spritzer

Just be very careful where you point the screwdriver and all driver damage is very unlikely. You could also choose not remove the earpad base plate and just plug port from there. This is untested but should work just fine. Speaking off blu-tack mods I've been torture testing the SR-Ω/SR-007 hybrid and the bass is still a bit loose but I'm not sure if the seal is broken somewhere or that the chassis just can't handle the SR-007 drivers. If I apply some pressure to the housing barrel the bass gets clearer so it might be time for some Dynamat... The SR-Ω housing is just a shell unlike the massive slabs of aluminum in the SR-007 so that has to have an effect. So you haven't noticed the midrange recess yet...

There is some black goo on the bottom of the chassis (vibration control?) and the caps scrape it off. The board is upside down in the chassis as you can see from the location of the jacks. Pretty damn good though I haven't compared it much against the APL in DAC mode as it's been sitting in my computer rig. I did get a Zero dac this week and it only took about 30 minutes to hear just how inferior the Zero is. Boomy bass, bright and nasty upper midrange, much less resolution and clarity and the soundstage just vanished. The DAC1 also isn't ruthlessly revealing so MP3's aren't a problem which isn't the case with the Zero. Two OcCon's next to the input. There are further two green Wima caps on the bottom and some resistors. It's a single TDA1543 dac chip with a CS8416 on the input, capacitor coupled output (bipolar Blackgates) with Riken resistors to ground. The transformers are all part of the PSU but this thing is so minimalistic that it doesn't have a fuse or any switches.

I did promise some internal pics a long time ago but here they finally are. I did manage to fuck up the shots of the other side of the board so only the top part shown. The SR-X Mk3 Pro used to show just how tiny this DAC is. Not that many parts used but the quality is very high indeed.

I know that feeling all too well...

I'm glad you didn't. The SR-Ω frame is by far my favorite of every headphone out there due to the great fit and having the better drivers is just a bonus. We have been expecting this. One can only wonder about where that He90 went...

There is one in Euro land but the price is a bit steep.

Must not buy a SACD Standard...

Time for some pics: Here are my two SR-Ω, stock one on the Stax stand and the hybrid on my crappy DIY stand. Earpad removed This is with the earpads removed as well as the aluminum screen. The brass spacer are actually two units, used here to add tension to the drive sandwich and to close off the earcup. These used to hold the dust covers on the old drivers. A close up of the cable cutout. Stax just left it like this, creating a port to the other side of the driver. This is just sloppy work hence the second picture. Here is the driver connection. The original drivers have lead wires for the stators and some sort of a clamp for the bias.

Here it is in all its glory:

On the inside is an OEM switching supply (costs around 50$ online for 1 unit), a horrible DVD-Rom drive with a small PCB at the back with the CPU's doing the upsampling and D/A conversion and an opamp based output stage. I should have pictures of it somewhere but I'm having trouble finding them.

They can only be considered ok if you get them really cheap and can sell them again for a profit. Look inside one and it's easy to see that those that really like the Merdian's don't have a clue...

SR-Ω/007 hybrid in the house and playing on my head. Being the OCD nutcase I am I completely disassembled them and took pictures which I will post later. The old drivers look to be in perfect condition but that means nothing as a fraction of a millimeter is all it takes to fuck them up. I will work on them when I have time but I will most likely keep them as spares if I do manage to find out what is wrong with the broken one. The new drivers are SR-007A units and not the old ones. Stax had left the cable cutout open so there was a massive opening for the drivers to went. Knowing that I don't like the SR-007A with the port open, I plugged it with some blutack but might try them later with it open. The seal isn't perfect but the SR-Ω design never had any squeal issues so I just left it at that. This set has a new arc assembly (the S/N sticker is in the wrong place, a dead give away) as well as new-ish earpads. As for the sound then my impressions will be crippled by the lack of a Blue Hawaii to test them with. My old unit has gone back to Justin and the BHSE isn't ready yet let alone my DIY one. A quick listen out of the computer rig shows them to be quite similar to the SR-007 though less focused. Bass is impressive out of the SRM-1 and and only a smidgen of blur at pretty loud levels playing very bass heavy music. The top end is extended but the amp is clearly holding them back here so I will reserve any judgment. The midrange is excellent as is to be expected and the soundstage is similar to my other SR-Ω though smaller. I big head is only good when you are just shy of 2m like me and keep knocking it into things.

They were far from comfortable for me. If you have a small head they are fine but I don't. The SR-Ω has the Lambda Signature arc and headband with much larger ads then the SR-007. I can wear mine for hours on end. Try adding another level of foam on top of the old one to make the pads firmer. Could work...

Just saw this: CORIOLAN, ELECTROSTATICS DRIVE, STAX, HE90 I believe they are charging 6500$ for this crap. "Clean, transparent, solid as never before. ......No more words..........."

Haha, good one... Get an SR-Ω and nearly the bass of the SR-007 with a wider soundstage and a more "forgiving" sound. Once I heard the SR-Ω I knew that the He90's days were numbered as the Stax was more comfortable and sounded a whole lot better for when I wanted a different signature to the Sr-007. The pads are crucial to say the least. Too soft and the sound goes to shit.

I do have a Lambda Nova Classic here that would work for a housing transplant. Blah, bass is for the weak. We are planar heads so we only need a perfect midrange.

I do have some Lambdas here but I need spare parts for them as they are in a sorry state. I'll see if I can make a functioning set tomorrow after work.

Then it iz better then da speakerz

There is a new upsampler as well (211k/32bit) along with a new output stage and thus new transformers. This is much closer to being 32bit then that joke the Memory Player or what the fuck its called. You sure can spend a lot modding the PS1 but most will just relocate the PSU and go direct to the dac. I shielded the PSU and bypassed (and removed) the output stage with some Vishay PP caps and Cardas rca jacks. It does have great synergy with the Stax Lambdas but my old Rotel RCD-971 is a better player once I tinkered with it. It's also full of Black Gates for that extra audiophile flare...

indeed. I do like to use mine from time to time and it's not half bad for the 30$ spent. This is the cheapest way of doing it really the same way it was for EMM in the beginning to mutilate SACD1000 units for transport duty. These Denon units were also beta testers in a way and many other players before them. The players are reliable as far as I know since the basic machine is very good. There have been some issues with the new 32bit players but they have all been bad tubes so a faulty batch of ECC99's could be the cause. APL has been working on a DAC which would do just that and use a Esoteric player as a transport but after 2.5years it still isn't ready.

My only regret about those damned things is that I could have picked up a whole lot of them (NIB) locally for next to nothing but didn't as I cringe every time I see the MF logo. That would have made me a pretty penny on eBay.

I do wonder sometimes if the idiots paying 25k$ for a cable have ever listened to the cheap-but-great stuff.

Ahhh ok. Mine wasn't like that but a quick google search turned up the instructions manual for the Sony. It seems to me that HFN is the only mag handing out real reviews these days. Something like 6moons and the other online mags are just acting as a showcase for gear. Now I do like the PS1 for the essentially free CDP it is but claiming it is a giant killer shows an utter lack of experience. I guess these are the same people that liked those horrible MF tube buffers...

One question for Todd, do the channel buttons on the Sony remote allow you to change tracks? Mine didn't while in RCVR mode so I configured the DVD mode to work on the player and it works great. Only thing missing is the repeat function. There is a lot of BS out there but I think you made a wise choice with the Trafomatic. It was on my short list but the B22 won due to the ample power on tap. As for reviews they are worthless now as the experience level of the reviewers continues to plummet and it all sounds great, even a stock Sony PS1...

One SR-Ω driver is fine so if I can't fix it I will have a spare unit which might come in handy.