[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraseyboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think the hissing which I am hearing through the Gamma Pro's is in fact from my speaker amp, not the energizer or anything else, since it goes away when the volume on the speaker amp is turned to zero. It's quite annoying. Is there any cheap speaker amp which can be used to drive an SRD-7 MK 2 without sounding crap, or would it be cheaper to just try find an SRM-1/MK2?

My SRD-7 Mk2 is very easy to drive compared to my K1000. It sounds great with O2 Mk1 and Mk2, Jade, EDP950, HE60 and Lambdas with the following cost effective amps: Travagans Red 5-watts with AD743 opamps, Qinpu A-3 8-watts (from head-direct) and Nuforce Icon 12-watts. The Travagans is a little airier and the A-3 is a little warmer, and the Nuforce is a little bassier (with more prominent mids). For O2, I would take any of these plus an SRD-7 Mk2 or SRD-7 Pro over an SRM-T1 or SRM-1 Mk2 Pro. For anything else the other two were great. Gasp!

 

[fraseyboy]

Ah, cool then. That could be an option in the future if I ever recover from spending that much money on headphones

By the way, what is the difference between the SRD-7 Pro and the SRD-7 MK2 anyway? Apart from that the MK2 looks nicer

Thanks!

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraseyboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ah, cool then. That could be an option in the future if I ever recover from spending that much money on headphones By the way, what is the difference between the SRD-7 Pro and the SRD-7 MK2 anyway? Apart from that the MK2 looks nicer Thanks!

Someone once said the Mk2 has better quality parts, but I have a hard time hearing a difference. My Mk2 has a Pro and Normal Bias jack, and is self biasing. My Pro uses 110v wall plug and has 2 pro bias jacks. The speaker terminals on the back of the Pro allow me to plug in banana plugs and listen to my K1000, while the Mk2 has terminals too small for my to insert the K1000 banana plugs. Most of the time I am using the Pro in my bedroom rig, while the GES is in my living room rig, and the Mk2 is for the basement rig.

 

[fraseyboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif Someone once said the Mk2 has better quality parts, but I have a hard time hearing a difference. My Mk2 has a Pro and Normal Bias jack, and is self biasing. My Pro uses 110v wall plug and has 2 pro bias jacks. The speaker terminals on the back of the Pro allow me to plug in banana plugs and listen to my K1000, while the Mk2 has terminals too small for my to insert the K1000 banana plugs. Most of the time I am using the Pro in my bedroom rig, while the GES is in my living room rig, and the Mk2 is for the basement rig.

I see.

Do you think there's anything I can can do to minimize hiss from my current speaker amp, like grounding or something? It's pretty high quality (NAD T744). The hiss isn't present in speakers coming direct from the amp.

Also, I'm using the SRD-7 from the Speaker B outputs, so having speakers plugged in to the SRD-7 itself is not necessary since it's the only thing on Speaker B. All my other speakers are on Speaker A. Would this affect anything?

 

[webbie64]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just the cable.

..and, hate to state the obvious, the resultant sound

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraseyboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Also, I'm using the SRD-7 from the Speaker B outputs, so having speakers plugged in to the SRD-7 itself is not necessary since it's the only thing on Speaker B. All my other speakers are on Speaker A. Would this affect anything?

fraseyboy, how about just trying out swapping the SRD-7 to speaker A terminals and your speakers to speaker B terminals? Strictly there shouldn't be a difference but in these sort of situations sometimes it's best to get pedantically methodical to track down the exact cause of the hiss.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leaf /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree too. Reading through the stax forum really gives one the feel that he had contributed a lot.

I can also think of no greater contributor than spritzer. However I wonder whether he wants an ES-1 when he's so set on his two KGBHs that he's constructing? I guess he could always sell it (perhaps after using it whilst completing the KGBHs - assuming he preferred it to his Supercharged Egmont?)

 

[The Monkey]

Has anyone heard back from Yama's recently?

 

[spritzer]

Well my 717 decided that today was a good day to not switch the relays on the output so something is very wrong inside the amp.

I powers up and the bias supply works too so either there is too much DC on the output or the relays are fubar. There are also a circuit which senses if there is a short on the signal wiring so that could have triggered. Time to do some fault finding...

As for the ES-1, Kane's generosity never ceases to amaze me. I did drop him a line since it would be a great opportunity to rebuild one of these amps to their full glory and document what needs to be done for those that will have to service these amps later on. Having seen inside pictures of many of them, they will drop like flies in the future. That is certain.

 

[tako_tsubo]

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f5/any...xtreme-427519/

Yea...the community has really pitched in to help in this case.

The Singlepower amps are going to see more "outages" and it is a shame.

A running record of the innards of the ES1 and its fix/upgrade parts ( will it need any?

) would be very useful to the DIY'ers that are capable of taking on a similar project in the future.
Spritzer is certainly capable and knowledgeable in Staxen ways. Whoever does receive this fine gift should at least open it up and take macros.

 

[spritzer]

The good thing about the ES-1 (and ES-2 for that matter since they are identical) is that we know what's wrong with them. The bad part is that it is neither easy to fix nor cheap given the way the amps were built. The case has to be gutted and some holes enlarged plus some new ones drilled.

Edit: Ohhh and I got the 717 working for now. It appears to be a bit touchy about something so I have to rip it apart...

 

[Faust2D]

ES-1 has one thing going for it, it's a beautiful amp. Sad that so many of the seem to have design and construction issues. It seems however that some were made well and are still working without any issues.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Afrikane /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a Singlepower ES-1 amp gathering dust in storage; if any of you know of a die-hard stat maven that could use this amp I would appreciate a PM. Other than splitting the cost of shipping I am not looking for any money for it; gratis in other words.

Wow! Kane, your generosity have no like around here...

My you find a deserving new home for it, at a dedicated member of "Team Stax"...

 

[Duggeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Edit: Ohhh and I got the 717 working for now. It appears to be a bit touchy about something so I have to rip it apart...

Duggeh does not like hearing about 717 amps behaving badly. It makes Duggeh fret.

 

[ironbut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer /img/forum/go_quote.gif As for the ES-1, Kane's generosity never ceases to amaze me. I did drop him a line since it would be a great opportunity to rebuild one of these amps to their full glory and document what needs to be done for those that will have to service these amps later on. Having seen inside pictures of many of them, they will drop like flies in the future. That is certain.

That's kind of along the lines I was thinking about spritzer.
With the disappearance of Mikhail from the face of the earth, I think that someone either needs to be found or someone here needs to step up to the plate and do their best to learn enough about the SP amps that they'll be able to service and upgrade them in the future. Having the opportunity to open up and live with an ES-1, the big balanced amps , and any "maxed out" SP amp is going to be priceless for anyone with an interest and knowledge to set up such an service.

 

[Afrikane]

Well, the Staxen have spoken and made some very fine nominations for me to consider. Considering the strength of the field this is going to be much harder than I anticipated; it might come down to a poll drawn from a short list if I find myself at an impasse.

I am calling time on any further nominations, I have serious contenders to mull already and do not wish to drag proceedings on ad nauseam. Thank you for your assistance thus far.

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif Duggeh does not like hearing about 717 amps behaving badly. It makes Duggeh fret.

Ditto. I'm still debating turning it off to check what is actually wrong since it works right now...

It only eats about 50w so keeping in on indefinitely is an option.