chinese company purchases stax?

[guzziguy]

Need a new thread. Currawong has locked that one. It deserved locking too.

Edit: Oops, too late.

Edited December 20, 2011 by guzziguy

[Tyll Hertsens]

Aren't the money graphs to small ?

Sort of. Readable enough for the article I think.

I'd take the time to make them clickable with links to bigger pics, but I've got to go pick up my daughter at the airport soon and the house is a mess.

But DAMN, it's gonna be good to have her home! Wooooot!

[digger945]

^Start a new thread with the exact same title.

Top notch article Tyll.

Congrats all the way 'round.

[jgazal]

One of my sources told me that because CRTs are going extinct, the need for certain high voltage transistors has disappeared, and many of these parts are becoming unavailable. These transistors are used in the high voltage sections of electrostatic headphone amplifiers. My guess is that Edifier will find a way to manufacture these parts themselves, and this will create a strong market barrier to others who might otherwise compete in electrostatic headphones.

http://www.innerfide...ker-stax-page-3

Does that mean no more DIY?

Electrostatic drivers do have some significant advantage for high-end applications. The planar wave front they generate lends itself to superior imaging, as does the speedy transient response of these drivers. But the technology also has the drawback of typically having a hard time delivering deep bass notes --- something the popular culture desires greatly.

http://www.innerfide...ker-stax-page-3

Did the SR-001MK2 system used to have neutral bass response?

Sorry asking that, but I have never heard it.

Edited December 20, 2011 by jgazal

[spritzer]

Edit: I just read the article and one thing stood out, the bit about lack of Stax dealers in the US. What I've been hearing is that Yama's simply hasn't been able to supply said dealers with products making them look bad in the eyes of the consumer. To further support this, the number of Stax dealers in the UK appears to be growing and there is real marketing going on there. The distributor is also responsive to service issues and the like.

Does that mean no more DIY?

Without access to high voltage transistors then we are stuck with using tubes. Toshiba did just kill all of it's high voltage BJT's except one....

Edited December 20, 2011 by spritzer

[justin]

i don't get Stax's business model. Why do they need to sell products to Yamas who sells products to dealers? Why can't Stax just sell directly to the dealers? I'll tell you why. Because Yamas are good with people. They deal with the god damn customer!

[kevin gilmore]

You can be sure that there will continue to be DIY amplifiers.

The current transistors will continue to be available for at

least another year.

ixys has 1500 volt n-channel mosfets that sound just fine.

The only difference will be a stronger drive circuit to drive

the extra gate capacitance. I'm playing with this now.

Its really just the 3rd stage voltage gain section.

Standing power will go up a few watts per channel.

Whats a few watts among friends

[Tyll Hertsens]

Because Yamas are good with people. They deal with the god damn customer!

That's not what I've been hearing. Can you clarify that for me?

[n_maher]

That's not what I've been hearing. Can you clarify that for me?

It's a quote taken loosely from Office Space and meant with much sarcasm.

[Tyll Hertsens]

BTW, I did change some wording on the Yama's paragraph on page three. Tats called me and said the reason for the squeeze is the strengthening Yen against the dollar over time. Wish he'd have said that when I talked to him instead of saying they were trying to reduce the price of product when that wasn't what was happening.

Rookie maneuver on my part for not thinking of it, though. The Yen/Dollar has changed a lot.

Still, Justin, I heard only one good statement about his service.

Edit: Ah. Just saw Nates post.

Edited December 20, 2011 by Tyll Hertsens

[The Expanding Man]

Is it possible that the purchase of Stax is some very forward thinking - China is rapidly developing and if this continues, they may soon have the largest group of cashed up middle class people in the world.

[ujamerstand]

Tyll, This sentence "The notice states that Edifier will use its manufacturing capacity to reduce manufacturing costs and to bring product to market at more broadly acceptable prices." Is probably in reference to the fact that they will be introducing a new brand of electrostatic headphones in china, so it doesn't really contradict that stax production will be kept 100% in Japan.

[justin]

Rookie maneuver on my part for not thinking of it, though. The Yen/Dollar has changed a lot.

That's true. I believe Stax lowered their USA prices several years ago...it used to be really outrageous, like 2x the price in Japan. Then it dropped to around 1.5x, or even 1.25x if you knew a dealer and could get a bargain. Since that time, the dollar has dropped 20% against the yen and Stax has not raised their dollar prices (to end users -- i have no idea what goes on behind the scenes with dealer pricing)

Edited December 21, 2011 by justin

[Clarkmc2]

You can be sure that there will continue to be DIY amplifiers.

The current transistors will continue to be available for at

least another year.

ixys has 1500 volt n-channel mosfets that sound just fine.

The only difference will be a stronger drive circuit to drive

the extra gate capacitance. I'm playing with this now.

Its really just the 3rd stage voltage gain section.

Standing power will go up a few watts per channel.

Whats a few watts among friends

I don't know if this will help, but SemiSouth has added a 1700v SiC JFET to its 1200v offerings. Maybe good things are ahead.

Nelson Pass has been fiddling around with static induction transistors from the same company, designed to his specs. I have no idea when they might be generally available at an affordable cost.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Clarkmc2

[digger945]

Interesting parts.

The 1700v part mimics enhancement and the 1200v parts looks depletion.

http://semisouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DS_SJEP170R550_rev1.4.pdf

http://semisouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/DS_SJDP120R085_rev1.4.pdf