The Headcase Stax thread

[DefQon]

@spritzer

Are the SZ3-1xxx O2's any good? One has popped up locally and thinking of getting it. 

Edited March 26, 2019 by DefQon

[spritzer]

Hard to say, serial numbers with the O2's mean nothing... 

[Spychedelic Whale]

1 hour ago, spritzer said:

Hard to say, serial numbers with the O2's mean nothing... 

So one has to be spritzer and have followed all the changes for years to tell if it's the last version or just know if was built after 2015, that's it? 

[spritzer]

Pretty much the latter.  You can tell by listening but yeah...Stax suck in this regard. 

[spritzer]

So I guess blue is the new black? 

I broke down and got a 009BK... I know I'm weak but we all knew this would happen.  What's funny is that after 6 sets of 009's that have gone through here, these are a bit different.  They are still bright and the bass is mehhh but they are not as bright as my other set and the bass is improved.  Could be unit to unit variation but that's not the norm with Stax so I'm curios if they have updated the 009's a bit.  More listening to come... 

[gepardcv]

Is your HE60 stock or modded? I had a chance to hear one recently, and while I liked it overall, I found it quite bass-light. Wondering if there’s a fix for that. 

[stax lover]

greetings

can anyone link me to a page where |I can read bout the recommended pad modding for stax 007 mk2 not the mk1, and how the mod affected the sound

are the 007 mk2 pads easy to take off and put back on

also any recommendation for covering the leather headband part with a cover that can clip on the leather part,?

finally, is the headband itself easy to take apart and to be re-assembled back again, in case a new headband is needed, i am bit worried of the leather part of the headband to loosen up badly with continued use as the ribbon or whatever is supporting it is a bit worrying with continuous use, since pads positioning is key so if that ribbon becomes loose i guess say goodbye to getting a proper seal as fit will be difficult to perfect

thanks in advance and sorry for all these noob questions as I am  new with sta

[spritzer]

2 hours ago, gepardcv said:

Is your HE60 stock or modded? I had a chance to hear one recently, and while I liked it overall, I found it quite bass-light. Wondering if there’s a fix for that. 

It's 100% stock and they are very bass light and diffuse sounding.  I still like them though but I do wonder about the new Dekoni earpads for the HD series.  Those might help but I haven't picked up a set yet. 

[Mach3]

On 3/28/2019 at 12:52 AM, spritzer said:

So I guess blue is the new black? 

 

I broke down and got a 009BK... I know I'm weak but we all knew this would happen.  What's funny is that after 6 sets of 009's that have gone through here, these are a bit different.  They are still bright and the bass is mehhh but they are not as bright as my other set and the bass is improved.  Could be unit to unit variation but that's not the norm with Stax so I'm curios if they have updated the 009's a bit.  More listening to come... 

Thank you for posting your thoughts on the 009BK because they match my finding on my pair. I was beginning to think I'm losing my hearing.

They sound noticeably different from the standard 009 non S.

How on earth does a paint job alter the sound so much I wonder.

[spritzer]

It just means Stax are sneaky fuckers... 

[Kung]

bk version sounds similar to the standard SR-009, maybe a little bit more distant and tighter bass due to the new thicker earpads.

[Timb5881]

Ok, so are the Monoprice electrostatic headphones any good or not?  Can an adapter be made to use them on a Stax amp?  The phones them self, are they capable of good sound or just a cheap static piece of junk?

[spritzer]

They are ok and pretty well built.  You can easily use them with an adapter though the cable is pretty short as they foresaw some sort of portable usage I suppose.  The bass is pretty limited due to the small drivers. 

If you are keen on one, I have mine for sale on my site with a Stax adapter...    Shameless plug but my better half really wants me to have a "sane" number of headphones...what ever that is. 

[guzziguy]

1 hour ago, spritzer said:

  Shameless plug but my better half really wants me to have a "sane" number of headphones...what ever that is. 

Good luck with that.  ?

How many years would it take to reach a sane number if you sold 1 pair/ month?

[Timb5881]

I have a pair of Stax SR-X3 Mark III and the associated transformer box.  I was just wondering if the Monoprice would equal or better the Stax.  I do have a question about my Stax, the right channel is lower in volume than the left.  Should I be wondering if it is the Headphones or the SRD box needs serviced?

[spritzer]

11 hours ago, guzziguy said:

Good luck with that.  ?

How many years would it take to reach a sane number if you sold 1 pair/ month?

Shit... it's close to a decade... 

7 hours ago, Timb5881 said:

I have a pair of Stax SR-X3 Mark III and the associated transformer box.  I was just wondering if the Monoprice would equal or better the Stax.  I do have a question about my Stax, the right channel is lower in volume than the left.  Should I be wondering if it is the Headphones or the SRD box needs serviced?

The imbalance on those sets is usually just due to the age of the phones and/or possible damage over the years from the SRD boxes.  Basically, the normal bias sets could be easily overloaded by the transformers which caused arcing.  Also sunshine is ultimate enemy of electrostatics as it breaks down the diaphragms over time. 

[Scgorg]

What is the bias tolerance like in pro bias Stax? 580 is of course optimal, but how about 560? 600? I know it will only change the volume level of the headphone, but in terms of arcing/damage to the diaphragm, where are the limits? 1KV?

Edit: realized I had a brain fart and that this question is ridiculous...

Edited April 9, 2019 by Scgorg
Stupidity

[nopants]

how can you tell if the diaphragm is damaged by sunlight? is it gradual or do the headphones just stop functioning altogether past a certain point?

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[spritzer]

4 hours ago, Scgorg said:

What is the bias tolerance like in pro bias Stax? 580 is of course optimal, but how about 560? 600? I know it will only change the volume level of the headphone, but in terms of arcing/damage to the diaphragm, where are the limits? 1KV?

You can't look at the bias in a vacuum as it's the max potential of the entire system.  Here, there is a certain range but it always depends on the drive voltages.  If they go to high, you will arc the system. 

2 hours ago, nopants said:

how can you tell if the diaphragm is damaged by sunlight? is it gradual or do the headphones just stop functioning altogether past a certain point?

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 

You can tell in the extreme cases but not really.  Maybe with an electron microscope or something like that...

[terrycym]

Truly weird "review" of the Stax SRM-T8000 energiser. See here...

Stax SRM-T8000 Review

He states.

"the T8000 features a pair of 6922 double-triodes in the input stage and a solid-state output stage. This form of hybrid amplifier circuit is commonplace in traditional two-channel amplifiers, but has been harder to utilise in Stax energisers because of the high impedance of an electrostatic transducer."

Huh? There are lots of energisers with solid state output stages.

[spritzer]

Well it is a Hifiplus review so not even useful as toilet paper... 

[JimL]

IIRC, HiFi+ gave a rave review to the Trilogy H1, a grossly overpriced version of the 4 tube Egmont/TubeCAD circuit, swallowing hook, line and sinker the manufacturer's claim that it was a totally clean paper rethinking of electrostatic.headphone amps.

[spritzer]

Hifi+ and Absolute sound, same company and the same level of utter garbage.  I buy them from time to time just to laugh at all the inaccurate shit they print.  They don't check anything so they might as well be the PR agents for the manufacturers. 

[terrycym]

He makes a big deal how this Stax energiser needs to complete with 3rd party energisers but then he goes on to completely ignore this and not compare it to any 3rd party energisers. He doesn't even compare it to other Stax energisers and hence not informing the reader of its virtues arising from the referenced topology changes and transformer updates. All very odd 

[Monya]

Few magazines seem to criticise much these days and just support the industry that feeds them. I’ve tried both the T8000 and Trilogy which seemed to be voiced at opposite ends of the spectrum and neither can hold a candle to a KG design.