tbh, its kinda hard not to suck it off. There just arent all that many good stax amps out there that can actualy be demoed. While I have 0 doubt there is better out there its pretty far and away the best stax amp ive heard and its not even close. Basicaly everything I know of that may give it a run for the money/beat it is utterly undemoable unless you happen to sweet talk an owner.
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Entirely fair
I think some of the characteristics on it are fairly desirable, but for me I just couldn’t live with it and preferred other options. But it’s still a good amp and worthwhile looking into it
You just have to be in the right place for a demo, you basically have to live near the mfg lol
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While I think I could live with it I do have some major gripes. Predominantly I just hate how narrow the things is tbh. I feel like estats in general do airy and grand staging better than almost any conventional can (HD800S and Soli P are the only cans ive heard compete) and BHSE has a real propensity to just wipe out that stage. If I could get BHSE tonality with WES stage I think i would be right around exactly what im looking for. Also, I cant confirm it as I havent heard a better stax amp, but I get the feeling the BHSE is pretty lacking is texture and grit tbh. Its better than the cheaper stuff ive heard but it feels missing to me compaired to what I know the dacs Ive used with it can do.
and be in constant contact. I think ive figured out some demos of some kerry DIY stuff when I make the estat jump but 3es and basically all the other TOTL energizers are just off the table demo wise even when offering to fly out to try shit.
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My biggest complaints with the amp are:
- Strong lack in microdynamics, this is what really puts me off the most
- Smaller stage and overall more flat dimensionally, things are sharp and placed well but there’s just not much space
- Texture isn’t the best, while resolving power is good, it doesn’t feel tangible
And I think those 3 things just kill the experience for me considering the price and other options at that price. That being said, it’s still a lot better than most estat amps, and it’s positives are still wins overall, it’s not an overall bad amp or anything, it just doesn’t really focus on what I personally like
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Well consider me mildly shocked I managed to identify the same issues you did while never actually hearing a stax amp that did any of them (besides stage width) better. Just a curious question, but have you even heard anything that is better than BHSE at the same price? It kinda seems to me like to get a solid stax amp you need to get either real close to 5 figures or maybe even break it. Ive heard the balance on the electra is the best below true TOTL but not like you can even find one of those (think they legit made like 24 of them or some such). Maybe im just missing some obvious options but it kinda seems to me that unless you go TOTL DIY the space is just real limited
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lol
Better? I’m not sure, but there are plenty of alternatives that I’d consider that trade blows with it near that price. I’d look toward a carbon cc, lta z10e, I do think the woo wes gen 2 is somewhat similar playing field, trilogy h1 (actually heard one somewhat recently, quite good). Also a bit more of an obscure pick, but I was able to hear a dubiel eurydice (I think that’s what it was?) and it was pretty killer for the money, honestly thought it competed with a bhse. Also while it’s a bit above the bhse in price, the mal valve head amp three mk4 did a surprisingly good job with stats
Above that though I would really mainly look toward like a 3es elite, viva stx, baller diy T2, or go full custom/boutique. Or find someone to make you a real nice transformer and buy some real nice 2ch stuff to hook it up to
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Carbon CC and Z10E are on my list (I think i may actualy be able to get a propper in-home demo of the Z10E actualy at some point so fingers crossed the dealer deal a buddy of mine is wokring on works out for him). As for the WES, tbh, my gripes with it were bigger than with the BHSE. While the stage was grand and well done it was pretty fatiguing with every can i tried on it. I could see it working quite well with a warmer can like the HE60 or 007a but on both 009 and 009S it was pretty well a no-go for me unless I could fix some of that with a mega warm/smooth dac or something but not even the p6p took the edge off for me.
havent heard of those two. I’ll look into them.
This suprises me a bit. Given their used pricing is general quite a bit lower than BHSE (ignoring the one dude on USAM currently asking over RRP) this may be a real solid shout for me. Not to mention, no expose tubes = higher possibility I can use at work. Would be kinda interesting to try maybe the malvalve vs Z10e tbh.
How do you even go about finding someone for a full custom build? TBH when I heard “full custom” the first few times I just assumed it was some variation on a T2. As for the 2ch + transformer though, I have an iesl comming in on demo one I get my AIC. Ill be super curious to see if that is a good enough combo for me to be comfortable snagging an HE60 without a dedicated enegizer until i step up further
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I hadn’t really tried the 009 on it all that much, mainly 007, so I could see that with a 009 but didn’t really get that issue with a 007
I do think that in general the z10e or the bhse are a bit higher tier, but the fact it can also drive typical dynamic headphones makes up for that given the cost. It could be worth checking out depending on what you are after. To me it’s what an audiovalve Solaris should have been lol
Getting into many different circles and finding someone who was willing to make you something. Or go to some of the more obscure shows and find a one off builder there that might be demoing. I heard an amazing estat build by frank cooter at canjam for example, and another guy that I can’t remember showing off an 845 estat amp that was fantastic as well, but they weren’t in production, just one offs
Could be, but there will be those that design their own circuits instead of basing it mostly off a preexisting design
Also, sorry for hijacking the thread with estat discussion lol
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Interesting on the Z10E as well. That is one im pretty excited for if I am honest as it does conventional cans (the high gain on the HP out is identical to the speaker out to boot) and the smaller form factor means it is super doable for work use for me. Ill have to just see what I can do about getting a demo here and then hunting down a malvalve.
I feel like I completely forget about frank far too often. IDK ive seen anything but the utmost praise for his stuff. Interesting concept overall with the one off amps though. Not sure its for me personally but it does seem interesting.
ohp, yah. fair enough. Now that i think about it we dont have any estat threads at all, do we? Obviously stats arent as popular here in general but I legit dont think ive seen any stat focused threads at all
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Will be curious if you get one to demo
It’s a hassle, it’s way more expensive in both money and time most of the time, and you kinda want to know almost everything you want exactly for it to not be a painful process. You can’t really go into it just asking “hey can you build me an amp k thnx”. Also you want to make sure that person can actually make you something good as well in the first place of course, doing full custom is incredibly hit or miss, and if it’s a miss you are largely SOL
I typically don’t like talking about stats out of habit due to the typical cultism and head case level stupidity that can come along when discussing non headamp or mjolnir amp and non stax stats. Although I forget we can do that here and it’ll be fine, so if you wanted to start a thread on specific stats go ahead
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Out of curiosity i looked up his builds and tbh, those are darn pretty boxes. Its like if in the early 50s people needed at home/semi-portable enigma code cracking machines.
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Hope it was alright changing the title to something more generic…
Anyway, anyone going to PAF?
Acoustic fields is having a demo room and if you email them ahead of time you can get priority. Video
Would be interesting trying out their carbon tech.
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Anyone going to canjam chicago?
Don’t forget there’s a thread here to post any impressions (will be looking forward to any)!
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I’ll probably try to go to another canjam next year since NYC was really fun for a first time audio show. None are really close to me, so I’d have to travel regardless of which one I choose to check out.
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For those interested.
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I have put the NY show coming up in my calendar. September 10-12.
I’ve never been to a full show and NYC is not where I want to start but I want to make anything on the east coast a possibility especially if it gives me a chance to meet up with any of you. 
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Also, ill be at canjam socal. Anyone comming feel free to hit me up
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If you do go let me know. I am still very cautious in crowds and my only way in is the trains, but maybe this gets me over the buml.
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Didn’t know it was next month. I’m in but just for a day. But the days are 9th and 10th @NickMimi
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What headphones.com will have at canjam:
Headphones
- Focal Utopia 2022
- Focal Clear
- Focal Radiance
- Meze Audio 109 Pro
- Meze Audio ELITE
- Dan Clark Audio EXPANSE
- Dan Clark Audio STEALTH
- Warwrick Acoustics Bravura + Sonoma 1
- Audeze MM-500
- Audeze LCD-5
- Hifiman Susvara
- Rosson Audio Design RAD-0
- HEDDphone
IEMs
- Symphonium Audio mystery
- Symphonium Audio Triton
- Symphonium Audio Helios
- 64 Audio U12t
- 64 Audio tia Trio
- Empire Ears Odin
- Empire Ears Legend EVO
- Thieaudio Monarch MKII
- Moondrop Blessing 2
- Moondrop Variations
Amps
- Zahl HM1
- Feliks Audio Envy
- Ampsandsound x Headphones.com Leeloo
- Ampsandsound x Headphones.com Forge
- Enleum Amp 23-R
- Enleum HPA-23RM
- dCS Lina stack
- Various iFi gear
DACs
- Matrix Audio X-Sabre 3
- SMSL D3
- Topping D90se
- RME ADI-2 DAC FS
- HiFi Rose 150b Streamer
- Cambridge Audio DAC Magic 200
DAPs
- iBasso DX320 with Korg NuTube
- iBasso DX170
- Astell&Kern KANN MAX
- Astell&Kern SP2000t
- (We tried to get a SP3000 but seems like early production only has 1 or 2 units in A&K’s possession)
BRUH, those DACs!! 
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