Voltron

Thanks Greg. Al

Nice write-up. I wanted one after the earlier thread indicating that they might be coming out for only $700-800, and now I want one even more. How/where can I buy one? Better question, where/how did you get yours?

In honor of you birthday, Justin shipped me my Pico! Thanks for the assist.

He looked a lot younger than that back in April, but who knows? Happy birthday Brian!

Jacob- I have just toasted you with a nice quaff of Highland Park 15 out of my Glencairn glass purchased on your recommendation! Now, I will attempt to drink 26 more tots and one to grow on, although I may not see 45 this way... Have a great birthday and keep up the good work here at the 'Case. BTW, did you check out your birthday thread on HF? Grawk funny. Cheers, Al

Poor planning.

I am digging the sound of my "shallow end of the pool" Stax rig, with some Bill Evans and Jim Hall right now. Or is it a middle of the pool setup? Not sure. Maybe I will still be enamored and will want to move up to one of Justin's new offerings when they are available. When will that likely be Justin? Oh, and Nate, I understood you to be referring to the aesthetics from the beginning and wish I could have jumped in sooner but hadn't seen the follow-ups until just now. You've had my back, and I would have liked to return the favor. And of course I agree that Nate is brilliant as well.

That is some serious commitment to a thread! Good work, and probably worth the effort. Anyway, don't know if a couple weeks is literal, but we are having a meet at my place in Marin on Feb. 2 if you are around then. Neil will have to speak for himself about stopping by his place but let me know if you will be around at the beginning of February.

Happy birthday Monk!

I had been considering a relatively inexpensive Stax rig to try out the electrostatic option in more depth than just hearing other people's rigs. I think Gene snatching up a new top of the line rig put me over the edge, however. I am looking forward to hearing the new O2 setup in Mayberry but also want to hear these Lambdas with the better amp to hear the differences.

Pics on last page, but I will do some shots in the light tomorrow.

OK, here goes, although I have been experiencing technical difficulties uploading and wish that it wasn't dark.

Yes Sir!

Picked up my first Stax rig this week off Audiogon from a local guy. It is an SRM-1 Mk.2 ("C" serial no. which Spritzer said was good), an ED-1 equalizer, and Lambda Pros. Pretty sweet from the first listening I've done. Too bad there are no balanced inputs, but it is a good first own from the world of Stax and electrostats. I'll post some pics with my nice new camera soon.

What combo were you using Nate? If it is the 5687s as output with a 6SN7 input, then I would switch to a good pair of 6SN7s as output. The traditional MPX3 setup is 3 x 6SN7 and a favorite combo is a Ken-Rad VT-231 or Tung Sol roundplate driving Sylvanias. Not sure what combos the seller included though. The EH tubes are not in the same league at all.

Now THAT's comedy!

Nicely done. I know Nate got the scoop earlier in this thread, but I recall when I first had an MPX3 and found various different descriptions of where the input/driver tube went compared to the output. At the time, I was not aware of the toaster version and the posts did not distinguish or explain which they referred to. Found it quite frustrating at the time. Mike, print out Jacob's drawing as your instruction manual.

The SDS-XLR PCB is really fascinating. Mikhail brought one over just to show it to me because he is so proud of it. It is round and about the same size as an LP. Thick as a brick and really gorgeous even without anything attached to it. I vote deal of Oughts, minimum, as well. That is a sweet amp for under 6 bills. Lucky bastard.

Thanks for the info. Do you know the voltage in your middle setting MPX3? My SDS-XLR has a tube regulated & rectified PS, so I can dial in a wide range of voltage settings. I already like the 2c51 with the 6BL7GTAs so I would be curious what the 6BL7GTs are like. As for the fancy pair on eBay, I need 4 so that won't help me much!

I checked and mine are 6BL7GTAs as you suspected. Maybe I need to get some of George's GTs before he sells his MPX3. George, are you reading this? Do you have 4 you could sell separately?

Hmm, I cannot recall. I will take a look at what I have in the tube caddy and report back.

I just noticed this thread after PM'ing you and your lawyer about the topic of the best tubes for preamp usage. I have found that the 2c51 driver and 6BL7GT output is really good and still allows for a reasonable volume range. I previously found that all 6SN7s with my old MPX3 was a bit soft and unfocused, but with 6414 driver and 6BL7GT outputs that one sounded good but the gain was high. If he runs into trouble with the 2c51, he can always try a K-R black glass or Tung Sol round plate 6SN7 as the driver and see if that calms it down for quieter listening. As I said elsewhere, he was genius to ask for your services rather than sending the amp to SP for the pre-outs. I am not a DIY guy, but I really don't see why you couldn't wire them just as you describe.

I'm going to charge up Bunker Hill by listening to some beautiful vinyl right now. mjb inspired me with his mellifluous prose.

Why don't you muthafucking east coasters just move to the west coast? Snow is something we drive TO not IN.

Happy 30th birthday Haj! Have a great one in old Beantown. I really enjoy those SACDs you sold me. Remember to tell me if you have more to sell! Cheers.