The Headcase Stax thread

[padam]

And this is just the electrostatic collection, nice

[wrecked_porsche]

And no L3000 in the photo.

:'( :'( :'( :'(

So, how does it(Jade) Compare to the mk1 and Airbow?

Spill it!

[The Monkey]

Guys, what are some good ways to get rid of odors from headphones, pads, headbands? My mk1 has a slight, er, odor. Nothing too awful. More like pipe or cigar smoke, not cigarettes. I'm going to get new pads, but other suggestions are appreciated.

[aardvark baguette]

Toss them in a bucket of bleach. That should do it.

[Anders]

I have some experience since I stopped smoking. The good thing is that smoke odor usually disappears by itself if the object is kept in circulating air. The smoke odor remains if the object is kept in a closed box. It takes some time, months or years, but it can be better than damaging sensitive materials by washing.

If the surface can be cleaned by water and a mild detergent - do it. Wash things are washable, pads, textiles etc.

Vinegar and other standard methods that often are recommended have been ineffective in my experience. Ozon should be effective but I don't know how go get it.

[spritzer]

Guys, what are some good ways to get rid of odors from headphones, pads, headbands? My mk1 has a slight, er, odor. Nothing too awful. More like pipe or cigar smoke, not cigarettes. I'm going to get new pads, but other suggestions are appreciated.

I would take them off, clean the leather with a good leather cleaner and deal with the foam separately. Foam and the wool used on old Stax phones can soak up a lot of smoke so I usually place them in small bag, spray some auto interior shampoo (designed to get rid of smoke odor) into the bag and then seal it. Then place it under a lamp or something for a few hours to increase the internal temp in the bag and after a while you get a nasty brown liquid accumulating at the bottom of the bag. I do this a few times until it is clean. You could also just wash the foam but this is the only way to clean something like the Sigma wool.

[GPH]

Haha, nah, it's just Head-Case.

And no L3000 in the photo.

The Jade is quite good. I don't think the Mk1 preferrers will like it, though. It's brighter and is more like the HE60 and HE90.

No Koss ESP950? You collection ain't worth shit.

[Tachikoma]

Guys, what are some good ways to get rid of odors from headphones, pads, headbands? My mk1 has a slight, er, odor. Nothing too awful. More like pipe or cigar smoke, not cigarettes. I'm going to get new pads, but other suggestions are appreciated.

Baking soda worked for me.

[The Monkey]

Thanks for the suggestions, all.

[deepak]

Eww Jade does not belong in that fine collection

And stop posting pics of your SR-Omega

[minivan]

wow, had not been here a while, and there's so much debate about the earpad of the 007 and 007a. the 007 is not real leather. this is stated in the pdf file in the stax webpage provided by elephas in hf. for people who's not good in english , the most common errors they will made is grammar and spelling, just like me. but the diff between the word real and artificial is plain and simple, there's no way they can translate this wrongly.

the stax interview i posted in hd stated clearly one of the major upgrade of the 007a is using real leather, the interview is done in japanese, so no more lame excuse about english translation.

the book with the interview is available in japan's amazon link i provided in the hd, if u guys are not convince, can just buy it and get some1 who understand japanese to translate for u.

[deepak]

Before you start criticizing someone's English maybe you should improve on your own typing, rather than using "some1" and "u"

earpads: crafted of high quality natural leather

Edited December 25, 2008 by deepak

[minivan]

Before you start criticizing someone's English maybe you should improve on your own typing, rather than using "some1" and "u"

earpads: crafted of high quality natural leather

i am not criticizing other's english, i am trying to say my english is no good

therefore i can understand such translation error from some1's english not their 1st language.

reread my previous post, and follow some of the posts about the stax interview and the pdf file of the 007a,007 in hf b4 u make clueless post like urs.

or try to learn japanese and we can communicate in the same language

actually i dont understand why bother to waste time clarity this leather things,

ignorance is blessing?

sometimes i find reading all these speculation, false assumption, opinion rather then rely on first hand info very amusing to read

[aardvark baguette]

I, for one, could care less if 007 MK1 uses real leather or freaking shag carpet. It looks and feels fine to me.

[spritzer]

First off, there is no speculation on my part as I've ripped apart plenty of SR-007 pads and I know that they are made of real natural leather just like it says in the link Deepak posted. I got that directly from the Stax service manager back in 2003 (Mr. Suzuki if I remember correctly) so you can doubt its authenticity all you want but that is the SR-007 owners manual, the one that shipped with the phones.

Those that are claiming the pads to be pleather have never disassembled one and are speculating based on a PDF from Stax. Good for them but look at the pics I posted and tell me that the material looks like any vinyl you've seen. Better yet, open up a set of pads and take a look for yourself. There is way too much misinformation out there about Stax so I don't see any sense in adding to it with baseless speculation.

[The Monkey]

I am going to learn Japanese tonight.

[wrecked_porsche]

^^

Can you teach me after that?

[Sherwood]

Minivan, are you saying that you've personally translated more than one primary source (i.e. directly from Stax) document that says the Mk. 1 pads are not leather?

[Voltron]

Finally spending some quality time with the KGSS DX and it is a really nice amp. I have to get the 007t going side by side to compare them more but this is a good match with both the 4070 and the Lambda Signatures.

[mypasswordis]

I'd be very interested in some KGSS impressions/comparisons, since I'm thinking of building one in the summer, if I can find the time.

I came here to ask a question, though: What's the best way to improve the sound of my SR-5 Gold? It sounds like it has a lot of potential, but everything sounds a bit muffled and diffuse and the treble extension is lacking. Damping is probably the way to go, but I'm not sure how to go about damping the electrostatic drivers. The way they are constructed, with the dustcovers on each side, makes it hard... I think. If I can't find a way to make it sound better, I might just sell it, since I have a bunch of other headphones to keep me company and a bunch of other headphones I want and right now it just isn't cutting it.

[The Monkey]

Finally spending some quality time with the KGSS DX and it is a really nice amp. I have to get the 007t going side by side to compare them more but this is a good match with both the 4070 and the Lambda Signatures.

Good to hear, Al. I'd be interested in how you think the DX compares to the GES, too.

[The Monkey]

Listening to my "new" mk1 now. Not in a position to compare to the mk2 yet in any more detail than I did for the NYC meet. However, I do note that to me the mk1 is more like my Lambda Signature than the mk2 is like the Signature. For whatever that's worth.

[The Monkey]

ok, "sweet jane" by the cowboy junkies sounds pretty good.

[Tachikoma]

I'd be very interested in some KGSS impressions/comparisons, since I'm thinking of building one in the summer, if I can find the time.

I came here to ask a question, though: What's the best way to improve the sound of my SR-5 Gold? It sounds like it has a lot of potential, but everything sounds a bit muffled and diffuse and the treble extension is lacking. Damping is probably the way to go, but I'm not sure how to go about damping the electrostatic drivers. The way they are constructed, with the dustcovers on each side, makes it hard... I think. If I can't find a way to make it sound better, I might just sell it, since I have a bunch of other headphones to keep me company and a bunch of other headphones I want and right now it just isn't cutting it.

Check whether the screwdrivers on the enclosure are fully tightened, but be gentle because the plastic it uses is quite soft. Recable them with a new PC-OCC extension if you're willing to spend some money

I'd buy them, but all I want are the driver enclosures.

[spritzer]

I came here to ask a question, though: What's the best way to improve the sound of my SR-5 Gold? It sounds like it has a lot of potential, but everything sounds a bit muffled and diffuse and the treble extension is lacking. Damping is probably the way to go, but I'm not sure how to go about damping the electrostatic drivers. The way they are constructed, with the dustcovers on each side, makes it hard... I think. If I can't find a way to make it sound better, I might just sell it, since I have a bunch of other headphones to keep me company and a bunch of other headphones I want and right now it just isn't cutting it.

The screws do indeed have to be fully seated or the drivers are loose inside the cups which is not good. You could remove the damping on the back (the yellow wool) but you still have the acoustic lens in the front so it won't do you much good. Your best be would be to get some Pro drivers in there or get a Gamma/Sr-X to try out.

Listening to my "new" mk1 now. Not in a position to compare to the mk2 yet in any more detail than I did for the NYC meet. However, I do note that to me the mk1 is more like my Lambda Signature than the mk2 is like the Signature. For whatever that's worth.

The Mk1 grow on you for a couple of weeks and then compare to the Mk2. Only then you'll see the light...