DavidNY
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2005
- Posts
- 107
- Likes
- 11
I received my ES-1 and HE90 fro Mikhail yesterday. It was a long wait, 7+ months, but it was well worth it!
In July 2005 I was browsing thru Head-Fi and saw Jan Meier's post about the Orpheus. Having heard so much about it but never having heard one, I couldn't resist and became one of the "lucky 18."
I then called around to the various headamp manufacturers and distributors to ask 1) was the HE90 worth it? and 2) what sort of headphone amp should I get? The answer to the 1st question was a pretty strong but not unanimous yes. It was clear that getting the right amp was a crucial ingredient in making the investment in an HE90 pay off.
This led me to Mikhail of Singlepower. Through my early conversations with Mikhail it struck me that he was the ONE, who could build the ultimate electrostatic headphone amp, better than the HEV90, to drive the HE90. His knowledge of electrostatic speakers, phones and amps was beyond anyone else I spoke to.
I also was fortunate to be traveling on the west coast during the San Jose meet in August. So I dropped in and had a chance to meet Mikhail over lunch. Besides being a very nice guy Mikhail has the soul of an inventor. He loves the next challenge and is full of new ideas waiting to be put into practical application.
At the meet I also heard my 1st HE90 hooked up to a Blue Hawaii. I heard a much bigger, more detailed sound that was clearly superior to my HD650's. I also got a chance to listen to 4 different Singlepower amps driving Hd650's, including a balanced Supra. I was immediately wowed by how different Mikhail could make an HD650 sound. His balanced amp in particular was something very special. I knew that if he could do this kind of magic with an HD650 I could only imagine what he could do with an HE90
So commenced several weeks of emails back and forth on the design of my amp. I went thru the various component options on his list and basically maxed out on each option (dual Plitron transformers, silver wiring and solder, Audio Note silver coupling capacitors, Black Gate cathode bypass and power capacitors, quad regulators, dual power umbilicals, dual 48 step attenuators).
As I waited impatiently through each new timetable from Sennheiser for the manufacture and delivery of my HE90's I asked Mikhail if fine tuning the amp to my headphones would the enable him to maximize the end result. My experience with stereo equipment had made me a very strong believer in system matching. Mikhail's answer was an enthusiastic yes, so when my phones were finally shipped in November they went directly to Denver. By the way the extensive manufacturing delays at Sennheiser suggests to me that they will not bring the HE90 or the HE60 back into production.
Once Mikhail got my HE90's little did I know how involved things would get A little burn in and fine tuning turned into 3 months of development work. I think it started with the tube adaptors which added to the range of tube possibilities. Then Mikhail discovered some different output tubes which required different bias voltages. This led him to incorporating an output tube bias voltage control for each channel to accommodate different EL34's. The bias control can be adjusted “by ear” or there are 2 test points for a volt meter. Mikhail’s favored tube selection is the 5687 and 6SN7 for the 2 gain stages and a pair of GE EL34’s for each output stage. I am not an electrical engineer so I can't go into the details of what Mikhail had to go through. All I kknow is that Mikhail spent MANY late nights and entire weekends listening, adjusting, changing components, burning in and listening again to get the best sound possible. And even he got stumped by some surprises he discovered during the development process. In hindsight letting Mikhail play with my phones for 3 months was clearly the right decision and fortunately he is truly a perfectionist.
I am sure that as more ES-1’s are delivered others with much more experience with the HE90, other electrostatic headphones and amps will be able to make more useful comments about the sound of this system and whether it is the ultimate electrostatic rig.
For me the sound of this system is big, transparent, and precise. Everything is well balanced. I have had no problems listening to well recorded and older, poorly recorded material. It sounds great with classical (Beethoven symphonies to Bach harpsichord), jazz (big band, to trios, to vocals) and rock (the Allman Brothers to Pink Floyd). In fact each time I play another CD I have to play it all the way through, it sounds that good.
I want to thank all of the people I spoke to or PM’ed for advice and special thanks to Jan for making it possible to acquire a new HE90, and to Mikhail for building an equally special amp.
In July 2005 I was browsing thru Head-Fi and saw Jan Meier's post about the Orpheus. Having heard so much about it but never having heard one, I couldn't resist and became one of the "lucky 18."
I then called around to the various headamp manufacturers and distributors to ask 1) was the HE90 worth it? and 2) what sort of headphone amp should I get? The answer to the 1st question was a pretty strong but not unanimous yes. It was clear that getting the right amp was a crucial ingredient in making the investment in an HE90 pay off.
This led me to Mikhail of Singlepower. Through my early conversations with Mikhail it struck me that he was the ONE, who could build the ultimate electrostatic headphone amp, better than the HEV90, to drive the HE90. His knowledge of electrostatic speakers, phones and amps was beyond anyone else I spoke to.
I also was fortunate to be traveling on the west coast during the San Jose meet in August. So I dropped in and had a chance to meet Mikhail over lunch. Besides being a very nice guy Mikhail has the soul of an inventor. He loves the next challenge and is full of new ideas waiting to be put into practical application.
At the meet I also heard my 1st HE90 hooked up to a Blue Hawaii. I heard a much bigger, more detailed sound that was clearly superior to my HD650's. I also got a chance to listen to 4 different Singlepower amps driving Hd650's, including a balanced Supra. I was immediately wowed by how different Mikhail could make an HD650 sound. His balanced amp in particular was something very special. I knew that if he could do this kind of magic with an HD650 I could only imagine what he could do with an HE90
So commenced several weeks of emails back and forth on the design of my amp. I went thru the various component options on his list and basically maxed out on each option (dual Plitron transformers, silver wiring and solder, Audio Note silver coupling capacitors, Black Gate cathode bypass and power capacitors, quad regulators, dual power umbilicals, dual 48 step attenuators).
As I waited impatiently through each new timetable from Sennheiser for the manufacture and delivery of my HE90's I asked Mikhail if fine tuning the amp to my headphones would the enable him to maximize the end result. My experience with stereo equipment had made me a very strong believer in system matching. Mikhail's answer was an enthusiastic yes, so when my phones were finally shipped in November they went directly to Denver. By the way the extensive manufacturing delays at Sennheiser suggests to me that they will not bring the HE90 or the HE60 back into production.
Once Mikhail got my HE90's little did I know how involved things would get A little burn in and fine tuning turned into 3 months of development work. I think it started with the tube adaptors which added to the range of tube possibilities. Then Mikhail discovered some different output tubes which required different bias voltages. This led him to incorporating an output tube bias voltage control for each channel to accommodate different EL34's. The bias control can be adjusted “by ear” or there are 2 test points for a volt meter. Mikhail’s favored tube selection is the 5687 and 6SN7 for the 2 gain stages and a pair of GE EL34’s for each output stage. I am not an electrical engineer so I can't go into the details of what Mikhail had to go through. All I kknow is that Mikhail spent MANY late nights and entire weekends listening, adjusting, changing components, burning in and listening again to get the best sound possible. And even he got stumped by some surprises he discovered during the development process. In hindsight letting Mikhail play with my phones for 3 months was clearly the right decision and fortunately he is truly a perfectionist.
I am sure that as more ES-1’s are delivered others with much more experience with the HE90, other electrostatic headphones and amps will be able to make more useful comments about the sound of this system and whether it is the ultimate electrostatic rig.
For me the sound of this system is big, transparent, and precise. Everything is well balanced. I have had no problems listening to well recorded and older, poorly recorded material. It sounds great with classical (Beethoven symphonies to Bach harpsichord), jazz (big band, to trios, to vocals) and rock (the Allman Brothers to Pink Floyd). In fact each time I play another CD I have to play it all the way through, it sounds that good.
I want to thank all of the people I spoke to or PM’ed for advice and special thanks to Jan for making it possible to acquire a new HE90, and to Mikhail for building an equally special amp.
