[Radio_head]

Its just weird.  Stax has always prided themselves on their designs, why would they license a design from some guy in Illinois (KG wouldn't be of BH fame until 2004) when they could design in-house? (These guys built the T2!)  Especially if they were just going to ruin it with inferior power supplies and output stages, might as well just ruin it yourself from the get-go.

 

[complin]

I have a friend who has worked as an audio consultant for many years and many household name manufactures outsource the design of a lot of their equipment. Not just electronics but loudspeaker and drive unit design too. This has been going on for decades as its not always viable to have in house designers unless you are one of the mega corporations. Tim De Paravicini of EAR Yoshino also works as a consultant and has many designs out there, Nelson Pass and Bob Calver also, to name but a few.
 
Quote:

Its just weird.  Stax has always prided themselves on their designs, why would they license a design from some guy in Illinois (KG wouldn't be of BH fame until 2004) when they could design in-house? (These guys built the T2!)  Especially if they were just going to ruin it with inferior power supplies and output stages, might as well just ruin it yourself from the get-go.

 

[complin]

I now run the HD800 balanced to a Headroom BUDA with additional dedicated power supply. Its an unmodified HD800 except for an aftermarket balanced cable.
For computer audio (Flac/Wav) a John Kenny JKDac32 which is battery based so no contamination from USB power. CD is via a Metrum Octave Dac and Northstar Design transport. I find both of these sources very analogue sounding.
 
I've heard the ECP Audio L-2 amplifier is excellent match with the HD800 but have not had the opportunity (or funds) to try this yet.
 
Overall I still feel that the Stax 009/007 has the edge but for a dynamic its great performer.
 
Quote:

May I know what source and amplifier do you use to bring HD800 to approach levels of electrostatic transparency and texture?

 

[Radio_head]

Quote:

I have a friend who has worked as an audio consultant for many years and many household name manufactures outsource the design of a lot of their equipment. Not just electronics but loudspeaker and drive unit design too. This has been going on for decades as its not always viable to have in house designers unless you are one of the mega corporations. Tim De Paravicini of EAR Yoshino also works as a consultant and has many designs out there, Nelson Pass and Bob Calver also, to name but a few.
 

Yes, many audio companies hire consultants.  I was always under the impression that Stax was not one of them, especially after the picture painted in Arnaud's interview at Stax.  It seems odd that after so many years designing their own amps and transducers they would suddenly license someone else's work for the 717, especially if they were going to change it anyways.  I'd really like to see Kevin weigh in on this topic as this is not the first time it has been repeated and possibly (?) misinterpreted.  

 

[rgs9200m]

I guess I'm biased (maybe pun intended?) but I'd hesitate to commit 100% to an amp with no tubes in it.
Any comments? Thanks.
(I actually use a solid state amp for my speakers, but it just doesn't sound really good without a tubed-preamp in front of it to give it life and texture.)

 

[El_Doug]

If you REALLY want a comment... 
 
There is a damned good chance that your mind cannot accept the idea of sand sounding as good as tubes.  The glow excites you and, after many years, you have developed a bias that only their "tube warmth" can give you sonic bliss.  What you do not realize is that the "tube warmth" is not an intrinsic quality of the tubes, but rather of the circuit topologies used.  For instance the BHSE's use of tubes should actually give more of a "solid state sound" than even the KGSSHV, given the tubes are properly biased into their most linear possible (more linear than most transistors), and the push-pull symmetry actually removes the harmonic distortions many are used to in SET tube amps.  Indeed, you have grown distrustful that transistors can ever be top quality and, as such, you are hearing with your eyes almost as much as with your ears.  Accept this, challenge your preconceptions, and finally give truly blind comparisons a chance, and you'll find the KGSSHV is one of the finest amps in existence.  My SA1968 KGSSHV sounds so remarkably close to the BHSE that I often don't even bother warming up my tubes. 
 
Quote:

I guess I'm biased (maybe pun intended?) but I'd hesitate to commit 100% to an amp with no tubes in it.
Any comments? Thanks.
(I actually use a solid state amp for my speakers, but it just doesn't sound really good without a tubed-preamp in front of it to give it life and texture.)

 

[rgs9200m]

Thanks for taking the time for that perspective and all that good info El_doug, maybe I'll re-think things, and I have to admit some of the best memorable speaker sound I ever heard was with Dartzeel amps running 
VSR VR9s.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

If you REALLY want a comment... 
 
There is a damned good chance that your mind cannot accept the idea of sand sounding as good as tubes.  The glow excites you and, after many years, you have developed a bias that only their "tube warmth" can give you sonic bliss.  What you do not realize is that the "tube warmth" is not an intrinsic quality of the tubes, but rather of the circuit topologies used.  For instance the BHSE's use of tubes should actually give more of a "solid state sound" than even the KGSSHV, given the tubes are properly biased into their most linear possible (more linear than most transistors), and the push-pull symmetry actually removes the harmonic distortions many are used to in SET tube amps.  Indeed, you have grown distrustful that transistors can ever be top quality and, as such, you are hearing with your eyes almost as much as with your ears.  Accept this, challenge your preconceptions, and finally give truly blind comparisons a chance, and you'll find the KGSSHV is one of the finest amps in existence.  My SA1968 KGSSHV sounds so remarkably close to the BHSE that I often don't even bother warming up my tubes. 
 

 
While I haven't yet heard the BHSE, I gotta say my KGSSHV (w/ SA1968 parts) sounds absolutely stunning with my SR-0009s. Nice to hear a comparison between these two fantastic amps!

 

[rgs9200m]

Actually, my Pinnacle is not warm, it is neutral, so it is not tube warmth that I hear, but something more like continuousness, the ability to make the grain in a recording sound un-grating
and un-metallic. So it sounds like the KG design is accomplishing this too. 
My experience with solid state headphone amps  I once owned like the HR Max, Apache,
and Luxman P1U is that they either show some grain or add too much smoothness so there is the sense that something is missing.
The solid state amp I kept and use and still enjoy is the Rudistor RP010B, but it is the Pinnacle that has the real magic,
and, to some degree, the 007t. 
 
But I certainly believe from these comments that the KG must be super. Thanks!

 

[complin]

I think it all depends what the designer intended whether is SS or Valves (tubes)
Nelson Pass has designed some solid state amplifiers which some say sound like a good valve SET 

 

[purrin]

Quote:

Actually, my Pinnacle is not warm, it is neutral, so it is not tube warmth that I hear, but something more like continuousness, the ability to make the grain in a recording sound un-grating
and un-metallic. So it sounds like the KG design is accomplishing this too. 
My experience with solid state headphone amps  I once owned like the HR Max, Apache,
and Luxman P1U is that they either show some grain or add too much smoothness so there is the sense that something is missing.
The solid state amp I kept and use and still enjoy is the Rudistor RP010B, but it is the Pinnacle that has the real magic,
and, to some degree, the 007t. 
 
But I certainly believe from these comments that the KG must be super. Thanks!

 
I've never heard any design with solid-state somewhere in the circuit render microdynamics, microdetail, and even clarity of the best SET amps. Where solid-state wins is with driver control, especially in the bass, and current/power delivery.

 

[complin]

Since my review of the F5, it has since become SET man's favorite transistor amp. ...
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/firstwatt9/f5.html
 
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/firstwatt12/1.html
 
Quote:

   
I've never heard any design with solid-state somewhere in the circuit render microdynamics, microdetail, and even clarity of the best SET amps. Where solid-state wins is with driver control, especially in the bass, and current/power delivery.

 

[gilency]

Well, I have built 2 KGSSHV amps with the IXYS part and the 009 sounds wonderful.
I havent compared both versions of the HV since I built two of the higher voltage version.

 

[rgs9200m]

  I think it all depends what the designer intended whether is SS or Valves (tubes)
Nelson Pass has designed some solid state amplifiers which some say sound like a good valve SET 

Yep, I had a Pass X350 for a few years and it was amazing, especially with female vocals, on my Aerial 10T speakers back about 13 yrs ago... (time flies)

 

[nemomec]

Hello,
 
i just ordered now a SR-009. I have here for my Lambdas a SRM-T1S amp with new tubes and new caps. Is this amp good enought with the SR-009 or must i buy a other stax amp?
 
I had serveral stax amps in the past (like 006t, T1, SRM1MK2, SRM-323II/S) but the T1S is for me the best stax amp for the Lambda models and i will doesnt sell it

 
Thanks!