Under the hood - Electrostatic amp photos

[Aspirant Audiophile]

You take that discussion to Head-Case.

I've seen those discussions on Head-Case, even triggered one, and those discussions revolve around one person's point of view, with a very specific tone. I wonder why a less aggressive version of such a discussion cannot happen here.

 

[paradoxper]

I've seen those discussions on Head-Case, even triggered one, and those discussions revolve around one person's point of view, with a very specific tone. I wonder why a less aggressive version of such a discussion cannot happen here.

I don't know what to tell you.

Head-Fi is a business with monetary gains so it's not really a truthful place.

DIYaudio is another platform you can learn from.

Just keep in mind that just about every verified amp in this thread comes from the pedigree of Kevin Gilmore.

 

[MilitaryHifi]

Purchased this off the classifieds. I couldn't help myself, those screws were staring at me, begging to be opened


Mjolnir KgssHV Mini

I don't know what I'm looking at, but it sure is beautiful.

 

[Mach3]

Purchased this off the classifieds. I couldn't help myself, those screws were staring at me, begging to be opened


Mjolnir KgssHV Mini



I don't know what I'm looking at, but it sure is beautiful.

Man that a tight fit

 

[MilitaryHifi]

One taste of Iceland Birgir Mjolnir KgssHv Mini, I had to reach for the top of the summit. Quickly grabbed off the classifieds when I saw it.


Mjolnir Carbon CC with Alps RK50

Best amp I have ever had the pleasure of listening too.

 

[Chefguru]

One taste of Iceland Birgir Mjolnir KgssHv Mini, I had to reach for the top of the summit. Quickly grabbed off the classifieds when I saw it.


Mjolnir Carbon CC with Alps RK50



Best amp I have ever had the pleasure of listening too.

As clean as it gets ️️️️️

 

[SolarCetacean]

Linear Tube Audio Z10e. From my personal unit.

Preamp section. Tubes are Pinnacle Foreign ECC82 (12AU7-compatible).

Power amp section. Electrostatic output is taken directly from the EL84 (or in this case 6P14P-EV) power tubes. The plate voltages are generated by the ZOTL circuit and regular headphone and speaker output go through the ZOTL output stage after the power tubes. The wires leading to the estat output can be seen at the bottom where a circuit board is labelled "Out". The bias line is purple and wrapped around the sheath for the signal wires.

Headphone output section and control board. The regular headphone outputs are underneath a small board with the LTA logo on it. On the right, with several white wires and a purple wire, is the estat output. The estat signal wires do not appear to be twisted going into the sheath; I've read that twisting signal wires in estat amps is bad due to increasing the capacitance, but as far as I can tell that's not happening here.

For the amount of complexity, and number of tubes, in this amp, the construction and workmanship look good.

 

[Svperstar]

I don't know what I'm looking at, but it sure is beautiful.

That is a very tight fit. My Blue Hawaii and Carbon both get warm to the touch, not burning hot, but warm. I got some very cheap fans off of Amazon with little feet on them and voltage control for the speed. Cost like maybe $15 total and keeps both amps room temperature even when they have been operating for hours(with the exception being the tubes on the Blue Hawaii, I mean duh but yeah)

Are you running fans on the mini?

 

[purk]

Mjolnir KGSS Klassik.

 

[mulveling]

The first KG design I built finished in Jan2013. KGSShv onboard heatsinks. Just learning about them then.

My favorite flavor of KGSShv, of the 4 or 5 I've heard. Here's mine (I didn't build it). Its sound is *chef's kiss*, at least until you compare directly to a DIY T2 or Kerry T2
Edit: I already posted it on page 1 of this thread:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/under-the-hood-electrostatic-amp-photos.967229/#post-17449484

 

[SolarCetacean]

User @evga96 has a whole bunch of amp internal photos from their classifieds listings. These are amps that have not yet been posted in this thread. All of these photos are theirs:

SRM-313 BK:

SRM-700S

SRM-323S:

SRM-717:

SRM-600 Limited:

 

[evga96]

Fun thing to share:
STAX had locked all the bolts in SRM-700S with glues that are sold in Korea, and I could've opened that one because that is a local Japanese version.

My friend had to make holes on the top of 700S to see its inside LOL

 

[Svperstar]

Mjölnir-Audio CFA electrostatic

Forgive my bad lighting