[googleli]

Nice Antelope Zodiac Gold there - if I decide to put the Zodiac Gold in my study room, my study room setup will be exactly the same as arturo71's (Antelope Zodiac Gold - BHSE - SR009); but if it goes to the living room, my living room headphone setup will be same as t1174's and David's (Esoteric K-01 - BHSE - SR009). Looking forward to it

 

[David1961]

As I've said in my previous posts to which other headfiers have mentioned, volume is an issue with the BHSE + SR-009's so when you receive your BHSE googleli make sure you're able to control the volume at anytime. At the right volume the SQ is amazing.

 

[justin w.]

As I get ready to start building the 3rd batch of BHSEs, I'm looking at potential changes.  One of them would be to drop the standard volume control (DACT stepped attenuator) and only offer the upgraded version with the Alps RK50.  19 of the last 20 BHSEs have been ordered with the upgraded Alps RK50.  If there are any fence-sitters that object to this, please let me know

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

As I get ready to start building the 3rd batch of BHSEs, I'm looking at potential changes.  One of them would be to drop the standard volume control (DACT stepped attenuator) and only offer the upgraded version with the Alps RK50.  19 of the last 20 BHSEs have been ordered with the upgraded Alps RK50.  If there are any fence-sitters that object to this, please let me know

 
Well, in this economy it would be nice if you left the DACT option for someone who is scraping up change for the amp.  Jumping from $5K to $6K is big, in my opinion.  I'd like to have a BHSE someday, and if I can only get $3500-4000 for my WES, coming up with the difference is a lot easier at the lower price point.  But I'm at least 6-12 months away from that decision because of changes happening at my wife's job that could severely affect us.

 

[vinyllp33]

As I've said in my previous posts to which other headfiers have mentioned, volume is an issue with the BHSE + SR-009's so when you receive your BHSE googleli make sure you're able to control the volume at anytime. At the right volume the SQ is amazing.

"There is only one correct volume level for any particular piece of music"
Peter Walker, Quad Electronics.

This observation is extremely relevant to this combination; once you dial in the precise position on the volume control for each given recording everything is just so right.

And this is where I feel the RK50 has an advantage because I am finding these gradations often can be quite small.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

"There is only one correct volume level for any particular piece of music"
Peter Walker, Quad Electronics.
This observation is extremely relevant to this combination; once you dial in the precise position on the volume control for each given recording everything is just so right.
And this is where I feel the RK50 has an advantage because I am finding these gradations often can be quite small.

 
Many of us have a source with volume control (like in my Perfectwave DAC or Apogee mini-DAC).

 

[perrew]

Have you ever considered offering it without volume control as a pure amp?

 

[justin w.]

Quote:

Have you ever considered offering it without volume control as a pure amp?

 
the BHSE?  maybe 1 in 100 people would ask for this.  maxing out the volume control (either the RK50 or the DACT) is the same thing as not having one, psychoacoustics aside.

 

[arturo71]

 19 of the last 20 BHSEs have been ordered with the upgraded Alps RK50

In that case I guess the only BHSE in the last batch with a DACT was mine. I would like to explain my reasons:

1. I searched in the forums and I understood the RK50 upgrade did not lead to any SQ improvement, it has other advantages.
2. My source, an Antelope Zodiac Gold, has already its own attenuator so I can play with both attenuators of DAC and amp to find precisely the volume level I want.
3. I found hard to justify the cost of the RK50 upgrade in those terms, i.e. a 20% on top of the base price.

I could imagine there are other people like me out there. Having said that, I acknowledge the value of the RK50. If Justin had only the RK50 on offer I would have bought the BHSE the same, i.e. the extra price would not stop me. If Justin had to simplify the number of options he offers I would find it understandable.

Arturo

 

[justin w.]

Quote:

In that case I guess the only BHSE in the last batch with a DACT was mine. I would like to explain my reasons:
1. I searched in the forums and I understood the RK50 upgrade did not lead to any SQ improvement, it has other advantages.
2. My source, an Antelope Zodiac Gold, has already its own attenuator so I can play with both attenuators of DAC and amp to find precisely the volume level I want.
3. I found hard to justify the cost of the RK50 upgrade in those terms, i.e. a 20% on top of the base price.
I could imagine there are other people like me out there. Having said that, I acknowledge the value of the RK50. If Justin had only the RK50 on offer I would have bought the BHSE the same, i.e. the extra price would not stop me. If Justin had to simplify the number of options he offers I would find it understandable.
Arturo

 
Those are good reasons. actually in the 2nd batch of 45, 10 of them were with the DACT.  Beyond that, it's only 1 of the next 20

 

[forbigger]

i'd say people opted for rk50 simply because of "since i'm here why don't just settle for the best" attitude. i'm willing to bet if justin offer only dact at 5k, he will still get the same amount of order of bhse. i doubt if the other way around. it is still quite price sensitive items imho.
 
mine is with dact. i asked around the differences and all the reply is unanimous, no change to sq. use rk50 only if you more sensitive to volume changes. heck, for 1k more, you could get a reasonable source to pair the bhse with the headphone of your choice.

 

[Elysian]

I'm receiving a HE60 with a reterminated Stax Pro Bias plug soon.  Is it safe to plug into the BHSE (and GES)?  I saw spritzer post that he put a 5M resistor on his HE60 but I'm unsure how necessary that is or what kind of effect that would have for driver longevity or sound quality.

 

[spritzer]

I do add a 5M resistor inline on all the HE60's I modify because the Sennheiser spec calls for a 10M ballast resistor (the Stax standard is 4M7).  This resistor sets the charge mode for the diaphragm but it's value isn't crucial, it only has to be "large enough".  The phones will work fine without the resistor but the mafia doesn't really do "good enough"....

 

[Elysian]

Gotcha   Out of curiosity, what do you mean by charge mode for the diaphragm?  I was searching old posts about best practices for reterminating HE60 plugs to Stax Pro plugs, but couldn't find anything that goes into much detail.  It seems like most people are reterminating theirs without adding a resistor, and are using it with their Stax/Woo/Headamp amps without issues.
 
I just want to make sure I wouldn't be doing any long-term damage to the drivers, or that the sound quality would be diminished, without the resistor.  From what you wrote, it seems like everything will be fine regardless.

 

[spritzer]

The headphones work on a constant charge basis as in the diaphragm has a permanent charge on it which is "tapped up" by the bias supply.  This makes for the lowest distortion possible for an electrostatic and this is set by the resistance of the diaphragm and the ballast resistor.