was weighing my options for a new electrostatic headphone. rather than get a dedicated amp i was looking into using my existing elekit 8200 with an adapter (uses speaker input ->electrostatic headphone output) but i read that amps with a transformer (eg elekit 8200) dont like to power another transformer which is what a stax adapter is (transformer to power electrostatic headphones). can anyone clarify or explain why?
Impedance issues using a transformer coupled drive maybe. Monitor it with a good quality oscilloscope to see if there is a problem.
ok. so i can safely give it a try without worrying that my amp, tubes, adapter or headphones will break from normal use?
A well-designed step-up adapter will have a few Ohms in and around the speaker input, so the amplifier never sees extreme loading.
I'm sure not all adapters are well-designed.
I'm sure not all adapters are well-designed.