Anyone has a working HEV70 (Baby Orpheus Amp) which I can test ?

[icecreamfreak 0]

Hey does anyone in Singapore have a working HEV70 amp? Ive got a HE60/HEV70 setup which may seem faulty, when switched on it takes over an hour for both side to have the same level of volume (the left channel takes 1hr plus to 'catch up') and Im trying to workout is it the HE60 at fault or the HEV70... if someone who has a HEV70 allow me to plug my headphone into their amp ? I ll only be back in Singapore after the 25th dec but before the new year ... anyone can help me ? Thanks in advance

[Singapura 0]

Maybe the Sennheiser service center can help you? I head the same problem with my HD 650 which turned out to be a loose driver. Don't know about the construction of the HE60 but it won't hurt to check I guess.

[icecreamfreak 0]

Thanks for the advice. But I done that, they say they dont have the authority to do anything to the baby orpheus. They say its controlled very strictly and only Sennheiser HQ can open the thing up. But they say its prob the amplifier at fault. Will take 3 months so a little procrastinating not having the Baby for 3 months haha.

 

 

[milkpowder 0]

I may be able to help. I have an unused HEV70 but I don't have the power adapter for it. IIRC, there are three flavours of HEV70 each designed to take slightly different voltage/currents. Mine is 24V 500mA.

 

Taking apart the HE60 is simple but easy to mess up (especially the stators themselves). I just took them apart the other day to clean out the dust and was delighted to see the gold-plated (?) stators staring right back at me in their full glory. Of course, don't touch anything! A new pair of stators will cost north of 200 Euros and a new cable around 90 Euros. My source is Sennheiser Germany. If I were to get them fixed, I'd send them straight back to Germany. Skip the local dealer. Even if they can do the repairs, they'd have to source the components from Germany anyway.

 

If it really the HEV70 at fault, I would question whether it would be worth to replace it. According to knowledgable sources, it is nothing more than a sophisticated volume control. I guess it depends on how much Sennheiser will charge to replace the amp.

 

And one more thing, if you do plan on contacting Sennheiser Germany, I recommend sending an email straight to Annette.Wolf@sennheiser.com. She understands English and was very helpful.

 

Hope that helps.

Edited November 7, 2007 by milkpowder

[icecreamfreak 0]

HI Milkpowder,

 

Thanks for your post it realli did help.

 

Yeah, Im half hearted to get a new HEV70 amp. From your post I notice you use a stax electrostatic amp for your HE60. Can I ask must the stax amp be modified in anyway to accomodate the HE60 ? Also you know where I can get a adaptor to change the HE60 trapezium looking cable termination to be able to adapt to the stax circular connection? Been trying to find one for some time now...

 

Nicholas

 

 

[milkpowder 0]

There's a guy called Alex aka [AK] Zip. He runs his own DIY cable company called APureSound.

 

The HE60 was designed to work with a bias voltage of 560V and Stax Pro-Bias is 580V. Hence, Stax amps are compatible with the HE60 and all you'd need would be some sort of converter cable. The HE90, on the other hand, is biased at 500V. While it will still work at 580V, there is a small risk of the diaphragm touching the stators if driven too hard (eg large dynamics/loud volumes).

 

Anyway, there are two options he offers: The first being an adapter from the HE60 plug to Stax Pro-Bias (5-pin). The second is a complete retermination of the HE60 plug to his own custom-made Stax Pro-Bias plug. I have spoken to an owner who chose the retermination and he says there are audible improvements.

 

One word of caution, his modifications aren't at bargain-basement prices but bearing in mind the quality of his work, I think they are justified. I personally use the first solution simply because the person I bought the HE60 from used it with the Pro-Bias socket on his ES-1.