The Headcase Stax thread

[mapstec]

Final price translates to 720$. From the pics it looks like serial is A55**. But then again I wanted a version that had both standard as well as pro output.

I will let you know more when it arrives.

[spritzer]

I've never really understood why Rudistor electrostatic amps are so ill-received. Please educate me! I'll do a search too...

A link for the initiated: http://www.rudistor.com/coriolan.htm

Hmmmm let me think... .... insane prices for what you get, really bad build quality, horrible circuits that Rudi barely understands himself but are so simple a child could build them. For 10k? I'd expect something more then a 12ax7 tied to EL34's. Heck I'd just buy a Dynaco 70 and put in a new input stage and have a similar amp... for 500$...

Ah, the joys of collecting...

Talk to me again when you reach 30 phones and have to find a way to store them all...

[Nanoha]

I remember the Stereophile review where they said the Rudistor amps were along the lines of 'DIY quality'. It's especially funny given the reputation Stereophile has as a source (often criticized for over-praising/hyping).

[n_maher]

I remember the Stereophile review where they said the Rudistor amps were along the lines of 'DIY quality'.

I find that comparison offensive.

[Nanoha]

I find that comparison offensive.

Haha, indeed.

[Cosmopragma]

Hmmmm let me think... really bad build quality , horrible circuits that Rudi barely understands himself

C'mon, it's not that bad.

I once did own a Rudistor amp with a very special self destruction circuit.At first glance it was admittedly horrible, but it's not true that Rudi doesn't understand it.

He even tried to explain it to me, a layman.The slow blow fuse was extremely slow though if you ask me and therefor the only way to stop the amp emitting dark smoke like mount etna was to pull the plug out of the wall but what do I know.

Besides of that I do rate the amps better than you here at this forum.Sonically they are certainly not that special as Nik, Markl et al hype them but the amps for dynamic cans I've owned are quite decent for low Z cans and I did like the Egmont better than the Stax amps for the Lambdas.

I agree though they are too expensive for what they provide (basically decent mid-fi), but what is not? I've always found for instance the Meier amps, the Headroom amps, the Lehmann BCL, the CEC amps, the Vincent amps and last but not least the Stax amps overprized as well, at least in central Europe.

[mirumu]

C'mon, it's not that bad.

I once did own a Rudistor amp with a very special self destruction circuit.At first glance it was admittedly horrible, but it's not true that Rudi doesn't understand it.

He even tried to explain it to me, a layman.The slow blow fuse was extremely slow though if you ask me and therefor the only way to stop the amp emitting dark smoke like mount etna was to pull the plug out of the wall but what do I know.

Emitting dark smoke like mount etna you say...

[mapstec]

Talk to me again when you reach 30 phones and have to find a way to store them all...

I am at 12 + 3 on the way to me... does that already count for something?

Oh, and as yet I have enough floorspace

[Elephas]

I think I'm over 30 phones, but most of them don't count because they're not electrostats.

I thought about taking a photo, but I don't think I have enough floorspace.

I agree though they are too expensive for what they provide (basically decent mid-fi), but what is not? I've always found for instance the Meier amps, the Headroom amps, the Lehmann BCL, the CEC amps, the Vincent amps and last but not least the Stax amps overprized as well, at least in central Europe.

The Meier amps seem reasonably priced to me. The CEC HD53R is inexpensive at US$325 and it can drive very small efficient speakers, though not very well. The Lehmann BCL is not bad at US$780, I think it's competitive vs. the Opera or Raptor.

The Coriolan is 9500 Euro or about US$14,000. That makes the upcoming HeadAmp Blue Hawaii SE seem like a supreme bargain. I'm glad I ordered the last one.

[milkpowder]

10 KGSS or one Coriolan?

[Cosmopragma]

The Meier amps seem reasonably priced to me. The CEC HD53R is inexpensive at US$325 and it can drive very small efficient speakers, though not very well. The Lehmann BCL is not bad at US$780, I think it's competitive vs. the Opera or Raptor.

The Coriolan is 9500 Euro or about US$14,000. That makes the upcoming HeadAmp Blue Hawaii SE seem like a supreme bargain. I'm glad I ordered the last one.

I really don't want to defend Rudi.Regardless of having owned some Rudistor amps in the past I'm not exactly a fan.The main reasons for purchasing them was availability and, yes, a relatively reasonable price.I've bought them all used or as special offers from Rudi himself and in the end they did cost me nothing despite of opportunity costs.

You are located in Asia and therefor you are probably not familar with the middle european market.

Some price examples as a frame of reference, official retail with usable warranty, street prices:

CEC HD53R V8: $1150

Lehmann BCL : $1050

Corda Opera analog : $1150

more relevant in our context here:

Stax SRM 006T Mk II:$2600

Stax SRM 717 (discontinued but still available): $3000

Stax SRM 007 T Mk II :$4200

With a bit of haggling you might get better deals in some cases, but not much better.

The Coriolan amp isn't targeted at informed audiophiles like us, it's targeted at rich europeans without time or desire for research.With time worth >$1000/hour they have another sense of bang/buck ratio than most of us.

[milkpowder]

But who in their right mind would pay a few thousand for a Stax amp (apart from T2)? How many 4k 007t do you think they sell in Europe? Probably not a lot of them. Most people who know about Stax probably also know that they can be imported for much less anyway. (even when you factor in VAT, import duty, postage) $4k or $14k or even $140k may not be a lot of money to some, but it will make any rich audiophile think twice about what they're buying. Even those earning $1k/hr would think twice about buying something blind. Don't you think they would at least do a bit of research? If a maxed KGBH SE sounds better than a Coriolan, looks just as nice (or nicer), but costs less, it only makes sense for them to get the KGBH SE. Obviously, no one has heard the Coriolan, so maybe the rich guy can buy both the Coriolan and KGBH SE and make his own mind up. I would if I had the money.

[mapstec]

I have to agree with Cosmopragma,

the prices in Europe are high, but they actually are the prices people are paying!

If you follow a few "high-end" auctions on ebay.de you see that people are willing to pay ridiculous prices.

They do not know any better, they might not have a credit card or paypal account, have heard that the warranty is not valid in their country, want to have a dealer close by and presto you arrive at prices that are inflated compared to what you can get elsewhere.

I live in Switzerland, where the customs process is painless.

I made the mistake to mail two small speakers (the actual drivers) to Germany, as a letter (!) and marked as a gift (!). It took 5 weeks for the recipient to get them....

Compare that to walking into a boutique where you are greeted by a nicely turned out sales rep who does his best to make you feel important, and suddenly most people buy at prices that you and I would not pay even if we had the money....

Plus many of us void existing warranty (recabling anyone?)

[Nanoha]

I live in Switzerland, where the customs process is painless.

I made the mistake to mail two small speakers (the actual drivers) to Germany, as a letter (!) and marked as a gift (!). It took 5 weeks for the recipient to get them....

Hmmm, do you have suggestions on what would be the best way to mail items to European countries such as Germany? (What to mark them as; service to use)

[mapstec]

Not really, chances are that when they are actual goods and you enclose an invoice it might be (a bit) faster, and I have to assume that not using the postal service probably is rather expensive...

[Cosmopragma]

Hmmm, do you have suggestions on what would be the best way to mail items to European countries such as Germany? (What to mark them as; service to use)

It depends on the country and the regional customs office and in the end on the mood of the customs officer.

Bad mood means there's no way at all.

There are lots of european legislations.

In theory gear has to be ROHS compliant and CE compliant and companies do have the right to totally block private imports of branded goods and whatnot.

In practise they are not that picky in Germany, the greedy state justs want a share of the pie (Luxembourg for instance is more rigid AFAIK, but naturally I'm most familar with circumstances in my own country).

Sometimes you can even get away without any fees at all (the old "private gift, value $20" trick) but I don't recommend it anymore.The customs officer might get angry about it and then you are in trouble.

The best way nowadays IMO is to underdeclare the value and to ship it via USPS/DHL.The latter means low customs handling fees (UPS for instance is extremely expensive).Underdeclaring means to keep the declared value above the threshold where they might suspect fraud.When I import $1500 headphones I ask the seller to declare it to be worth $150.In the eyes of a customs officer $150 is already expensive and lazy as he is he won't research the real value.

This way it slips through fast and without hassles.

[Tachikoma]

Hmmmm let me think... Evil.... insane prices for what you get, really bad build quality, horrible circuits that Rudi barely understands himself but are so simple a child could build them. For 10k? I'd expect something more then a 12ax7 tied to EL34's. Heck I'd just buy a Dynaco 70 and put in a new input stage and have a similar amp... for 500$...

What kind of criteria is required for converting a speaker-based tube amp into an electrostat amp? I'd love to try this with a 45 or 2A3 amp.

[mapstec]

God, I can get to love Electrostats

Today I got the SRD6/SR-5 combo (I assume it is the Gold from the pictures I could find).

Someone had replaced the in-cable and the speaker outs (horrid job), but still, you plug them in and it is good...

They can not be compared to the SRM252/SR202 combo which simply does everything better, but I think these are really good rock phones, tight, fast, not too concerned with the details but, well, rocking.

They project a way smaller soundstage, but again this is only right for a Power Trio or similar to bring down the house!

My, this is the most fun you can have with your clothes on

[spritzer]

C'mon, it's not that bad.

I once did own a Rudistor amp with a very special self destruction circuit.At first glance it was admittedly horrible, but it's not true that Rudi doesn't understand it.

He even tried to explain it to me, a layman.The slow blow fuse was extremely slow though if you ask me and therefor the only way to stop the amp emitting dark smoke like mount etna was to pull the plug out of the wall but what do I know.

Besides of that I do rate the amps better than you here at this forum.Sonically they are certainly not that special as Nik, Markl et al hype them but the amps for dynamic cans I've owned are quite decent for low Z cans and I did like the Egmont better than the Stax amps for the Lambdas.

I agree though they are too expensive for what they provide (basically decent mid-fi), but what is not? I've always found for instance the Meier amps, the Headroom amps, the Lehmann BCL, the CEC amps, the Vincent amps and last but not least the Stax amps overprized as well, at least in central Europe.

The Egmont is pretty simple with a floating output stage with no ground reference so it should sound better then a Stax amp but the sound will change a great deal with the tubes as they age and change. Also paying 1400euro for something like that is just nuts.

I watched the thread about your Egmont adventures with excitement but like so many before, it disappeared.

The best way nowadays IMO is to underdeclare the value and to ship it via USPS/DHL.The latter means low customs handling fees (UPS for instance is extremely expensive).Underdeclaring means to keep the declared value above the threshold where they might suspect fraud.When I import $1500 headphones I ask the seller to declare it to be worth $150.In the eyes of a customs officer $150 is already expensive and lazy as he is he won't research the real value.

This way it slips through fast and without hassles.

That's what I would do as well.... .... .... it's also wise to have a record of payment for the declared amount as so two Paypal transactions would be wise...

What kind of criteria is required for converting a speaker-based tube amp into an electrostat amp? I'd love to try this with a 45 or 2A3 amp.

You need a push pull amp and you tap into the signal at the primary of the output transformer so you need to bypass it (or turn it off) and then put a capacitor on each phase and even a resistor bridge to create a 0v point between the + and - outputs. It would also be wise to put a resistor in series with each cap to limit ultimate current.

[Cosmopragma]

Also paying 1400euro for something like that is just nuts.

Well, I had payed 1070 Euros including the costs of return shipment for the repair, and Rudi threw some very nice NOS tubes in for free in order to temper my anger after he had realized that threatening me wasn't the best idea.

Compared to the prices of Stax amps in Germany I wouldn't exactly call it nuts especially when you take into account that I was able to sell it for 1140 Euros about half a year later via ebay.de.

[Cosmopragma]

That's what I would do as well.... .... .... it's also wise to have a record of payment for the declared amount as so two Paypal transactions would be wise...

Yes, I forgot to mention that, two installments are mandatory.

Unfortunately it seems to be hard to explain to american sellers why two payments are necessary.Sometimes they smell fraud and back out.Sucks .......

Overseas shops are also often not prepared for that trick.

[grawk]

Yes, I forgot to mention that, two installments are mandatory.

Unfortunately it seems to be hard to explain to american sellers why two payments are necessary.Sometimes they smell fraud and back out.Sucks .......

Overseas shops are also often not prepared for that trick.

That would be because it is fraud...just not credit card fraud. It's defrauding the government out of the taxes you support and enjoy the benefit of. If you like your form of government, you should gladly pay the taxes.

[Cosmopragma]

That would be because it is fraud...just not credit card fraud. It's defrauding the government out of the taxes you support and enjoy the benefit of. If you like your form of government, you should gladly pay the taxes.

Did I say somewhere I like the damned government?

[grawk]

Did I say somewhere I like the damned government?

You have the option of moving if you don't.

[Cosmopragma]

You have the option of moving if you don't.

I also have the option to circumvent it whereever possible.

Believe me, that's a very popular sport here, and you'd be hard pressed to find someone here that's considering tax circumventing a crime.Even the members of the government do circumvent their own rules, and our establishment is master of inventing loopholes mainly for themselves.