spritzer

They could have used the same circuit, wouldn't be the first time Stax did so. I don't think I have the schematic though to verify this. Sure does.

....

I don't have those schematics unfortunately.

The drivers look to be the same and while the thicker earpad material will boost the bass, it may also increase the ear/driver distance which makes all the midrange issues even worse. Now if Stax did man up and make special drivers for the LE (which aren't so fucking forward) then it could be a very good headphone. Unless the seller set the voltage (highly unlikely) then it is still configured for 100v. As for changing it, it ranges from easy to almost impossible and there is no way to know until you have the unit open in front of you. I'm guessing he meant the headpad which is just a version of the same SR-404 item. The older pads are more comfortable on my head at least.

So that means I won't be able to use ortho's on the BHSE?

Nope, not yet.

The Stax SR-1 is the best headphone ever. How could anybody improve on that beginners luck...

Happy birthday from team arcy sparky.

Third times the charm eh... anyway here are some pics of the new SR-404 Limited edition.

I thought you guys might like this one. The Japanese one has been posted before but not this stellar take on the English language...

Great writeup Jac. I was sifting through my mountain of Stax printed materials and found a photocopy of a brochure for the SRA-12S which I'll scan or at least take a picture of when I can remeber.

Hehe, I moved on permanently. I must say that I'm still wowed by the Omegas, even after 6 years and countless other headphones. The ability to crack out amazing levels of bass, yet reveal the smallest detail and the exact placement of each instrument. Right now I'm listening to an old 60's Icelandic rock song which really highlighted what was great about the Fostex T-50 and the Mk1 suddenly makes me not miss the rare ortho beast one bit. Yup, the BHSE, nice soft silver IC's and a vintage DAC.

I don't know of any way to touch up the metal work since this a coating. I find the Mk2 pads comfortable on the Mk2 but that's not the case on the Mk1. They are so stiff that they need the stronger elastic on the Mk2's to make them sit properly. Now I remeber why I put foam from Mk1 pads inside the new ones...

With the modded SR-404 gone I needed a new project and seeing how a Mk1 SR-007 sounds with the Mk2 pads would be an ideal choice. I even took some pics of the installation... I've never installed a fresh set of Mk2 pads before and lets just say it is a fucking pain!!! The vinyl is too thick and not as easy to handle as the leather on the Mk1 pads. I've used them for only a few minutes now but there seems to be some extra bass and no issues that I can detect.

The BH managed to clear up some of the diffuse nature and lessen the overhang in the bass but nowhere near acceptable levels to me. Off the same amp I preferred my lightly modified He60 since it added less of it's own character. Then it's been said that I'm a picky bastard that's hard to please... Us island folk are naturally superior. Being shaped by bad weather, isolation and an unstoppable need to drink alcoholic beverages just makes us better. Moar better even...

They most definitely don't sound the same on all amps but their character is so overwhelming that the amp has much less of an impact then say with the Omegas, 4070, Sigmas, Lambdas, ESP950 and the list goes on and on... I for one could have lived happily with the HE90 off a T1 amp when it won't do justice to anything other then the oldest Stax phones. As for Jude liking the RSA "sound", there is obvious bias and that "review" appears to me just as a sales tactic to help Ray. The simple fact is that Ray is after the wrong crowd to push his crap onto and the A-10 won't sell. Just look at how many Rudistor Egmont/Cirolan amps there are on HF as a guide. Not even the mainland Europeans buy that crap and rather have DIY amps made.

Wow, people gushing about the He90 on first listen... where have I seen that before? The phones have that "Wow OMG" effect regardless of the system they are used in. The HD800 should be a winner if it isn't as damn diffused as the HE90 and has more bass control. I'll know soon enough though...

Congrats and the SR-003 is a cracking little headphone.

Yup... ...and yup. Justin posted a link to a TubeCad article that tackles this very issue. There are ways to minimize the effects on the circuit but the "fixes" are way beyond anything we've seen Ray do before and it would be far better to just use some other circuits. There isn't exactly a shortage of circuits to steal...

I've got to keep this short but in essence the SRPP design and tubes used are both utter fail. The tubes will either be run far out of spec (so they won't last long) or this amp has the lowest output power of any amp, bar the SRM-212 (and it's variations) and the portable Stax amp. Now he could use output transformers but the SRPP circuit still will not like the reactive and capacitive load present. Now take price into account and that you can get the new Woo amp plus a SR-007Mk2 for the same price as the A-10 and the Woo uses the same or even better parts.

I feel very sorry for those four unfortunate souls.

Better then the T-50... or is that a sore subject given the flames involved?

Spoken by a true member of team arcy sparky

I fired a PSU doing that earlier this week so be careful!!