before I finally ran out of excuses.

It's very cool to read "girlfriend" and "borrow" in the same sentence when discussing audio gear. How about "borrow her OII's and BHSE for an upcoming meet." Gotta nice ring to it, doncha think? Pico with the DAC of course. In addition to amping my iMod when on the road, I'll use it at the office to replace the lil' Bithead I've been using for a soundcard/amp. I'm also look forward to trying it as a line out in the low gain setting to drive the spankin' new SRM-252A. Let me know when you're ready to get back to the gym; got a few plans that Ellen's had me try. They're based on the number of days you can devote, which might be of interest. For a gym rig, I still think Ellen's E500s and 2nd Gen Shuffle is hard to beat. Small, clip on, decent sound, and isolation from the Spice Girls blasting through cracked cones.

Haj, That stinks, Bro. I have a 1st gen 4GB Nano that I can have in the mail to you today, or even meet you somewhere and hand it to you. If you have a small amp, you can use the iMod'd version of the same. I'm not using either at the moment, as I'm awaiting the Pico for the iMod and have switched to using my BT-enabled phone at the gym (so I can record weights in Excel; what a fucking geek I must look like...).

You bet! Editing to clarify that the plug in my pix is the one to the SR-003. I think Pabbi1's KGBH pic has a good shot of the Stax retermination plug. It's very well done. Alex also provided dust removal services. Mine now live in a plastic cover like Aunt Bessie's parlor couch, exposed only when music is playing. I was at one point going to use the HEV70 pigtail that came with the retermintation to drive my SR-003s at the office, but this rig is more compact and I'm sure sounds better.

You've obviously never experienced my crappy photography. Here are a few funky lighting marvels. . . My mod pics are no better I'm afraid.

A little Stax stack I just got the final pieces of my little office rig, and since it's electrostatic, I thought I'd post it here. The stack up is a Sony D25 PCDP on top of a Stax SRM 252 amp, driving a pair of Stax SR-003 earphones. This entire rig fits in a 5.25 x5.25 x 2.5 inch space so will take up little space on my cluttered desk. The D25 has the Turbo mod I started several years ago. Through the kindness of a new member of the other site, I was able to snag an image of the PCB, the spec on the DAC, and a bit of coaxing and coaching to complete the modification by rewiring certain pins on both DACs. This is another story, maybe for the DIY section if anyone here cares, but the outcome was a true dual DAC player (separate DAC per channel) that sounds incredible for a little portable. Although, no longer really a portable because the battery tray is now stuffed with Black Gate PS and headphone caps. The 252 is just a few hours old but is already painting a fairly nice soundscape with the little earbuds. I just switched over to the HE60s; sounds like a "full size" rig. At first blush, it seems to have more detail than the SRD-7 Pro. Headroom is more difficult to ascertain due to the low voltage output of the D25. I'll have some fun experiments to perform over the holiday. This little setup is also performing well at all volume levels; even at low volumes, which will make for some good background noise at the office. Plus, I type faster and more accurately when listening to headphones. Anyone got an explanation for this? My next thought is to build/buy a small dedicated power supply, or perhaps a battery pack in a thin square box about the same dimensions as the amp itself. That would be slick and a certain sonic improvement over my crappy AC. Back to spinning CDs. Currently digging Radio Head OK Computer.

Sorry but I've not yet owned the OII; hope to one of these days, right after the 4070 (what a dreamer). I'm looking for that Spritzer dude to swoop in here on the KGSS with OII question.

(into the breach?) Balancing the Edition 9s did in fact tame the bass a bit; made for less resonance, and I think a little better imaging in the lower regions; what some have referred to as a brain cloud, bass fart, something like that. It also increased the width of the soundstage a bit and fine-tuned the imaging all around, one of the true strengths if these headphones. These were all subtle changes; nothing like the benefits of balancing a HD650. One caveat is that I did not go directly to XLRs connectors. In order to A/B with single ended (I got all this gear right before the last Boston meet), I created pigtails using small 4-pin connectors and Kimber PBJ. This made A/B'ng easy, but I think it also did affect the sound signature a small amount, because they did sound better with the monster of a XLR adapter cable the Yikes had handy. I think his adapter was worth about twice that of the Edition 9s. Never got around to trying a straight XLR connection. With the GS-X and then the Beta-22 available, the RPX-100 became much less of a value. On top of this, the HE60 with an Adapter and a T-amp (of all things) was floating my entire flotilla more so than this expensive setup. This made the Edition 9 and RPX-100 a gateway drug to higher end fidelity that I now think of as HE60s and some killer electrostatic amp solution to be determined. The KGSS is a but a stepping stone. Oh, and, I won't bother to mention the association-by-common-gear issue I had with owning this rig; I'm sure no names are needed, but this was a factor. One more thing. I never bought into the S-Logic shit, because I've worn all my headphones (especially the PS-1s) forward and down. I say balance away; you've nothing to loose.

Hey gang, good to be here. Nanoha - Good move on the retermination decision. This will make every pro-biased Stax amp your new best friend. I'm using a KGSS as well and do not find the highs too bright at all, nor do I find the bass rolled off (by most standards). The HE60 with this amp just does so many things so well; a real pleasure to listen to. the name n_Maher actually translates as licks burnt solder flux in a DIY language not even Head-Case would permit.

The HE60s I sent to Alex turned out to be full of dust. It seems many that owned this fine headphone were more interested in conspicuous display (or ignorance) than they were in properly storing a known dust magnet. Given the investment (and now my only high end can), the fee for cleaning and addition of the Stax plug was to me well worth the cost. I certainly do not yet have the noive to open mine up for self-cleaning. An added benefit (subjective as hell statement) is that the HEV70-Stax pigtail allows the use of the HEV70 with an easier to drive Stax phone. I tested the HEV70 and SR-003s and thought it suitable for a bedside solution, where you?ll soon be asleep anyway. Really though, it did not sound completely terrible and if it were not for an inbound srm-252, I?d consider the HEV and SR-003 for work and fishing camp.