The Headcase Stax thread

[spritzer]

I wonder at times whether the engineers at Stax really do any work at all. So according to those Japanese "Stax nuts", the A/mk2 is only a facelift after nine years of waiting?! You'd expect them to have come up with at least one brand new flagship already!

Why change a good thing? The 4070 was a tremendous effort to design and with only a few engineers on staff there is a lot to do in a limited amount of time. They wouldn't even have altered the SR-007 except for the ROHS that forced them to change the amps and headphones alike so they came up with a facelift that would fix those issues that they weren't' aware of 9 years ago. I'm sure they have continued the Omega research started way before the Sr-Omega was released but there is nothing wrong with the Sr-007 that can be "fixed". They could come up with a much more expensive version with better materials but there would be little to gain.

[deepak]

Why change a good thing? The 4070 was a tremendous effort to design and with only a few engineers on staff there is a lot to do in a limited amount of time. They wouldn't even have altered the SR-007 except for the ROHS that forced them to change the amps and headphones alike so they came up with a facelift that would fix those issues that they weren't' aware of 9 years ago. I'm sure they have continued the Omega research started way before the Sr-Omega was released but there is nothing wrong with the Sr-007 that can be "fixed". They could come up with a much more expensive version with better materials but there would be little to gain.

They could come out with a really nice built to order amp.

[PFKMan23]

They could come out with a really nice built to order amp.

Probably, but I'm willing to bet in order to make it viable, they'd need to price it in BHSE/ES-1 territory, pricewise.

[spritzer]

Probably, but I'm willing to bet in order to make it viable, they'd need to price it in BHSE/ES-1 territory, pricewise.

They are always working against at least a triple markup. Stax needs their share, so do the distributors and the dealers. The T2 would be at least 10k or more if they sold it today.

[Fungi]

I wonder at times whether the engineers at Stax really do any work at all. So according to those Japanese "Stax nuts", the A/mk2 is only a facelift after nine years of waiting?! You'd expect them to have come up with at least one brand new flagship already!

Well according to one source, the new lambskin pads sound better. \

[spritzer]

Well according to one source, the new lambskin pads sound better. \

It's not really the pads but the technology that is built into them. They have ports or something like that which brings the bass under better control similar to the system on the 4070.

[luvdunhill]

I finished up my Franken-KGSS last night and wanted to thank everyone involved! I'm running right at 35 W (just over 12 mA per device * 350 V rails * 8 devices, compared to 24 W ? of Justin's KGSS and the 40 W plate dissipation of the KGBH) and it sounds amazing. I'll get pics up once life settles down. It also serves as a rather nice space heater, as if we Texans need those

I've been listening with the Koss ESP-950 and want to reiterate what a special headphone these are... my only complaint at this point, is the ridiculous amount of bass ... that's compared to the HD-650s too... I've been futzing with my cartridge alignment, so that could be part of it, but still... reminds me a bit of the Denon D5000 (which is not a compliment). I'm going to add some gain on my phono stage and start tuning my system around the new addition, so I'll keep you guys updated.

The nice thing is, my seperate psu is adjustable up to 500 V, so I can play with the KGBH as well!

[kevin gilmore]

koss esp950's are bass heavy with low bias. Best sound is about

620 volts of bias. And they can play very loud.

[luvdunhill]

koss esp950's are bass heavy with low bias. Best sound is about

620 volts of bias. And they can play very loud.

thanks Kevin! I'll put my externally adjustable bias to work I'm right at 600v now with ~2V offset... I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed the bass... it really is insane.

[spritzer]

You have to stop all of this ESP950 talk... its one of the few phones I've never heard... \

On a better note I scored one of the rarest and most sought after Stax phones, the SR-Alpha Pro Excellent. It was the ultimate expression of the SR-X Mk3 driver with PC-OCC cable and special earpads but the price was so high that few sold.

[pabbi1]

Well,

Congrats, Marc... cannot wait to see and compare... what tubes?

I finished up my Franken-KGSS last night and wanted to thank everyone involved! I'm running right at 35 W (just over 12 mA per device * 350 V rails * 8 devices, compared to 24 W ? of Justin's KGSS and the 40 W plate dissipation of the KGBH) and it sounds amazing. I'll get pics up once life settles down. It also serves as a rather nice space heater, as if we Texans need those

I've been listening with the Koss ESP-950 and want to reiterate what a special headphone these are... my only complaint at this point, is the ridiculous amount of bass ... that's compared to the HD-650s too... I've been futzing with my cartridge alignment, so that could be part of it, but still... reminds me a bit of the Denon D5000 (which is not a compliment). I'm going to add some gain on my phono stage and start tuning my system around the new addition, so I'll keep you guys updated.

The nice thing is, my seperate psu is adjustable up to 500 V, so I can play with the KGBH as well!

[luvdunhill]

heh.. it's a KGSS aren't we getting ahead of ourselves...

The light's out in my listening room ...

[luvdunhill]

wow... that's the worse picture I have ever taken ... it's like 80's dial-up porn quality...

anyways, KG is right (of course) about the 620v bias with the Koss... much better...

[pabbi1]

Yeah, sorry, wrong project...

[luvdunhill]

Al:

I don't see how you have not bought the Koss ESP-950... man, those things are loud! They could easily double as computer speakers

[pabbi1]

Alex offered me some at a really good price, but I always come back to the HE60... and now something dynamic to go with the MillettMaxx. I thought I had a deal on one off Agon, but we didn't quite synch up. It is only a matter of time, though the BH is biased at 560v, so how will that sound without me rebiasing back and forth? I guess it's time for Alex's bias switching mod... <sigh>

Doh! Just saw your email - still fighting a nasty cold I caught last week in London...

[luvdunhill]

Alex offered me some at a really good price, but I always come back to the HE60... and now something dynamic to go with the MillettMaxx. I thought I had a deal on one off Agon, but we didn't quite synch up. It is only a matter of time, though the BH is biased at 560v, so how will that sound without me rebiasing back and forth? I guess it's time for Alex's bias switching mod... <sigh>

Doh! Just saw your email - still fighting a nasty cold I caught last week in London...

um, 560v? don't bother... i just tried it. I have a Stax cable that I'm going to put on them once I make sure they're not going back to Koss... I'm thinking about sending them in just for good measure before modding them

[Voltron]

Picked up my first Stax rig this week off Audiogon from a local guy. It is an SRM-1 Mk.2 ("C" serial no. which Spritzer said was good), an ED-1 equalizer, and Lambda Pros. Pretty sweet from the first listening I've done. Too bad there are no balanced inputs, but it is a good first own from the world of Stax and electrostats. I'll post some pics with my nice new camera soon.

[postjack]

Picked up my first Stax rig this week off Audiogon from a local guy. It is an SRM-1 Mk.2 ("C" serial no. which Spritzer said was good), an ED-1 equalizer, and Lambda Pros. Pretty sweet from the first listening I've done. Too bad there are no balanced inputs, but it is a good first own from the world of Stax and electrostats. I'll post some pics with my nice new camera soon.

sweet, grats on the get! show us some pics please.

[Voltron]

POST. PICS. NOW.

Yes Sir!

[postjack]

While we wait for Volty to post pics, anyone have any comments on this:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f10/fs-stax-system-1300-shipped-us-278915/

The Stax wiki tells me the SRM-007t is OOP, but it has normal and pro bias outs which is cool. Not sure if this is a good price on the amp + Lambda Pros or not.

[tyrion]

While we wait for Volty to post pics, anyone have any comments on this:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f10/fs-stax-system-1300-shipped-us-278915/

The Stax wiki tells me the SRM-007t is OOP, but it has normal and pro bias outs which is cool. Not sure if this is a good price on the amp + Lambda Pros or not.

I may be buying this setup. Anyone have any opinions?

[deepak]

While we wait for Volty to post pics, anyone have any comments on this:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f10/fs-stax-system-1300-shipped-us-278915/

The Stax wiki tells me the SRM-007t is OOP, but it has normal and pro bias outs which is cool. Not sure if this is a good price on the amp + Lambda Pros or not.

The SRM-007t is about $700-900 used. The Lambdas vary so much price wise that I don't have a clue what you could price them at.

[deepak]

I may be buying this setup. Anyone have any opinions?

Like spritzer I prefer the normal SR-Lambda. I don't think most people have caught on but, they sell for significantly less than the Pros on ebay.

edit: it's only fair to add I've only heard the Pro in meet conditions.

[tyrion]

He wants to make a deal with my Omega Compact Hemps which haven't sold (I am waiting on two potential buyers). I think $1300 is too high. He doesn't have a box for the amp and it has a light scratch on top. The Pro seem to go for around $300 to $450 from my research (reading much of this and the HF Stax threads). The amp in 9/10 condition with box would be $900 to $1000 so I'm thinking $800 on the amp and $300 or $350 on the cans. I just hate to lose out on the O2 deal.