The Stax thread (New)

[TMoney]

Quote:

It's here!

 

 

Hot damn, boy! Those panels look amazing. Enjoy!
 

 

[n3rdling]

Congrats, Dave.  How do you like the O2s from it compared to your old amp (717?) ?  You should go to the SoCal meet this summer

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

Congrats, Dave.  How do you like the O2s from it compared to your old amp (717?) ?  You should go to the SoCal meet this summer

Thanks. Don't know yet, I'm doing a test run with nothing connected right now to make sure it's working as it should. I'll fire it up with the O2s in the morning. SoCal is a little bit far, the other side of the country in fact. I'm in NY.
 

 

[n3rdling]

Oops, for some reason I thought you lived in SoCal heh.  Btw, is there any reason you didn't add RCA input or an extra output?

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

Oops, for some reason I thought you lived in SoCal heh.  Btw, is there any reason you didn't add RCA input or an extra output?

The amp is balanced, and my source has a balanced output, so I didn't really see a need for RCA jacks. Making it XLR only also allowed for shorter signal paths, and removed the need for any sort of switch which probably wouldn't be sonically transparent. I only have my O2 Mk1, so there wasn't really any need for another output either. I also originally planned on using hyper expensive VH OCC silver to the headphone socket, and a second socket would've added a lot more cost on that front. The VH ended up not liking 580V, so it now has Furutech OCC copper to the socket.
 

 

[kevin gilmore]

really good rca to xlr adapters available at mouser for about $5 each.
Much better way to do it.  That way, you can't hook up both at the same
time and cause trouble.

 

[spritzer]

4PDT ON-ON switch takes care of the idiot factor.  Common ground but that's not a big deal. 
 
On the subject of built to order KGSSHV's, there are people out there offering amps without having the slightest clue what they are doing.  These amps are not only dangerous to the end user but they will also not work correctly compared to a properly built unit.  Now this is a design released to the public so there is nothing we can do about it so I implore people to be careful who they are dealing with and get high resolution pictures of the amps before shipping. 

 

[sachu]

pretty looking amp there Dave. Got a pic of the internals?
 
Curious as to why the builder chose to have inputs on either side of the AC input, apart from the symmetrical aesthetic factor, which is sort of moot considering that it is on the rear panel.
 
Are you running dual mono config using dual power supply boards and transformers?.
 
What is the output bias is your amp running by the way? I remember the standard being 5mA as posted by KG on some thread. 
 
Tell me that isn't so with your amp, especially with the offboard sinks. I'd be running close to 18-20mA if I had the right spec sinks.
 

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

pretty looking amp there Dave. Got a pic of the internals?
 
Curious as to why the builder chose to have inputs on either side of the AC input, apart from the symmetrical aesthetic factor, which is sort of moot considering that it is on the rear panel.
 
Are you running dual mono config using dual power supply boards and transformers?.
 
What is the output bias is your amp running by the way? I remember the standard being 5mA as posted by KG on some thread. 
 
Tell me that isn't so with your amp, especially with the offboard sinks. I'd be running close to 18-20mA if I had the right spec sinks.

Thanks. I came up with the front panel design as a sort of homage to the Krell MRA. Not sure if anybody picked up on that. The amp boards are side mounted with the transformer in the rear middle of the case, which I think is why he opted to configure the back panel that way. I'm not sure what the output bias is, I can ask.
 

 

 

 

[sachu]

Very nice. 
 
Must confess, the krell reference i do not see in the front panel. 
 
Nonetheless, its a great design you came up with.  Best of the KGSSHV panel designs i have seen thus far.
 
Is that a Modushop chassis?
 
And a AMB e24 board i see next to the transformer and a relay on the other side ?
 
Looks like a horio build to me.  
 
How are you liking the amp by the way?

 

[sachu]

Quote:

4PDT ON-ON switch takes care of the idiot factor.  Common ground but that's not a big deal. 
 

 
Yeah, but wiring that thing up is a PITA. Did that on one build , will never do that again. I like to keep it simple these days, single set of inputs (RCA or balanced) and maybe a loop out.

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

How are you liking the amp by the way?

It's superb, way better than my SRM-717. Slightly disappointing that I wasn't able to use the VH silver on the headphone socket, but what can you do. At least all of the signal wiring is still VH silver/airlok. The Khozmo SA rocks, the 1dB steps are perfect. I've read in some places that the through hole Khozmos are supposedly very stiff, but I'm not sure what everyone is on about, my sample at least turns extremely easily.
 
Next step is a new fuse. I'll probably order a bunch, the Furutech, Audio-Magic, and a couple of the different Hifi Tuning models and see what sounds best.
 
 

 

[sachu]

I prefer copper myself. I just end up using the standard PTFE, teflon coated Belden SPC wire..
 
I was supposed to at one point go pick up some hook up wire Ken from ALO AUdio was hand weaving for this purpose. Might get around to that some day
 
For whatever reason, good silver cables are harder to come by than copper cables. The really good silver cables cost way too much money.
 
I like the switchcraft XLRs you chose for your amp.
 
I wanted to use them in my amp too, but ended up sticking to the Neutriks.  THose switchcrafts do look mighty fine
 
 
And agreed on the Khozmo SA. I built one other stat amp recently that was identical to mine save for the fact it used the Khozmo as against the TKD i have in mine. This was the only difference between the two amps so it was a rare opportunity to compare two high quality volume quad gang control devices. The Khozmo stepped attenuator sounded a tad better in detail retrieval compared to the TKD. THe TKD did have a noticeably warmer sound which i gravitated towards. Very impressed with the Khozmo however. If not for the fact i was able to get arnaud to source me the TKD, i would have gone for the Khozmo. Smooth operation as well.

 

[DaveBSC]

I agree with you on good silver v. good copper. Very high quality OCC copper can be had for a couple of bucks a foot (Neotech, Furutech, etc). The VH silver/airlok is among the best silver hookup wire that's readily available, but it's not cheap by any stretch. The 18AWG I ordered for the headphone socket was $25/ft and I ended up not using any of it. Fortunately I didn't buy that much of it. I'll probably offer what I have in the cable sale forums.
 
The XLR jacks aren't Switchcraft, they are Furutech FP-682F rhodium over copper. The IEC inlet is a Furutech FI-09. The Khozmo is the Takmans REX + Vishay Z-foil version. When I bought it the Vishay PTF version was $650... I think, and I didn't want to spend quite that much. I think a $500 volume control is more than plenty. I briefly considered an RK50, but when I was looking getting one for less than like $900 wasn't much of a possibility, and the Khozmo is of course still way more accurate in terms of balance for what it's worth. 
 

 

[akwok]

 
Quote:

4PDT ON-ON switch takes care of the idiot factor.  Common ground but that's not a big deal. 
 
On the subject of built to order KGSSHV's, there are people out there offering amps without having the slightest clue what they are doing.  These amps are not only dangerous to the end user but they will also not work correctly compared to a properly built unit.  Now this is a design released to the public so there is nothing we can do about it so I implore people to be careful who they are dealing with and get high resolution pictures of the amps before shipping. 

These people also seem to be charging ridiculous amounts of money for shoddily built KGSSHVs -- somewhere north of $3800.  I doubt even a KGSSHV built by reputable companies like HeadAmp would require that much money.