[svyr]

There are reports that the 252S has a higher gain. In fact, on a German forum, someone hinted that the gain was set too high on the 252S and that they were experiencing distortion.......
 
 

On the two pages above S is listed as 58DB and A as 54DB. I'm not too sure if it's the gain being set to high for the people on the Ger forums, since I've had 252A clip on some source material (generally the material that wasn't normalized or vol leveled with low singal level, where you had to turn the vol knob past about 2 o'clock). spritzer and kevin said I was clipping it at the psu rails, I think.

 

[milosz]

RE:  ESP-950's driven by good ES amp
 
Quote:

 


See my last post for my opinions on that.
As for sounding as good as 02's? No way.
I've only heard Omegas a couple of times, once on n3rdling's Blue Hawaii.
I've never heard better. ESP-950's dont come close.
 
But hey, I picked up my ESP-950 setup new for $500.
I have no regrets, they are a great sounding stat for the money.
 

I was bidding on  a set of the '02's, MK I, on Audiogon a week or so ago.  My attention lapsed and the last minutes of the auction went by without my participation, they went for $1,750.00 or so.  I WANT A PAIR!   WAH! WAH! 

 
  $1,700~$1,850 seems to be a price that used copies often sell for.  Although most owners want more, they don't seem to always get it.
 

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

I was bidding on  a set of the '02's, MK I, on Audiogon a week or so ago.  My attention lapsed and the last minutes of the auction went by without my participation, they went for $1,750.00 or so.  I WANT A PAIR!   WAH! WAH! 

 
  $1,700~$1,850 seems to be a price that used copies often sell for.  Although most owners want more, they don't seem to always get it.
 

 
I think I paid around $1400 for mine last year. The price seems to have gone up several hundred since then, although the same could be said for the current O2 Mk2 which is now $2650.
 
 

 

[Amarphael]

Quote:

They are ok, nice sound for the money. I do like my Stax better.
I think the ESP-950's sound decent with the cheapo plastic energizer box that they came with.
The only benefit driving them with the KGSSHV is that the bass is stronger, that is a good thing for stats.
 

You have the 202's IIRC? Are they actually preferable to the 950's with the KGSSHV in your opnion? Seems a rare notion beacuse all other comments i read thus far suggest that the Koss outclass any lambda, Except the 507 maybe, with a hige-end amp such as the KGSS.
 

 

[livewire]

 
Quote:

You have the 202's IIRC? Are they actually preferable to the 950's with the KGSSHV in your opnion? Seems a rare notion beacuse all other comments i read thus far suggest that the Koss outclass any lambda, Except the 507 maybe, with a hige-end amp such as the KGSS.
 

Yes & No.
The KGSSHV tends to overdrive the 202's causing distortion when pushed to a SPL above 95dB.
I do prefer the sound of the Basic Lambdas when driven by their own amp. (280v vs 450v rails on the KGSSHV)
The Koss do exceed them in terms of bass slam, but the traits of the Lambda prove more desirable to me.
Higher treble, more "airiness", larger soundstage and other minutia which I cant think of at the moment because I am very tired.
The Koss do have their place in my stable. Heavy rock with massive drums.
Example: Krypteria - "At The Gates Of Retribution". Oh yeah!!!!!
 

 

[FrankCooter]

The Koss 950's kind of fly under the radar around here, but if you get past the well documented build quality issues, they're really quite an excellent headphone for the money. I own a pair and also own Lambda Sig's, SR-303, and 507's. I prefer the 507's overall, but definitely prefer the Koss to the lesser Lambda's. A very nice "poor man's" electrostatic rig could be built around the  950's.
Sonic signature reminds me a bit of the original Omega's. Maybe a bit less detail than the Lambda's, but more than made up by a fuller midrange and meatier dynamics. Makes you wonder what the Koss people could do if they put thier mind to it!

 

[Double F]

Quote:

RE:  ESP-950's driven by good ES amp
 

I was bidding on  a set of the '02's, MK I, on Audiogon a week or so ago.  My attention lapsed and the last minutes of the auction went by without my participation, they went for $1,750.00 or so.  I WANT A PAIR!   WAH! WAH! 

 
  $1,700~$1,850 seems to be a price that used copies often sell for.  Although most owners want more, they don't seem to always get it.
 

Glad your attention lapsed....Allowed me to get them for $1,675 plus shipping

   The seller, Osakaears. has them listed frequently.  They arrived quickly and and in perfect shape.  Good luck, a pair should pop up soon.

 

[lyricsuite]

I recently posted about torn dustcovers on the inside of my normal bias Lambdas. I tried kitchen plastic film as a repair. It works but I think it's really only usable as a last resort. Some immediacy is lost.
 
I have since then replaced the dustcovers with 2 micron mylar 'transparent foil' ordered in the UK from the supplier below. This works beautifully! (It's a little hard to handle and tears easily, but once it's on it should be completely fine.
 
http://www.freeflightsupplies.co.uk/lightweight.htm
 
I hope this helps someone else with a repair!

 

[milosz]

Quote:

 
I think I paid around $1400 for mine last year. The price seems to have gone up several hundred since then, although the same could be said for the current O2 Mk2 which is now $2650.
 
 

 
Want to sell- $1,500? $1,600? 

 
 

 

[milosz]

Quote:

Glad your attention lapsed....Allowed me to get them for $1,675 plus shipping

   The seller, Osakaears. has them listed frequently.  They arrived quickly and and in perfect shape.  Good luck, a pair should pop up soon.

Hahahah- that'll teach me to leave my computer for something so mundane as SLEEPING and EATING....  
 
 

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

Want to sell- $1,500? $1,600? 

Nope, I'm having a KGSS-HV built and these aren't going anywhere... not until I can afford a SR-009 at least. Then maybe we'll talk.
 

 

[Amarphael]

Quote:

Originally Posted by livewire /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Yes & No.
The KGSSHV tends to overdrive the 202's causing distortion when pushed to a SPL above 95dB.
I do prefer the sound of the Basic Lambdas when driven by their own amp. (280v vs 450v rails on the KGSSHV)
The Koss do exceed them in terms of bass slam, but the traits of the Lambda prove more desirable to me.
Higher treble, more "airiness", larger soundstage and other minutia which I cant think of at the moment because I am very tired.
The Koss do have their place in my stable. Heavy rock with massive drums.
Example: Krypteria - "At The Gates Of Retribution". Oh yeah!!!!!
 

 
Intresting comments, I thought the ESP950 would be at least as good as the SR202... In comparison to the SR-007A i do find their upper mids/treble response more exciting for music such as the song you refered to... (Cool band btw, Very pleased to make the acquaintance ) but that's about the only thing tbh. Is the ESP950 tough to drive than the 202?
Btw, Somehow i thought the KGSSHV outputs much more than 450V on the rails, doesn't it reach close to a kilovolt somewhere?

 
 

 

[livewire]

 
Quote:

 
Intresting comments, I thought the ESP950 would be at least as good as the SR202... In comparison to the SR-007A i do find their upper mids/treble response more exciting for music such as the song you refered to... (Cool band btw, Very pleased to make the acquaintance ) but that's about the only thing tbh. Is the ESP950 tough to drive than the 202?
Btw, Somehow i thought the KGSSHV outputs much more than 450V on the rails, doesn't it reach close to a kilovolt somewhere?

 
 

Most think that the ESP950 is better than the SR202. Primarily I'm a treble-head, so the 202 suits me better.
But the 202 is bass lite, so for some genres with thundering bass I prefer the ESP-950. So I like them both for what they are.
Someday I will be able to afford one stat that will do both treble & bass well with the micro-detail of the Lambda, I guess that is what I am saying.
 
The ESP-950 is not real tough to drive like the O2's are, although they do benefit from a more powerful amp.
 
The KGSSHV can be built as a 450V version or a 500V version.
Better heatsinking and higher voltage withstanding components are critical on the 500V build.
 
When you say "doesn't it reach close to a kilovolt somewhere", one must consider the overall voltage differential between the positive and negative rails.
That would be 900V RMS for the 450V version (+450V to -450V diff.) and 1000V RMS for the 500V version.
 


 
 

 

[Amarphael]

Quote:

When you say "doesn't it reach close to a kilovolt somewhere", one must consider the overall voltage differential between the positive and negative rails.
That would be 900V RMS for the 450V version (+450V to -450V diff.) and 1000V RMS for the 500V version.

Thanks, that makes much more sense.  

 

[spritzer]

The trick with the ESP950 is really to play with the damping.  I think Koss took things a bit too far in that regard so cutting down on the layers may bring some good improvements.