[kevin gilmore]

 
an English translation from eric65 on the French forum
 
I think the limit (floor) minimum impedance of the headphones not to exceed in order not to pull on the tubes of amperage Luminare (or RKV-II) in OTL mode is about 40 ohms; Floor impedance (in OTL mode) probably pushed lower (even lower impedance) with the RKV-III has twice the power tubes and current capacity (amperage) the RKV-II or Lightings. Good Sunday to all, Eric

 

 
Yes the rkv3 has twice as many power tubes, it is balanced.
 
No it does not have twice the current capacity, in fact due to output impedance it has even less current
capability as a rkv2. In fact for a 50 ohm headphone, each side of the rkv3 would see 25 ohms impedance.
Reducing the voltage, and increasing the THD.
 
Into a very high impedance load (say 2400 ohms or more) it does have double the voltage capability.

 

[eric65]

The rkv3 amp is unbalanced, like the rkv2 amp. The power tubes (x2) of the rkv3 are in parallel; the amperage capacity of the rkv3 amp is almost doubled compared to the rkv2 amp.

 

[eric65]

Why I chose the AudioValve Luminare amp and not the Head-amp BHSE amp, for a listening with my headphones Stax SR-009?

1: time-order: Luminare : 1 month / BHSE : 27 months !!!
2: CEE authorisation: Luminare : Yes: / BHSE : not
3: Price: 2950 EUR Luminare / $6000 BHSE
4: Value for money (in France): Luminare (2950 EUR) / Stax SRM007t2: (3500 EUR) (sound quality Luminare > SRM007t2)
5: opportunity to listen to other headphones (non static) with also a very good quality of listening: Luminare : yes (Abyss; HE-6; LCD-3F; HD-800; Grado PS-1000, etc...) / BHSE : not.

 

[arnaud]

6: ruining the resolution of a transparent transducer with a tone tuning amplifier: Luminare: yes, BHSE: no

 

[eric65]

6: correct the excess brightness of the SR-009 headphones (and improve the lack of euphony of this headphone) : Luminare: yes / BHSE (tubes stock) : not

(Note: your opinion (arnaud) and my last advice (N°6) is questionable because neither you nor I have been able to compare side to side this two (very good) amps). 

 

[kevin gilmore]

better idea
 
take rkv3, add stuff to make it 4 separate amplifiers,
 
2 amplifiers in parallel  (about 9 ma of output current) for otl dynamic
 
2 amplifiers in series (about 350vppss) for otl electrostatic
 
makes far more sense than luminare

 

[eric65]

Do the same thing with the BHSE (points above 1 to 5), commercialize it, and we'll talk about.
Luminare amp is now a reality.
Your project is ...

 

[eric65]

Super BHSE project (by KG) (soon ?)
 
1: time-order: Super BHSE : 1 month ?
2: CEE authorisation: Super BHSE : Yes ?
3: Price: super BHSE (all taxes included) : less than 3000 EUR ?
4: Value for money (in France): Super BHSE (2950 EUR ?) / Stax SRM007t2: (3500 EUR) (sound quality Super BHSE > SRM007t2) (I hope)
5: opportunity to listen to other headphones (non static) with also a very good quality of listening: Super BHSE (like the Luminare amp) : yes ? (JPS Abyss; Hifiman HE-6; Audeze LCD-3F; Sennheiser HD-800; Grado PS-1000, etc...).

 

[kevin gilmore]

Super BHSE project (by KG) (soon ?)

kgsshv carbon available NOW

nanotube coming soon

neither are a BHSE as they are both fully solid state.

however a commercially built T2 will be available some time this year.
(not by me) Figure on at least $13K

all the people that have heard the diy-T2 would probably agree that
its worth $13k (while crying over the thought)

for about $500 a singlepower squarewave clone sounds way better
than a rkv2 for all dynamic headphones.

so a singlepower squarewave clone + kgsshv is significantly less than 3000 euro

if you are so concerned about money, buy a chevy sonic. otherwise there are
other chevy's available that are a bit more money. And a whole bunch more fun.

 

[georgep]

I figure Eric for a Renault or Citroen guy...

 

[eric65]

Yes, exactly,
 
Owner of a Renault Espace V6 3.5 L (and much more)
 

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

 

 

[kevin gilmore]

And I like my chevy
http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/dsc_0516.jpg
 
the one on the right will be replaced with a CTS-V  when it
shows up, its already been ordered.
 
How much money the amplifier costs is silly.
 
I have at least one of every stax headphone since 1970 with the exception
of the 4070 (and I'm still kicking myself over this)
 
I have just about every grado made
 
Lcd2,Lcd3, He6,qualia
and a bunch more I forgot
 
At least $20k in headphones
 
why would I possibly want to pick a crippled amplifier to run all of this.

 

[wink]

KGSSHV goodness is real goodness....
 

 

[eric65]

My (super) car (Renault Grand space 3.5 V6) is probably less efficient than yours (only 230 kph), but it carries seven adult passengers in great comfort.
 
Amplifier BHSE is probably better (technically) than the Luminare AudioValve, to listen to electrostatic headphones, but it allows to listen only to this type of headphones. It is specific, not versatile.
 
The Germans are well known for producing of bad cars, bad headphones and of bad amplifiers of headphones, especially when viewed from the other side of the Atlantic

 
 "The best is the enemy of the good ...": How much money did you spend in total ?

 

[kevin gilmore]

The Germans ARE known for producing cars that once the warranty has expired are brutally expensive to maintain
especially the high end Porsche and Mercedes. I have owned 2 Mercedes, 2 BMW and 2 VW. Never again on
any of them.
 
My car gets about 23mpg during the summer, and 21mpg during the winter both in daily driving, and about
33mpg on the highway. For efficiency  "There is no replacement for displacement".  It was about $76k. The CTS-V is going to
be about $105K plus GGT. When I can find all season tires for it, I will be buying a Z06 which I expect to pay
about $110K for. All 3 are the same block, 6.2L, the last 2 add a supercharger to turn 465 hp into 650 hp.
 
And that picture of wink must be 30 years old when he still had hair.