The Headcase Stax thread

[spritzer]

They sure look like the SR-3 drivers and they could even work on Pro bias, given the bias switch on the back of the unit.

I have no idea if that vintage Stax amp is any good or if its even worth it, but just thought I'd post about it here in case anyone is looking for it for any reason.

They were in fact very good back in the day and the later X amps were very, very expensive.

Edited May 24, 2009 by spritzer

[Dreadhead]

Well my Omega 2 mk1 are here and sounding very good out of the SRM-1/MK2 but it appears that the amp does not have enough juice to really drive the highs on these.

No matter what I do above around 16kHz the corrections don't do anything. The KGSS will fix this

Very refined though. Glad I invested. Now all that needs to happen is my KGSS arrives by Thursday so I can dream about it when I'm stuck at CJ

[deepak]

Well my Omega 2 mk1 are here and sounding very good out of the SRM-1/MK2 but it appears that the amp does not have enough juice to really drive the highs on these.

No matter what I do above around 16kHz the corrections don't do anything. The KGSS will fix this

Very refined though. Glad I invested. Now all that needs to happen is my KGSS arrives by Thursday so I can dream about it when I'm stuck at CJ

Nice, I still love my O2 mk1 a lot.

[mirumu]

Glad to see you've got your hands on some O2 mk1s. I'm still extremely happy with mine. Hope the KGSS meets your expectations.

[HeadphoneAddict]

I am still surprised at how well an O2 Mk1 can be driven by a $300 8-watt tube hybrid and SRD-7 Pro...

[Dreadhead]

I am still surprised at how well an O2 Mk1 can be driven by a $300 8-watt tube hybrid and SRD-7 Pro...

Cool. I heard a Stax transformer box with the ESP950 and a Beta22 and it sounded pretty damn good Certainly better than the E/90 (but that's not quite fair).

I'm enjoying the SRM-1 but I am looking forward to the KGSS. I'm using my usual auto-correction using my DEQ.

edit: I should get used to using multiquotes...

[luvdunhill]

Working a new Stax prototype using these:

[cetoole]

Just won a pair of Lambda Sigs it seems, though they need new pads. Any reason I shouldn't go for the SR404 pads?

[faust3d]

Just won a pair of Lambda Sigs it seems, though they need new pads. Any reason I shouldn't go for the SR404 pads?

SR-404 pads seem to work just fine with Sigs, go for it.

[manaox2]

Just won a pair of Lambda Sigs it seems, though they need new pads. Any reason I shouldn't go for the SR404 pads?

Seems you won't need to borrow mine after all! Not at all a bad thing, they get the most head time for me these days as I've become acclimated to them.

[spritzer]

The SR-404 pads work great on the Signatures so go for it.

[Elephas]

I think I mentioned the Shuguang Treasure Series CV181 and 6CA7 tubes before here. I finally got around to buying some and they seem to be quite good!

The CV181 were actually more expensive than the 6CA7 at US$58 each and I got a matched pair. The 6CA7 was US$44 each and I got a matched quad. I'm using them all in a Single Power ES1, along with a pair of Bendix 2C51 (using adapters) in the first gain position and the CV181 pair in the second position. I bought them from an auction site in Taiwan (Chinese-language only) and the tubes were shipped from China. I'm aware that Grant Fidelity in Canada is a distributor for these tubes in North America, and charges significantly higher prices. I'm not sure how the large markup is justified, they seem to claim that their tubes were somehow specially selected "export versions." I've heard this kind of claim from some China-based vendors before. Usually, I believe, in order to rip-off the "foreign devils." I'm just joking, I won't know if the "export version" tubes are really better unless I have a set to compare.

During the past few months I've been experimenting with various tubes and headphone combinations with the ES1. In addition to the default tubes types, I have several adapter types (2C51, ECC1, 5687 and 3D21A) so there are many tube combos to try. And I still haven't tried some substitutes, such as 7N7 or 6F8G for 6SN7.

For the O2Mk1 and O2Mk2, my Go-To tube complement is either the Bendix 2C51 or Sylvania 5751 in the first gain stage, Sylvania 6SN7W metal base in the second stage, and a quad of Mullard xf2 EL34. I also like Philips EL34 metal base and Mullard xf1, but I'm saving them for the ES1 vs. BHSE shootout.

I won't list all the tubes I've tried in the ES1 so far, but it has been a large variety. Some very expensive, such as Tung-Sol 6SN7 round plates, black glass (I only have one pair! ) or the Mullard 10M Series ECC83 (liquid smooth midrange! works great in the Aristaeus too). Some I thought were pretty good values, such as the GE 6CA7 Fat Boys, Sylvania 6SN7 Bad Boys, Ken-Rad 6SN7 black glass and Tung-Sol 2C51. Some performed not so well but are not very expensive, such as Tesla EL34 and various Sylvania, RCA, Tung-Sol, etc. old stock 6SN7.

I've tried some current production tubes such as Groove Tubes ECC83 and Electro-Harmonix EL34, and all were disappointing enough that I stopped buying current production tubes. These Shuguang have been the only exception so far, and I admit I got them basically because they are a supposedly "special" series and have black glass and special "Treasure Product" printing on them. I didn't really expect much from them, and that's why it took a while to get around to actually buying them. All that effort, all those keystrokes and clicking "Buy" on an auction site, then electronic fund transfer, waiting for the package to arrive, and opening that box! Whew, I need a one hour listening session to recover.

My initial impression of these tubes, plus the Bendix 2C51, in the ES1 driving the O2Mk2 is quite good. I don't think they beat my Go-To set, or several other combinations of old-stock tubes, but they are certainly a lot less inexpensive. I already think that they are good enough to keep listening to, and that's saying something considering the old-stock tubes that I could be using instead. I'm looking forward to comparing the ES1 with a BHSE using this quad of Treasure 6CA7 as well as various old stock EL34 types.

It's a bit visually disconcerting when the gain stage tubes are larger than the power tubes!

Edited June 2, 2009 by Elephas

[Hopstretch]

I don't think they beat my Go-To set, or several other combinations of old-stock tubes, but they are certainly a lot less inexpensive.

Freudian slip, young pachyderm?

I think Andy may have bought some of these from Jack Woo at the meet this weekend. Never got to hear what he thought of them, though.

[Elephas]

Freud was a fraud! If I was compensating I would be using GE 6CA7 Fat Boys instead! Or 300B!

And you can't use that kind of phraseology unless you're a Jedi Master.

[spritzer]

We need comparisons to other new production EL34's, such as the SED, Mullard or JJ. Back in 2004 I utterly hated the Valve Art (absolute crap and they showed burn marks after a few weeks in the BH), the EH's were ok but the SED's really stood out.

[spritzer]

The SR-007 is moar better once you notice the damn upper midrange etch. That's why I kept my SR-Omega with SR-007 drivers since they combine all the good aspects of both phones, brutal honesty with a bit of fun thrown in for good measure.

I'm set for spare parts though with a spare set of drivers, earpads, cable and arc assembly. I'm certain that most of these broken phones can be fixed in the right hands, I even have 1.4um Mylar-C so that I can change out the diaphragm.

Btw. It's nice to have you see the light, ALO fanboy...

[spritzer]

The etch is rather subtle and doesn't show on most recordings but when it does, it drives me mad. Regardless they are the second best headphones ever made and quite a ways away from anything else. Andy really needs a new arc on his set since it is supposed to be dark brown and not white...

[faust3d]

The etch is rather subtle and doesn't show on most recordings but when it does, it drives me mad. Regardless they are the second best headphones ever made and quite a ways away from anything else. Andy really needs a new arc on his set since it is supposed to be dark brown and not white...

Is soundstage larger and more defused on O1 when compared to O2?

[Elephas]

I have a set of Electro-Harmonix EL34 but no other current production tubes. I don't like them.

I don't like the dimple top Siemens or Telefunken-labeled EL34 either. The Ulm-made real Telefunken EL34 with five crimped plates were good, but not a good value and a bit disappointing for the price. But I don't have a matched quad, they're hard to find.

Tesla EL34 was also disappointing. Ultron wasn't that good either.

I think these Treasure Series are punching well above their weight, and more than worth the price I paid.

Andy really needs a new arc on his set since it is supposed to be dark brown and not white...

I bought a new SR-Omega headband assembly, the plastic top arc, "C" shaped metal pieces on both sides, plus a black cloth headband (they said original brown no longer available) from a local audio shop, who ordered it from the Stax distributor.

I still have the original assembly, which has the brown headband. I ordered the new headband assembly because I thought the old one fit a bit too loosely. I think the plastic arc loses some tension after some time and therefore overall clamping force is reduced.

Is soundstage larger and more defused on O1 when compared to O2?

Yes.

The O2 has more precise imaging and each individual sound image is very detailed and well-defined.

[Deadneddz]

after having heard just about every pair of Stax phones, some rather extensively, i can say without a doubt that the SR-OMEGAS are the best headphones ever made. nothing else is even in the same league. shame about the spare parts situation.

I enjoyed them immensely when I listened to them on Andys rig, shame I didn't get to try them out on the BHSE, I was too busy listening to the O2s on that.

From what I listened to, they are quite special, but the music selection I think suited them quite well. Most of the music I heard with the SR-Omegas was more diffused and minimally milked which requires less resolving power to begin with. Put some music on thats not natrually diffused and watch the SR-Omegas fall rapidly behind the O2s!

Anyways though, I loved the SR-Omegas. You can't beat their headstage size and energy. Now if only that Waddragon guy wasn't the only guy selling his!

[aardvark baguette]

Do they omegas use the same exact cable termination as the OIIs?

If I have a BHSE with dual stax jacks, I could plug either phone into the same socket?

[deepak]

Do they omegas use the same exact cable termination as the OIIs?

If I have a BHSE with dual stax jacks, I could plug either phone into the same socket?

Yup both use 5 pin Stax connector and both are pro bias.

[aardvark baguette]

Maybe I outta get to chatting with this dragon guy then. He seems on the up and up.

[spritzer]

The Omegas even use the same cable as the SR-007 Mk1, though in a bit nicer color.

Is soundstage larger and more defused on O1 when compared to O2?

Yup and that is also true about my hybrid. The bass is also rather different since on the SR-007 Mk1 it is a bit subdued and rather lean but it is more prominent on the SR-Omega. It's also influenced by some chassis resonance so it isn't quite as linear as the Mk1.

I don't like the dimple top Siemens or Telefunken-labeled EL34 either. The Ulm-made real Telefunken EL34 with five crimped plates were good, but not a good value and a bit disappointing for the price. But I don't have a matched quad, they're hard to find.

Tesla EL34 was also disappointing. Ultron wasn't that good either.

I think these Treasure Series are punching well above their weight, and more than worth the price I paid.

I've never been a fan of the RFT tubes and the Tesla's never sounded like an XF2 to my ears. I need to get some Treasure series tubes...

I bought a new SR-Omega headband assembly, the plastic top arc, "C" shaped metal pieces on both sides, plus a black cloth headband (they said original brown no longer available) from a local audio shop, who ordered it from the Stax distributor.

I still have the original assembly, which has the brown headband. I ordered the new headband assembly because I thought the old one fit a bit too loosely. I think the plastic arc loses some tension after some time and therefore overall clamping force is reduced.

The original brown headband is indeed no longer available but I managed to get a couple of gently used examples. One of which is on the replacement arc Craig got for me. The arc on my hybrid is also new which was clearly evident when I got them, Stax had put the SN on the wrong side...

The arc's do loose their tension over the years but only on the Omegas. Must be due to the very heavy earpieces. It's also quite easy to move the headbands if you want to do so. There are two screws holding the assembly together, undo those and it falls apart. Just be careful not to loose the small spring inside and the metal disk used to secure it. Also note that the guide pins are directional so the end with the rounded corners goes either up or down, can't remeber which.

[Deadneddz]

I finally listened to the O2 MKII on both the BHSE and WES. Its strange becuase from my limited time with them, I swore they had more bass(although less deep bass) than the MKI.

From my impressions they are still very similar to the O2 MKI in basic sound construction(aka focus, smaller headstage ect.), but many impressions are spot on, as some of the peaky frequency ranges, and lack of deep bass just do not provide the same relaxed effortless sound that the MKI provides.

They did fit more snug than the MKI for me though.