[daveDerek]

Quote:

Originally Posted by milezone /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 If you have DIY abilities and knowledge, I'd recommend building one of these: http://www.transcendentsound.com/Transcendent/Son_of_Beast_OTL_Tube_Amp.html. 
 
I'm about to receive a shipment for a pair of Hypex NCore Class D amplifiers and will report back my findings driving my speakers once I have them set up (soon).

 
milezone, if you un-highlight the period after the link, then the link will work. i wonder how any of transcendent's amps would work with headphones, dynamics, 'stats, or orthos. is there some reason that isn't occurring to me that the 50 ohm load of a typical ortho would prove problematic?
 
also looking fwd to your report re the class d amp with your 'stats.

 

[n3rdling]

That amp looks pretty interesting.  I bought his book yesterday, should be a fun read.  Seems like that amp would do well driving orthos, Z out is only 0.8 Ohm for OTL

 

[J-Pak]

Quote:

That amp looks pretty interesting.  I bought his book yesterday, should be a fun read.  Seems like that amp would do well driving orthos, Z out is only 0.8 Ohm for OTL

 
That is very low

 
I've liked Atma-Sphere amps with Sound Labs, and I just looked up the output Z on the amp I heard and it's 2.3 ohm. I'd love to hear these Transcendents too.

 

[daveDerek]

Quote:

That amp looks pretty interesting.  I bought his book yesterday, should be a fun read.  Seems like that amp would do well driving orthos, Z out is only 0.8 Ohm for OTL

 
so it should work with orthos, eh. what about stats via an adapter box such as an srd 6 or 7 or woo wee? and would it work to drive conventional dynamic phones? it might be very pretty driving the hd800 or t1.

 

[J-Pak]

Looking at the site closer it's apparent how they can get the output Z so low.... 33 dB of local NFB, holy moly

 
Just my experience and preference, but I'd rather listen to an amp with slightly lower dampening factor with less NFB than that.

 

[jaycalgary]

Don't the old Radford tube amps have higher than normal NFB and considered great.

 

[El_Doug]

nfb, especially local, can only be good for the sound.  i have no idea why anyone would want the crystal clarity of an electrostatic speaker, only to muffle it with lower damping factor and higher distortion. 
 
though to be fair, J-Pak's ears are far far different from most.  just read his FS thread for the Omegas, and you should begin to see
 
Quote:

Don't the old Radford tube amps have higher than normal NFB and considered great.

 

[jaycalgary]

On that note you should see what Stax set up  is just listed on ebay.

 

[milezone]

The seller has listed these before. The diaphragms are replaced with O2 drivers. Seems pretty ridiculous to charge so much given this. With regards to the Omegas, I've never heard a pair but in all my readings, descriptions have seemed pretty similar to what J-Pak describes in his listing -- with regards to soundstage. It wouldn't be my first guess to think they sound like the HE90's with regard to tonal signature however I do imagine they share the rare soundstaging abilities of the HE90's. 
 
I too see negative feedback as a good means to lower distortion levels.

 

[J-Pak]

Quote:

nfb, especially local, can only be good for the sound.  i have no idea why anyone would want the crystal clarity of an electrostatic speaker, only to muffle it with lower damping factor and higher distortion. 
 
though to be fair, J-Pak's ears are far far different from most.  just read his FS thread for the Omegas, and you should begin to see
 

 
Why don't you just come out and say what you mean instead of insulting me? I did the comparison with a friend on a BHSE. The SR-009 has a soundstage smaller than the SR-Omega. I have not heard another headphone that has a soundstage like it besides Qualia and HE90. That is exactly what I posted, nothing more, nothing else as far as sound goes. Others have collaborated what I hear.
 
And here is the graph purrin made of the SR-Omega; he says the massive nulls are measurement artifacts. The CSDs are also far cleaner than the SR-009. Instead of clog this thread based off one off color comment and massive assumption about me you know where to see the rest of the graphs

 

 
And for what it's worth the no NFB amps I like are made by Ayre, solid state and far from riddled with distortion. The preamp I'm building has no negative feedback and measures extremely well. The current preamp I'm using is a Pass Aleph P and also has very little feedback. The amps I plan to upgrade to from my (gasp, here it is again solid state) is another solid state amp. If you thought I meant Atma-Sphere, they too use NFB, but just less. I will say the one part of your post you are actually correct about is that the crystal clear sound of electrostats is one of the main reasons I like them.
 
 
Quote:

I too see negative feedback as a good means to lower distortion levels.

 
I agree, but not unconditionally. 33 dB is a lot...
 
Nelson Pass's balanced opinion here: http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/distortion/distortion.html
 
Not of the camp that "feedback is the greatest thing ever!!" but also not at the other extreme. I tend to share his viewpoint.

 

[El_Doug]

Chill out!  There was no insult either express or implied.  Your listening impressions simply do not match mine and those of others I've listened with at mini-meets. 
 
Suggesting people all hear differently is REALITY.  However, I made no "massive assumption," you spell out your impressions in crystal clear detail in your FS thread - you think the Omegas soundstage resembles the HE90s, I don't. 

 

[J-Pak]

Quote:

Chill out!  There was no insult either express or implied.  Your listening impressions simply do not match mine and those of others I've listened with at mini-meets. 
 
Suggesting people all hear differently is REALITY.  However, I made no "massive assumption," you spell out your impressions in crystal clear detail in your FS thread - you think the Omegas soundstage resembles the HE90s, I don't. 

 
Resembles, not sounds exactly like. Again I know others that think the same having heard both on similar amps.
 
I think they are more different tonally than in their sound staging.

 

[El_Doug]

I still don't see the issue - did I ever use the words "exactly like?"  I also purposely didnt use the words "sound" or "FR" with regard to your feelings about the Omega/HE90, i specifically mentioned soundstage only.  
 
I also dont get where the 009s came into the picture
 
I'm really trying here, I'm not trolling you. 

 

[jaycalgary]

No not that Stax on ebay. There is a older looking blue Hawaii with 009s.

 

[J-Pak]

Quote:

I still don't see the issue - did I ever use the words "exactly like?"  I also purposely didnt use the words "sound" or "FR" with regard to your feelings about the Omega/HE90, i specifically mentioned soundstage only.  
 
I also dont get where the 009s came into the picture
 
I'm really trying here, I'm not trolling you. 

 
You're absolutely right. In fact your first post was so vague in not referencing any headphone at all besides calling out my hearing and (news to me) that I like high distortion amps. So I had to go through my listing to see what exactly I wrote that offended you so much and clarify my points, which I did. You must have had a sample size of a few hundred people taking part in your mini-meet listening test to come to the conclusion my hearing was "far, far different from most", so who knows you could be right on that point as well