The Headcase Stax thread

[chinsettawong]

I really like the way you put those LEDs on the top side.  Nice build Birgir.

 

 

[4tray]

is there any chance anyone here has a woo wee and a referential power amp? i liked using my crown d-75a with my SRD-7 and SR-X MK3 a lot honestly, more than any other am i used it with. my friend who introduced me on to stax wanted to hear my lambdas and my 323S so i brought them over and we tried out our setups, but i preferred the sound of his SRM-1 MKII more than my 323S with my own headphones so i'm leaning towards just selling the 323S and getting a woo wee. the charge to get one normal bias output instead of 2x pro bias is an extra $80, but i hear good things about the woo wee and would be nice to have a solution like the woo wee for the environment i use my staxes in.

 

i was getting excited about building a normal bias circuit for the 323s but now that i know i like the srm-1 better i'm not so tempted to do that mod now...!

Edited September 3, 2015 by 4tray

[spritzer]

Nobody here would be stupid enough to touch a Woo Wee.  We don't think it is a good feature to have an adapter destroy our headphones. 

[keithpgdrb]

yeah, if you like the sound of the srm1mk2, why would your logic be to get a woo wee?

[nopants]

headfi has the people that use power amps for this stuff I imagine. there might be someone here who is using birgirs lundahl box though

[Dave R]

Someone brought his 009's to my place last November to try out with my BHSE, and when used with that amp they were working perfectly, but a couple of months ago or so he posted on the other site he was having problems with those Earspeakers.

He was using a Woo Wee + integrated amp with his 009's but has since sold that Wee and has had his 009's repaired.

I believe he now has a KGST and a Stax amp.

Edited September 3, 2015 by Dave R

[4tray]

Nobody here would be stupid enough to touch a Woo Wee.  We don't think it is a good feature to have an adapter destroy our headphones. 

yeah, if you like the sound of the srm1mk2, why would your logic be to get a woo wee?

Thanks for the inputs guys. I had no idea the woo wee was capable of causing damage. glad i didn't buy one. Of course I found out about the woo wee by reading head-fi's stax thread. i don't go there anymore since i found this site... that's why i mentioned it here, i knew i would get an honest opinion.

I'm not sure what my logic was there. I guess it was I liked the sound of the SRD7 with that power amp, so i figured maybe I should stick with separate amp and energizer.

I should just get a SRM1 MK2 though. Thinking more about it, it seems pointless to require a power amp if I am spending that  kind of money regardless. It looks like I might be getting rid of my 323S for a SRM1 then.

[JimL]

Hmmm, This dude doesn't know the difference between 5pin Pro and 6 pin normal sockets.

Quote follows ebay linkie.....

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stax-Pro-Earspeakers-Headphones-Socket-Jack-Chassis-Panel-Mount-Custom-Made-/181841836386?hash=item2a569e3962

edit.  He has another ad for the 6pin socket here:-

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stax-Normal-Earspeakers-Headphones-Socket-Jack-Chassis-Panel-Mount-Custom-Made-/181843948902?hash=item2a56be7566

 

He only has these 2 postings on ebay.

So I bought one of these off ebay in the 6 pin version because I'm thinking of building another amp which can accept normal bias Stax phones and Justin is no longer making the 6 pin version.  It was ordered on August 22 and arrived today.  The socket as received was too tight to accept my Stax SR-5 jack.  I pulled out my drill set and used the blunt end of the drill starting with #48 (0.078" = 2 mm) drill to gradually expand each pin, working up to #39 (0.099" = 2.5mm), after which the Stax jack fit snugly.  I'm going to let it sit for a few days and see if the socket tightens up or if it stays snug.  The front diameter measures 0.710" = 17.8mm, which also appears to be the distance between the 4 screw holes.  The screw holes will take a #4 screw comfortably.  Workmanship appears to be otherwise good, although not up to Headamp standards, but neither is the price.

Nobody here would be stupid enough to touch a Woo Wee.  We don't think it is a good feature to have an adapter destroy our headphones. 

It's been awhile, so remind me of the reason.  Is this one of those that has a fairly large capacitor on the bias supply that can discharge and fry the diaphragms?

Edited September 4, 2015 by JimL

[HeadphoneAddict]

My Woo WEE is the first one made, and I boxed it up 2 years ago and haven't touched it since. Almost had it sold, but they backed out.  But I bet the case, knobs, terminals, jacks, and transformers are worth something as parts....

[JimL]

 

 

Thanks for the inputs guys. I had no idea the woo wee was capable of causing damage. glad i didn't buy one. Of course I found out about the woo wee by reading head-fi's stax thread. i don't go there anymore since i found this site... that's why i mentioned it here, i knew i would get an honest opinion.

I'm not sure what my logic was there. I guess it was I liked the sound of the SRD7 with that power amp, so i figured maybe I should stick with separate amp and energizer.

I should just get a SRM1 MK2 though. Thinking more about it, it seems pointless to require a power amp if I am spending that  kind of money regardless. It looks like I might be getting rid of my 323S for a SRM1 then.

Just one caveat.  The SRM1 Mk2 was last made in 1995, so they are at least 20 years old, which means at a minimum that their power supply caps are well past their sell-by date and should be replaced with modern equivalents or better.

[4tray]

Just one caveat.  The SRM1 Mk2 was last made in 1995, so they are at least 20 years old, which means at a minimum that their power supply caps are well past their sell-by date and should be replaced with modern equivalents or better.

No worries and thanks for the heads up. However, if I end up grabbing one I already have all my replacement caps picked out and ready to order

Now I just need to find some dual sided tape and work up the balls to rip off the original SR-X pads.

[DefQon]

In case you rip the SR-X pads and need a new replacement, Audiocubes has replacements for cheap. 

[4tray]

In case you rip the SR-X pads and need a new replacement, Audiocubes has replacements for cheap. 

I actually have two pairs of replacement pads ready to go in case I mess one up

I'm just worried I'll damage the headphones while trying to remove the old pads. I couldn't care less about how the old pads look when I'm done with them.

[DefQon]

No chance of damaging the headphones by removing pads unless you smash it with a hammer.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[4tray]

Thanks for the reassurance... when I finally get around to buying some double sided tape I'll get the job done.

I didn't realize there's a SRD-7 that is powered by the audio signal. I'd love to have one of those!

[Ali-Pacha]

SRD-7/SBmk2 is the only self-bias one made by Stax that provides pro-bias output.

Ali

Edited September 6, 2015 by Ali-Pacha

[spritzer]

There was a SRD-7 Pro SB too but it is dead simple to do this. 

[HeadphoneAddict]

I sold my SRD-7 SB Mk2 with normal and pro bias jacks a while back.  I liked the self-biasing but didn't sound as good as my AC powered SRD-7 pro for some reason, maybe from additional age or wear?

I also have an SRD-7 SB that audiocats modified to add pro-bias to one of the jacks, as well as a 3rd jack with 5-pin XLR where the output selector used to be (for HE-Audio stats that I had at the time). And he wired the transformers directly to a set of vampire banana jacks on the back, so no speaker pass-through & he says the impedance of the box is quite low as frequencies get closer to DC.  This sounds more detailed and efficient than the stock SRD-7 Pro, but presents a challenging load for the amp (unless you add some high power 4 ohm resistors in series which I lost).

 

[DefQon]

I never letting go of my SRD-7sb mk2 given how rare they are now and fetch a small little fortune.

Anyway:

Stock SRA-3S with pro output from Stax? 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stax-SRA3S-headphones-amp-with-new-tubes-/321854886409?hash=item4af00bd209

[Ali-Pacha]

There was a SRD-7 Pro SB too but it is dead simple to do this. 

Do you have some pictures of it ? Always intersted in oddnesses stax could have released 

Ali

[spritzer]

I might have a picture in some of the archives but I'm not going to search for it.  Can't even remember when I had that one. 

[dripf]

Is this benign, or should I be chasing down a warranty service?

Regards.

[JimL]

Do you have some pictures of it ? Always intersted in oddnesses stax could have released 

Ali

Here's a link to a picture of the SRD7SB Pro

http://stereonomono.blogspot.com/2014_09_01_archive.html

[Voltron]

Is this benign, or should I be chasing down a warranty service?

Regards.

[url=https://www.youtube.com/embed/KX57zvuBGtk?feature=oembed]

Those red lights mean the electrostatic energy is on overload and you may fry your brain if you try to use it. Turn off and unplug immediately if those lights come on.

[dripf]

 

Those red lights mean the electrostatic energy is on overload and you may fry your brain if you try to use it. Turn off and unplug immediately if those lights come on.

The sound, the sound!