The Headcase Stax thread

[HemiSam]

I'll stick to my 007's.  They are quite happy with the Carbon making them sing.

HS

[catscratch]

Being a Very Stable Genius I went ahead and spilled mead on my 007t. It was off at the time and hasn't been powered on for a few months. I removed the top and bottom panels and cleaned off the PCB with some isopropyl alcohol. Most of the stuff didn't get through but there were a few stains. Now I'm letting it dry... is it safe to power up once it dries out or is there anything else I need to watch out for?

[spritzer]

It should be ok.  The volume control could be an issue but power stuff like the transformer is packed with resin so nothing should get in there. 

[greenpips]

Having spent a significant amount of time listening to a diverse array of sound signatures - from the warm tonalities, to the Harman target, bright music, and even the raw, unfiltered essence of live concerts, I've had a realization. I'm by no means a professional musician, but an observation has dawned upon me.

In our everyday experiences, it seems to me that the sounds reaching our ears tend to have a warmer bias. Why might this be the case?

1. Reverberation: Environmental sounds often undergo natural reverberations, bouncing off walls, objects, and other surfaces, which can introduce a warmer tonality before they reach our ears.

2. Live Concert Amplification: Most live concerts utilize dynamic amplification systems. These systems often impart a warmer sound signature

3. Music Production Trends: There's a tendency in music production to create mixes that cater to dynamic audio systems. Many of these systems have a warmer characteristic, which might influence the mixing and mastering choices made by producers.

Given these observations, headphones with a neutral-to-warm sound signature might come closest to replicating the sounds we experience in our daily life. This leads me to wonder if this is why headphones like the Stax SR007 are so highly regarded. They might capture that natural warmth that feels so familiar and authentic to our everyday listening experiences.

[spritzer]

One funny here, I've been working on a Stax SRM-007tA today and it is one of those long rumored units that use GE 8CG7 tubes and not the EH 6CG7's.  It must have have been a fuck-it-Friday though at Stax as did they use a different heater supply for the 8.4V tubes?  Nope... they jumpered the 1ohm resistors in the heater supply but it is still run off the same 12.6VCT winding, fed through a bridge and some caps.  End result was a blown heater in one of the tubes as it was being run at 6V...  😂

[Mach3]

On 5/12/2022 at 12:02 AM, bwck2000 said:

Even though I already have a bargain DIY T2 with the link you sent me. I'm jealous, want one now.

[spritzer]

Turn on the subtitles and translate to English. 

[Torpedo]

So after 20 years you'd better buy a new pair 😪

[Oneguy]

Meh, I’ll still keep listening to my 30 year old Omegas…unless they want to open up the Omega production line again…

Edited December 3, 2023 by Oneguy

[spritzer]

Yeah... that part annoyed me no end.  

He did tell her off for using a brush to clean the L300's which would probably have killed them in the end. 

Also, has anybody else noticed the T8000 chassis has been changed since the first units?  Much more ventilation on the new ones.  Wonder why that was changed... 

[faust3d]

What do you guys think about this amp? Did any one here try it? 

 

https://bottlehead.com/product/stat-electrostatic-headphone-energizer/

[jamesmking]

3 hours ago, faust3d said:

What do you guys think about this amp? Did any one here try it? 

 

https://bottlehead.com/product/stat-electrostatic-headphone-energizer/

Well its not DC coupled (i.e. NO capacitors in the signal path) and it has a very low voltage swing - 200Vrms... due to the fact it has pre-amp tubes in its output rather than power tubes like the EL34. The bandwidth is not great and there is no distortion specifications at all (nothing vs output voltage and nothing vs frequency) which is a bit suspicious. I suspect the amp will have trouble driving Stax sr007. There is little information about the power supply but it does not appear to be fully regulated. As such it certainly does not look to be even close to a blue hawaii, mini T2 or T2 in specs and capability. Even the all valve Megatron has more voltage drive and almost certainly a better power supply. It is not known if the amp uses anode load resistors (bad) or constant current sources (good) for the output valves, but I suspect it's resistors.

On the plus side it does not appear to have an output transformer... unlike some crappy comercial designs and does not require any DIY skills. However, if you don't mind building your own amp you can almost certainly make something substantially better (fully regulated power supply, fully DC coupled, constant current sources for the power valves etc) for around the same price.

 

Edited December 11, 2023 by jamesmking

[faust3d]

What is the red amp that Jecklin is suing with Stax headphones in this picture?

[spritzer]

It's made by Pawel Acoustics:

http://www.pawel-acoustics.ch/

Inside those were real Stax amps, those I've seen were just rehoused SRM-313's.  He makes a copy of the Stax ED-1 to this day. 

[faust3d]

So nothing really special about them?  Interesting, my uncle has a pair of Pawel speakers with Görlich drivers from them. They sound very nice.

[spritzer]

Nothing new I've seen, they have all use Stax circuit boards.  His ED-1 clone does use his own PCB's but the circuit is clearly a clone. 

[Oneguy]

Funny this should come up. I’ve actually been looking for an ED-1 just to try out since I recently acquired an SR-Sigma. From what I understand, not many were sold. I’ve been on a vintage Lambda quest recently. 

[spritzer]

The ED-1 is quite rare and even more so the ED-1 Signature.  There was also the ED-5 but I've never had one of those, they seem to just have been sold in Germany as the SR-5N and NB were so popular there. 

[Oneguy]

Yes the ED-1 is quite the unicorn. Despite its age I don’t think I’ve seen it for less than €800-1000 recently on hifishark. 

EDIT: except for the one at the uncharacteristically low price. Seems too good to be true  

Thanks for making me aware of the ED-5. I haven’t gone down the pre-lambda SR’s rabbit hole yet but I’ll have to remember that since the Stax history page doesn’t mention it. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by Oneguy

[Oneguy]

Low and behold: https://www.ebay.com/itm/176119962594?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=FQLsTZJcQ4u&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=QllYj8wxQKG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[John Buchanan]

I was lucky enough to snap up a mint Stax SRM-Monitor which has the Stax ED-1 and SRM1 mk2 together in one large and handsome chassis many years ago. Very very rare.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ctdZf5NQOmE/U3cQCfPMr3I/AAAAAAAAKLg/S1H0uBl85ks/s1600/Monitor.jpg

[Oneguy]

On 12/26/2023 at 3:00 PM, John Buchanan said:

I was lucky enough to snap up a mint Stax SRM-Monitor which has the Stax ED-1 and SRM1 mk2 together in one large and handsome chassis many years ago. Very very rare.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ctdZf5NQOmE/U3cQCfPMr3I/AAAAAAAAKLg/S1H0uBl85ks/s1600/Monitor.jpg

I’ve seen your posts on that and the Sigmas. Very informative and part of the reason I am on the hunt for both. 

[TammerDown]

Stax has discontinued the sr-007A. Not clear if that also includes the mk2. Anyone?

https://stax.co.jp/news/discont/

[spritzer]

That certainly includes the Mk2 so we are all basically fucked. 

[jamesmking]

13 minutes ago, spritzer said:

That certainly includes the Mk2 so we are all basically fucked. 

So Stax kill about the only good headphones they sell.

Welcome to second-hand sr007 prices skyrocketing...