spritzer

"In Soviet Russia...."

A SR-X Mk3 Pro with new pads isn't that uncomfortable but the damn headband is unpadded so some decent amount of hair helps... The Basic models use a more simple driver and the old OFC cable while the Classic has the upgraded driver and the normal width PC-OCC cable with Signature using the Wide PC-OCC cable. The Lambda Spirit replaced the Lambda Pro and was the original Basic model. It was called Pro Classic here in the West and used a 1.5um diaphragm (don't know about the stators) but used the Gamma style arc to save costs.

A few SR-5NB's do show up in Japan but usually bundled with SRD-7Mk2's (in a neat plastic box) but they are very common in Germany. They do indeed use the SR-X Mk3 driver but that is in turn just the old SR-5 driver with a new diaphragm. The stock Alpha Excellent isn't a bad headphone by any means but the SR-X Pro is just moar better.

Ditto on the SR-Lambda and only the later SRM-1 Mk2 amps were Pro bias and they are all clearly marked Professional or P.P.

I don't really want to make an SR-X Pro but I keep getting PM's about them so the demand is there. It's damn hard to make them for less then 400$ these days, even with me working for free as usual... \

Your application has been received and is being processed. Since this was outsourced to SP, then it could take a while.

Ouch on the transmission line. The 4070 is heavy enough as it is... 180$ (1$=93Yen) plus the fees and shipping. That's too expensive for me to make a cost effective SR-X Mk3 Pro.

Those do look a lot like the SR-007 cases...

You know I will bug you about it. I need to finish a few ESP amps though before I can start to work on that.

Looks like I need some moar heatsinks soon...

You are correct but that's why the back of the 4070 housing is curved and angled, with ample damping and bass reflex built in. The 4070 is a beast to drive properly though and that's why Stax only recommended the 717 for the job. It is remarkably free of the usual box colorations with only a hint of thickness in the midrange. Oh crap, now I've started to think how a 4070 would sound with some damping and properly mounted drivers. Looks like I'll have to buy one again... I've placed a bit on that 404LE on Y!JP so the rest of you back off. Also, who put in that insane 17k+Yen bid on the Alpha Pro Excellent?

Holy crap!!! Has anybody ever tried using the F5 to drive a reactive load such as a Quad ESL?

Danm, that F5 in clearly needed.

Ray to the rescue since the phones sound moar better with the drivers simply turned around. Baffle seal is overrated anyway...

It could be that the wires are too close inside the cup or that the metal pins were overheated while soldering and damaged something.

Metal really shows off what electrostatics can do and also their limitations. Put on some Megadeth, crank the volume and you'll know in a minute whether the amp has enough power for the job.

Holy crap that's a lot of sugar. There is a reason for it though, to keep mass produced crap nice and soft for weeks on end.

Yeah about the bias supply... could you send me the BOM, Marc?

I did the research just for you. Rinkya charges a 15$ base fee and then 1$ on every 1000Yen with a 20$ minimum on those combined. At the current exchange rate that is a 9.3% fee (was closer to 10% when the Yen was weaker). KuboTen has a 10$ base fee and then 7% off the purchase price. You have to pay with non CC-based funds though or this jumps to 10%. With the specials running, Rinkya can be cheaper but the insane shipping charges (always twice what it actually costs to ship) and the fact that they threw out some of my Stax boxes means I won't use them any more. They were fine to begin with, crammed multiple items into huge boxes but then they started to doublebox everything and with perhaps 3 Stax amps in each shipment, it got very expensive, very fast. I then sent them an email and asked them to stop this since the packages got here in less then a week with zero damage time after time. Next package shows up and they had thrown out all of the Stax boxes which I know were included in the auctions. They even left the Styrofoam supports around a 717 just to add insult to injury.

42?

There are some headphones suffer from bad design flaws (Micro-Seiki MS-2 springs to mind) that need to be serviced to function but on most it's just normal wear and tear on the elastics and padding. Stax for instance categorizes their spare parts as either user replaceable (earpads, arc assemblies) or items that should only be fitted by the factory/distributors.

You really do suck at taking pics. Hidden in that blurry mess is a version of the BH similar to the BHSE, uber bias supply, the new electrostatic amp Marc has designed and even my old Sony ECR-400's fitted with SFI drivers. It's times like this when I wish there was a direct flight from Iceland to Texas...

That's strange since Sigma's are some of the most comfortable headphones ever made, despite their size and weight. Stax has always called their units earspeakers, long before they came up with crazy designs such as the Sigma and Omega. It has nothing to do with the looks but rather how they can just disappear on the head and with the SR-007, provide depth which even the Sigma struggles with.

The earpad mod should clear up most of the midrange issues but I only did them after plugging the ports so the results may vary.

I entered into a bidding war a few times within the Rinkya system and they have a page which says that what Rinkya bidder is currently in the lead, with numerous user names to allow that. Btw. welcome Craig.