The Stax Thread III

[eric65]

Quote:

Hi, here is an estimate of the price of high-end Russian electrostatic amplifier, very exclusive and without concessions, the "Demograf" amplifier: 25,000 to 50,000 Euros.
 
 

Link : http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/casques-haute-fidelite/club-des-heureux-proprietaires-de-casques-stax-t29819561-4740.html

 
Quote:

The price is ridiculous.
Would like to see the insides though.

That case is so pitifully amateurish.
Nothing agains DIY you understand.

 
 Here : http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/casques-haute-fidelite/club-des-heureux-proprietaires-de-casques-stax-t29819561-4710.html 

 

[jjinh]

Quote:

Hi, here is an estimate of the price of high-end Russian electrostatic amplifier, very exclusive and without concessions, the "Demograf" amplifier: 25,000 to 50,000 Euros.
 

 

 

[eric65]

Quote:

 

This is an approximation or 100,000 to 200,000 Polish zloty (Total 1 Polish Zloty = 0.235 euro)
http://hifiphilosophy.com/?p=7503
http://hifiphilosophy.com/?p=6192
 
(NB: The system Orpheus HEV 90 is currently estimated at 16,000 U.S. dollars
The Demograf was built to be better than the Orpheus.
Nothing shocking for that price: the price of supremacy and exclusivity).
 
 

Eric

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

Nothing shocking for that price: the price of supremacy and exclusivity).
 

Or the exorbitant price charged for bunch of boutique parts that contribute almost zilch to the circuit (just for the sake of e-peen comparison) and the large costs of labor to which something that doesn't even look professionally built or made for the asking said price?
 
Exclusivity - yes
Supremacy - no
 
Enough ranting from me.

 

[Oingo Boingo]

Eric, it's not that expensive)) the parts can be seen on the pics, the prices are known, it' not really hard to calculate. The input attenuation transformers (which don't have name on) are Stevens & Billington TX102 mk3-I. The Hashimoto interstate transformers are 107A (are used as phase inverters for 6SN7). The wiring is done with top ones but it's not too expensive. The research was not included since it basically was a combination of what Dmitry has done before and few new things which were fun for a professional to dig into. We we also considering DIY T2 or KGBH on top components + advanced power supply and discussed those a lot. Dmitry came to a conclusion and explained it to my why he would like to to build it otherwise, since T2 and KGBH use different approach, with all my respect, it's just different schools. The e-stats are indeed a very special job for the amps, Dmitry was experimented a lot with tubes, voltage, swing, power supply and other components. I am very happy with the way it sounds, it's exactly the sound I was looking for, hope this also counts)) We have fellows with BHSE and KGBH in Moscow, I guess it would be a good idea to have a blind test (these guys enjoy their setups too, so we may have a comparative one))

 

[Oingo Boingo]

Hmm... Reading the comment above I would rather think twice before sharing anything in such a friendly environment))

 

[davidsh]

Welcome to the Stax thread on head-fi.

 

[DefQon]

Isn't the KGBH = BH? 

 

[sidrpm]

May I suggest that you do NOT think twice about sharing but only think about completely ignoring "such friendly comments".
 
Thanks for sharing the pics and information. I certainly look forward to more. Cheers.

 

[eric65]

Quote:

Eric, it's not that expensive)) the parts can be seen on the pics, the prices are known, it' not really hard to calculate. The input attenuation transformers (which don't have name on) are Stevens & Billington TX102 mk3-I. The Hashimoto interstate transformers are 107A (are used as phase inverters for 6SN7). The wiring is done with top ones but it's not too expensive. The research was not included since it basically was a combination of what Dmitry has done before and few new things which were fun for a professional to dig into. We we also considering DIY T2 or KGBH on top components + advanced power supply and discussed those a lot. Dmitry came to a conclusion and explained it to my why he would like to to build it otherwise, since T2 and KGBH use different approach, with all my respect, it's just different schools. The e-stats are indeed a very special job for the amps, Dmitry was experimented a lot with tubes, voltage, swing, power supply and other components. I am very happy with the way it sounds, it's exactly the sound I was looking for, hope this also counts)) We have fellows with BHSE and KGBH in Moscow, I guess it would be a good idea to have a blind test (these guys enjoy their setups too, so we may have a comparative one))

 
Hello,
 
Thank you for these supplement information about the impressive amplifier Demograf.
 
Indeed, it would be a great idea to make a blind confrontation of the famous U.S. BHSE amplifier versus the famous Russian Demograf amplifier. 
Confrontation done in blind.
In the french forum HCFR on Stax, we now attach great importance to the blind tests for an objective amplifier comparison .
 
Eric

 

[johnwmclean]

Isn't the KGBH = BH? 

Pint too many of the good stuff?

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

Pint too many of the good stuff?

Yeah I wouldn't mind a nice Pint of James Boag right now. 
 
That said @eric, have you tried any other Stax headphones besides the 007 and 009's off the Wee/RKV amplifier? 

 

[soren_brix]

[size=10pt][/size]
 
 
[size=10pt]recently bought a pair of 404/Sig having a small imbalance issue.[/size]
[size=10pt]Turned out that the left speaker didn't say much at all; in fact one had to listen to the left channel only to determine that it produced any sound at all.[/size]
[size=10pt]Following Spritzers advice on fixing imbalance issues: playing music continuosly for a couple of weeks, didn't help.[/size]
[size=10pt]I had it plug'd in for almost three weeks without any significant improvement.[/size]
[size=10pt]Decided to take a closer look at the ‘faulty’ driver. [/size]
[size=10pt]To me it looks like the drivers two protection filter was removed and poorly applied again … also there seems to be a gap between the driver and the baffle …[/size]
[size=10pt]…any suggestions?[/size]

 

[eric65]

Quote:

Yeah I wouldn't mind a nice Pint of James Boag right now. 
 
That said @eric, have you tried any other Stax headphones besides the 007 and 009's off the Wee/RKV amplifier? 

 
Yes,
 
I sometimes use a Sennheiser HD 600 and HD 650 (NB : I prefer the HD 600 on the RKV) 
 
Otherwise, briefly a Stax SR 507: the sound stage is more tight than the 007 and the 009, the tone is quite similar to that of 009.
 
My current favorite combination is the 009 with  the RKV-Wee: good synergy together; great soundstage ; sound a little warm and rich getting closer to what I want. But hey, the SRM 727 is not bad too (a little more detailed, but also a little colder than RKV-Wee)
 
Eric

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

 
Yes,
 
I sometimes use a Sennheiser HD 600 and HD 650 (NB : I prefer the HD 600 on the RKV) 
 
Otherwise, briefly a Stax SR 507: the sound stage is more tight than the 007 and the 009, the tone is quite similar to that of 009.
 
My current favorite combination is the 009 with  the RKV-Wee: good synergy together; great soundstage ; sound a little warm and rich getting closer to what I want. But hey, the SRM 727 is not bad too (a little more detailed, but also a little colder than RKV-Wee)
 
Eric

Thanks for that. I've read that Jack has made a number of revisional and aesthetic changes to the Wee over the past few years, so hopefully when I do decide to get them they are the same as what they are now. Surprisingly by looking at some other user's setup pictures, the Wee is quite big, at least bigger than the Stax energizers.