Where is Singlepower? Where is Mikhail?

[Frihed89]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4N6 /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's also not a "hydrostatic" amp!

Woops. They are harder to build.

Why are electrostatic headphones so hard to drive well, as I guess they must be? Or is that they are also very sensitive and even small amounts of distortion are easy to hear?

I have only just learned how to stick different parts into amps, i don't have an idea how to build them. So far so good.

 

[earwicker7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frihed89 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Woops. They are harder to build. Why are electrostatic headphones so hard to drive well, as I guess they must be? Or is that they are also very sensitive and even small amounts of distortion are easy to hear? I have only just learned how to stick different parts into amps, i don't have an idea how to build them. So far so good.

They operate on a completely different principle than dynamic headphones; instead of being voltage based, they're current based. If you're just starting to build amps, I wouldn't try an electrostatic amp; supposedly they can kill you pretty easily (that's not a joke!).

As to their higher price, I think it's basically supply and demand; there are very few companies that make stats, so the ones that do come out are in high demand.

 

[Icarium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by earwicker7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif As to their higher price, I think it's basically supply and demand; there are very few companies that make stats, so the ones that do come out are in high demand.

i don't think this is why. I think it has more to do with difficulty of build/complexity of a decent design.

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by earwicker7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif They operate on a completely different principle than dynamic headphones; instead of being voltage based, they're current based. If you're just starting to build amps, I wouldn't try an electrostatic amp; supposedly they can kill you pretty easily (that's not a joke!). As to their higher price, I think it's basically supply and demand; there are very few companies that make stats, so the ones that do come out are in high demand.

Electrostatic amps are high voltage not high current .... and the high voltage is what is makes electrostatic amps so potentially lethal.

 

[cyd2025]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sacd lover /img/forum/go_quote.gif Electrostatic amps are high voltage not high current .... and the high voltage is what is makes electrostatic amps so potentially lethal.

the killer is really the current which flows through the voltage...

v = i x r

i = v/r

high voltage can contain negligible current/amperage = live (e.g. static shock)
but minimal current of about 40mA thru the heart can cause miocardial infarction

 

[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by takezo /img/forum/go_quote.gif the killer is really the current which flows through the voltage... v = i x r i = v/r high voltage can contain negligible current/amperage = live (e.g. static shock) but minimal current of about 40mA thru the heart can cause miocardial infarction

Bu, in an amp there is lots of both. Higher voltage will make what current is there get there in full force.

 

[cyd2025]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sacd lover /img/forum/go_quote.gif But in an amp there is lots of both. High voltage will make what current is there get there in full force.

i see what you're getting at... and you're absolutely right.

 

[earwicker7]

Looks like I may have failed electricity 101.

 

[n_maher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by earwicker7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Looks like I may have failed electricity 101.

Fear not, you're in good company.

 

[Frihed89]

Quote:

Originally Posted by earwicker7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif They operate on a completely different principle than dynamic headphones; instead of being voltage based, they're current based. If you're just starting to build amps, I wouldn't try an electrostatic amp; supposedly they can kill you pretty easily (that's not a joke!).

I think with electrostats (maybe hydrostats, too) load and frequency are directly related. So, if you had a high current amp, you would fry your output stage.

Isn't that why transformer-coupled tube amps can tame reactive loads?

 

[Fing]

I'd like a hydrostatic amp.

On a more serious note, good advice about 'limiting the scope' when talking to Mikhail about building a custom amp or repairs.

He doesn't exploit our weakness so much as indulge his addiction to tinkering and then getting us to pay for it.

Dan's example is extreme but probably not unusual and I have to say I'd feel rather upset with how far Mikhail has pushed it with him if the same happened with me.

I hope he and Tom (and Rob) have happy endings to their long waits. Good luck guys.

Oh yes - I'm waiting for a Concerto XLR, ordered in Feb this year after picking up an HE90. Decided to go SS PSU as I didn't have room on my desk for the tube one - probably just as well. I expect it towards the end of 2009/beginning of 2010

 

[Icarium]

I wouldn't even say my example is all that extreme. I think Tom's is much scarier

Interesting he always tell me there's only ~4 big ticket amps on his plate and that he is almost through them, but with your concerto the number I know about increases to at least 6 (I am not even counting mine since its basically done or wahtever). Maybe his definition is different from mine.

 

[tom hankins]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Icarium /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wouldn't even say my example is all that extreme. I think Tom's is much scarier Interesting he always tell me there's only ~4 big ticket amps on his plate and that he is almost through them, but with your concerto the number I know about increases to at least 6 (I am not even counting mine since its basically done or wahtever). Maybe his definition is different from mine.

I have been using the amp in my speaker system comparing it to a BAT VK-42se. It is very nice, but so is the BAT(for more $$$). Will decide who stays and who goes after the new PSU gets here. The only headphones I have here are SE 650s.

 

[Rob N]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom hankins /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have been using the amp in my speaker system comparing it to a BAT VK-42se. It is very nice, but so is the BAT(for more $$$). Will decide who stays and who goes after the new PSU gets here. The only headphones I have here are SE 650s.

Glad to hear that it's okay.Gives me hope that mine (whenever it gets delivered) will be okay although mine is a more complicated design

 

[jamato8]

Actually the current doesn't cause an infarct, an infarct is a cessation of the flow of blood which causes death of the tissue, but it is the depolarization of the heart muscle, as in a flat line. I often will use 20 to 30 mA's on a heart to keep it beating right but done out of sync, well it ain't fun because a depolarized heart can not be shocked back as there is nothing to shock to cause a beat i.e., nothing to depolarize.