[Swampwalker]

Whoa- what's this about making internal changes? I just got a 404/006t, and the first thing I did was roll out the Electros and pop in some OLD used Westinghouse tubes I had lying around. I can't see why it would be anything other than a straight swap to use a different brand of 6CG7/6FQ7. Anyways the Westinghouse really helped with that "etched" sound some talk about, and then I got some RCAs which were a little bit better than the Westinghouse, but light years from the Electros. Highly recommended tweak. I ended up having to buy 3, so if you want to buy one from me, fyrfyter, we could work that out, or if you want the Westinghouse tubes to try I would be happy to lend them to you. PM me if you are interested.

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

swampwalker, that would be great (getting some tubes to try)

i may be wrong but i thought i read somewhere that you had to adjust the bias? or something to that effect when tuberolling stax amps, again i could be wrong. i guess i'll have to do some searching of the headfi threads to see if i can find what i thought i read.

anyway i'll pm you about the tubes.

 

[aerius]

Quote:

Originally posted by andrzejpw I find your impressions of the MG head/hd600s interesting. Personally, I simply couldn't go back to my mg head/580s after having my v2/225 system for a few weeks. The midrange hole became extremely noticeable and annoying. Do you notice a similar effect?

Heh, I have pretty much the same headphones and amps you do except for the MG head. For me it's a CD to CD thing, on some music I notice the glaring midrange & bass hole in the Senns after listening to the Grados, on other stuff it's barely there and hard to pick out. As a general rule so far, the hole is especially noticeable on 80's guitar music, such as Joe Satriani's "Surfing with the Alien" or Yngwie Malmsteen's "Rising Force". On later stuff like Satriani's "Crystal Planet" it's barely there, in fact I prefer the Senns since the Grados make the midrange a little too thick & the bass a bit heavy while the Senns have a better balance. With other music I still haven't figured out a pattern or clear preference for either 'phone, then again I've only had my Grados for a week and haven't gone through all that much of my music yet.

 

[Swampwalker]

AFAIK, bias adjustment may be necessary on output tubes as they age, and/or if you roll out a 350b and roll in a 5881, for example. Never heard of needing to re-bias just to swap out one new pair of tubes for another of same type. And I am pretty sure the 6CG7/6FQ7 is an input tube, at least that was where they were used in my old Moscode hybrid amp that the Westinghouses were pulled from. Hope I am right on this, as the amp is brand spanking new and sounds fantastic. Where are our tube gurus when we need them?

 

[Hirsch]

I can only speak to the SRM-007t, but bias adjustments are present, and need to be done every time you change tubes. Since each channel in the SRM-007t uses a pair of 6CG7's, you have to adjust bias between the triodes of each tube. Then adjust bias between the tubes. Finally adjust bias to ground. Then do it for the other channel. Then do it again, because what you just did to the other channel affected the bias voltages on the first...For this amp, it is absolutely critical to start with a well-matched quad or you'll be going back and forth forever. If you've got a tube with badly mismatched triodes, or a pair of badly mismatched tubes, it may be impossible to bias the amp at all.

Switching tubes has resulted in bias voltage being off by as much as 40 volts in the 007t, IME.

 

[Swampwalker]

OK, thanks, Hirsch. Now how do we adjust the bias?

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

bump for hirsch's help???

 

[bozebuttons]

Do a Search as I had posted the Bias procedure for the 007t, the question was asked before. Just don't remeber where.
Might have been under one of Rick Gs threads I believe he asked the same question.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Swampwalker OK, thanks, Hirsch. Now how do we adjust the bias?

For the 006t, I have no real idea. I don't even know if the 006t uses the same type of bias adjustment as the 007t. I've never even seen one. Might be time to call Stax, and hope to reach someone who will help.

As bozebuttons noted, he has posted bias instructions for the 007t. They might be applicable.

 

[bozebuttons]

There is a differant bias setup for the oo6t amp .Kevin Gilmore can help with that one and may have already posted it.

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

bump for kevin gilmore's help, for that matter anyone's help.....

forget it, after doing a very specific search i found what i think i need, kevin already addressed this subject.

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

here's a good one, the usps or ems in japan tries to deliver the package to audiocubes but requests money for import taxes, audiocubes refuses to pay the taxes and now my headphones sit in limbo somewhere until someone (who knows who) decides if they have to or don't have to pay taxes, meanwhile i sit here with no headphones. tell me how much the f'n taxes are and i'll pay the damn thing so i can get my f'n headphones back. none of this was my fault anyways, it's stax problem from the beginning. so meanwhile i sit here with no electro stats after paying 36.00 out of my pocket to ship a defective product back until an argument over some **** about taxes can be sorted out, does it never end????

rant off.........

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Paul,

Theres' always something worse if you just look for it. If your situation sounds bad, just think of it like this, you could live in South America where your package would never arrive. I had my father send some Beany Babies stuffed animals so I could give them to the kids at the childrens home in Costa Rica. They never arrived. Here in Ecuador we shipped our household good, dishes, utensils, sheets, blankets, etc. and when they arrived customs charged us a flat 30% fee for each and every item we received. It cost us a mere $1100 to send the stuff via plane from LA to Quito, and a little over $1200 just to get the stuff out of customs. The people who work in aduana (customs) are usually quite greedy and will want a bribe or a ripoff amount of money for just about anything that makes it thru. If they like what comes in they may just take it for themselves.

Sure, it sucks that your cans are sitting there with some official thinking he has found someone importing something for which he wants to get paid, but hey, they are still there and this will likely get resolved quickly. Japan is the home country for Stax products, so Kohn will likely be able to clear this up and get your new cans sent out soon enough. This will all clear up and be over with soon enough, and at that point you'll have you Stax running off that KGSS and soon forget all this nonsense.

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

yeah doug, as usual you're right, just had to get it off my chest, there are always people worse off than you are and heck, these are just headphones right? but when it's you, you always take it personally somehow, and it always looks worse than it really is.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Quote:

Originally posted by fyrfytrhoges but when it's you, you always take it personally somehow, and it always looks worse than it really is.

I guess I have learned to cope with setbacks like this due to my living here. I have two loaner amps, one being a new Total AirHead, and one gift, the Total BitHead, awaiting either manufacture or arrangements for their arrival. I would love to get these amps and have a chance to lsiten to them and spend time with them, but there's nothing I can do. If I dwell on the fact that they aren't here with me and that I want them with me RIGHT NOW, it will drive me nuts. I just try to occupy myself with what's at hand and do what I need to do in the meantime. The amps will arrive in good time, and won't get here any quicker if I worry and fuss about them. Will they? Or, will fussing and worrying about them actually make it seem like they are taking longer to get here?

THe silver lining awaits those who look for it, it just takes time and practice to know where to look.