The Headcase Stax thread

[mypasswordis]

5 hours ago, Ali-Pacha said:

Why redoing it ? We did it once, with all the warnings included (system, procedures, etc...), one should take it as it is and go on with the hobby  And btw I sold my 007mk1 some weeks ago...

Ali

I believe Sorrodje posted that he wasn't satisfied with the first iteration of measurements and was thinking of redoing them eventually, but could be wrong. Fellow SR-007 dislikers unite 

Interesting info on the seal, thanks. Could be cause for future investigations. I don't experience that bass hump and roll-off of the imperfect seal when I'm listening on any of my Lambdas. Still need to hear all the SR-LX00s but but yeah it looks to be a little leaky by design which is more repeatable and easy to achieve across different heads. 

[Sorrodje]

What is wrong with the measurements we took at Ali-pacha's place  is the distorsion. A few measurements exhibit "normal" distorsion but a lot don't seem correct. that's why it could be interesting to redo them.  That been said, amateurish measurements like mine are not that accurate in term of distorsion, the only thing I can see and show is when things are really wrong. not subtleties. so  incorrect distorsion plots in my measurements don't matter much imo. 

When I decided to measure Stax headphones,  i did a choice and make the coupler in order to ensure the best seal. In my opinion it's better to have consistent results even of the hypthesis is not easy to reproduce IRL. at least I can show when the headphone is leaky by design ( 007 mkII vs MKI for example or le L700 I had on loan) . measnurements made with improper seal just teach us nothing else than "OK , the seal is bad"  . 

Another issue with Stat headphones is the "null" we can see here or there in measurements. When the seal is good, those null are stronger and could be misinterpreted by idiots as FR issues whereas those are measurements issues.   

We all know how to know IRL on our own head what is the effect of a good ( strong fart for example) and broken seal ( boomy mid bass ) .  

my 2 cents. 

[mypasswordis]

It's not just the bass seal, the high frequency wavelengths approach rhe distance between the driver and the microphone so it's highly directional, and I think something is weird about those measurements as well as the lack of seal. Definitely not an easy task to take measurements that accurately represent what is happening in people's ears, which are all different anyway. And it's certainly still more objective than the typical head fi review.

[spritzer]

Here's something that has been cooking for a while... what happens when you take some heavily tweaked SR-X Mk3 normal bias drivers, an old SR-303 cable, some earpads from Belarus and a cheap Beyer clone from China?  Something that is actually pretty decent...   

Now the drivers are actually Pro bias if that wasn't clear but this one fun sounding set of headphones.  Off the Carbon CC it has that lovely tuneful bass the SR-X Mk3 Pro has but this one has far more body to it.  The voices are sublime and have that SR-X quality to them without the over damped nature of the originals.  The highs a tad too lively but that will be tweaked in version 2.0.  Over all...I'm a happy bunny for spending next to nothing one these...   

It's fun to play with this stuff and see what comes of it. 

[skullguise]

Needs moar wood 

Seriously, looks nice and comfy, and sounds like it SOUNDS nice, too....

[spritzer]

There will be more wood coming soon...   

[guzziguy]

Steve is moving to Iceland???

[wink]

More like Brazil.

They have a Huuuuuuge forest there.

[chinsettawong]

Looking forward to seeing the version 2.0.  

Edited April 24, 2017 by chinsettawong

[Rossliew]

On 4/24/2017 at 1:54 AM, spritzer said:

Here's something that has been cooking for a while... what happens when you take some heavily tweaked SR-X Mk3 normal bias drivers, an old SR-303 cable, some earpads from Belarus and a cheap Beyer clone from China?  Something that is actually pretty decent...   

Now the drivers are actually Pro bias if that wasn't clear but this one fun sounding set of headphones.  Off the Carbon CC it has that lovely tuneful bass the SR-X Mk3 Pro has but this one has far more body to it.  The voices are sublime and have that SR-X quality to them without the over damped nature of the originals.  The highs a tad too lively but that will be tweaked in version 2.0.  Over all...I'm a happy bunny for spending next to nothing one these...   

It's fun to play with this stuff and see what comes of it. 

Will you be selling either this or the tweaked version on your site once you're done with it?

[spritzer]

I doubt it.  There will be a lot more prototypes to come but I don't see a point in selling them. 

[wink]

Nope, Birgir's gonna start a museum of headphones the manifacturers SHOULD HAVE BUILT..........  

 

His next mission will be to buy back the Orpheus with the 404 Drivers he sold, as an example of what Sennheiser should have done

Edited April 26, 2017 by wink

[spritzer]

Nope, never sold that one.    Now fitted with real HE90 drivers and never used as they now suck...   

[JonChoivo]

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1057193.html

This is interesting.

[Laowei]

If you can stomach Jude, this is worth a viewng: 

 

Edited April 27, 2017 by Laowei

[JimL]

16 minutes ago, JonChoivo said:

http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1057193.html

This is interesting.

Just saw a brief video intro on HF.  SRM-T8000 hybrid with 6922 inputs and solid state output stage, about the same max output as the SRM727

Edited April 27, 2017 by JimL

[joehpj]

Seems to be something AC coupled rather than DC coupled as they did for the past 30 years. Unregulated PS? Seems so.

[Whitigir]

6 minutes ago, joehpj said:

Seems to be something AC coupled rather than DC coupled as they did for the past 30 years. Unregulated PS? Seems so.

I don't think it can out perform either BHSE or GG though, let alone DIY T2.  But I would love to see how it compete

[purk]

Interesting indeed.  Still a welcomed news to have.

[Ali-Pacha]

Internals from Fujiya Avic video :

Big toroidal transformer, 2 x 6922 in preamp section (same tube as Vali2 ?). Whenever someone skilled can see which SS are used for power...

Ali

[johnwmclean]

Full points for the style.

[joehpj]

 

[zolkis]

 

 

 

On 4/23/2017 at 8:54 PM, spritzer said:

Here's something that has been cooking for a while... what happens when you take some heavily tweaked SR-X Mk3 normal bias drivers, an old SR-303 cable, some earpads from Belarus and a cheap Beyer clone from China?  Something that is actually pretty decent...    

I can relate to that! I've been pondering for a while to take the SR-Gamma Pro drivers and put them in a bigger wooden closed back but Onken front loading enclosure, like Fostex/Sony or such. Should be better than most closed cans today, this side of the R10.

[wink]

6 hours ago, spritzer said:

Nope, never sold that one.    Now fitted with real HE90 drivers and never used as they now suck...   

......  probably  wanted/needed the 404 drivers for another project......    

[Dave R]

2 hours ago, joehpj said:

 

Not a stats amp I'm interested in at all for two reasons, first is I'm having John ( eventually ) build me a KGSSHV Carbon, but second I've seen that this new Stax amp could be well over $5000.

Now it doesn't need me to mention that that price of above $5000 will probably include a cut distributors and retailers will take. So what Stax should do is give the cost of that amp excluding the two mentioned, then those excited about buying this amp will realise they're getting a $3000 ( maybe ) amp that costs above $5000, unless someone knows different.