[astrostar59]

   
I think you will end up missing the Hex in the long run. I sold my BDA-2 pretty quickly after hearing the Hex for a few days...there was no going back. 

I agree. The source is as important as the headphones when you get to this level. IMO the reason the HEX sounds so good is the No Oversampling architecture of it, plus the parts qualities in the PS and output boards. I gave up on the over sampling BS a few years ago, it makes the sound so synthetic and plastic. NOS DACs get closer to the source IMO.
 
The Audio Note DACs are also amazing NOS types, plus they have tubes, which I think gets them to an even higher level.

 

[richard51]

dear "connoisseurs" of Stax,i had 2 questions: the first  what is your impressions of the Lambda nova basic headphone and of the amp SRM-Xh ? what is a right pricing for that compared to the new basic stax system and what is the difference in sound between the two ....  i had also the occasion to purchase the stax sr 5 , and i want to know if some of you liked it really and what is the amp that you recommended with it?

 

[Tachikoma]

I like the SR-5   which isn't picky as far as amplification goes, as long as it has a normal bias port.

 

[Ali-Pacha]

SR-5 is a lovey "all-for-the-mids" pair of cans. My first Stax ever, BTW, listened to them in 1979 at first.
Just got my hand on SR-Gamma pro pair : extension, kick, details...love them ! 

 
 
Ali

 

[marcoarment]

In case anyone's interested — I know it's been months since I posted in this thread — I decided to leave the electrostatic world and sell my SR-009 and KGSSHV. Good deal if you're looking for a cheap(er) way into that setup.
 
Thanks for all of the help and advice earlier this year.

 

[paradoxper]

How that didn't sell at the meet. NY's bunch of cheapos. 

 

[marcoarment]

  How that didn't sell at the meet. NY's bunch of cheapos. 

Yeah, I was really hoping not to have to ship them. Oh well. Everyone seemed to think my prices were great, but nobody had the money for it right now. (Can't really blame them.)

 

[jhellow]

  In the BHSE thread, I noticed JHellow saying how much he liked the KT77's in his amp, and doubt there would be a need for another set of tubes (page 164).
 
Then I noticed he also posted something asking if Justin was able to find out what's wrong with his amp (page 392).
 
I wonder if there's any coincidence to this?

Unclear what the cause of the fault was.  I had gone back to the Big Bottle GE 6CA7s to listen to differences.  Shortly thereafter, the right warm up light would not come on and output became non-existent.  I waited for Justin to open a spot in his schedule and shipped the amp out.  He never really could trace the problem and this week ended up replacing the main board.  I should have the amp back in a week or so.  Ended up upgrading to the RK50 from the DACT as those were on the boards he had available.  So we'll see, but per Justin's request I won't be reinstalling the KT77s although they measure perfectly.  Perhaps real KT77s push the BHSE a bit to hard.  But not worth taking the chance.  The original GE 6CA7s test fine as well.
 
I went with the DACT originally because it seemed the cleaner signal path.  But I never did like the attenuation characteristic and almost always listened at the 6-7 PM position.  
 
Justin went above and beyond on this folks so no would should worry about support.  It may take a while, but with Justin its always first rate construction and service.
 
Now shopping for tubes.  Suggestions welcome.  Thinking about the Pavane 6CA7TIIs.  Read that the Pavane EL34sPHs have reliability issues.  I also have a pair of original EL34 XF 2s single getter and may try to find a similar pair to use with them.

 

[mulveling]

If you're concerned about tube reliability I wouldn't consider Chinese power tubes -- even the "good" ones. The Great Britain Mullards or Holland Amperex/Philips, even used when screened by a trusty tube dealer, are amazingly reliable and long-lived and sound awesome.

 

[Golfnutz]

My understanding is there's very little difference between the single and double XF2 getter's. Some claim the OO have a bit better bass, but I haven't heard the single O's to compare. I have a feeling you'd have a hard time telling the two apart. I agree with the above post, the NOS tubes are really the way to go (or good used NOS). My EL34PH's lasted 2500 hours before they died. By comparison that would be 4 quads of them to equal the 10,000 hour rating for NOS as some people claim they're capable of. If you do the math, the NOS should be cheaper in the long run (obviously there's no guarantee you'll get 10,000 hours). NOS tubes sound better than the newer made tubes as well (IMO).

 

[georgep]

Unclear what the cause of the fault was.  I had gone back to the Big Bottle GE 6CA7s to listen to differences.  Shortly thereafter, the right warm up light would not come on and output became non-existent.  I waited for Justin to open a spot in his schedule and shipped the amp out.  He never really could trace the problem and this week ended up replacing the main board.  I should have the amp back in a week or so.  Ended up upgrading to the RK50 from the DACT as those were on the boards he had available.  So we'll see, but per Justin's request I won't be reinstalling the KT77s although they measure perfectly.  Perhaps real KT77s push the BHSE a bit to hard.  But not worth taking the chance.  The original GE 6CA7s test fine as well.

I went with the DACT originally because it seemed the cleaner signal path.  But I never did like the attenuation characteristic and almost always listened at the 6-7 PM position.  

Justin went above and beyond on this folks so no would should worry about support.  It may take a while, but with Justin its always first rate construction and service.

Now shopping for tubes.  Suggestions welcome.  Thinking about the Pavane 6CA7TIIs.  Read that the Pavane EL34sPHs have reliability issues.  I also have a pair of original EL34 XF 2s single getter and may try to find a similar pair to use with them.

Measuring perfectly on a tube tester doesn't mean they didn't ruin your bhse. From what I have read kt77 are not identical to the el34 spec-wise, and second that you act at your own peril when you drop in Chinese or Russian made kt77s. Stick with what is spec'd and you should be fine. Go ahead and try the older el34s, but don't stray from the spec. Even some 6ca7 have a different internal structure to a true el34.

 

[jhellow]

These are not Russian or Chinese copies of KT77s. They are the real deal.  But I am not taking a chance.  Justin seems fine with 6CA7s.  But I am going to end up with some original EL-34 XF2s if I can find a good quad.

 

[georgep]

Sure but "real deal" kt77 are still not identical to el34.

 

[jhellow]

I get that.  But in the old days,  Marantz Model 9s and 8bs, in every instance where I have used vintage KT77s instead of EL-34s the improvements were consistent and the choice of tube never an issue.  There are numerous articles from the period that indicate they are drop in replacements.  But you are right, there are differences.  In the case of my BHSE, Justin was not able to identify a tube related issue and never could specifically identify the fault, even after months of looking.  So we don't know what caused the problem, but I am certainly not going to take a chance with it.

 

[georgep]

Yeah, there are a lot of drop in replacements that still have different voltage attributes. The thing with the bhse is that it wasn't designed for tube rolling - people should just be aware of the risks.