The Stax thread (New)

[spritzer]

The Malvalve looks very well built and makes the WES look very poor indeed.  I'm sure the audiophools will frown at the Epcos coupling caps and it will not rival the BHSE but I see no reason why should be a good jack of all trades.  The only thing I don't like are the switching power supplies but something's got to give to make it this small. 

 

[David1961]

Quote:

 There's a remote control for volume

 
Not that I'm lazy, but one thing I'd have liked with the BHSE I've ordered, would have been a volume remote control.

 

[TruBrew]

I agree, but I would like it because I am lazy. That is part of the reason I bought the W4S DAC-2. If I could only integrate the DAC-2's volume control into itunes.

 

[David1961]

I think there is a way round it and that's by getting a preamp with a volume remote control, but I don't know what that would do to the BHSE.  I've also ordered my BHSE with the RK50.

 

[vinyllp33]

​

I think there is a way round it and that's by getting a preamp with a volume remote control, but I don't know what that would do to the BHSE.  I've also ordered my BHSE with the RK50.

I am going to be trying this very combination very shortly; I also opted for the RK50 which to me was a no brainier.

You see I want to also use my turntable which I can run true balanced (tape-out) from my preamp but also, of course, need to run my DAC.

The most direct route would be DAC balanced into the BHSE bypassing the preamp. But then to spin vinyl I would need to remove the cables and connect to the preamp. I think this will get tiresome after my first listening session.

So I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I am going to run the BHSE 24/7 from the balanced tape out. However if I am already introducing a perceived "compromise" then the next logical step is to proceed one step further:

Pre-Out to the BHSE, this way I can use my remote for volume adjustment which would be a huge convenience as recordings are all over the map in this regard.

Now being a devout purist if any of these aforementioned combinations prove to be inferior to "direct" mode then I will do what I have to do for the most optimum sound.

YMMV.

 

[rgs9200m]

Quote:

Well, there is about 20 watts of filament power alone.
So yes it's going to run rather warm

Thanks Kevin. 
 
The nicest things to me about the Mal Valve (just in terms of functionality) that seems to make it unique are:
 
[1] It supports both Dynamic and Electrostatic phones (I believe most of the stat amps do not handle dynamics: BHSE, Woo WES, RSA A10);
[2] It has a 127-step volume control (I find the common 23-step Dact CT2 attenuator maddeningly frustrating sometimes when trying to get a precise level,
     since the early steps are 2-3db apart at more than 40db attenuation);
[3] The remote volume control (not really necessary, but sure nice to have, since it's hard to sit near a tube amp that is generating heat).

 

[verwandlung]

Quote:

 
So I have pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I am going to run the BHSE 24/7

 
Are you really sure you want to do that, seriously? What do you do for a living, if anything? (Pyromaniac) Firefighter? I am just asking!

 

[verwandlung]

Quote:

[3] The remote volume control (not really necessary, but sure nice to have, since it's hard to sit near a tube amp that is generating heat).

 
I never owned a tube amp, but is it that bad? May I ask you with what amps specifically you have been experiencing such a heat problem?

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

I never owned a tube amp, but is it that bad? 

 
Depends on the tubes and topology.  T2 burns like the sun though I'm sure the transistors are playing their part as well.  I wonder how much cooler the SS version would be. 

 

[vinyllp33]

Are you really sure you want to do that, seriously? What do you do for a living, if anything? (Pyromaniac) Firefighter? I am just asking!

No I would never dream on doing that.

I just meant that more than likely my day to day, consistent set up would be the BHSE running balanced from the tape out on my preamp so I can use both phono and digital on the fly without having to keep swapping cables.

 

[spritzer]

The BHSE has three inputs and both RCA and XLR loop outs so is should be easy enough to integrate into a system.  There is really no benefit in going with balanced over single ended as any difference will be down to how the source generates each output. 
 
My source has something which is useful for stuff like this, an analog pass through so a phono amp can be used in an all digital system. 
 
Quote:

 
Depends on the tubes and topology.  T2 burns like the sun though I'm sure the transistors are playing their part as well.  I wonder how much cooler the SS version would be. 

 
There will never be a T2 without tubes so you'll always have the hungry EL34's to content with.  A ss driver stage would save a whopping 7W in filament power but probably make up for it with extra constant current sources. 
 
Most of the heat generated by either the BHSE or the T2 is indeed from the transistors.  High bias current Class A will always generate a lot of heat even when the ultimate output power is miniscule as is the case here.  Old school tube amp design also gives off a lot of heat in resistors and inductors but at lower performance. 

 

[rgs9200m]

Quote:

 
I never owned a tube amp, but is it that bad? May I ask you with what amps specifically you have been experiencing such a heat problem?

Actually mine aren't that bad (Stax 007t, Pinnacle, RSA B52), that's why I said not really necessary, and if I do sit a few feet away and need to get up and adjust things 
it's better for me anyway. 
But some of the tubed amps I don't own I tried at demonstrations were annoyingly hot, and I could never deal with them close up.

 

[sachu]

Any Class A amp is going to be running fairly hot.

 

[rgs9200m]

Quote:

Any Class A amp is going to be running fairly hot.

Do you mean like Pass (speaker) amps and Beta 22s?

 

[anetode]

If you're worried about heat, just get an SRM-252/SRM-300, or a D class to transformer setup. A 50-something watt ss stax amp isn't that bad, my mousepad is right next to mine and my hand never gets warm from it.