[kiertijai]

I also feel sorry for Sam73
I hope mine doesn't have that problem too.
I will report my impressions after the burn in time as suggested
and will try to compare with the HE5,HE6 using Kimber Kable adapter cable
vs the TakeT H2 using NBS jumper cable   or Valhalla jumper cable 
more pictures too.

 

[kiertijai]

 
 
Here is some of the pictures of the new Jecklin Float QA which arrived in a big box.
Inside there are two small box of equal size.  One for the Jecklin headphone and one for
the transformer or power supply.

 
Here is the picture of the Jecklin headphone.  The headphone cable is 4m long

The termination is of 5 pin male but it is different from the DIN 5pin that is
used with the tonearm of some turntable e.g. Rega Planar
 
 

 
The identification of the right or left sided earpad is shown on the top of the headband

 
Here is the picture from the side of the earpads

 

[kiertijai]

The headphone is light (200 gm+)  more specification will be posted later but it
clamps relatively tight to my head, should be stable enough when moving around.
The transformer is much heavier and is in another box , one power cord with European
style termination (Schuko) is provided (mine is 220V unit,  US model should have different
termination)  I was informed that we don't need highend power cable for the performance
but I decide to use my power cable instead of the one provided.
Here is the picture on the front of the transformer ,  there is a switch in the middle to
choose between the headphone or the speaker (only one will be active)  so when we
listen to the headphone we will not hear from the speakers even the speakers are connected
(and viceversa).   There are two female sockets provided for two Jecklin Floats.

 
I have asked Manfred about the two sockets  and this is his answer
You can use two float QA at the same time. The power supply also can drive the old float (produced in the 70`s to the 90`s). But older floats need to be fitted with the new plug we use today with the new float QA. the connector we use is not the same as the DIN which is used with vinyl setups. You can`t use the H2 with the float QA power supply.  
 
I use the Nordost jumper cables (20cm length)  for the connection with my Zotl ZH230 amplifier.
Here is the back of the transformer.

 
The power socket and fuse are in the middle .  The amplifer post (right and left, +/-)
are above the speaker post.   I am lucky that the nordost jumper cables are flexible
and have enough length because the distance between the transformer and my amplifier
is almost the whole length of the jumper cables ( the amplifier posts are at the top part of the transformer
 and I have to place the transformer on top of my amplifier , the speaker posts also get into the
path of the connection).   So we need a long set of jumper cables may be 12 inches or 25 cm to be safe.

 

[kiertijai]

I am well aware of Sam73 's experience with the new Jecklin float so I have asked Manfred
about this matter.
 
Here is his answer
There is impression on head-fi.org by Sam73  that it may have driver's problem and the replaced one is not as good as the
one at the show. 

 
Unfortunatly we had a problem with the connection at one driver unit of the first float QA, Sam got from us.
The second set we got returned from Sam works absolutly fine with no problems. My personal feeling is that because the concept behind the float QA is different to nearly all other headhones, some customer are not familiar with a real natural sound. Most other headhones are a bit coloured because of the way they are designed and produce more pressure. I need to point out that personal I never used headphones because I don`t like to cover my ears in a way to get isolated from the room in which I`m living. The float QA is the only concept which allows to listen in a full natural way. I look forward hearing about your feeling after some days experience with the float QA.
 

More impression will come next week after the burn-in and I have to check with Manfred about the correct setup
before I will try to listen.  I connect my amplifier directly to the CD player (Lindemann 820S which also act as preamplifier
so I also need to confirm about the volume control of this setup).  I may need a preamplifier later.

 

[Sam73]

Hello kirtijai,
 
i hope your Headphone will work well and I think it will do so.

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

Great new look forward to your impressions
 
BTW on the German forums some a claiming these need about 100 hours use before they settle down.
Find that hard to believe but that's whats being claimed 

 

I do not find 100 hours burn in required to settle down to anything like decent performance for stats long at all. They really settle down after quite a long period, something like 3 months of constant operation from say a FM tuner played at about normal listening level. Jecklin Floats are loud enough across the even relative large room to be used for radio news listening or TV watching at night - so you can use it for these purposes and burn in at the same time.
 
The reason is that flat diphragm material has to reach its "relaxed" tension - minuscule amounts of difference in tension in whatever direction/spot lead to reduced performance and in case the tension gets too low, to instability or "glueing" of the diaphragm to one of the stators. Manufacturers use a bit higher tension than absolutely necessary for stable operation, to give them some safety margin. The amount of time needed for a new stat to settle down might vary, but not by much - the diaphragm material(s) usable are more or less very similar. With the notable exception of the material for the diaphragm for  Audio Technica ATH 7 and ATH 8 ( Stax SR 44 might/may be the same ) electret headphones, that was/is corrugated and as of consequence does not exhibit any partial resonance(s) and its fundamental resonance is inherently better damped ( lower Q ) before the application of any extraneous damping materials. Such corrugated diaphragm material would most likely be the best possible solution to use in Float. Sourcing that material may well prove very difficult if not mission impossible.
 
 
New out of the box, it will be quite boomy in bass for the first hours - just give it time. This should be a very enjoyable headphone indeed. Wish anybody a nice musical journey with it !

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

Hello,
 
 i wrote extreme good about a product when I think it is extreme good, i also have to write about things that are not really good.
 
The Jecklin I´ve heard in Gering are still the best headphone experience that I had.
 
But I dont have luck.
 
The first Jecklin had a failure on the right side. Suddenly the right side plays very faint. So I have to put the balance full to the right to hear somthing from right.
 
I send it back and they have found the failure.  Shurly the send me a complete new one. But this one does not play like a normal Jecklin. It doesnt have any natural warms and it sounded like there was a brake in it. My Hifi man HE-5 was clearly better because the HE-5 plays what he can do. Normaly the Jecklin gives the HE-5 a big run but this Jecklin doesnt.
I cant believe this situation and drove to a friend of mine who knows the normal Jecklin fom the "Quad-Fest in Gering". 
 
After hearing it he says that he does not buy this one because it has nothing to do with the incredible Sound it delivers on the "Quad Fest in Gering"
 
So i send it back.
 
After the big Problems with audeze and their driver-issues i now decide to give the Jecklin no third chance.
 
Sorry!
 
 
Be shure that when it works it is clearly the best but for me the Story ends now.
 
I have considered if i wrote something about this but i think if i can write positiv i also have to write when things not positiv.
 
I hope that I´m the only unlucky Person and that all of you hear the Jecklin @ 100%

Really sorry to hear that.
 
I did mention in one of my previous posts I hope the reliability of the Jecklin Floats QA would be better than those produced by Precide.
From the pictures of drivers posted, there appears to be no visible difference between old and new Float driver. The driver was designed with easy serviceability or replacement in mind, without having to use soldering - and whenever problems exactly like yours ( or similar ) occured, they were almost 100% always traceable down to the 3 contacts . High voltage, humidity, oxidation and not exactly stellar knowledge of chemistry used in the design will always produce problems in this driver, at least in the long run. Fix that will give you long term perfect performance is easy, but you would have to receive the permission from the manufacturer to do it - I guess you do not want to invalidate warranty of a brand new product.

 

[kiertijai]

    I could not resist my curiosity so I tried the new Jecklin Float QA since yesterday without appropriate burnin , just to get the feel of its sound signature. I used my Lindemann
820S as the CD player connected directly via Argento Serenity flow RCA to the David Berning Zotl ZH230 and use Nordost Valhalla jumper cables from ZH230
to the Jecklin transformer.  I used the volume control of the preamplifier function of the the Lindemann because I have to wait for the Zotl preone preamplifier.
    I was scared when I turned on the transformer and first listened  to the new Jecklin float I had to wait around 5 seconds before the sound came out.  At first
there was no sound coming from the right driver but few seconds later there was some noise and the sound came out and is now working perfectly.
    On first impression I noticed that the sound signature is neutral, no significant boost in any region. It is a very natural sounding headphone.  This setup reminded
me of the Stax SR009 driven by DIY T2.   The Stax SR009 may be a tad brighter than the new Jecklin Float but share the same transparency.  The transition was smooth flowing
without any grain in the sound from treble to bass.  The treble was  well extended but no sibilance,   the mid range was neutral sounding on the first 2-3 hours of listening
with wide soundstage (more than front to back) .  The soundstage is not as wide as those of takeT H2+ or Sennheiser HD800, may be as wide as the AKG K1000.
There were lots of microdetails but not very distinctive (to the extent that an audiophile would like to) e.g. when I listened to the K2HD Charbrier  Espana by Ataulfo Argenta +
London symphony orchestra you could hear the harp playing on and off in the background.  The bass was more than enough but not as deep as the takeT H2+ and
probably not as well controlled.  The dynamic was very good.
   This morning I listened to Bruce Springsteen : Born in USA, The Street of Philadelphia and Secret Garden.  The Secret Garden sounded very seductive.  I am now
listening to Roxy Music : Avalon SACD   the soundstage, microdetails and imaging are now excellent.   I think the sound signature become warmer (definitely warmer
than the SR009 , takeT H2+  but not as dark as the O2mkI) and more seducing but not to the extent as the Orpheus HE90 driven by the Aristaeus. I think it may go
into the top ten headphones of David Mahler list.
I will listen to the SACD Vivaldi : Four Season performed by Janine Jansen next
I will wait for more burnin  and am thinking of comparing with the HE6, AKG K100 driven via the speaker post of the transformer with my Kimber Kable adapter cable.

 

[complin]

I wouldn't have been able to resist either! 

 
From your description so far they sound much like an improved version of the original float, particularly in bass reproduction.
The original floats are brighter than the Stax 007 Mk1 but not to the levels of the Sennheiser HD800
They should produce a very airy sound and reproduce the natural acoustic of the recording very well with good micro detail.
However; they probably wont have pinpoint positioning in the soundstage that some crave for, as it's more integrated and holistic like the Stax 007 Mk1, so more natural as you would hear at a live performance.
 
As you say potentially a top 10 headphone or higher
Quote:

    I could not resist my curiosity so I tried the new Jecklin Float QA since yesterday without appropriate burnin , just to get the feel of its sound signature. I used my Lindemann
820S as the CD player connected directly via Argento Serenity flow RCA to the David Berning Zotl ZH230 and use Nordost Valhalla jumper cables from ZH230
to the Jecklin transformer.  I used the volume control of the preamplifier function of the the Lindemann because I have to wait for the Zotl preone preamplifier.
    I was scared when I turned on the transformer and first listened  to the new Jecklin float I had to wait around 5 seconds before the sound came out.  At first
there was no sound coming from the right driver but few seconds later there was some noise and the sound came out and is now working perfectly.
    On first impression I noticed that the sound signature is neutral, no significant boost in any region. It is a very natural sounding headphone.  This setup reminded
me of the Stax SR009 driven by DIY T2.   The Stax SR009 may be a tad brighter than the new Jecklin Float but share the same transparency.  The transition was smooth flowing
without any grain in the sound from treble to bass.  The treble was  well extended but no sibilance,   the mid range was neutral sounding on the first 2-3 hours of listening
with wide soundstage (more than front to back) .  The soundstage is not as wide as those of takeT H2+ or Sennheiser HD800, may be as wide as the AKG K1000.
There were lots of microdetails but not very distinctive (to the extent that an audiophile would like to) e.g. when I listened to the K2HD Charbrier  Espana by Ataulfo Argenta +
London symphony orchestra you could hear the harp playing on and off in the background.  The bass was more than enough but not as deep as the takeT H2+ and
probably not as well controlled.  The dynamic was very good.
   This morning I listened to Bruce Springsteen : Born in USA, The Street of Philadelphia and Secret Garden.  The Secret Garden sounded very seductive.  I am now
listening to Roxy Music : Avalon SACD   the soundstage, microdetails and imaging are now excellent.   I think the sound signature become warmer (definitely warmer
than the SR009 , takeT H2+  but not as dark as the O2mkI) and more seducing but not to the extent as the Orpheus HE90 driven by the Aristaeus. I think it may go
into the top ten headphones of David Mahler list.
I will listen to the SACD Vivaldi : Four Season performed by Janine Jansen next
I will wait for more burnin  and am thinking of comparing with the HE6, AKG K100 driven via the speaker post of the transformer with my Kimber Kable adapter cable.

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

    I could not resist my curiosity so I tried the new Jecklin Float QA since yesterday without appropriate burnin , just to get the feel of its sound signature. I used my Lindemann
820S as the CD player connected directly via Argento Serenity flow RCA to the David Berning Zotl ZH230 and use Nordost Valhalla jumper cables from ZH230
to the Jecklin transformer.  I used the volume control of the preamplifier function of the the Lindemann because I have to wait for the Zotl preone preamplifier.
    I was scared when I turned on the transformer and first listened  to the new Jecklin float I had to wait around 5 seconds before the sound came out.  At first
there was no sound coming from the right driver but few seconds later there was some noise and the sound came out and is now working perfectly.
    On first impression I noticed that the sound signature is neutral, no significant boost in any region. It is a very natural sounding headphone.  This setup reminded
me of the Stax SR009 driven by DIY T2.   The Stax SR009 may be a tad brighter than the new Jecklin Float but share the same transparency.  The transition was smooth flowing
without any grain in the sound from treble to bass.  The treble was  well extended but no sibilance,   the mid range was neutral sounding on the first 2-3 hours of listening
with wide soundstage (more than front to back) .  The soundstage is not as wide as those of takeT H2+ or Sennheiser HD800, may be as wide as the AKG K1000.
There were lots of microdetails but not very distinctive (to the extent that an audiophile would like to) e.g. when I listened to the K2HD Charbrier  Espana by Ataulfo Argenta +
London symphony orchestra you could hear the harp playing on and off in the background.  The bass was more than enough but not as deep as the takeT H2+ and
probably not as well controlled.  The dynamic was very good.
   This morning I listened to Bruce Springsteen : Born in USA, The Street of Philadelphia and Secret Garden.  The Secret Garden sounded very seductive.  I am now
listening to Roxy Music : Avalon SACD   the soundstage, microdetails and imaging are now excellent.   I think the sound signature become warmer (definitely warmer
than the SR009 , takeT H2+  but not as dark as the O2mkI) and more seducing but not to the extent as the Orpheus HE90 driven by the Aristaeus. I think it may go
into the top ten headphones of David Mahler list.
I will listen to the SACD Vivaldi : Four Season performed by Janine Jansen next
I will wait for more burnin  and am thinking of comparing with the HE6, AKG K100 driven via the speaker post of the transformer with my Kimber Kable adapter cable.

Nice to hear your first impression.
 
The "start up" you described is normal for stats, still don't get it how Stax menages to get so consistent results with all of its models.
 
Since you have pretty all likely candidates for the throne, I will eagerly follow your impressions.
 
BIG question - can it do the finale of Mahler's second symphony ? I own >10 recordings of it, if you too own more than one, please use the recording with best possible dynamic range and greatest low frequency extension.
 
And no, properly functioning Float should not be in top ten of David Mahler's list. Should be higher.

 

[complin]

Well the question is do we actually agree with David Mahler's list? 

 A great project and effort which is to be commended, BUT
The individual headphone reviews are unfortunately full of inconsistencies, contradictions and anomalies which undermine the conclusions 
I subscribe to Tyll's view in the Steve Hoffman debate of how individuals perceive sound and the conclusions that we draw about its reality or otherwise.  Its an absolute watch!  For me Tyll has it spot on  http://twit.tv/show/home-theater-geeks/133 

Quote:

 
And no, properly functioning Float should not be in top ten of David Mahler's list. Should be higher.

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

Well the question is do we actually agree with David Mahler's list? 

 A great project and effort which is to be commended, BUT
The individual headphone reviews are unfortunately full of inconsistencies, contradictions and anomalies which undermine the conclusions 
I subscribe to Tyll's view in the Steve Hoffman debate of how individuals perceive sound and the conclusions that we draw about its reality or otherwise.  Its an absolute watch!  For me Tyll has it spot on  http://twit.tv/show/home-theater-geeks/133 

Jecklin Float was and still is a brilliant idea. Its various commercially available versions up to now new QA  have always left something/lots to be desired. If these have been rectified in QA, they should be on anyone's top 5 list, not just David Mahler's, reference to which I used only because it is in the recent/current memory.
 
Personally, I have not heard enough HPs on David Mahler's list to be able to really make a qualified judgement of his list. The ones I did hear are described very fairly and consistently. No easy task, considering the multitude of HPs.

 

[kiertijai]

Who is your favourite conductor of Mahler Symphony 2nd   ?  I have those of David Zinman (SACD), Otto Klemperer, Gielen in hand.
I should also have those of Bertini and Zubin Mehta but I cannot find them now.
I do have other Mahler 's Symphony : 1st Kubelik (audite), 3rd Horenstein, 4th Benjamin Zander, 5th Barshai, 6th Tomas Sanderling,
7th Kubelik & MTT, 8th Horenstein (it is with other right now)  , 9th Simon Rattle and  10th Barshai  most are redbook SACD's, some are SACD
or XRCD (6th by Tomas Sanderling)
I will try some time to listen to Mahler's, they need total concentration but my favourite is 5th by Barshai and 6th by Tomas Sanderling

 

[complin]

IMHO Sir George Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  Powerful interpretation and a classic Decca recording - Super!
Quote:

Who is your favourite conductor of Mahler Symphony 2nd   ?  I have those of David Zinman (SACD), Otto Klemperer, Gielen in hand.
I should also have those of Bertini and Zubin Mehta but I cannot find them now.
I do have other Mahler 's Symphonies : 1st Kubelik (audite), 3rd Horenstein, 4th Benjamin Zander, 5th Barshai, 6th Tomas Sanderling,
7th Kubelik & Michael Tilson Thomas, 8th Horenstein (it is with other right now)  , 9th Simon Rattle and  10th Barshai  most are redbook CD's, some are SACD
or XRCD (6th by Tomas Sanderling)
I will try some time to listen to Mahler's, they need total concentration but my favourite is 5th by Barshai and 6th by Tomas Sanderling

 

[complin]

Hmm.... that's my point the headings are consistent but what is under them isn't in many cases.  As I said too many inconsistencies, contradictions and anomalies
You must watch the  Tyll's/Steve Hoffman debate, its a classic 

Quote:

Personally, I have not heard enough HPs on David Mahler's list to be able to really make a qualified judgement of his list. The ones I did hear are described very fairly and consistently. No easy task, considering the multitude of HPs.