spritzer

Ahh the assembled parts which I got the pleasure of trying to salvage. Most of it was garbage so not the best deal in the world...

Some slight short to ground just adds to flavor of the amp...

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-audio-pro-iesl-the-official-thread.852364/page-7#post-14413330 Ahhh nice of ifi to question my knowledge of electronics. I always feel nice when somebody does that while not addressing any of my major concerns. I guess I have to buy one of these and rip it apart. In other news, I don't like the direction Stax is taking with the made-in-china amps. They have stopped using Japanese caps and instead are using these gems in the D-50: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=58678 Might just be my new favorite forum... So we will go from Stax amps needing nothing for 20-30 years to perhaps a 5 year life before the caps give out? That's not really a move forward in my book...

...and phono preamp.

Yup, they even have black 007A's now.

Can't go wrong with Poang. I had one for 20 years and now it is at my inlaws... I see the rug is also Ikea.

Ok, few issues. Never, ever, never use mica insulators at these voltage levels. Only use the ceramic insulators and better yet, PEEK screws. Also the board shouldn't be attached like that. The whole idea was to move the output wires to the bottom of the board and attach the CCS on the PCB. The power dissipation of the heatsinks is very compromised when angled like that

The first ever amp was the silver one Kevin has and it looks just like the other ones.

I've fixed two sets of 009' this way and no issues again. On top of this the dozens and dozens of other units where the owners have reached out to me for help. It has also worked on 007's for other people so worth a shot.

I wouldn't touch the wires to be honest. It is most likely the new film acting up so the same cure as with the 009's... hit them with a bit of force and see if the imbalance goes away.

Is that Edifier passive?

Very interesting and clearly prototypes or something like that. Stax always photo etch the stators so this is normal but the strengthening bars on top are interesting.

Never seen anything like that....

I have plenty of the 5 pin plugs but no 6 pins.

That is very plausible but does make one wonder about the QC...

The drivers are assembled there but all the testing etc. after that is just done out in the open. Talk to Justin as this happened to another set which he also sold. Not sure what is going on with that... The serial number on the 009S is underneath the left arc so no sticker there?

What is worse though is the damage suffered to the drivers while they were installing them. Visible finger marks in the dust covers... yeah not good.

Yeah that feedback is troublesome. I for one like this circuit without feedback but you could run it through caps. C2 isn't needed and neither is C1....

Yeahhh I'm not going that far. One thing that I might do, a custom housing to make it less of a shell and more an integral part of the phones. Way too much other stuff to do though...

Too funny.... As for the 009's, this is very much still a common thing and Stax have never admitted to the issue. I know of one set which was sent back three times for new drivers and last I heard, they still work but it is a pretty staggering failure rate.

I've never seen driver failure in a Mk1 which wasn't related to the operator doing something really stupid or bad amp design. The cable is an issue but the drivers are just fine. That being said, there are some lemons out there as Stax had serious QC issues at one point.

The current 007Mk2 is excellent and an upgrade over the Mk1 really (once port modded) and that would still be my top choice. The only ones which can reproduce the full range without any issues. The top end on the current Mk2's is improved and amps like the Carbon means they are not dark at all. The 009's are too bright and even when fitted with EP-007 earpads they are just grating to me. The earpad change has helped though, they are now more dynamic and not as uninvolving as the 009's have always been. As for the 009S's, they are growing on me with the older 009 earpads plus I did some small tweaks to improve the sealing. They are still bass deficient but at least the top end doesn't make me want to cut off my ears... It's nice open top end and with the older pads they have a bit more focus which the stock setup really lacks. While I've been digging around in the 009's (both sets) I just wonder why Stax did certain things. Why isn't the housing more substantial? Why is that crummy glued on bit next to the cable entry? Wasn't there some better way to make a baffle than this hackjob?

Bloody Uber...

Yup, might be as the Leaf pings when in reverse but nothing when moving forward.

The silence is where it is at though. Even doing 100km/h and you hit some fresh tarmac...and just silence...