Bottlehead S.E.X. Which version is this?

[decommo]

Hello, friends

Can anyone tell me which version this would be? It is about 8 years old I believe and the internal look a bit different to current version 3.0 that has been recently discontinued.
Not sure if this older one can be updated to current version.

Thank you...

 

[Paul Joppa]

That is a S.E.X. 2.0, introduced in 2004. (The original version was a pair of monoblocs, very different. The S.E.X. 2.1 came out in 2011, version 3.0 in 2017, and we're working on version 4.0.) Incidentally, the manual did not identify the version number.

It has the C4S upgrade.

The plate choke/output transformer upgrade is still listed on the products page. (There was an earlier upgrade to Magnequest transformers but that has not been available for many years.)

 

[decommo]

That is a S.E.X. 2.0, introduced in 2004. (The original version was a pair of monoblocs, very different. The S.E.X. 2.1 came out in 2011, version 3.0 in 2017, and we're working on version 4.0.) Incidentally, the manual did not identify the version number.

It has the C4S upgrade.

The plate choke/output transformer upgrade is still listed on the products page. (There was an earlier upgrade to Magnequest transformers but that has not been available for many years.)

Thank you so much, Paul.

Can I quickly double check if this one is what you are referring to in terms of choke/output tansformer upgrade?
https://bottlehead.com/product/iron-upgrade-kit-for-s-e-x-kit-2-0/

 

[Paul Joppa]

Yes, that's the one. Happy to answer further questions if you have any.

 

[decommo]

Yes, that's the one. Happy to answer further questions if you have any.

Thank you for confirmation. It is quite expensive since I am based in Australia and AUD is very weak against USD nowadays. Not sure if I can ask and Is it really big noticeable difference from older OPT to this current OPT if I may ask? 

I think that I read somewhere that newer S.E.X has more, and cleaner, deep-bass than the SEX 2.0 and the midrange and treble will be more or less same.

Have I understood correctly?

 

[Paul Joppa]

Yes, you have understood correctly. The choke and output transformers are about 60% heavier and give about 2/3 of an octave deeper bass, both frequency response and power bandwidth. The magnetic core laminations are M6 grain-oriented silicon steel, probably better than the original.

Subjectively it may or may not be very noticeable, depending on the rest of your system and choice of music.

For what it's worth, the new iron was developed because the original mass-produced line output transformer was discontinued, as was its replacement a year or two later. We decided to use custom parts, and I  took advantage of the opportunity to improve the design.