[Whitigir]

Well, unlike you, Kevin Gilmore, who posts here from time to time, has designed some of the best electrostatic headphone amps in the world (KGSS Carbon, KGSS grounded grid, KGST, Blue Hawaii, etc.), and received permission from Stax to clone their SRM-T2 for DIYers. He does this for fun, and not for profit. He posted on another site that a no-feedback amp (which) Trilogy says their's is, will have problems with stability due to tube warm-up, etc. I am inclined to believe him.

I have designed and built modifications for the SRM-T1, and designed and built the SRM Plus, which is based on an original Stax DIY schematic, and have posted on another web site in infinite gory detail why current source output loads are much better than resistor loads for electrostatic headphone amps in particular, so when I stated in post #12270 what the technical concerns were about the Trilogy design, I was not blowing smoke. You don't have to apologize for anything, I'm just trying to make you a better educated consumer. Unless you believe ignorance is better than knowledge... Electrostatic headphone amps are very high voltage devices, electrostatic headphones are very, very high impedance and highly reactive, and the rules for driving them are different than for dynamic headphones, low voltage preamps, and relatively low voltage, high current amps for loudspeakers, which is what Trilogy has built prior to now. Again, if you are able to attend the Trilogy presentation, I suggest you ask them the questions I listed in my previous post, and not rely on their previous reputation. Engineering amplifiers is both an art and a science, and if you know a bit about the science behind it you'll be better able to judge whether the Trilogy has a chance of being as good as they claim. If you choose to ignore the science part, well, you know the bit about a fool and his money...

Amazing speech, and yes, I totally love KG amps for Stax

 

[joseph69]

I haven't tried this yet because I don't want to harm either of my amps, and currently I don't have another XLR cable to do so…but has anyone owning both the GS-Xmk2 & BHSE ever used the XLR preamp outputs from the mk2 into the BHSE? If so, would their be any benefits to using the mk2 as a preamp for the BHSE in regards to SQ or any other advantages or disadvantages for that matter?
Thanks!

 

[astrostar59]

I haven't tried this yet because I don't want to harm either of my amps, and currently I don't have another XLR cable to do so…but has anyone owning both the GS-Xmk2 & BHSE ever used the XLR preamp outputs from the mk2 into the BHSE? If so, would their be any benefits to using the mk2 as a preamp for the BHSE in regards to SQ or any other advantages or disadvantages for that matter?
Thanks!

I would doubt adding a pre-amplifier in the mix would be better IMO. The line out of standard DACs is 2V or 6V balanced, no need to add gain. The BHSE on standard input is about 11 o'clock, any extra gain would just mean the pot needs turning down more. If you were after flavours, a tube pre may do that (some tube pre's) but not all.

 

[astrostar59]

I know that the trilogy H1 is gonna destroy any electrostatic amp that's ever been made,probably not coming to America unless special order so I wouldn't get to bothered about it because America make the best hi-fi right? Lol

You can't make such claims, ridiculous sorry. How do you 'know' indeed know anything about the rest of the better amps out their to make such a claim. Back this up with facts sir.... As for America makes best amps? Where is that coming from. I think you will find folk here are 100% open to any amps from anywhere, as long as they sound good and are well built.

 

[joseph69]

I would doubt adding a pre-amplifier in the mix would be better IMO. The line out of standard DACs is 2V or 6V balanced, no need to add gain. The BHSE on standard input is about 11 o'clock, any extra gain would just mean the pot needs turning down more. If you were after flavours, a tube pre may do that (some tube pre's) but not all.

Thank you for your reply and opinion about adding the mk2 as a preamp into the mix, and also about some tube preamps adding flavor, which is not what I'm looking for because I'm very, very pleased with what I'm hearing. I was mostly just curious if adding the mk2 would've been beneficial or not.

 

[statfi]

Back again to the May 23, 2017 Post #12117 on Page 808 and clamping force.


Rubber bands can raise the 009s to a new level of excellence, retaining their many strengths. Across the spectrum, increased clamping force improves spatial resolution, clarity of instrumental timbres and the distinction between direct and reflected sound. The last greatly improves the sense of the instruments in a real space. Bass has a lot more impact with less (!) bloat. Musical lines in complex pieces are more delineated and performers’ nuanced mastery is clearer. I think these advantages come from keeping the ear cups from moving with the music. In a similar vein, I have now found that damping the aluminum ear cups with tight cable ties improves the purity of timbres and resolution of aspects of the performance.


We are talking about a lot of force. Without rubber bands, I measured the force from the 009s on a body roughly the width of my head as 5.92oz. With the 3 thick rubber bands I have been using, for the same width, I measure 20.14oz. I make sure the 009s are not riding too far forward toward my face, so that the back of my skull supports its fair share of the added force. I chose the "3 rubber bands" because they give as much clamping as I can take !-)


In response to jcn3, I suspect that Stax, in designing the 009s, treated comfort very seriously. So maybe they chose to trade some fidelity for comfort. We can retroactively adjust that tradeoff to meet our own tastes, without dropping another $1k, $2k or $5k.


simomat in #12110 says “I finally got to hear Headamp BHSE which I didn't like with 009, I thought it was too bright”, somewhat similar to JimL11 who in #12253 finds “the SR009 a bit bright”. The reason I started playing with rubber bands is that I found the 009s to be wonderful, but on the “lite” side. Higher clamping force, I think, does not actually shift the spectrum very much, but does give the low end of the spectrum much more power and “weight” and causes upper frequency hash riding above upper harmonics to integrate into those harmonics to give less impression of excess brightness. I no longer find my 009’s to be “lite”.


Karlgerman in #12113 says “For the very short impression of the HE-1 I think it has some potential for a real deep bass and smooth, not to shrill high tone but still a lot detail.” That description is good for the 009s with increased clamping.


My analog system is far better and costlier than my digital system, so I normally listen to analog. However, I played a few hi-res files with and without rubber bands and find that digital music benefits from increased clamping as well.


Rubber bands are dirt cheap. I would like to hear from any folks who are not too classy to give them a go !-)

 

[Shure or bust]

Anyone else using a KGSS DX Edition? Mines a 2006 original unit that I paired with a Stax L700. Should I sell it and get a Woo Audio WEE instead?

 

[georgep]

Anyone else using a KGSS DX Edition? Mines a 2006 original unit that I paired with a Stax L700. Should I sell it and get a Woo Audio WEE instead?

Only if you are looking to downgrade.

 

[JimL11]

Only if you are looking to downgrade.

1+, also some of the Woo WEEs had a design flaw in their bias supply that could fry your diaphragms, according to spritzer.

 

[wink]

Anyone else using a KGSS DX Edition? Mines a 2006 original unit that I paired with a Stax L700. Should I sell it and get a Woo Audio WEE instead?

Nope, nay, nyet, nada, nix-it, non, nein, never, not ever, not in this time continuum, not in this universe, not in this existence, etc, etc, ad hoc, ad addendum, ad astra, ad nauseum, ad infinitum.

 

[bearFNF]

I would say a big no to that as well, besides needing power amp to drive the WOO WEE, the KGSS DX would be better IMO.

As far as the WOO WEE I used one for awhile and had now issues driving SR-009 and Lambda NB with it and a toppings T32.

 

[mulveling]

I'm sure that DX is a great amp, but at this point it's been passed around the community like herpes.

 

[astrostar59]

I'm sure that DX is a great amp, but at this point it's been passed around the community like herpes.

Ha Ha, like it. Best bet this side of the universe, get a DIY'er to build a decent KG amp, or buy the BHSE. Simple really. Anything else amp wise may be a compromise / mistake / something you may regret / waste your money / be bored quickly off / think the stat game is overrated. Have I missed anything? Unless the new Stax T8000 is really an improvement? Will hear it in 2 weeks.

Seriously though, look around and spend wisely.

A few years back the Woo Wes on this forum seemed to be up there with the BHSE, but it has really faded in popularity here. I don't read any recent reports on it anymore. Odd? Any users out there want to chime in?

 

[MacedonianHero]

Only if you are looking to downgrade.

Substantially....

 

[statfi]

As you can see from my moniker, I remove 3/4 of the protective slats on the outsides of my Lambdas. The 009s have much more acoustically transparent screens for protection, but I would like to see how they sound without, nevertheless.

Does anyone now what the 009's' protective screens are made from?

Could anyone point me to instructions to disassemble and reassemble the 009's?