[Whitigir]

Which tubes were they, and in what way did they go bad? Care to share the source? One of my favourites are people selling dual triodes where they only test, measure and match one half of the dual triode.

Yes, it was the e88cc Philips SQ. It would be on, but there is noises, and it makes my balances out of whack and oscilliating, until I plugged in JJ-88CC. Bought it from EBay

 

[georgep]

Yes, that is a classic issue with the dual triodes where sellers are just pushing out tubes. And if the two sides of each tube are not reasonably balanced, it will throw balance and offset majorly out of whack. I have a tube tester just to double check everything. Which ebay seller was it?

 

[Whitigir]

Yes, that is a classic issue with the dual triodes where sellers are just pushing out tubes. And if the two sides of each tube are not reasonably balanced, it will throw balance and offset majorly out of whack. I have a tube tester just to double check everything. Which ebay seller was it?

Tubes.rs is the sellerID. It was just sad, but I will be sticking to modern tubes from now on X_X

 

[SeaWo|f]

@Klonk

I have spritzers bhse if you at worried about hum don't. It's what it is very large transformer that had to be mounted on the top panel(like the amp and PS boards). Unless you are sitting with your head right next to the amp you should not hear it. On whatever frequency power I am getting in Reno (should be 60ish) on the 120 winding I don't have hum. And like spritzer says it's not hum like noise in the output.

Also I've been happy with the psvane ph metal base replica in my amp.

 

[Klonk]

@Klonk

I have spritzers bhse if you at worried about ......................................... .

Also I've been happy with the psvane ph metal base replica in my amp.

Thank you for your reply. Have you ever heard the Headamp BHSE. What are the sonic differences?

 

[SeaWo|f]

I have, it was also with a yggy but I don't remember what tubes were in it. They to me are tuned a bit different. Spritzers has a bit more body to the notes and a bit more impact, while the head amp has a very small touch of that ethereal nature often attributed to stats.

 

[georgep]

Tubes.rs is the sellerID. It was just sad, but I will be sticking to modern tubes from now on X_X

Yeah, I am not deterred from NOS, but the seller makes all the difference here.

As an aside, I have never had great success with dutch-made 6922 tubes in the T2. They might work fine in other applications where matching and microphonics are not an issue. For the T2 I go with west German or Japan (matsush*ta, but not Toshiba or others).

 

[JimL11]

@Klonk,

Inexxon might be interesting for you. He is in Germany and offer the new Inexxon Sirius High Precision Amp. As i know he is connected to Andreas Rauenbühler who made the High Amp Alpha Centauri V7 for Stax Headphones
More stuff on his web site.

I looked at the Highend Amp website, which includes schematics of their designs. They do have an advantage over the Stax amps in that they include a regulated power supply, however, the Alpha Centauri amp uses resistor loaded output stages, similar to the Stax SRM-T1, which means that a lot of their output power is burned up in the resistors. The KGST, which would be the equivalent of the Alpha Centauri, uses the more powerful 6S4A output tubes, but also uses constant current loads which burn up essentially no signal current, which more than doubles their effective power compared to plate resistor loads. To get some idea of the subjective effect of this circuit change, look at spritzer's comments about what a similar modification did to the sound of the Stax T1. The KGST also uses a regulated power supply.

The Canopus and Capella designs suffer from the same defect as the Alpha Centauri - they use tube amplification throughout but also have plate resistor outputs. By comparison, the SRX Plus, based on a 1968 Stax DIY circuit, also uses tube amplification throughout but uses constant current output loads which results in it having more effective output power despite using the less powerful 6SN7GTA/B output tubes.

 

[mulveling]

Not only are there the usual "how strong & matched do they actually measure" NOS tube issues, but I've noticed over the years almost ALL tube vendors make plenty of mistakes. Many times with rare tubes that had long production runs, you won't even get a good construction match in your "matched pair". Always insist on a construction match, because if nothing else it will hurt resale value. I've had tubes come in with loose or even missing pins. Receiving a "NOS" tube with almost no getter left is pretty insulting (in general, many vintage tubes being sold are not actually NOS). And of course they may even send the outright wrong tube for part or all of your order. These mistakes don't even cover the risk of counterfeits - which fortunately I've never received. It feels similar to making a long order at fast food drive-thru, where you just know some of your order will be wrong or subpar. That said I don't think I've ever seen a mistake from Andy at Vintage Tube Services, but him being a one-man show, you won't get as fast a response and turnaround as from other vendors.

I've been trying some Siemens (West Germany) gold-pin E88CC (Platinum grade from Upscale Audio) in my T2, and they are pretty nice so far! Quiet as a mouse.

 

[Eich1eeF]

That brings me to my choice number three Mjolnir KGST. Unfortunately there is not much talk of this amp.

If you intend to buy something from Mjolnir Audio, try contacting Brigir if you can visit and listen to some of his products. At ~5000$, a return flight for 100 EUR would be a wise investment. You may have to act quickly, since some airlines don't have connections to Iceland during the winter, which appears to be October-May.

 

[Rhamnetin]

Hey T2 owners, would you say the T2 is as 'fast' as a pumped up (22mA) KGSSHV Carbon? Particularly the speed of the decay and tactility/crispness of the attack. Of course this will also depend on the tubes.

SR-009 on a really fast system = best rock out headphones for rock and metal in my opinion, and not counting the SR-009S since I have no experience with it, there's no close second I've come across.

 

[mulveling]

This is gonna shock you bro, but I'm about to praise the T2! I listen to a lot of rock and metal. I only had a Carbon set I think at either 17 or 18mA, but it was indeed very fast on and crisp. Probably similar/close to T2 in that regard. But then, I find the T2 so vastly more natural that it feels like removing a few more layers between me and the music, and gets my adrenaline flowing to a degree that the Carbon could only dream of. The Carbon sounded more artificial, mechanical, and also somehow "veiled" by comparison, even though it is tonally brighter and indeed very fast.

I agree that the 009 (and 009S - can't really pick a favorite here; depends on the recording and my mood) are by far the best headphones I've heard for rock & metal.

 

[336881]

Hey T2 owners, would you say the T2 is as 'fast' as a pumped up (22mA) KGSSHV Carbon? Particularly the speed of the decay and tactility/crispness of the attack. Of course this will also depend on the tubes.

SR-009 on a really fast system = best rock out headphones for rock and metal in my opinion, and not counting the SR-009S since I have no experience with it, there's no close second I've come across.

Hd800 + Apex Teton + 422a, gec6a7g, 6sn7w > Sr-009 + kgsshv with rock, with dac imo.

 

[Rhamnetin]

Hd800 + Apex Teton + 422a, gec6a7g, 6sn7w > Sr-009 + kgsshv with rock, with dac imo.

That seems like it'd take the HD 800 to a more lush side (relatively speaking)? Which is actually how I prefer the HD 800. But not enough impact or bass quantity to the HD 800 for me and I can't get over the SR-009's speed.

 

[firegon]

Sorry if that's not the right place to ask, but is there some relatively easy way to measure the channel balance of a stax energizer ( in this case KGSS ) ?