[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L /img/forum/go_quote.gif Personally, I was on an electrostat quest and spent a lot of time on Woo WES, RSA A10, ES1, ES2 directly A-B'ing as many 'stats as I could locate, borrow, bring myself. Comparison of original Omega, OII, OII Mk II was an interesting exercise and very illuminating. Comparison of HE Audio, HE90, HE60 (stock and Headphile modded) was another interesting exercise as well. Then comparing the Staxes with Senn/HE Audio brought it all together conceptually for me. Since I already own HE Audio and Senn HE60 (woodied), I was glad to find that BHSE can make them sound awesome, not just the Omega series. ES-1 and ES-2 also sound great driving them, but If I am looking to buy an Omega of some sort (which I am), I do feel BHSE would be the amp needed. But then, I was surprised to find how well some of the non-Spritzer-approved amps drove OII's. If I already owned these amps and OII's, I wouldn't necessarily feel the need to go out and buy BHSE to feel complete. I then went home, fired up my single-ended tube amp (teflon caps, sweet tubes) + SRD7 MkII, and this combo has its own single-ended midranage magic that I didn't really hear at CanJam. Perhaps I need to forget my 'stat/amp purchasing plans in this tough economy and just buy the HD800 instead. I tell you, HD800 + Eddie Current Zana Deux or Balancing Act almost makes me want to go back to dynamics again (but not quite )

I agree with the above as well. Especially (1) that a nice tube hybrid speaker amp and SRD-7 Pro (or Mk2) can sound nice with the O2 Mk1 or Mk2, and (2) That the HD800 with a good amp will offer good competition to a good stat rig.

Interestingly, I too liked the O2 Mk2 but they seemed to split the differences in sound signature between the O2 Mk1 and HE Audio; so I ended up treating the O2 Mk2 as a redundant phone and sold them for the second half of my Eddie Current ZDT deposit to drive my HD800, K1000 and SRD-7 Pro.

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L /img/forum/go_quote.gif But then, I was surprised to find how well some of the non-Spritzer-approved amps drove OII's. If I already owned these amps and OII's, I wouldn't necessarily feel the need to go out and buy BHSE to feel complete.

I think it has been covered before but I am a bit picky...

Most amps will sound ok but put on some Megadeth, crank the volume and the difference will be quite clear.

 

[veloaudio]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree with the above as well. Especially (1) that a nice tube hybrid speaker amp and SRD-7 Pro (or Mk2) can sound nice with the O2 Mk1 or Mk2, and (2) That the HD800 with a good amp will offer good competition to a good stat rig. Interestingly, I too liked the O2 Mk2 but they seemed to split the differences in sound signature between the O2 Mk1 and HE Audio; so I ended up treating the O2 Mk2 as a redundant phone and sold them for the second half of my Eddie Current ZDT deposit to drive my HD800, K1000 and SRD-7 Pro.

Larry, have any thoughts/comments on a O2 mkI/717 vs Amphora/HD800 setup?

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think it has been covered before but I am a bit picky... Most amps will sound ok but put on some Megadeth, crank the volume and the difference will be quite clear.

Hehe. I haven't blasted Megadeth in years, but maybe I should. I "did" play Bela Fleck's "Flight of Cosmic Hippo" on every 'stat/amp combo, and with these slow bass attacks, even A10 and WES did a decent job

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by veloaudio /img/forum/go_quote.gif Larry, have any thoughts/comments on a O2 mkI/717 vs Amphora/HD800 setup?

Not really. I did post some thoughts of the Amphora/HD800 in the HD800 appreciation thread if you do a search (it is a good match, but so is my balanced Square Wave XL, and even more so my Maxed WA6). I have not heard an SRM-717, just the SRM-1 Mk2 Pro and SRM-T1 , and my Maxed Woo GES is above both of those.

 

[Duggeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by edstrelow /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is the AKG K1000 design something that could be copied with stat drivers. What about some 404 drivers? Even better, what about some 007 drivers mounted this way???

Planar drivers, broadly and generally speaking, like to press against a fixed volume of air. Thus why all the Stax earspeakers going back to way-back-when have never featured velour pads or a free-hang design. The Sigma was a panoramic, and the Lambda and Jecklin float were psudo-panoramic/semi-panoramic mount designs. The Jecklin was an open-air on the driving side with its electrostatic panels but their VAST size helped to compensate for low frequency roll-off which happened as a consequence of that design choice, additionally, none of the various transformer boxes that the Jecklin electrostatic headphones were supplied with was actually fully capable of realising the amplification requirements of the drivers. Precide chose to follow the design philosophy behind the ear mounting position and not how the characteristics of the transducer might be best served in the manner in which they were coupled to the ear when they made the Ergo AMT too. (Although I continue to work on an alternative).

One could mount an electrostatic driver free-hanging and totally open in the way that AKG did with the K1000 when they built on the earlier Stax and Jecklin design ideas, but it would have even more of a problem than the K1000 moving-coil transducer already has with the reproduction of the lowest octaves and the panel size would have to be huge in order to compensate (the Jecklin panel was 16 square inches!).

The Sigma-404 is the closest that you're going to get to what I think you dream for I suspect. Unless you want to go uber-out and put together an SR-Sigma Airbow SC-1!

 

[AudioCats]

or a Sigma type housing with two 007 drivers on each side, driven by a 4 channel BlueHawaii.

 

[AudioCats]

make it a Sigma housing with HE90 drivers.

 

[Duggeh]

Given how much the SR-007 foul up when moved mere millimetres thanks to the Mk.2/A design changes (by reports, I have no theard the Mk.2/A) one must, regretably, conclude a greater disparity with their installation into a Sigma-esque configuration. Doesn't mean that it isn't a worth a bash though!

IF anyone was brave enough to Sigma a pair of HE90 drivers I'd buy them a drink thats for sure. The driver that might actually best be suited to a reconfiguration on K1000/Sigma lines would be the TakeT H2 driver. Hells bells it wouldn't take a huge amount of imagination to beat the esisting headband assembly design and it's got the .LE output to suvive a transition to a more open configuration I'd hope.

 

[spritzer]

I think I'd rather spend the 2k$ or so designing a new set of drivers rather then buy some from Sennheiser. Fitting the SR-007 drivers will probably not work given how they are optimized for the stock chassis (though they do work in the SR-Omega chassis too).

 

[Faust2D]

I bet Koss ESP950 drivers would work nice in Sigma like enclosure

 

[AudioCats]

but the 950 drivers are dust sensitive. Who knows what might happen to the sound if you add a rear dust cover.....





That is also part of the reason why HeAudio drivers are not recommanded for such mod advanture.

 

[Duggeh]

Line array of SFI ortho drivers then perhaps? Or is it evil to mention such technology in the Stax thread?

 

[spritzer]

Nope, iso's are ok.

 

[Duggeh]

Thats alright then. I've always felt more at home in the stax thread than the orthodynamic roundup

Really should crack on with the new SFI effort. It will be glorious. If lambda or esp950 drivers were as easy cheap and readily available things could well be that extra step more exciting of course. Wonder if head-direct will sell the drivers for that new $800 ortho seperately...