But…wood will split due to its weird woody will to split. The knothole above may be stronger than average straight grain wood. But, I can’t argue about a hole looking bad with a luxury product.
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Yes it’s bstock and besides 3 knots (2 shown) I can find anything wrong. Personally I like the knots and would want them. I agree but maybe others wouldn’t and that’s why they fall under bstock.
My leopardwood has a few chips in it and can understand why that is bstock but the chips are minuscule. Imperfections don’t bother me at all.
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No return policy for the wife?
I’ve heard the restocking fees are outrageous.
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I have two coming my way as well. They look nice.
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The box wasn’t that exciting so here’s what was inside. I’m in the early stages of listening, but the Phonitor x is very impressive. Listening with a ZMF VO and a DCA A2C so far, and initial thoughts are that this will be “home base” for my A2C’s. I’m still narrowing down my options for an endgame tube amp to compliment my VOs but this one will keep me busy for a while!
I wasn’t sure about the red faceplate when I ordered it but I’m very pleased now that it’s set up. As if the VU meters aren’t cool enough, as a bonus their backlighting turns red when muted!
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I never knew the real-life Popeye was a member here. One can never trust online personas.
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You am what you am. And that photocell is way cool. 
Mark Gosdin
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Haha! Was going for a reed richards from Fantastic4 look!
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Sorry, I put the box in the attic already, but anyone who knows Drop knows its just a re-box of the straight from origin box. Too bad the box is actually better built than the 1/4 inch adapter!
I launched my interest in this hobby straight to ZMF and that leaves me at a loss understanding some of the commentary here. I decided to spend almost as little as I could to try out other makers and technologies. These are my first planar magnetics ever. I just wanted to get a sense of what timbre they would make. I also have coming some 6xx, and I am sorta in love with my Beyer DT990s (600ohm). What else do I need, some Stax?
I’ll post some impressions over in the right thread, but anyone curious about these should know the 1/4 inch adapter and 3.5mm jack are, well pieces of @#$%^. And don’t get me started on the cable itself. I think the cable had too much Viagra and should call its doctor. It’s been more than four hours.
They are so far out of tolerance, I cannot use the adapter, thrown away, and an extra that I had which has worked perfectly will all other 3.5mm jacks suggests that the 3.5mm on the 400i is under spec. ID and OD matter!! I cannot stand up to pour my tea without losing the connection.
Anyway, for $140, these sound impressive and almost equally so out of my cell phone! Yes, these get to legit volume out of my Sony Xperia 1 mkii. And IMO opinion sound really nice. More to follow in the right thread.
Fun stuff for the $.
Happy listening.
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If you go to electrostatics, you’ll have a hard time spending as little as possible. Entry level is probably the DROP KOSS eStats that come with their own energizer/amp.
It makes a big difference with most eStats using a decent amp of any flavor vs an energizer that connects to a standard speaker amplifier. I found this out when I upgraded to an older tweaked STAX tube amp. My 1980s STAX headphones were significantly better!
While STAX can be a bit pricey, I think you get a good feel of electrostatics from the Nectar Hive, which is a handmade boutique manufacturer, @nectarsoundnet makes them. I really like mine, and I think they are quite comparable to headphones that STAX makes just before the prices hit the stratosphere. Which doesn’t stop me from wanting a pair of STAX SR-L700s or SR-007. I fear that getting their flagship would force me to upgrade my amp!
And if you want fun for the money - despite the “Confession” thread in which they are dissed by audio-reprobates, Koss Porta Pro plus Yaxi Pads - best $40 bucks or so you’ll spend on headphones.
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Hi @pennstac Thanks for the info. I have not researched estats yet, but I saw the Drop offering.
I’ll dig deeper, but in a nutshell, do they run well on tube amps, like the Kenzie Ovation for example?
Thanks again.
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You can’t run them at all with normal headphone amps. There are two ways to power electrostatic headphones. You can use an electrostatic headphone amplifier, which is a very different design compared to “normal” headphone amps. The internal operating voltage is much higher. Another option is to use a transformer box (energizer) that connects to the speaker outputs of a normal stereo amp.
Most electrostatic headphones use the Stax 5-pin connector, which you won’t find on normal headphone amps.
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Like this, only smaller.
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It’s reminiscent of an early Orgasmatron à la Woody Allen. Lol
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No, the Orgasmatron was the phone booth (or water heater) type thing. I don’t know what the feel-good silver balls were, but I’d like to order two of each.
The extra-large size Orb below.
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@pennstac @Deepy @ProfFalkin thanks for the schooling.
The least expensive available appear to be the Drop Massdrop x Koss ESP/95X Electrostatic System Discussions | Audiophile | Headphones | Open Back Headphones | Drop
Right now only available in 220v but on sale for $390. Looks like I could get a $30 converter https://www.grainger.com/product/30C515?gclid=Cj0KCQiArvX_BRCyARIsAKsnTxMO68soTMJfnVPpTQh2SoUoXTf4zE68iIdWyuJe0xm0b3L1DpaGTPUaAnX7EALw_wcB&cm_mmc=PPC:+Google+PLA&ef_id=Cj0KCQiArvX_BRCyARIsAKsnTxMO68soTMJfnVPpTQh2SoUoXTf4zE68iIdWyuJe0xm0b3L1DpaGTPUaAnX7EALw_wcB:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!2966!3!281698275255!!!g!471571925921!&gucid=N:N:PS:Paid:GGL:CSM-2295:4P7A1P:20501231
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You may want to check out:
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