[BlueEmperor]

It really does look spectacular

 

[Chefguru]

Any specs yet?
How’s the heat

 

[justin w.]

Any specs yet?
How’s the heat

total power consumption is 200W
for comparison the current BHSE builds are about 170W

 

[Chefguru]

total power consumption is 200W
for comparison the current BHSE builds are about 170W

Got it - so around same as megatron (mine is pulling 210w~). Can you reveal anything about the PSU or other specs?

Do you have a ballpark yet on the first number in the five-figures?

 

[justin w.]

We just got back from the Capital Audiofest, where we had the Grand Cayman with the STAX SR-X9000 & Dan Clark Corina. Everything went perfectly and hopefully some impressions are posted even though CanJam Dallas was the same weekend. Here's a nice pic courtesy Lee Shelly Photography who was also at the show

 

[leon995]

We just got back from the Capital Audiofest, where we had the Grand Cayman with the STAX SR-X9000 & Dan Clark Corina. Everything went perfectly and hopefully some impressions are posted even though CanJam Dallas was the same weekend. Here's a nice pic courtesy Lee Shelly Photography who was also at the show

Looks awesome. Any updates on the production?

 

[Aeonyx]

Any idea when we'll be able to buy one? Very interested.

 

[Chefguru]

Any idea when we'll be able to buy one? Very interested.

Not trying to be facetious but optimistically, given the progress since the start of this thread 4 years ago, I'd guess the very first pre-orders will ship Q3 of 2024 and people who are preordering now will receive in 2025.

 

[Aeonyx]

Not trying to be facetious but optimistically, given the progress since the start of this thread 4 years ago, I'd guess the very first pre-orders will ship Q3 of 2024 and people who are preordering now will receive in 2025.

Yeah, it does seem that way. The current ones showing up at shows do look promising though. I was hoping to try one at CanJam Dallas but they sent it away to CAF instead. I'm legitimately in the market for an endgame estat setup, with HE1, Aperio, and Shangri-La Sr being in contention, but I do think I'd prefer Grand Cayman with Shang Sr and some others such as Corina and CRBN. I like the idea of not being trapped to just one headphone.

 

[mbrennwa]

We will stock a lot of tubes
while 20B-V4 is unique because of the center-tapped cathode, rewiring for EL34 in the same socket is possible, as is changing to a 4-pin socket and using different DHTs

The Emission Labs 20B is unique in that it has a voltage gain of 20x. As far as I can tell, there is no other DHT that would provide similar gain*, so replacing the 20B with another DHT will not work. How future proof is the 20B? How are people going to replace their 20B tubes once they get old? Or will your amps become useless once the tubes wear out and Emission Labs might be thing of the past?

(*The 841 has an even higher gain, but does not provide enough current swing to drive estat headphones.)

 

[BlueEmperor]

How future proof is the 20B? How are people going to replace their 20B tubes once they get old? Or will your amps become useless once the tubes wear out and Emission Labs might be thing of the past?

20B is still produced by EML and also it's a tube of excellent quality which, assuming a good circuit with correct stable low tolerance heater voltage, boast quite long lifetime for a DHT. Anyway the question is quite ridiculous as it could be applied to any new tube amp made today, since as Justin stated Grand Cayman could be modified to accept other DHTs or EL34.

 

[ThanatosVI]

20B is still produced by EML and also it's a tube of excellent quality which, assuming a good circuit with correct stable low tolerance heater voltage, boast quite long lifetime for a DHT. Anyway the question is quite ridiculous as it could be applied to any new tube amp made today, since as Justin stated Grand Cayman could be modified to accept other DHTs or EL34.

The question isn't ridiculous at all. There is one Single manufacturer in the world that produces this tube.

If anything happens to that manufacturer you're boned.

There are no direct replacements for this type, so you'd have to ship this huge amp back to Justin to modify it.

While it's not a likely scenario, it's an additional risk other DHT types don't have

 

[mbrennwa]

There are no direct replacements for this type, so you'd have to ship this huge amp back to Justin to modify it.

What do you mean by "...to modify it"?

As I see it, the amp is designed around a DHT output tube with a 20x voltage gain, and there is no other DHT with similar specs. The next best DHT that comes to mind might be a 801 or 10 tube with a gain of 8x, which is more than two times lower. Other DHTs that might be considered would have an even lower gain, and many won't swing enough voltage to properly drive an estat. To replace the 20B, the driver stage would need to be redesigned to make up for the additional gain, and the output stage would need to be rebuilt to properly work with a non-20B DHT (different bias voltage and current, different filament voltage and current, different socket, etc.). The same applies for non-DHT tubes, such as the EL34 mentioned before.

In other words, the amp would need to be redesigned from scratch if something other than a 20B tube is to be used in the output stage. I wouldn't want to call that a "modification".

It would be nice if either Emissionlabs or Head Amp would guarantee the availability for 20B replacement tubes for a couple of decades.

 

[ThanatosVI]

What do you mean by "...to modify it"?

As I see it, the amp is designed around a DHT output tube with a 20x voltage gain, and there is no other DHT with similar specs. The next best DHT that comes to mind might be a 801 or 10 tube with a gain of 8x, which is more than two times lower. Other DHTs that might be considered would have an even lower gain, and many won't swing enough voltage to properly drive an estat. To replace the 20B, the driver stage would need to be redesigned to make up for the additional gain, and the output stage would need to be rebuilt to properly work with a non-20B DHT (different bias voltage and current, different filament voltage and current, different socket, etc.). The same applies for non-DHT tubes, such as the EL34 mentioned before.

In other words, the amp would need to be redesigned from scratch if something other than a 20B tube is to be used in the output stage. I wouldn't want to call that a "modification".

It would be nice if either Emissionlabs or Head Amp would guarantee the availability for 20B replacement tubes for a couple of decades.

Justin said at some point, that it could be modified in such a case. I have no reason not to trust him on that

 

[tumpux]

Don’t worry guys, we’re lucky if the amplifier is actually released in this decade.
Let our grandchildren sort it out with Justin’s regarding the modifications.