eXStata DIY Electrostatic Amp for Intermediate DIYers

[pabbi1]

Woodcraft for Limoncilla (never seen it anywhere else, and it is being closed out).

Rosewood from Cook Woods on eBay - scrap from my Raven case, iirc. That is where I get almost all my exotics, except for faceplates, which seem to come from a guy in Buffalo, NY (search on 'thin lumber') especially Bloodwood.

Walnut from Woodworld in Dallas - we have just an excellent resource in those guys, except they seem to miss out on Mesquite (Woodcraft for that), which is my favorite wood to work with. They do keep me well stocked in Bocote, Cocobolo, and the lesser exotics (mahogany, etc).

Oh, and Siberian elm for earcups only because I can't find Zelkova - again eBay.

 

[smeggy]

Nice work, looks good. I'm itching to get mine, it's gonna be great

 

[Sherwood]

eXStata is in the house! I'll be playing with it a lot this weekend. Don't expect much in the way of impressions -- I listen to enjoy, and you already know how I feel about this thing.

 

[runeight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by srserl /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just got back from meeting Satchu in San Francisco. I was late arriving due to an accident on the free-way, and more traffic than I expected at the Bay Bridge. I took my Cal Audio Labs Icon MkII cd player as a source with some Transparent interconnects. Sachu's eXStata was a sand version and he brought the ESP-950s. Here are my quick impressions jumping from album to album quickly, not taking time to take notes and not replaying sections to better describe them. Snip.. Conclusion after a short listening session: This combo seems merciless with inadequate recordings, but did not have a sound that I would describe as overly analytical. It wasn't that it was hyper detailed, but it would just shine a spotlight on certain parts of the music that were flawed. On Eric Clapton and Folger Consort, it was spectacular. Considering that this system could be put together for about $600 if you pick up the ESP-950 used, it would be a shame NOT to build it. That's pretty cheap for a system that offers up so much wow factor, even if most recordings can't cut it. Thank you Sachu for hauling your system all the way from Portland so I could hear it. Scott

srserl, thanks for the review and for making it through traffic to do it!!

And sachu, thanks for hauling it to and through SFO.

 

[smeggy]

Damnit!! You got yours before I got mine.. Bah, I tells ya, bah!

 

[manaox2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif eXStata is in the house! I'll be playing with it a lot this weekend. Don't expect much in the way of impressions -- I listen to enjoy, and you already know how I feel about this thing.

I H8 ur face.

 

[wiatrob]

No, he got MINE - it's the Sand version. Purely a loaner I tell you. Help him make up his mind to take the plunge to build one...

 

[smeggy]

Oh, so that slacker hasn't even committed yet?

man, what a loser...

 

[pabbi1]

Notice Bill didn't loan him the tube version - I'm not real surprised...

 

[smeggy]

Hmm, that sounds promising

 

[wiatrob]

It's only because I'm still tweaking. Unplug the Electrets yet, Al?

 

[pabbi1]

HE60 has been plugged in for about 5 hours now... really sweet. I have found some of her limits, so she isn't perfect - but only on the most brutal, saturated selections. I knew these passages were well beyond her design spec, but she is still a trooper.

Let's just say I know what 800Vpp sounds like...

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pabbi1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Walnut from Woodworld in Dallas - we have just an excellent resource in those guys, except they seem to miss out on Mesquite (Woodcraft for that), which is my favorite wood to work with. They do keep me well stocked in Bocote, Cocobolo, and the lesser exotics (mahogany, etc). Oh, and Siberian elm for earcups only because I can't find Zelkova - again eBay.

I remember when mesquite was a weed! They used to pay people to clear it off of grazing land out here in the dry west. Poisonous for the livestock, iirc.

One of the guys who used to get paid to drag a chain between two big earth movers and then go back and clean up the resulting mess got smart and started *selling* the stuff. This was only, what, 25 years ago?

I still need to case up my sand amp, and my hybrid is almost up! I'll be firing it up and dialing it in come morning - it's too late for high voltages now.

My biggest impediment to casework is lack of tooling. One of these days my friend with the tablesaw and drill press and everything will run out of emergencies and be able to actually set up his shop - at which point i may start using wood.

For my sand amp i have a recycled aluminum box onto which I think I'll get a length of 1/8" aluminum extrusion from online metals for the face.

The hybrid amp is going into something bigger - you all know i don't go for the bottlehead look - and the recycled case i plan to use for that is going to need a new face too. Haven't decided how to tackle that yet.

 

[smeggy]

Sadly my fave case wood is macassar ebony, it's too damn expensive!

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sadly my fave case wood is macassar ebony, it's too damn expensive!

Agreed, I had a SOTA Star made out of that and it was Beautiful!