[bosiemoncrieff]

I would like to review them, but would need to a/b with 007 009 and Voce. Perhaps baby Orpheus well. Does the SLJ amp work with Stax pro jacks?

 

[mulder01]

Wow those are some shiny quotes from head fi. Maybe I'll log on and read the rest of the thread.

...oh

 

[SeaWo|f]

My question is did they quote @purk just to be asses or did they not recognize the sarcasm.

 

[Rhamnetin]

I bet the SUSVARA beats this. Not that I'll ever attempt to verify...

 

[SeaWo|f]

Based on their logic it should. It and its amp run 18k from them so it is slightly more than 2x better

 

[Whitigir]

I crack up so much every time without fail here, I wonder if Fang do the same LOL!

 

[JimL11]

I would like to review them, but would need to a/b with 007 009 and Voce. Perhaps baby Orpheus well. Does the SLJ amp work with Stax pro jacks?

I believe all the HFM electrostatic headphones use the standard Stax 5 pin connector. OTOH, I'm not sure I would plug in a Stax or MrSpeakers headphone into a HFM amp without a look inside first to confirm it has the requisite output (5.1k) and bias (5 meg) safety resistors, although for short term testing that may not be an issue. BTW, I'm guessing that the SLJ amp is hybrid, since two 6SN7 tubes/channel probably does not have sufficient gain.

 

[SeaWo|f]

I think someone asked a question related to this about potential damage to their 009 which they plugged in to some amps with out these safeties at a show. The response from those far more versed in stats than I was that for a short period of time it would be ok, and that the damage only happened over long periods. I think they said it was to the driver coating material? I looked back but its a long thread and I am not finding it.

 

[JimL11]

Yeah, probably so. But if you are buying a multi-thousand dollar amp, you are probably planning to use it long term, when it could become an issue. And of course, the presence or absence of the safety resistors is a simple indication of engineering competence - or lack thereof. I wouldn't want to give my money to someone who doesn't know or care what they are doing - but I'm weird that way. And it's not like it's a big expense - it's 5 resistors per output socket, costing altogether less than $1, and significantly less in bulk.

 

[SeaWo|f]

My comment was only meant to say that if one wanted to demo the amp for a short period of time as a review like @bosiemoncrieff they should be safe. I empathize the should part of that statement. Your comments about competence I agree with completely @JimL11.

 

[mulder01]

Why would they make an amp with stax plugs that destroys stax headphones?

 

[wink]

Incompentent engineering and technical understanding, perhaps....?

 

[omniweltall]

Maybe because of they dont understand and yet wanna grab as much market share as possible? I never liked their amps too.

 

[Whitigir]

Why would they make an amp with stax plugs that destroys stax headphones?

Incompentent engineering and technical understanding, perhaps....?

Why does Stax use Ribbon cables and HFM use common cables with cheap sleeve ? Why...oh....why ?

 

[JimL11]

Why would they make an amp with stax plugs that destroys stax headphones?

Incompentent engineering and technical understanding, perhaps....?

Yeah, I don't think it's deliberate. And to be fair, I don't know that they haven't incorporated the appropriate resistors. But we know that the iFi iESL doesn't have a bias resistor at the end of its bias supply/battery, and we know that Woo has had issues with inappropriate value resistors in its bias supplies - and these are companies that are amp specialists. So it is reasonable to be skeptical that a company that specializes in transducers may not have the expertise.

Then there is the fact that, at least in high end audio, there are very few if any companies that are known for producing both the best amps and the best transducers (speakers and/or headphones). Quad with its early tube amps and its ESL could be considered an exception, but then Peter Walker was the closest thing to a genius that this industry has ever seen,And even though his 303 and 405 amps were quite innovative in circuitry, they are not considered among the best sounding amps. Stax may not have the best amps, but they have been at the game long enough to know exactly what interface their headphones need to be protected from a failure in one of their amps, and any third party manufacturer should pay attention.