May 12, 201412 yr these Chinese guys are a riot. gotta love the packaging. I think this is the third thing I have gotten from china that was packed in a pampers box. Man they must be making lots of babies... http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/dsc_0560.jpg http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/dsc_0561.jpg http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/dsc_0562.jpg absolutely standard off the shelf case you can buy on ebay all transistors on the 8 big heatsinks and the 4 small ones are 2sc4686a Q9,10,Q25,Q26 are 2sa1156 Q12,Q13,Q28,Q29 are 2sc2705 Q3,Q4,Q19,Q20 are 2sa970 R7,R8,R49,R50 are 300k 1 watt power supply pass fets are irfbe30 power supply zener drivers are 2sa1831 100% a kgss with the kgsshv output transistors. Edited May 12, 201412 yr by kevin gilmore
May 12, 201412 yr Sticking the HD800 on a WA5 is a bit like sticking the SR-009 on the Liquid Lightning, having a highly resolving transducer dumbed down by a highly colored amplifier. Didn't the "highly resolving" SR-009 push all the wrong buttons for you, in which case a nice colored amp may not be such a bad thing
May 12, 201412 yr I do like the build quality over all. Pretty nice parts and the correct ballast resistor for the phones. Even carbon comp like Stax still use. The transformer is 230V only so that is not good for US users. Still, easy enough to swap out. So the second Chinese copy this year, we must be doing something right.
May 12, 201412 yr Didn't the "highly resolving" SR-009 push all the wrong buttons for you, in which case a nice colored amp may not be such a bad thing That's an issue with the bright nature of the phones, something which I know can be fixed without taking a sledgehammer to the top end. I'd have no reason to use the 009 if it mean making them less resolving... Just so it's clear, I've never felt the 009 offered any resolution bonus over a well fitted 007. It's even the opposite as the 007 just gets out of the bloody way and is in no way apparent.
May 12, 201412 yr these Chinese guys are a riot. gotta love the packaging. I think this is the third thing I have gotten from china that was packed in a pampers box. Man they must be making lots of babies... http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/dsc_0560.jpg http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/dsc_0561.jpg http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/dsc_0562.jpg Maybe that's just their way of avoiding detection -- don't they have a quota of babies over which they're not allowed to ...er...continue reproducing?
May 12, 201412 yr by the way, its a real made by stax, stax jack. with the stax logo on the plastic on the inside. stax always refused to sell those jacks to us, we had to make our own. justin's jack are clearly superior... beats the hell out of a llmk1 or llmk2 for less than 17% of the price.
May 12, 201412 yr any details on the "first" kgss that spritzer alluded to? This seems like a pretty convincing buy.
May 13, 201412 yr Definitely very interested now. How did you guys manage to buy from Taobao? Through an agent or directly from the dealer?
May 13, 201412 yr Taobao, as of last week, accepts a few more payment options. It's not just Chinese bank account or Alipay account, now. Shipping overseas is still tricky, but not so tricky that they're about to turn down a sale. I'd say buy on Taobao like the locals do -- right from the seller. Edited May 13, 201412 yr by Sherwood
May 13, 201412 yr Just so it's clear, I've never felt the 009 offered any resolution bonus over a well fitted 007. It's even the opposite as the 007 just gets out of the bloody way and is in no way apparent. Yup agreed.
May 13, 201412 yr by the way, its a real made by stax, stax jack. with the stax logo on the plastic on the inside. stax always refused to sell those jacks to us, we had to make our own. justin's jack are clearly superior... beats the hell out of a llmk1 or llmk2 for less than 17% of the price. Stax really don't want to sell the sockets so not sure where this guy is getting them. They are genuine alright and the newest spec. any details on the "first" kgss that spritzer alluded to? This seems like a pretty convincing buy. First KGSS? Definitely very interested now. How did you guys manage to buy from Taobao? Through an agent or directly from the dealer? I used Cart100.com but there are a lot of deputy services out there. Cart100 have been great on the two occasions I've used them, even reminded me that China is 230V so there might be a problem with that.
May 13, 201412 yr I think nopants is referring to So the second Chinese copy this year, we must be doing something right. What was the first Chinese copy?
May 13, 201412 yr The KSA-5. Nobody had completely reverse engineered it until we did so. Speaking of which... http://www.ebay.com/itm/KRELL-ksa5-Class-A-8W-8W-amplifier-in-case-220V/271466031172?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222003%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D6872961694781196531%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D20131003132420%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D151276393019&rt=nc Not very subtle in their thieving...
May 13, 201412 yr Ugh, the goddamn locking Neutrick jack strikes again! Otherwise, holy heck that seems cheap even when you factor in the $99 shipping.
May 13, 201412 yr I wonder why the Chinese have not cloned the llmk2... maybe I will eventually publish the kx-r schematics.
May 13, 201412 yr http://s.taobao.com/search?q=KRELL+ksa5&searcy_type=item&s_from=newHeader&source=&ssid=s5-e&search=y&spm=a1z10.1.1996643285.d4916901 1080 Chinese Yuan equals 173.38 US Dollar geez, wonder how much shipping would be from these taobao listings. Edited May 13, 201412 yr by dcpoor
May 13, 201412 yr The shipping for the KGSS was just over 113$ for a 6.5Kg package. The transformer is a Talema unit so odds are that it has dual primaries. We are famous... http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.72.YKuenw&id=37960660378 I wonder why the Chinese have not cloned the llmk2... maybe I will eventually publish the kx-r schematics. I say a new project with a new thread. Make it easy for them... Seriously, the only thing stopping us are those damn P-channel Jfets. Are any of the Fairchild parts usable?
May 13, 201412 yr Thanks for the shipping info. How much work and cost would it be to modify the KSA5 clone or Chinese KGSS for USA/115V usage?
May 13, 201412 yr the kgss is a single primary winding. It would need a different transformer. or maybe the company sells it with a 110v transformer
May 14, 201412 yr Don't scratch it too hard. Upside is that it is soldered properly and built to spec.
May 14, 201412 yr Don't scratch it too hard. Upside is that it is soldered properly and built to spec. Probably better so then the Cavalli stuff. If they ground that IEC outlet. Edited May 14, 201412 yr by DefQon
May 14, 201412 yr Chinese companies usually know how to get a good product from Chinese manufacturers. I imagine these will be made as advertised, though possibly with used caps.
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