The Headcase Stax thread

[padam]

20 hours ago, The Expanding Man said:

What is that hooked shape tool used here, or what is a good substitute for it?

You don't need any tools for this, just use your fingers. That way you don't risk tearing it either...

[phixphi]

On 2/15/2020 at 8:01 AM, bwck2000 said:

Left to right: 404, L700 and 507 Sigma 

The one with 404 driver is more laid back and has more colouring while the 507 one has the best transparancy . But the L700 sigma is the best with a very full bodied mid bass and excellent 3D- imaging and soundstage I have never heard of in any other headphones.

Love all three of them 

A-ha! So it is possible to fit newer drivers than 404 into Sigmas? I was recently redoing my Sigmas and was told 404 is the last driver that fits.

[spritzer]

It is possible but you really have to take them out of the small housing and glue them together.  This is due to the internal angle of the Sigma housing and how close the drivers sit to that side.  Now doing this is very tricky but can be done. 

[bwck2000]

Exactly,

Can't do this without a dust free environment.

 

For a simple upgrade on the original sigma 404 driver is good enough. The manipulation needed and the risk is manageable for a skillful DIYer. 

 

[bwck2000]

An omega arrived for imbalance repair.

Pretty messed up inside with bias wire directly soldered on brass ring, faultly installed panel and worst of all a shadow seen at the part of the rim of the diaphragm , shown as a lunar shape at the bottom of the driver in the photo. Probably indicating a tear along the rim of the diaphragm.

Treasure your omega(s)  when they are still working ......

Edited March 13, 2020 by bwck2000

[spritzer]

Soldering to the bias ring... not cool at all. 

[bwck2000]

2 minutes ago, spritzer said:

Soldering to the bias ring... not cool at all. 

There is a possibility that the heating effect of the brass ring during the soldering process decrease the tensile strength of diaphragm and ultimately teared by aging, vibrations, its own tension etc.

[spritzer]

I would guess so as well.  There is not a whole lot of mass there so it would heat up quickly and no doubt damage the mylar.  What a shame...

[phixphi]

Thanks for the reply guys. I'm quite happy with my Sigma/404 but in the future might try.

bwck2000, how do you get a dust free environment? You have an access to a clean room or simply a thorough

cleaning of the working area is enough?

Edited March 13, 2020 by phixphi

[spritzer]

You can get a clean bench which are for instance used to repair hard drives and other sensitive equipment.

[bwck2000]

6 minutes ago, phixphi said:

Thanks for the reply guys. I'm quite happy with my Sigma/404 but in the future might try.

bwck2000, how do you get a dust free environment? You have an access to a clean room or simply a thorough

cleaning of the working area is enough?

A dust free environment means a confined space with dust-free air sipply from HEPA Units filtering particles down to um-level and a positive air pressure to make sure that airflow is one-way-out only. It could be as small as a brench or as big as a factory. A normal working space along with a air purifier sitting at the corner or thorough cleaning is definately not a dust free enviroment, far from it.

But in reality, there are some people who open their e stat driver, put it back and nothing happen. So whether dust gets into the driver or not is simply by chance. But if you do not want to throw the dice everytime , a dust free environment is definately needed.

Some headphone makers revise e-stat designs from the typical stax type to make it less prone to dust contaminations so a dust free enviroment might not be necessary, but not for stax drivers.

[chinsettawong]

1 hour ago, bwck2000 said:

But in reality, there are some people who open their e stat driver, put it back and nothing happen. 

Some headphone makers revise e-stat designs from the typical stax type to make it less prone to dust contaminations so a dust free enviroment might not be necessary, but not for stax drivers.

Are you referring to me?

[bwck2000]

14 minutes ago, chinsettawong said:

Are you referring to me?

While amateurs depend on luck and trials, you have craftsmanship 🤩  The most important thing needed to make great electrostatics......

 

 

[bwck2000]

A milestone of my rare stax hunt: Quattro II🤪

 

So basically its a third-party CDP with a enlarged chassis, a very sophisticated power supply + DAC . They have separate power supplies for left and right channel as well as the digital section. The CD section has a plastic case but it is put in another aluminium case and on a wood base where the dac section is located. The CD pickup is Sanyo sf-88. 

 

Before the aged parts are replaced, The CDP sounded very neutral, fatigue-free with a special sense of spaciousness, but there was no real bass and dynamic. Then those big electrolytic caps are replaced with Nichicon KG , and Cardas rca and Furutech power socket are installed .After servicing the bass and dynamic is back. But it sounds a bit warm than before. 

[Mach3]

On 2/15/2020 at 6:01 PM, bwck2000 said:

Left to right: 404, L700 and 507 Sigma 

The one with 404 driver is more laid back and has more colouring while the 507 one has the best transparancy . But the L700 sigma is the best with a very full bodied mid bass and excellent 3D- imaging and soundstage I have never heard of in any other headphones.

Love all three of them 

 

Holy smoke batman that one expensive DIY line up. How does the L700 Sigma compare to the stock L700 in term of overall sound?

Edited April 8, 2020 by Mach3

[bwck2000]

3 hours ago, Mach3 said:

Holy smoke batman that one expensive DIY line up. How does the L700 Sigma compare to the stock L700 in term of overall sound?

Two completely different creature, cant compare as if between two lambda models. The most obvious difference would be the soundstage. Its like a Jazz cafe VS a cathedral.

The L700 sigma still holds lambda-level detail and transparency, unlike the original sigma. But the detail and the high frequency on the l700 sigma are just not as apparent as the L700.

Edited April 8, 2020 by bwck2000

[billqs]

I had a channel imbalance repaired by Stax  by replacing the drivers on my SR007 mk2 about a year ago. With the pandemic I finally have the time to do the blutack port mod. I’ve noticed the diaphragm enclosure looks different to the one on Spritzer’s guide on this site. There is a plastic piece that sits on top of where the cable hooks up to the drive assembly that appears to not leave room for a port. I took a before and after pic removing the plastic piece.

is there a modified way to do the port mod since the white plastic piece meets the rest of the circular drive assembly?

 

 

[bwck2000]

On 4/17/2020 at 6:04 AM, billqs said:

I had a channel imbalance repaired by Stax  by replacing the drivers on my SR007 mk2 about a year ago. With the pandemic I finally have the time to do the blutack port mod. I’ve noticed the diaphragm enclosure looks different to the one on Spritzer’s guide on this site. There is a plastic piece that sits on top of where the cable hooks up to the drive assembly that appears to not leave room for a port. I took a before and after pic removing the plastic piece.

is there a modified way to do the port mod since the white plastic piece meets the rest of the circular drive assembly?

 

 

I guess there is no need for a port mod anymore? The idea of the port mod is to do the role the little white piece does, blocking the ventilation path but  the piece is preserved after a driver replacement in your 007.

[spritzer]

Stax have clearly been moving towards lessening the impact of the port for years now and they might just have plugged it.  Still there is an opening on both sides which might need to be closed.  Looks like I'll need to get a new set to test once all this pandemic stuff blows over. 

[naiy8oaY]

I'm wondering if that plastic part fits into "old' 007 mk2, and if STAX is willing to sell them separately.

billqs, could you take a few additional photos of that part and the port?

[Hi-Fi-Anatomia]

There is no port because that is an SR 007mk1. I have a modern 007 2.9 and a friend's early serial mk1 and the early serial mk1 is exactly like that. With the little plastic resin piece that goes over the soldering joints. The strain relief is also the same (as in shitty) and you can see its the old brown cable and champagne housing.

 

EDIT: If anyone is curious I can upload photos of the stair solder joint covering on the mk1 tomorrow.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Hi-Fi-Anatomia

[billqs]

Sounds great if you could upload. I've been calling it an MKII because the headband said SR-007 MKII. But I've always thought it looked like an MK I. Stax replaced both drivers last year and never mentioned the different model incarnation. Should I expect they changed the drivers with MK II's as I don't know if they kept any stock of the old MK 1. Looks like they used the original cups if they match the original MK I design.

[Mach3]

Either Stax sells em or get the part 3D printed could work too.

On another note, recently acquired a box of old stuff with 2 different SR-30.

One with all plastic head band and one with mixed plastic & metal.

Anyone know the difference?

Edited April 24, 2020 by Mach3

[spritzer]

SR-30 and SR-30 Pro

[billqs]

"EDIT: If anyone is curious I can upload photos of the stair solder joint covering on the mk1 tomorrow."

I'd love to see the solder joint pic.

Someone had wanted more pics of the phones disassembled but it took 3 hours to get the &*^*% pads back on! (Just like Spritzer said in the blu tack mod thread, "patience of a saint." I went ahead and blu tacked the gaps in the piece so they are definitely sealed now. Also, the pad spring was 95mm so I stretched the ring out to 100mm before putting back together."