does the DACT go on the other side of the board or on top?

 

on the top,maybe

Hi HS,

What headphones are you using with this amp?i

 

it seems like the koss esp950. the bias is different. 

 

950 bias: 600v

stax pro socket: 580v

+/-20V doesn't matter the slightest bit. 

Photobucket is giving me a hard time with the rotation of pictures so hopefully these come out OK.

 

As I didn't make this beautiful amp I'm guessing, but it looks like the finish on the face plate is a satin silver powdercoat.  It is very nice and feels substantial.  Here are a few shots that should provide a better idea of texture on the front and rear plates, as well as, give a view of the connections and how I'm using it currently.  

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for all the kind words.  KG, Birgir, and Geoff deserve the acolades.  All I had to do is buy and enjoy.  The Koss cans are now all they can be in my estimation.

 

 

 

HS

Really nice!

What finish did you use on the face plate?

The case is all aluminium is bead-blasted, brightened and anodised either grey or silver.

I'm mucking about in imgur,

 

let's see if this pic pastes in:

 

 

 

Edited March 15, 201511 yr by headinclouds

Very nice work indeed. I like the inside off-board heatsink. Probably total overkill, but very nice!

Does this one run at 400V?

Yes it does.

The heat sink is extremely effective.  I live in Houston, TX so having something that runs cooler especially during the summer is a big bonus.  I've run the amp for several hours at a time.  My DAC is sitting back on the KGST as can be seen in the pics above.  The DAC is relatively small and I lay a thin magazine under it away from the cooling vents on the amp.  DAC stays comfortably cool...no problem.

 

HS

Very nice work indeed. I like the inside off-board heatsink. Probably total overkill, but very nice!

Does this one run at 400V?

Agreed. Very nicely done. I like the faceplate treatment around the volume knob as well.

Really nice work

 

 

//UFN

Many thanks for the picture Sam & Geoff.  Any chance you will be able to add a pair of XLR loop out on the back plate?  Love every aspect about this amp.  Your chassis work is super sweet.

Many thanks for the picture Sam & Geoff.  Any chance you will be able to add a pair of XLR loop out on the back plate?  Love every aspect about this amp.  Your chassis work is super sweet.

 

It's possible but does Sam want one?

So far all my cans and my DACs are single ended so I've not gone balanced (personally or with my audio  ).  Sounds so darn good to me single ended I haven't felt the need, but I'm no expert on balanced vs single ended.

 

 

HS

So far all my cans and my DACs are single ended so I've not gone balanced (personally or with my audio  ).  Sounds so darn good to me single ended I haven't felt the need, but I'm no expert on balanced vs single ended.

 

 

HS

 

I believe the circuit of any electrostat amps are balanced in nature anyway.  So if you are feeding singled end signal, it will eventually be converted balanced signal.

every direct drive electrostatic amp i know of is balanced.

the luminare piece of crap drives the transformer unbalanced only

with asymetrical drive, and has very different rise and fall slew rates.

That's a fair point as the single connector does have R+/R1 and L+/L-...thanks for enlightening this electrical dummy.  I'm feeding the KGST the analog signal from a single ended DAC although it's via R/L RCA's to Neutrik connectors.

 

I do not possess the golden ears some seem to on another forum, but the rig sounds very nice, especially with streaming FLAC files.  The KGST has clearly taken the Koss to another level.  Their limits at right there with this amp.  I'm pleased as punch.

 

HS

I'm mucking about in imgur,

 

let's see if this pic pastes in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 so nice. i like this style. Especially the large heat sink.

I'm mucking about in imgur,

 

let's see if this pic pastes in:

 

 

Beautiful Geoff. Is that design one others could use? 

Hey does anybody have a source for the .1uF/1000VDC film caps in the KGST power supply? The lead spacing is approximately 18.3mm and Mouser/Digikey seems to stock only 22mm leads

The spacing is 15mm so go from there. 

Hey does anybody have a source for the .1uF/1000VDC film caps in the KGST power supply? The lead spacing is approximately 18.3mm and Mouser/Digikey seems to stock only 22mm leads

 

i seems that all of the .1uf/1kv caps has been sold out.

 

i found them from :

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.21.MoH6lI&id=35902201607&ns=1&abbucket=11#detail

 

but i do not know whether they are fake.i will buy some to check.

I wouldn't use the KGSSHV psu as it just doesn't like that load.  No mods possible with that PSU board which is why we are slowly working on a new one. 

 

Hi Birgir:

 

I and a couple others are planning a KGST build. We are thinking about using the kgsshvpsminifinalstn9360 version of PSU. Is this a bad idea?  

 

If so, can you elaborate and recommend a PSU to optimize the performance of the KGST?

 

Thanks!  

Plenty of 100nf/1000V caps to be found.  This one should work just fine:

 

http://www2.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Kemet/PHE426PB6100JR06/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMv1cc3ydrPrF85GIl804cbNm959%252bOSJvME%3d

 

Cheap too. 

 

 

Hi Birgir:

 

I and a couple others are planning a KGST build. We are thinking about using the kgsshvpsminifinalstn9360 version of PSU. Is this a bad idea?  

 

If so, can you elaborate and recommend a PSU to optimize the performance of the KGST?

 

Thanks! 

 

You can use that PSU but you could have problems.  Plus nobody has ever built that PSU there might be massive problems.  I just found out over the weekend that the layout software we use has a brand new way of fucking us over with no warning. 

 

Stick with the BHSE unit. 

Edited March 16, 201511 yr by spritzer

What layout software do you use?