[n3rdling]

Congrats arnaud!

 

[NoPants]

Starting to regret selling mine, but I guess that's motivation to finish my build

 

[preproman]

Something big and heavy got delivered yesterday, I wonder what that might be?

There's this tag on the side :

It's a little busy in the week days and I don't want to rush the opening ceremony and installation so it will stay in the box until I can free up some time .

You might think I am crazy but what's a couple of day in light of 2.5 years of waiting!

The good news is that the shipping box seems quite sturdy, the corners a just slightly worn off but nothing that would indicate bungee cord jump gone wrong...

Cheers, arnaud

 
 
The Dual D-1 is waiting and she is very impatient..  

 

[David1961]

 

The two photo's are obviously of the amp section of my BHSE, and on the tubes which are the Psvane EL34PH's are the Herbie HAL-O III-30 tube dampers.
I'm going to be using those PH tubes until they pack up, then once that happens I'll be using the Mullard xf4's and never again those stock Mullard's and SED's I still have.
 
P.S. Congrats arnaud in receiving your BHSE.

 

[gameon]

Thing of Beauty!!! Can't wait to get one... I notice some units have the black earspeaker inputs and some have white, Is there a difference between the 2 besides just the color?

 

[Golfnutz]

  Thing of Beauty!!! Can't wait to get one... I notice some units have the black earspeaker inputs and some have white, Is there a difference between the 2 besides just the color?

Search this thread for 'Teflon'

 

[customcoco]

Hi everyone,
 
Sorry if some of my questions have already been asked, I've tried to do my homework, but the sheer amount of info hidden in those pages is astounding.
 
I'm carressing the idea of going all out for a BHSE.
 
It seems like most people here have waited at least 2 and a half years before delivery, is that right ? It seems like the assembly of the next batch has started, is it going to speed up the building process ?
 
It's not an issue at all for me since such a delay would allow me to finance the amp at my own rythm without compromising my daily life too much.
 
I just have to have a rough idea of how much time I have on hand, in that case the longer the better.
 
What is the payment schedule ? I sort of understood that one has to pay in full just before delivery, but does one have to pay 75% or something at some point ? 
 
If anything bad happened during the waiting period, would it possible to sell my place in the lineup ? I do believe that it happened at least once, but I'm not entirely sure.
 
Also, last but certainly not least, has anyone compared the Aristaeus to the BHSE using an O2 MKII ? I know that the Aristaeus is a sort of maxxed up HEV90, but is it comparable in any way to the mighty Blue Hawaii ?
 
Cheers !

 

[David1961]

@  customcoco,
 
I ended up ordering the BHSE twice, the first time was 2010, and the second was March 2011, to which both times I paid the quarter deposit.
 
I had to cancel the 2010 order for financial reasons, and even though I ordered again in 2011, I knew I wouldn't have the remaining payment for sometime, so when Justin sent me an email for the remaining payment which if I recall correctly was February 2012, I replied saying I wouldn't have the final payment for around 3 months, so Justin said he would hold it until I did.
I believe I made the remaining payment in May 2012, and received the BHSE in June that year.
 
So customcoco, my guess is Justin would hold your order, as he did mine, but to be sure you should ask him.

 

[customcoco]

 

Thanks for your reply David !
 
So you ordered in March and were asked for the remaining payment 11 months later.
 
That's quite a bit shorter than I expected.
 
I'm going to ask Justin...

 

[David1961]

I got my BHSE after 15 months wait, but my guess is it might've been 12 months if I'd had the remaining payment in February 2012, also when I ordered the GS-Xmk2 I waited around 6 months receiving it.

I no longer have the GS-Xmk2, I sold it when I started using the PH tubes with my BHSE, and I find the Mullard xf4's I have are even better than the PH's.

While driving the 009's, the stock Mullard tubes ( IMO ) don't do the BHSE justice, with the PH's and more so the xf4's they do, this is what I've found.

 

[customcoco]

 

That would just a bit too short. I guess that I'd just have to save up before putting the deposit.
 
Or buy one of Spritzer's KGSSHV's. Should probably do that instead...
 
Why can't I be reasonable for once

 

[Ali-Pacha]

French pal 

Ordered mine a bit more than one year ago, I'm in the 4th batch. Hopefully this christmas ?
 
Ali

 

[David1961]

 

 
After selling the GS-Xmk2, I was using my Pico Slim when wanting to listen to my HD-600's, however I've had a new audio rack made and there was a space on one of the shelves I felt needed filling.
While looking on Birgir's website I came across a dynamic headphone amp he was selling in his used gear section, so I decided to get it.
I find that amp not only fits in that space perfectly, but also drives my HD-600's extremely well, [ I have a custom cable for the 600's which I find improves the SQ quite a bit over the stock cable ]
 
So I'm sure the KGSSHV's built by Birgir drive Earspeakers extremely well, however someone in the UK that's heard my BHSE, also got a KGSSHV from Birgir, but I believe has changed it for a KGST also from Birgir.
 
With that said, you might want to enquire about a KGST, although you'd have to hope Birgir is building one because I don't think he builds to order.
There's also the KGSSHV Carbon you might consider, which apparently drives the 009's to their potential.

 

[customcoco]

  French pal 

Ordered mine a bit more than one year ago, I'm in the 4th batch. Hopefully this christmas ?
 
Ali

 
Yup !

   
After selling the GS-Xmk2, I was using my Pico Slim when wanting to listen to my HD-600's, however I've had a new audio rack made and there was a space on one of the shelves I felt needed filling.
While looking on Birgir's website I came across a dynamic headphone amp he was selling in his used gear section, so I decided to get it.
I find that amp not only fits in that space perfectly, but also drives my HD-600's extremely well, [ I have a custom cable for the 600's which I find improves the SQ quite a bit over the stock cable ]
 
So I'm sure the KGSSHV's built by Birgir drive Earspeakers extremely well, however someone in the UK that's heard my BHSE, also got a KGSSHV from Birgir, but I believe has changed it for a KGST also from Birgir.
 
With that said, you might want to enquire about a KGST, although you'd have to hope Birgir is building one because I don't think he builds to order.
There's also the KGSSHV Carbon you might consider, which apparently drives the 009's to their potential.

 
Birgir's amps are also quite a bit less expensive. I wonder if he'd allow me to reserve one of those...
 
I've always wanted to visit iceland, so it could be an opportunity to test and compare his amps. Sounds appealing.

 

[arnaud]

Saturday 23 May, 2015 - 5:50AM, a bright and warm morning in Tokyo...
 
At last, I get some time to unpack the BHSE, let's get to it before the kids wake up!
 

The box has some slight compression on the corners but nothing too scary, let's open...
 

Looking good...
 

Nice, Justin did not forget the offset adjustment tool and my PSVANE are there.
 

There you are blue hawaii!
 

You haven't been warned enough, seeing Justin's craftsman work from your own eye is just jaw dropping. 
 

No picture can do it enough justice but I will try my best...
 
 

 

I need the power supply, looks like it's at the bottom of the box.
 

Again, no visual defect whatsoever. I just imagine Justin using a loupe to inspect each one of these before shipment.
 

 

Space is tight in the rack but BHSE has found a home.
 
Now for the scare moment. I plug the umbilical cord with much care, trying to figure out how the amphenol plug guides align.
I remember reading about a horror story of an owner plugging it the wrong way...
 
I connect the power cord, making sure the amp is off. I turn it on. I hear a faint pffuuuu sound, maybe from one of the tubes on the left.
Shoot, there's only one of the power leds on! Dang! Shoutzy! 

I turn it off after a bare couple of seconds.... 
...
I look over the amp, trying to smell. I have done a bit of boards soldering in another life, I have made mistakes and smelled them. No, no peculiar smell here, no smoke whatsoever.
I try to look through the perforated top cover, are there any burnt traces there. What am I going to do? How much is going to cost in shipping and how long will I have to wait?
This is silly. I waited 2 and a half years for this. I take these nice pictures and what do I have? Just a heavy paper weight?? 
Maybe the cuts
 
Ok, let's fire an email to Justin. It's 7:32AM here, he may see it today.
 
7:43AM, email from Justin. <<The right led comes on after 2 minutes.
Do you mean 2 minutes elapsed, the led failed to come on, so you turned it off?>>
[you moron] <= is what he must have thought I think
 
 
Another couple of emails later I am powering it up for the second time.
15secs.
30secs.
50secs.
1min.
1min15.
1min30. TADAA!!! The second led comes up, sigh... Maybe I should stop coffee.
 
I know I should check the voltage bias but I am too curious. I plug the SR009... First impression: not much.
The bass is cleaner than the SRM727 amp but I still can notice a bit of bloat. Not shrill in the least, I push the volume and don't feel any compression. 
So, it's sounding good but it's not like I am falling from the chair. Kids have woken up, running around, my time is up...
 
Later in the day, looking for the voltmeter, I finally find it. I look at the video from Justin again. Don't you like the stax plug overlay? That's my contribution to Justin's work .
 
Well, I realise my voltmeter is only rated for 600V DC. I don't expect to get 600V with the Psvane tubes, Justin's already tested them. What do I do?
 
I go to the local hardware store, can't find what I am looking for. It's 4:30PM, I don't want to go all the way to akiba for this...
 
Back home, I do some search on this thread and elsewhere. I can't find much but the offset Justin mentions in the video is nowhere near 100V, should be fine no?
 
I want to try, I give it a shot... I get very similar figures to what Justin reports in the video. I make the adjustments, piece of cake!
It's 8:30PM, I will just leave it warm up for a while as I was not that thrilled when listening to the unit cold...
 
9:30PM, kids have finally started their night. I plug the 009, queue up Avishai Cohen latest record (From darkness), it's sounding quite a bit better than this morning!
What jumps at me is the clean tight bass, and how sounds emerge to pitch black background (I guess it makes sense given the title of the record 

 ).
Another very pleasant surprise is the instrument layering. I really should start A/B comparisons later with the SRM727 amp but I have listened to this recording quite a few times before and it does feel different. 
Last point is the lack of compression. I seem to listen at the same volume level as the SRM727 (9AM) but it now sounds much cleaner than the Stax amp when I go behind 9AM. The loudness increases much faster than the Stax amp, by that I mean that 10AM on the BHSE feels like 11AM or 12PM on the SRM727 (subjectively, maybe I am hallucinating). 
BTW, I got the RK50 in there and oh my do I like the feel of the volume. It's quite stiff but supremely precise. With the fast rise in loudness, I would not recommend anyone to use a stepped attenuator with the same ramp, you'd always be frustrated about being between 2 steps.
 
10:30PM, I have now gone through the 2nd offset adjustment. I play Daft Punk's Random Access Memories and well, it's just kicking some serious ass!
It's just sounding better and better it seems. The bass is a bit forward but that's recording specific. It is anything but bloated, what a relief at last! I love the texture of the mid / highs, so much for the reputation that the BHSE and SR009 don't get along...
 
A final shot to conclude, hope you enjoyed the unpacking and the read

:

 
cheers,
arnaud
PS: source in my signature, via Monoprice XLR cables.