[Ali-Pacha]

The mafia has a vocabulary on its own. Lets translate "stinkiest pile of turd on earth" with "I may disagree with you, sir"
 
Kevin and Birgir are surely the most experienced and technically skilled guys out there considering e-stats. But I surely will never (ever) hire them to set a tricky negotation beetween...let's say israeli and palestinians. Best way to end the world through a global nuclear war 

 
 
Ali

 

[paradoxper]

  The mafia has a vocabulary on its own. Lets translate "stinkiest pile of turd on earth" with "I may disagree with you, sir"
 
Kevin and Birgir are surely the most experienced and technically skilled guys out there considering e-stats. But I surely will never (ever) hire them to set a tricky negotation beetween...let's say israeli and palestinians. Best way to end the world through a global nuclear war 

 
 
Ali

This disagreement reminds me of their crticism of Eddie Current and the Elektra amplifier and those tube choices.
It wasn't purely a 'I don't like the sound of those tubes - agree to disagree,' but rather a fundamental design flaw.
 
"They are just badly made Shuguang garbage only used by people who have no grasp of what will happen to the amp when they fail." 
 
I think we should be worried about damaging our amps. And so I wonder what is it about the construction of the Psvane
that makes them so much more a bad choice compared to other types of EL34's.

 

[MacedonianHero]

  This disagreement reminds me of their crticism of Eddie Current and the Elektra amplifier and those tube choices.
It wasn't purely a 'I don't like the sound of those tubes - agree to disagree,' but rather a fundamental design flaw.
 
"They are just badly made Shuguang garbage only used by people who have no grasp of what will happen to the amp when they fail." 
 
I think we should be worried about damaging our amps. And so I wonder what is it about the construction of the Psvane
that makes them so much more a bad choice compared to other types of EL34's.

 
Just my experiences...I picked up a pair of Shuguang tubes for my long gone WA22. They sounded worse than my NOS tubes and one tube died 35 days after I popped them in. Thankfully with the WA22, the amp wasn't harmed and the tube store offered me a replacement (after the warranty expired). I personally would not recommend them based on my experiences.

 

[preproman]

Question to the folks who owns both the 009s and the 007 MK1s with the BHSE.  What are the respectfully best tubes for each headphone when using the BHSE?
 
It would be more cost effective to roll tubes compared to rolling amps.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Question to the folks who owns both the 009s and the 007 MK1s with the BHSE.  What are the respectfully best tubes for each headphone when using the BHSE?
 
It would be more cost effective to roll tubes compared to rolling amps.

 
I'm wondering about this too.
 
But more importantly, I have a question for you: Can you sum up the differences you hear between the SR-009, SR-007, Abyss, HD 800, and HE-6? In which ways are each more accurate than the others? Do you feel that the SR-009 is the most accurate overall?
 
I keep debating with myself about which headphone system to save up for first, and the HE1000 makes the decision even trickier.
 
I also noticed you own the Woo WEE. Have you compared it (along with your speaker amp) to electrostatic amps? I'm curious about whether the WEE with an affordable speaker amp would sound better than the STAX SRM-323S amp. (Which is under $400 instead of $875 if imported from Japan.) Also curious about how close the WEE would get to the best electrostat amps when paired with a better speaker amp.

 

[kevin gilmore]

   
I just wonder what he was implying. I mean, do tubes ever destroy amps?

 
In a BHSE, if the tube has a cathode to plate short (and it definitely happens)
it is possible, maybe even likely that it takes out the 2sj79 p-channel fet.
There is zener protection et all, but still it can happen. Same thing happens
if you swap tubes with the power on.
 
In a marshall 120 guitar head, when the same tubes do the cathode to plate
short, the 5 watt cathode resistors turn cherry red, then disappear. There are
other shorts that can do the same thing like a G1,G2 short.
At least the marshall is cheaper to repair unless it also takes out the output
transformer.
 
http://www.zzounds.com/item--MSH1959HW?siid=57634&gclid=Cj0KEQjwv6WrBRD4gbngqe7mosYBEiQAIB5oTCEXggaBrvieLcgEZk6_V4hfrAmm1S0Xxa4ERVvfFMYaAuCK8P8HAQ
 
on a kgst, if the tube has a plate to grid short, at least one of the npn transistors
at the bottom of the second stage is going to get toasted. Although I have never
seen this happen yet.

 

[Music Alchemist]

 
Coincidentally, I read this today from spritzer's site:
 

It’s finally here, the KGSSHV Carbon.  This is the first electrostatic amp in the world to use SiC FET output devices which are as close to triodes as transistors can get.  The original design concept for this amp was born to tame the rough top end of the SR-009 but it grew from there to become the best solid state amplifier we have designed. Right up there with the BHSE and the T2 as the best amps of their kind all the power you could ever need, a lot of detail, huge and expansive soundstage and the best bass I’ve heard from an electrostatic amp.  Kevin and I are very proud of this one.    As of now I have only one of these but more are being made.

 
Does this amp sound more accurate to you with the SR-009 than the HeadAmp BHSE? Would you be able to rank the most accurate amps you've heard with the SR-009? It's just that they are all so expensive, and collecting them all would cost well over $50K...

 

[arnaud]

  Question to the folks who owns both the 009s and the 007 MK1s with the BHSE.  What are the respectfully best tubes for each headphone when using the BHSE?
 
It would be more cost effective to roll tubes compared to rolling amps.

 
It's pretty challenging to do this assessment as:
- You wait 15-20min between the tubes shift and another couple of hours for warm up - when you do
- I am thus not very confident as of now since I do best at short A/B, it will take me a few more weeks to really get a grip
- Tubes are new or NOS, I read in the BHSE thread they would take ~50 hours to settle which means they aren't they
- While I have a few sets of each type, I really have only rolled in 1 set of tubes for each so I can't say if what I report is specific the tubes or representative of the type
- These are rather subtle changes, hence me being hard pressed to give a firm opinion.
- You don't get the amp transformed with different tubes but it does seem to affect the last 1% that makes it truly magical experience.
- Maybe I could be more affirmative after weeks of listening to a give tube type.
 
 
With these disclaimers in mind, this is what found so far:
 
SR009: 1959 philips-sittard XF4 brown base "DD" getter   > or =   PSVANE EL34PH   >   1967 Mullard XF2 black base "OO" getter
SR007mk1: 1967 Mullard XF2 black base "OO" getter   >  PSVANE EL34PH
 
About detail characteristics, this is also very flaky in my mind so take it with a good pinch of salt:
- If anything, maybe I found the XF2 "OO" to be leaner / brighter than XF4 "DD".
- As of now, I am listening to the XF4 "DD" with SR009 and what seems to apparent is 1) very tight bottom end yet very impactful / full weighted sound, 2) utterly smooth midrange (never heard voices so realistic), 3) spacious sound (depth). 
All in all, it makes it a very good match to the SR009. 
- In comparison, I feel the XF2 "OO" is brighter tone overall with the cymbal shimmer more forward and / or extended than either the EL34PH or the XF4 "DD". It's bass it also possibly a bit leaner than other tubes, matting perfectly with the SR007mk1.
- I need to get back to the EL34PH but from top of my head, it's reminiscent of the XF4 "DD" but maybe a bit less controlled bottom end (at least when cold).
 
cheers,
arnaud

 

[Music Alchemist]

I'm thinking I'll get a solid-state amp to start with, once I get the SR-009. Probably either a STAX SRM-323S or Cavalli Liquid Lightning 2, depending on budget.

 

[preproman]

 
Thanks arnaud,
 
I know that is a hard task.  But hay, somebody gots to do it.  I will be contacting you before I purchase a few sets of tubes..
 
 

   
But more importantly, I have a question for you: Can you sum up the differences you hear between the SR-009, SR-007, Abyss, HD 800, and HE-6? In which ways are each more accurate than the others? Do you feel that the SR-009 is the most accurate overall?

 
I have the Woo Wee so I don't really want to handicap the Stax with that amp.  I just scored a KGST and it will be here by the end of next week.  I also just sold the HD800s  They just wasn't getting enough head time since the Abyss got here and the HE1000 is  due to get here as soon as they're released.  
 
I'm going with Planars and Stax  -  that's it.  I'm also interested in how Mr. Speakers Ether does amongst this crop.  

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I'm going with Planars and Stax  -  that's it.  I'm also interested in how Mr. Speakers Ether does amongst this crop.  

 
I've been doing very exhaustive research, since I can't hear these headphones for myself right now. At the moment, I am leaning towards focusing on an SR-009 system, then perhaps adding the HE1000, Abyss, and many others later. (I have a crazy wish list on my profile.)
 
I was considering getting the SRS-2170 system first, since it's so much cheaper, but decided it would probably be better to put that money towards the SR-009 system. Ironically, the upgraded HD 800 I wanted costs more than the SR-009 if imported from Japan! (I noticed that you had upgrades for some of your past HD 800s as well.)
 
Can you at least compare the SR-009 and Abyss for me, though? I tried looking for any posts you made about it elsewhere, but to no avail. Basically, I listen to just about all types of music and want the most accurate headphones I can get. So what I'm most interested in is if the Abyss is more accurate in any categories, and if so, how. I've seen all sorts of opinions on the matter.

 

[wuwhere]

   
I just wonder what he was implying. I mean, do tubes ever destroy amps?

 
Its scary, I had a 6550 tube burned inside in my amp. It was crackling. Luckily it did not damage anything, I was able to power down the amp.

 

[zachchen1996]

   
Coincidentally, I read this today from spritzer's site:
 
 
Does this amp sound more accurate to you with the SR-009 than the HeadAmp BHSE? Would you be able to rank the most accurate amps you've heard with the SR-009? It's just that they are all so expensive, and collecting them all would cost well over $50K...

 
Curious about the Carbon as well...

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Curious about the Carbon as well...

 
Besides myself, you're the only person on Head-Fi I know of who is crazy enough to be interested in the ~$60,000 TRINITY DAC.

 

[zachchen1996]

   
Besides myself, you're the only person on Head-Fi I know of who is crazy enough to be interested in the ~$60,000 TRINITY DAC.

 
Hahahaha everyone, my family and friends think I'm crazy (in a good way) hahahaha.

I've decided to move on from totl portable audio to headphones and speakers.
 
So far it seems like the circlotron and carbon have the potential to be the best amps for a 009 rig?