This is the official thread for the Mjolnir Carbon/CC
This thread is for discussion and reviews.
- XLR in and out
Mjolnir LinkSo, this should be the flagship KGSSHV Carbon CC - the claimed best electrostatic amplifier on the market.
Many speak about its transformers, so I thought I’d ask what exact transformers it is using.
I am trying to understand technically-wise why this amp is so good. I know I did read that somebody on Head-Fi said that no transformer will ever match the one that is being used in the Carbon CC
Not sure what’s in them (pretty sure it’ a custom transformer), I have the carbon cc and it’s really impressive, although admittedly I prefer my woo 3es elite but the carbon is easily one of the top performers I have heard that’s out there. I would love to get my hands on a stax t2 to compare but those are hard to find lol (at least a demo would be nice)
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Hm.
In the “spare parts” part of Mjolnir Audio’s website I found the image of the Keen Ocean transformer, but not sure if that’s the one being used in the Carbon CC.
Still doesn’t answer why that transformer should outperform other transformers.
Pretty sure it’s an r core transformer inside the cc so it wouldn’t be a toroidal
Transformers play a fairly significant role on sound quality, especially with transformer coupled tube amps and energizers, so if you get a really good transformer that can improve sound quality by large margins (if the rest of the amp is solid as well lol)
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Yup that’s what I’m thinking.
I thought it was a toroidal one because of the picture above.
Do you think R-cores are superior to C-cores? C-cores are quite rare in audio equipment, they have been used in tube amps. Audio Note is one of the companies that uses C-cores, they have a whole philosophy about why they use it
I think the regular carbon uses a toroidal, but the cc is upgraded to silver wiring, the r core transformer, and a superior volume pot
I’ve heard and own some audio note products and they have sounded great, so they are doing something right there. I don’t know if you could just call one better than the other overall, I’m sure they have their strengths and weaknesses depending on the design and amp topology, and it will come down to cost as well. I’m not really well versed in what’s inside the amps, I just listen to them, so I’m not really the best person to ask this question too
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I might have better luck directly shooting a message to Spritzer, AFAIK, he is not on this forum
Yes contacting him would be your best bet here
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Was considering upgrading my energiser to a Stax 600t but picked up a used KGSSHV instead.
Hope I’ve made the right choice?
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It’s a solid amp and if memory serves correct a step over a 006t in technical ability. It might be less warm and less rich and dense though if that was your priority
I’m a detail nut at heart so sounds like it should be a good match.
Currently using an srm252s so should be a decent step up from that.
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