spritzer

There is a protection screen next to the ear and from the beginning (Sr-Sigma 1977) it has been black but in 2003-4 they changed to silver so look for that. The stators were also uninsulated on the Lambda Pro but they are powder coated now so black in color compared to the gold copper color.

There is no way to replace just the membranes on a Lambda series without major surgery. It's all glued together with some urethane based adhesive.

That could certainly be it if they were fitted with new drivers. Easy enough to check as what color is the grill underneath the earpad foam? One thing that makes all of this even harder is the difference in glue used by Stax now and what they did use. Now they've gone all eco-friendly on us and the new stuff doesn't seem to be as strong.

Anyone of the Stax distributors has replacement cables but the cost may well be triple what they cost in Japan. I would contact EIFL or Audio Cubes to see if they can order one directly from Stax. I have bought then from EIFL but they can be very slow to respond... The adhesive used to mount the new pads is very sticky so you should be able to just lift up the corners and press the pads back onto the baffle when you are done.

I use zip-ties to secure the cables, one closer to the opening and a second directly above it on the cable for extra protection. I use pliers to grip the free end and the lock at the same time for a tight fit. Here is a pic of my SR-X Mk3 Pro:

The Stax version of refurb is to remove everything that could be broken and replace with parts from the current line. Not really what you want them to do with the vintage Lambdas is it... If it's the Lambda Sigs that you are talking about then I'd just order up a new SR-303 (or 404 if you want a better one) cable and install it. I can take you through it step by step and it is not that hard to do if you know how a screwdriver works and which end of the soldering iron to hold...

Yes but Stax beats them all... earspeakers bitch!!!!

I haven't heard the 306 but the 303 was pretty bad and you can get a much better vintage piece for the price.

It's the comfort which seals the deal for me as I can wear them for a whole day if so inclined. The SR-007A's are also approaching this after I swapped the foam inside the pads with those from a Mk1 set. As for a source I wouldn't buy anything with Cary badge on it but that is a personal choice. Why not find some old DAC like Parasound, Museatex, Wadia or some other and have it modified. New certainly doesn't mean better in this game and some of the old stuff is simply stunning.

Nothing but a SR-007 there for me.

The bass and treble will only get better with more power behind them so get cracking on that BH... I must say that I'm solely using any one of my Omegas these days and the rest just sits there. Time to write up so FS listings...

It sure as hell should be louder as you are feeding the input stage more voltage if the DAC is indeed dual differential.

300+W for the filament of a single tube!!

29 sets of Stax earpads of various types. I was running low and wanted to stock up on SR-007 Mk1 pads in case Stax will discontinue them...

Less then half (230 vs. 580) but no, not really. The bias is just an optimized figure for that diaphragm/stator gap and the drive voltages present. If you lower the bias you will still get sound but it will be "softer" as the stators do not have the same grip on the diaphragm due to the lower potential. Since the electrostatic force drops by the square of the distance the designers have to ramp up the bias voltage in ever growing increments to make up for the increased gap space for greater dynamics.

Not that long ago... Nice catch. Those are SR-5's

Not knowing what hell they are doing would be a better description then drama but I'm going to stay away from the HE1.2b unless something drastic happens. The risk involved shouldn't be ignored but they are even "better" with SR-007 drivers. The housing will always have the largest impact on any planar design and the sharp angle of the original pads create a wider soundstage. These are just normal fuse holders so a 4A 20mm fuse should do the trick. The pins are 20mm long and 5mm across. The BG's do make a difference but whether it is worth the price is another matter.

SR-Omega it is then but be prepared to pay dearly for one if you should find it. Going rate in Japan is close to 400kYen and even more here in the west. Think of it as a rounder and slightly woollier version of the SR-007 with a larger soundstage. Like I say later on this is due to the amplification. What I've been banging on for 5 years now is that the SR-007 needs a shit load of power to wake up the bass but all that power will not act as a bass boost. What will increase the bass is playing around with the arc's by making the phones slightly looser on the head. The angle is also important but it matters less then the pressure. Ditto. The HF way is to blame everything on burn-in but some gear just doesn't work as it should and we are simply not kidding our selfs. I know what I like and how a SR-007 should sound and the Mk2 just isn't that. The modded unit is better but still not there. Very easy to do most of the time. Remove the 4 screws which hold the top cover, remove the screws which secure the back panel and tilt it so you have better access to the jumpers. For 240v they should be jumpers at 2 and 5 but for 120v you need to have jumpers at 2,4 and 6. If you are missing one jumper then a fuse should work if it has a large enough rating. It's most definitely the amplification. You have to remember how electrostatics work (lower impedance into bass and treble) and the SR-007 is a current hog into the lower frequencies. I guess the built in damping was the only way for them to overcome the upper midrange colorations found both in the He90 and SR-Omega but it creates a very tough load on the amps.

Very good comparison you've got there. I'm with dvse on preferring the smaller, more precise headstage of the Mk1 but I also like the more rounded soundstage of the SR-Omega. The Mk2/A with the latest round of mods does sound pretty similar to the Mk1 though more forward. I quite like them though and now the hard part is to modify the Mk2 pads... As for the comfort then the elastic band on the Mk2/A is much stronger so I'm not sure it will loosen up over time. I do how ever prefer the material on the bottom of the headpad on the Mk2.

Sure thing.

If you want an impressive DAC get a Zero and listen to all the reasons why it costs only 100$...

The name is even more of a facepalm. Thor (which is my middle name ) or

Wuss!!!! ... Impressive will never last and can often become annoying in the end.

Amps do need to warm up and same goes for sources but headphones at these power levels?? I know it is a common misconception with RSA customers but that's not surprising...