The Stax Thread III

[mangler]

Me neither, but I was holding out hope I bet they would do well though, given their typical price/performance ratio. Even if they did smaller runs that translated into higher prices, i bet their amp would still be more affordable than what's out there (unless you can DIY).

 

[Ali-Pacha]

 
Electrostatics are the niche of the niche, I can understand them...

Why not...but politics ? Anything to do with Stax's patents ?

Ali

 

[3X0]

  Why not...but politics ? Anything to do with Stax's patents ?

Ali

The elephant in the room is that sales performance of electrostatic products can be critically influenced by the opinions of a few key thought leaders.
 
An interesting case study may be made if you evaluate the sales price (both new and used) of a KG design versus other designers/manufacturers over the past several years. Some might argue the price hike is from rarity and/or component cost but I believe it is something different.

 

[darinf]

  The elephant in the room is that sales performance of electrostatic products can be critically influenced by the opinions of a few key thought leaders.
 

I had no idea. Good to know... I guess you could say that about many products here on Head-Fi. A negative review with a niche product can have a big effect if most of the potential buyers find their way to Head-Fi.

 

[DefQon]

IMO just focus on the Megatron... apart from sounding better, you'd probably get it up faster because there're a lot less parts to worry about. Additionally, do go offboard for the PS instead of the onboard sinks (I would recommend this as it can get quite hot in Oz, too).

If you do buy the BHSE, I'd be very interested for you to do the comparison, too

It's all planned out to be purchased in the future so it's all good. I would buy a set of Megatron boards if Lilknight would respond on the other site I'm not reluctant to drop the $ on boards knowing that I won't receive them in a long time. And I still need to find time to complete my offboard KGSSHV lol.

Speaking offboard PSU is this one of the new mini KGSSHV psu board or another one I'm completely not familiar with?

Not going back to your original Omega?

Nope too risky owning them.

 

[3X0]

Nope too risky owning them.

Haven't you and your friend experienced no problems in your respective ownerships of them?

 

[NoPants]

It's all planned out to be purchased in the future so it's all good. I would buy a set of Megatron boards if Lilknight would respond on the other site I'm not reluctant to drop the $ on boards knowing that I won't receive them in a long time. And I still need to find time to complete my offboard KGSSHV lol.

Speaking offboard PSU is this one of the new mini KGSSHV psu board or another one I'm completely not familiar with?
Nope too risky owning them.

 
You should note that ristar's build is modded for more current or something to that effect. If you use the standard values in the mini psu all you have to do is omit the 2n3904 transistors (deregulate the supply). There's no need to offboard the psu in this case. You can also run the amplifier at -/+400V for less heat. 

 

[ardilla]

Any news on the rumored new Stax top amp?

 

[DefQon]

Haven't you and your friend experienced no problems in your respective ownerships of them?

Yeah I've been told it's started gather channel imbalance with the left side being bit louder. His got a KGSSHV wired up with 2 mono pots for each channel so it's all fine.

You should note that ristar's build is modded for more current or something to that effect. If you use the standard values in the mini psu all you have to do is omit the 2n3904 transistors (deregulate the supply). There's no need to offboard the psu in this case. You can also run the amplifier at -/+400V for less heat. 

Thanks for that I'll sus the diy sections again on the other site.
My current issue is I need a custom wound trafo for the the PSU for the old KGSSHV that has 230v primary, any good non expensive recommendations for places? Sumr runs a bit expensive for me.

 

[NoPants]

Yeah I've been told it's started gather channel imbalance with the left side being bit louder. His got a KGSSHV wired up with 2 mono pots for each channel so it's all fine.
Thanks for that I'll sus the diy sections again on the other site.
My current issue is I need a custom wound trafo for the the PSU for the old KGSSHV that has 230v primary, any good non expensive recommendations for places? Sumr runs a bit expensive for me.

http://www.edcorusa.com/p/681/xpwr084 , I haven't found a good solution to 450V without a lot of extraneous stuff. Min current requirements are 200ma. I've used this spec at 450 with a SumR part with no issue.
 
You can use any old 15V transformer for the input section, it's only there to drive the front-end CCS. Antek for the filament transformers yields good results, completely silent and no need for regulation.

 

[DefQon]

I'll keep Edcor in mind, I'm planning to do the 500v version for the PSU for my offboard. 
 
Quoting the Trafo spec requirements from Lilknights website:
 

 Power transformer specs: Pri: 110v/220v. Sec: 2x 450v/130mA, 16v-0-16v/500mA

I'm thinking separate trafo one that is primary 230v and secondary 2x450v as rated above and then hook up a few 230v/15v toroidials for the CCS. It says 16 and center-tapped, is 15v still ok? I don't think my left over trafo's are center-tapped with the 0v rail. Unless I'm reading it wrong?

 

[NoPants]

  I'll keep Edcor in mind, I'm planning to do the 500v version for the PSU for my offboard. 
 
Quoting the Trafo spec requirements from Lilknights website:
 
I'm thinking separate trafo one that is primary 230v and secondary 2x450v as rated above and then hook up a few 230v/15v toroidials for the CCS. It says 16 and center-tapped, is 15v still ok? I don't think my left over trafo's are center-tapped with the 0v rail. Unless I'm reading it wrong?

I was suggesting a transformer for the megatron specifically, I hope you're not thinking of running that at 500V. This is just my opinion but especially for the offboard, there's probably a lot of gains to be had from running 400V and upping the current to something ridiculous at the output stage. Higher voltage only enables louder volumes which you don't end up using anyway.
 
I didn't run into any problems using 15Vac or 16Vac for LV supply. If you have dual secondaries, you can join them for 30V CT, there's only one bridge. It's been mentioned before, but don't go overboard with the current spec for this section. 

 

[DefQon]

Lol my bad yeah was talking about the KGSSHV but hey you should know MOAR POWAH is better hehe. Oh ok ignore what I said about the center tapped 16v rails it makes more sense now that you've mentioned that you were referring to the Megatron.

 

[dukeskd]

Yeah I've been told it's started gather channel imbalance with the left side being bit louder. His got a KGSSHV wired up with 2 mono pots for each channel so it's all fine.
 

 
Oh that really sucks, but that is the risk with old electronics. I think the Omega and MDR-R10 are risky investments judging by their prices and failure rate.

 

[DefQon]

I think the R10 is even a bigger risk given that biocellulose only last for a certain amount of time and once the driver dies it is impossible to find replacement drivers let alone have them matched as there are so many driver variations with the R10. The value for the R10 has also increased tremendously over the years, once your drivers fail, you end up with an expensive collectors doorstop but at least you can still sell of the shell for few thousand.