eric65 said:

  Hello,
 
Thank you for your opinion on this test of the combo EC445 / Woo Wee.
 
One note: the succession of two series of transformers: step-down (that of the EC445) followed by step-up transformers (1:50 of the Wee) is not recommended (interference between transformers and degradation of sound quality) .
 
To improve your combo EC445 / Wee it would be better to remove the output transformers step-down from 445 amp to operate in OTL mode, and replace the step-up transformers 1:50 of the Wee by the step-up transformers 1:5.9 of better quality (like that of the Verto) with lower ratio of voltage amplification, which can only be beneficial to the sound quality.

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If I said something inaccurate thing, prove me otherwise ...
 

georgep said:

   
... and then remove all the internals of the EC445 and place a RKV mkII into the empty chassis... then say "Audiovalve, you are my master and I love thee", three times in the mirror.. swallow the red pill... and voila... you are part of an elite group of audiophiles fighting the "man"....
 

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Otherwise, I'm not talking about RKV-II amp, but the EC-445 amp which would have withdrawn its output transformers step-down voltage for operation in OTL mode.

It does beg the question though: What's the difference between a regular tube amp and an electrostatic one? Is it possible to make anything (transformer coupled) work as long as you have the right output transformer?

tachikoma said:

  It does beg the question though: What's the difference between a regular tube amp and an electrostatic one? Is it possible to make anything (transformer coupled) work as long as you have the right output transformer?

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Essentially, a larger gain with electrostatic amplifier (about 50 dB gain) and the presence of a bias voltage generator (580 V DC for headphones Stax Pro bias)
In the case of a OTL tube amplifier with step-up voltage transformers (ratio 1:5.9)  : 50 dB gain is obtained as follows: gain 34.5 dB, mode OTL (related amplification tubes in OTL mode) + 15.5 dB additional gain related with the step-up transformers voltage (ratio of 1: 5.9)

All. Will the energiser from woo Audio through a Leben cs300 drive the sr009?

deuter said:

All. Will the energiser from woo Audio through a Leben cs300 drive the sr009?

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Hello Deuter,
 
It is always possible with the Wee box (and its step-up voltage transformers of ratio 1:50) (gain : +34 dB) (need min 4-5 Watts on 8 Ohms for the amp).
 
However, with a tube amplifier of 2 x 30 Watt (Class A) you will have better results with the box Verto (of the AudioValve brand) (http://www.audiovalve.info/to/verto.php), and his step-up voltage transformers of smaller ratio (1:21) (gain : +26.5 dB) using the speaker input/output 8 Ohms teminal in reverse mode of the Verto box (NB : need 20-30 Watts amp on 8 Ohms).
 
Finally, the best results will be obtained with a tube amplifier without step-down transformer (amplifier OTL) (such as for example RKV mk2) and using the box Verto and his step-up voltage transformers of low ratio of only 1: 5.9 (gain : +15.5 dB) (with the input Jack of the Verto).
 
In general, it is better to avoid the succession of a step-down transformer followed by a step-up  transformer (interference among transformers and degradation of sound quality).
So must choose the step-up transformers of the smallest ratio possible (see link reading: http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/post178323342.html#p178323342 ) (in French)
 
and relevant forums: http://www.head-fi.org/t/727630/audiovalve-rkv-ii-otl-amp-2014-version-audiovalve-box-adapter-verto-for-stax-headphone-and-for-low-impedance-orthodynamic-eletrodynamic-headphone
 
and http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/casques-haute-fidelite/verto-et-luminare-des-produits-audiovalve-atypiques-t30052030.html

Hi there. I have a Stax sr009 and a SRM007 and SRM727. I bought SH the SRM007 with the intention to see whether I could feel the difference between solid state and valve. And I cannot! I listen mostly to HD classic music, Linn in particular, through my Imac and using Sony PHA3 as a DAC (I use Audirvana as well).
 
Maybe at 51 I am too old to feel the difference! But I was surprised: both sound very well and OK to me. Maybe I can feel the SR007 being, how could I say it, more round or soft around corners (not sure if this makes sense). But that´s it.....
 
So well, I will save a lot of money in pursuing the "perfect" amplifier for the Stax SR009.....

The differences between amplifiers (at a certain level) are often very small, on subtle domain; they are often exaggerated ; the differences between headphones are much larger.

angeche said:

 
Hi there. I have a Stax sr009 and a SRM007 and SRM727. I bought SH the SRM007 with the intention to see whether I could feel the difference between solid state and valve. And I cannot! I listen mostly to HD classic music, Linn in particular, through my Imac and using Sony PHA3 as a DAC (I use Audirvana as well).
 
Maybe at 51 I am too old to feel the difference! But I was surprised: both sound very well and OK to me. Maybe I can feel the SR007 being, how could I say it, more round or soft around corners (not sure if this makes sense). But that´s it.....
 
So well, I will save a lot of money in pursuing the "perfect" amplifier for the Stax SR009.....

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The difference between the SRM-007A and SRM-727A to me, though small, were quite noticeable. especially from the perspective of the width, and imaging (where the SRM-727A to me had greater width whilst the SRM-007A had the imaging), but also in terms of "speed". Not too sure why an amp would have any part to play (usually I just listen, I don't try to explain...I'm not an audio electronics engineer), but the SRM-007A was noticeably "slower" than the SRM-727A for "speedy" tracks.
 
I've had the owner os the SRM-007A and another colleague come by to have a listen even.
 
Then the Electra is on a different level from both aforementioned amps.