November 17, 200718 yr Gilmore, one day please design a 845 amp for 'stat headphones. Please please! NO! Done correctly there would have to be 4 fillament transformers, each one of which has to be very well balanced, and center tapped and neutralized. Otherwise its going to have more hum than audio. This would be my standard dual differential drive setup. If you want SE with a transformer you need to look elsewhere, homey don't do that.
November 17, 200718 yr The cost of a 845 based amp would be horrific and it would dwarf any headphone amp ever made. The amp it self is relatively easy to design and build but the power supply is a huge headache. A simpler amp could be built but I just don't get the point of a compromised design around a world class tube. A 572-10 might be a better tube choice but they aren't produced any more.
November 19, 200718 yr I'm working on 3 new electrostatic amps...right now I'm waiting for a prototype of a custom heatsink that will be the sides of the box. They'll be ready sometime next year Three?! Good stuff. I'll have to start saving now.
November 20, 200718 yr Gilmore, one day please design a 845 amp for 'stat headphones. Please please! OK,OK. I just figured out a way to cut the number of fillament transformers, thus balancing the two tubes of one channel together such that the reactance of the transformer no longer matters and a one pot hum canceling thing. Will post schematic in the next couple of days. Need to go synthesize the thing to make sure it really works as intended. So who is going to build one?
November 20, 200718 yr Three?! Good stuff. I'll have to start saving now. I've had the ugly box KGSS for nearly 4 years now which is hard to believe. So I definitely believe there is a market for a pretty box version (of course there are substantial updates to the power supply, amp circuit, and overall quality of engineering changes to go with that). Also, the amp circuitry will become surface-mount modules, except for the output stages which will be on the main board and heatsinked to the sides of the case, which is what the custom heatsink is for. I want to keep the KGSS under 2k and the KGST will probably be 2.5-3k. By the 3rd one I meant the KGBH SE
November 20, 200718 yr So who is going to build one? I might. I really like to hear what the SR-007 sounds like with some really big tubes pushing them.
November 20, 200718 yr OK,OK. I just figured out a way to cut the number of fillament transformers, thus balancing the two tubes of one channel together such that the reactance of the transformer no longer matters and a one pot hum canceling thing. Will post schematic in the next couple of days. Need to go synthesize the thing to make sure it really works as intended. So who is going to build one? I will try. I've only worked up to ~700 V though. How much is this going to be? 1.2k V?
November 20, 200718 yr The 845 needs more then 900v to start to sound good so 1kv would be the target.
November 20, 200718 yr I've had the ugly box KGSS for nearly 4 years now which is hard to believe. So I definitely believe there is a market for a pretty box version (of course there are substantial updates to the power supply, amp circuit, and overall quality of engineering changes to go with that). Also, the amp circuitry will become surface-mount modules, except for the output stages which will be on the main board and heatsinked to the sides of the case, which is what the custom heatsink is for. I want to keep the KGSS under 2k and the KGST will probably be 2.5-3k. By the 3rd one I meant the KGBH SE So the current KGSS will be replaced by an updated, pretty-box version and will cost under $2k?! TBH, I don't think the current box is ugly at all. It may not be as flashy as the HEV90, but it is far from ugly. Understated elegance would be a more accurate description. I'm a huge fan of the lettering you use on the front panel btw.
November 20, 200718 yr Will the new series of HeadAmp stat amps have one volume knob, or two? I, for one, would pay more to have a single knob. I used to have a preamp with independent L/R volume pots, and I got rid of it for precisely that reason. Of course, what I really want to know is how any of the above will drive the TakeT H2s.
November 20, 200718 yr I really do like my silver BH. Understated and functional but then again I'm a devote follower of the simple copper chassis approach.
November 20, 200718 yr Will the new series of HeadAmp stat amps have one volume knob, or two? I, for one, would pay more to have a single knob. I used to have a preamp with independent L/R volume pots, and I got rid of it for precisely that reason. Of course, what I really want to know is how any of the above will drive the TakeT H2s. Are there not significant sonic gains to be made from using a separate cermet stepped pot for each channel? Half the distortion, or double the transparency, or however you want to phrase it.
November 20, 200718 yr There is only one plus to the separate L and R volume controls and that is balance control. Steppers are shit at that anyways so just give me a quad pot and I'll be happy.
November 20, 200718 yr It would be a single volume control. Likely a quad stepped attenuator, although I'll look into a pot as well. Only the Blue Hawaii SE can drive the TakeT H2. The KGSS would work with some mods including paralleling the output devices, but this would be a different PCB, different chassis, different power supply...I can't see an amp exclusively for TakeT H2 as a possibility, because it would cost 3x as much as the phones - already same price as KGBH SE - and I'd need at least 15 who want one
November 20, 200718 yr It would be a single volume control. Likely a quad stepped attenuator, although I'll look into a pot as well. Only the Blue Hawaii SE can drive the TakeT H2. The KGSS would work with some mods including paralleling the output devices, but this would be a different PCB, different chassis, different power supply...I can't see an amp exclusively for TakeT H2 as a possibility, because it would cost 3x as much as the phones - already same price as KGBH SE - and I'd need at least 15 who want one Unless someone pays 15x the price of a KGBH SE Justin, do you build the stepped attenuators in house or are they custom built by some other company? Single volume control would be great, although that's one less knob. Could you possibly do a single volume control with adjustable L & R like the Stax amps? Would it work with stepped attenuators? Spritzer, I saved some pictures of your KGBH before Head-Fi went down. It's damn gorgeous.
November 20, 200718 yr Unless someone pays 15x the price of a KGBH SE Justin, do you build the stepped attenuators in house or are they custom built by some other company? Single volume control would be great, although that's one less knob. Could you possibly do a single volume control with adjustable L & R like the Stax amps? Would it work with stepped attenuators? Spritzer, I saved some pictures of your KGBH before Head-Fi went down. It's damn gorgeous. Producing a split L&R level control with the ELMA switches isn't possible AFAIK but it could be possible with some other switches. Shalco maybe? The KGBH sure is pretty but it really needs a quad RK50 pot...
November 20, 200718 yr This is da bomb, isn't it? G08, T1, O2, KGBH, 313, Gamma Pros? quad RK50 pot costs... $4k already? How did I manage to fit four questions (including this one) into a single post?
November 20, 200718 yr The pictures are in the HF photo gallery. I'll try to find one and upload it here.
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