The Headcase Stax thread

[bwck2000]

Once I hv a pair of et1000 but sold them for around 500 after I saw the deals on eBay.

They are overpriced compared to the staxs'.But the sound signature is pretty impressive,one can easily differentiate it from the stax.the high is more prnounced and not as soft as the old stax does

 

[spritzer]

I saw a set of two with an energizer going for 1300$...  that is beyond insane. 

[DefQon]

Ouch, that's almost a $1000 too much for what 1 set with the energizer is really worth. They use to come up on ebay and head-fi years back anywhere between $100-250.

Edited February 6, 2017 by DefQon

[mypasswordis]

On 2/5/2017 at 6:21 PM, DefQon said:

Placed a bid on the ECR-600's as I will be converting the drivers to Stax style design even if the d/s gap is larger than Stax's standard pro-bias spec. It's useless without the original adapter anyway.

I have a good gut feeling the price of it will go sky high like the ECR-800 as there are serious collectors in Japan.

They are absolutely not useless without the original adapter. My Stax Lambda Sig recabled ECR500 works just fine. Please don't destroy one of the only ECR600s in existence.

[swt61]

On 1/27/2017 at 6:03 PM, spritzer said:

It might be a bit anti climatic...

I thought that was for 1950's housewives?

[DefQon]

56 minutes ago, mypasswordis said:

They are absolutely not useless without the original adapter. My Stax Lambda Sig recabled ECR500 works just fine. Please don't destroy one of the only ECR600s in existence.

They aren't optimal with the current Stax amplifiers. I tried this with my ECR-500 and ECR-400's and the sound was absolutely shit without any drive behind it. Loss of gain and diaphram collapses if you drive it on material that has anything below 40-60hz.

Even after converting both my ECR-500 and 400's to full blown electrostats using the existing drivers the sound is still not optimal off Stax units unless I hook it up to a custom voltage doubler DC output circuit outputting circa 810vdc. The d/s gap between the stators to the mylar is far more than any of the Stax drivers I've pulled apart and rebuilt, hence the requirement for a higher bias but I do believe it just needs an all round solid amplifier with a higher then 580vdc pro-bias.

This is the 9th ECR-600's I've seen pop up over the past 5 years. The last one I helped another gentleman procure it from Japan. The ECR-800 is a different story and there is a hc'er here that owns one.

Edited February 7, 2017 by DefQon

[spritzer]

The real problem with these is that they have to be messed with.  My ECR600 had a nasty channel imbalance which never went away and that cable... yeah...  it has to go as it is dangerous. 

[spritzer]

On 6.2.2017 at 11:54 PM, mypasswordis said:

They are absolutely not useless without the original adapter. My Stax Lambda Sig recabled ECR500 works just fine. Please don't destroy one of the only ECR600s in existence.

One thing cropped into my head, didn't you once have a Suprex EP-5, Justin?  I bought one but it lacks the TRS plug and the multitude of wires has made me go all "mehh" so I didn't reterminate. 

[mypasswordis]

I bought the whole damn Superex line from some dude in the Bronx a few years ago.  Makes sense since superex was located in Yonkers. I don't remember which one the EP-5 was offhand, is it the huge hybrid with dynamic driver? 

Man, there's so many headphones I've bought and lost track of over the years. You're reminding me that I technically have two pep-79s or whatever they're called (the square ones you posted a long time ago and liked so I found my own pair). No idea where the first pair went 

Edited February 8, 2017 by mypasswordis

[spritzer]

The EP-5 is indeed the massive hybrid with a horrid coiled cable and 5 wires inside it.  I was going to take the easy route and not bother to ohm them out and figure out what they were doing with all of them.   

The PEP-79's were excellent.  I have the PEP-71's here with the massive wood grain adapter and the plan is to someday do a bunch of youtube videos about these.  Plus the Stanton Isophase (very, very odd those), PWB's and a whole lot of weirdness I've been collecting. 

[mypasswordis]

Cool, once/if I find my EP5 I'll take a look inside

[spritzer]

Excellent!!   

[Dusty Chalk]

10 hours ago, spritzer said:

... do a bunch of youtube videos...

Have you done any YouTube videos?  If so, I'd love to see them...channel?

[spritzer]

Nothing yet.   

[bwck2000]

Attempt to add a xlr input to srm1/mk2

The balanced srm1mk2 is working but the sound is not pleasing,the sound is too aggressive ,too much highs,not as smooth as before as well

It might Probably because of the use of silver-plated internal wires.

------------------------------------

Does anyone here have a 007mk2.9 with a serial no. of sz2-19xx? I saw a 007 mk2.9(bought in 2016) with such a serial no. but I once saw a 007 with a serial no. bigger than this one ,but in 2013

[spritzer]

Stax serial numbers mean absolutely nothing so you can't use them as any guide.  That said, some retailers might have stock sitting for years before it is sold. 

Balanced and single ended should sound exactly the same and no...the wires are not at fault...    Did you completely clone the - input off the + one?

[bwck2000]

Yes ,completely

The conversion is quite straight forward to make

[EdipisReks1]

7 hours ago, bwck2000 said:

It might Probably because of the use of silver-plated internal wires.

It might Probably because of the use of silver-plated internal gnomes.

[spritzer]

Bloody gnomes!!! 

[wink]

But..     but....  gnomes and gremlins are little problems......     so I'm told.

perhaps vacuuming out the pixie dust and wiping the unicorn tears with a damp rag may be indicated.....

 

btw,   leave the snake oil intact as it gives a smoother sound without detrimental effects to the plankton.......   

[Spork]

8 hours ago, spritzer said:

Bloody silver-plated internal gnomes!!! 

FTFY. 

[Tachikoma]

The ECR-800 works just fine without the ECA-80 on normal bias, once they've been recabled (which has to be done due to the gooey cable). The other issue with the ECR-800 is that the plastic headband also falls apart, so you're going to need to replace that too... or just keep it as a museum piece without ever using it.

Edited February 13, 2017 by Tachikoma

[spritzer]

That is the old issue with these old units, use them and risk them breaking or just make them look odd in some cabinet.   

[mypasswordis]

9 hours ago, Tachikoma said:

The ECR-800 works just fine without the ECA-80 on normal bias, once they've been recabled (which has to be done due to the gooey cable). The other issue with the ECR-800 is that the plastic headband also falls apart, so you're going to need to replace that too... or just keep it as a museum piece without ever using it.

How does it sound? Especially vs. various Stax

[mypasswordis]

R/blue bottom means the crazy red wire that they soldered together and insulated with a piece of wax paper, which ends up next to a blue one at the bottom of the driver, held together with putty. 

Edit: the pinout  I drew on the napkin is when you're staring at the plug straight on. Not the jack

Edited February 14, 2017 by mypasswordis