spritzer

I like the grab handles...as if these could be carried.

Some are fixed and sold but yeah...there are a lot of headphones here. Me working on my own DIY sets isn't helping matters as there are many, many prototypes...

So all the old stuff about these is buried in the Stax thread but since I just bought a lightly used set of KS-M3 and M10 it was perhaps time to give them their own thread. So I owned both the H1 and H2...and both were terrible. Truly awful but there are still people out there claiming the H3's are really good so...I was curious. I got the combo at a nice enough price so why not. Kevin thinks I'm nuts for buying a third one of these but hey... I guess he's right. The amp will await inspection but I connected the phones to the Carbon CC for a listen. Ok...a small spoiler here...they aren't good. Like at all and more of a shame on other electrostatics... So difference compared to the H1 and H2 was pretty major though both were cheaply made. That continues here but the dual arc setup does work better than the single arc of the H2. The earcups are also much nicer from the outside but we'll see how they are inside when I open them up. The earpads are the same protein crap as the other ones and really one of the major reasons these sound so bad. Also as a bonus, both drivers have dust or some debris inside of them so squeal quite a bit. As for the sound...holy bass Batman!! It sounds a bit like a cheap boombox, it's all midbass with no depth and strangles everything else. The highs are also piercing and very fatiguing while the midrange is drowned out by the midbass. So a hollow bright sound signature which puts electrostatics to shame. I pulled out a L300 to compare and even though I don't really like the L series, they are just miles ahead. They may sound a bit bland and uninvolving but at least they are mostly neutral. This King Sound is just bad...electrostatic or not. I'll update later when I have time to open them up.

Mikhail was the master of fucking up stable circuits.

I stuck it in storage when I was moving and kinda forgot about it. The resistors were there so I'll use them but it would be trivial to use a CCS. These all had resistors back in the day I want to make it as a fixed version of the stock pile of fail. I finished wiring up the test points and pots today so the amplifier is ready for testing.

Almost three years later, I'm finally working on this again. This is such an epic project as well...it is certifiable. The front panel is finished and mounted to the top plate. So very busy... Power knob on the left, volume on the right. Four 50K pots in the upper left hand corner to adjust the output stage offset and balance. Two 5K pots in the lower right hand corner with all the test points. Those cost a bloody fortune but were the only ones to fit in those holes. All 10 turn wire wound Bourns pots as well. TKD 4CP601 volume control as it fit the front panel perfectly. Not sure what to do with that gaping hole but might have a MA logo etched onto some plexiglass and illuminate it. Here it is even busier. The amplifier is mostly ready, just need to wire up all the test points and the 5K balance pots. Bias supply for the HE90 socket is in place but how I'm going to mate this to the power supply I just don't know. It has to go on the bottom of the chassis with two fairly large transformers and two PSU boards. It's a little bit like building a ship in a bottle... The PSU is up next so wish me luck.

Other Woo garbage and Boulder stuff too. Yuck...

They keep polishing that circuit. Funny to see if move from SRM-1 Mk2 to SRM-3 to 313 to 323 etc...

There is so much fail in those pics...

The same sockets as on the 727 are on the expansion but Stax have been using these since the 60's. SRA-3S used card edge stuff and the SRA-10S is filled with them. Now back to the T8000...and the sound continues to underwhelm. It's just so damn strident...

Yup, they look like .1" to me and are used for everything in this amp. Even HV stuff which is really doubt they should do...

It would be fun to create a modern T2 in a chassis not much larger than the T8000 just to fuck with Stax. Naturally SS output as it is just better. Also I just wanted to add it here that the PSU caps in the T8000 are indeed 220uf/400V, same exact units as used in all the other Stax amps. The heaters are run at 6.3V but I need to measure it to me certain. The PSU feeding them has 10V caps it is very plausible...

I grabbed the 007Mk2's from the "Stax shrine" in the living room (that's what my friends call the wall of Stax) and well...this is not good. I've been throwing anything and everything at them and they... they sound quite frankly bad on this amp. Everything from voices upwards sounds compressed and strident which is not normal. Doesn't matter the type of music, recordings et al...they all sound bad. Now that I have the 007's I can test the bass and it is very much lacking. Where the Carbon and T2 hit hard this one is just lackluster. Onward to some more listening...

So my birthday present is finally here, the SRM-T8000. I just quickly plucked it into my computer rig with the Denafrips Ares as a source: Here I can compare directly against the Carbon CC and the as yet unrealesed new KGSSHV, budget edition. Think of this one as the 727 if Stax had any sense. Anyway, back to the T8000. The packaging is classic Stax and no complaints there. I do have some complaints about the casework though, the front panel looks awesome but who decided what to do with the rest of it? Seriously that sparckly silver paint is just horrible. Reminds me of some super cheap Chinese amps. Yeah... not great. I had a quick peek inside to change the voltage to 240V and the procedure in the other thread is correct. This is the same old Stax color setup with a small change (one connector is reversed) to try and trick people. Some notes about the interior: -The person who designed this needs to find something else to do as not a single fuck was given as to how this thing is put together. Boards on top of boards with no reason to be there. I love the volume control where you have three PCB's (one blank) sitting on top of the pot. WHY!!!??? All of this could have been done on the back panel... Also wires everywhere. Bloody Stax living in the 70's... -The volume control (which they try to hide) is a plain old Alps RK27. It's almost impossible to see but I moved the "shield" a bit and there was the classic Alps sticker. For 6K$ I'd expect more... -The PSU is certainly unregulated and the same as in the 727/007t. Same 220uf/400V Elna caps. -Looks like the tubes are running at DC 6.3V. 4700uf/10V filter caps but I'll measure it later. -The amp is certainly just a 727 with the feedback in place and tube input stage. Ohhh and for the tube rollers, not a chance to roll this amp so better just like the stock EH tubes. Either that or somebody builds a special tester for this amp and sells tubes for it. Now for some impressions. I'm a bit pressed for time now so I just grabbed the first headphones that I saw. These are my own DIY units and I've been using them a lot lately as I've been tuning them. The drivers are old SR-X Mk3 units so similar sound signature, the best highs you can find with glorious midrange and extended but super tight bass. I'll go into the living room and grab some of the others over the weekend. Now what can I say about the amp...well I expected more. The top end is the worst part, it's rather uneven and unrefined. Grating even and slightly shouty in nature. Seems to be the Stax house sound these days but it also makes me dread trying the amp with 009's and L700's. I'm listening as I type this and I cringe from time to time, the upper midrange and treble is so bad. The phones are sure as shit not to blame... Now the midrange is ok minus the glare but it also lacks the expansive nature that the really powerful amps give it. It feels closed in... The bass...well it is nothing to write about really. Nowhere near T2/Carbon levels of power but this really isn't the best set to try for bass performance. I'll dig out the modded 007Mk2's to test that when I have time. Here it is all a bit flat and lifeless. Conclusion time I guess, at least for now. There are things I like about this amp, the front panel is pretty and it comes with properly wired XLR sockets but there is a lot I don't like. I fucking hate the blue power led...Stax should be green or orange. On top of everything above I also think this thing is horribly overpriced as it is just a fixed 727 which isn't a particularly great amp to begin with. To charge 6k$ for this...is just not cool. More listening to come... -

Also CCS transistors on the main board. Notice the extra heatsinks.

Maybe, can't be sure. I think the board had some resistors and even caps there that should all be removed. In related news, here is the large version of this shitbox: https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/o194170591 KGSSHV alright...

Yeah and the proof is indeed in the pudding. We've tried it both ways and know this "less transparent" malarkey is just crap.

Indeed, rattling could be a issue but not here. There is this myth floating around about electrostatics that the dust covers somehow make drivers less transparent but...no basis in reality. Hell if this was true the Martin Logan's should sound great and not shitty as they do...

I agree, major charge issues here. The builder claimed I was wrong about this but...no!! So if the volume changes you are loosing charge...you don't have constant charge so hello distortion. Basic fact about electrostatics, constant charge is a must have and the only way to achieve lowest distortion. I'm going to take the drivers apart and recoat the diaphragm with my own coating but the structure is so fragile that I'm hesitant to do so. It is basically super thin PCB material and the real structure comes from the stator supports and the entire housing. The builder also claimed I was wrong to add dust covers as it "kills dynamics". How about no...dust covers when properly done have no impact or might just marginally add to the baffle seal.

I had a brief look over the pics and this amp is still a clusterfuck... A lot of wrong values and quite frankly odd ones. So first thing to tackle is the input section, that pot is garbage so I would swap it out and make sure that the - side of the input is grounded when using the switch. It was the + on my amp which makes no sense... Dale rn60c 3243F 9720J = 324K. 3243 means 324 with 3 zero's after it. That resistor is way too small though for the heat this part of the circuit dissipates.

We don't even know what half those circuit boards are so no wonder you are confused. I tried to make some sense of the GRHV boards and no...just no. Best step would be to start reading the classic KGSSHV thread and work your way over to the Carbon one.

The HE90 drivers I have here from Chinsettawong are just stunning. I need to make up a housing for those one day... As for the King Sound...it's been established that I have problem with collecting. It's so nice though when something actually works as it should. Now the Libratum has had some diaphragm work and well... they sound excellent. They do remind me a bit of the SR-Omega at times, that slightly larger than life nature which works so well with some material.

They are better built than KingSound so DIY is a gray area...

Now here is something fun... a new electrostatic set from Russia. I do read the Russian forums a bit and I've been following the semi-DIY stuff going on over there. Seeing that this one had matured I decided buy one. Here is the website for anybody interested: http://phenomenon.su/ I ordered it directly and this set was custom made for me. They have two versions available and I picked the Libratum as I prefer circular transducers. Cost was less than 2k$ with shipping here. As you might tell from the pics, the build quality is super impressive and makes most other headphones look like toys. I for one like the Russian utilitarian style where it is all about the function but they can just be described as pretty. Comfort is also pretty good though the non adjustable headpad might be a tad shorter as it touches the arc for me and the hard metal pokes through it. The earpads are super nice, thick leather and attach to the baffle with magnets. The phones are heavy but not a problem for me. Smaller heads might have some issue here as adjustment is limited. So an overview of the design, these are copper mesh stators attached to pcb's with PCB material holding the diaphragm in place. Not sure how thick it is but it might be 2um as the top end is slightly rolled off. I ordered the set with dust covers on both sides but these are just woven material and caused some issues. The resistance on the diaphragm is high so they take a while to charge up but this is something I'll likely improve. More on that later... The housing a single piece with the driver all the way at the back and a thick baffle next to the ear. The screws on the outside go all the way through the set and have heatshrink on them or the drivers might short out. Small nuts hold them underneath the earpads. Take those all out and you can pull the baffle out of the shell to expose the drivers. Thankfully there was adhesive here so I could add solid dust covers with ease. Any claims that these "reduce clarity" are just nonsense. There was another adhesive ring on the back of the driver so I added a second cover there but forgot to take a picture of it. So how about the sound...well first off the major issue I had with the set. So this thing uses a super high resistance coating on the diaphragm which shouldn't be an issue but it isn't hydrophobic...i.e. it changes with humidity. Now this with the lack of a solid dust cover next to the ear is just trouble. The volume level of the set drifted like mad with use as the humidity next to the ears affected the charge. It got so bad that it just went into a mess of distortion. Leave them sitting on their own for a while and the volume would rise again. Simple solution to that...add a solid screen between the ear and the diaphragm so the humidity there isn't an issue. I will likely clean off the diaphragm in the future and add my own coating as it is simply superior to this. Another small gripe I have with the design is the cable. Well it is a Stax extension cable which is excellent but there is no strain relief at all. The cable is firmly anchored in place but it could use some heatshrink or something to take the strain. Now for the sound...well after a number of small scale 'stats I've had here over the years this is a welcome change. This is nothing like the King Sound or HE Audio Jade which were both badly made garbage and sound like lukewarm shit. While these aren't going to topple the 007's it's a damn good try using similar design elements. The sound is super balanced but just a tad rolled off in the top and bottom end. Bass lacks some impact and substance too but nothing to worry about really. The midrange is super nice but slightly "lost" as with the SR-Omega and HE90's. This ties into the soundstage which is projected slightly front of the head and is just a little bit hazy. They lack the super focus of something like the SR-007 but for some that would be a welcome change.

Stax are firmly stuck in a 70's business mindset so yeah... it is to be expected that they are difficult.