The Headcase Stax thread

[Emooze]

The left driver on my Lambdas has become loose. It's barely being held onto the black plate/housing piece. Any recommendations on how I should glue it back on? I was thinking clean the old glue off with alcohol and use a superglue.

[John Buchanan]

Maybe contact Yamasinc/Accutech and see if they will mail you the 2 sided sticky tape cut outs that fit? Cleaning the old gluey tape residue isn't easy.

[luvdunhill]

Pratt Audio Stax passive driver For Sale | AudiogoN

[spritzer]

The left driver on my Lambdas has become loose. It's barely being held onto the black plate/housing piece. Any recommendations on how I should glue it back on? I was thinking clean the old glue off with alcohol and use a superglue.

Try to find double sided adhesive sheets at a local crafts store and cut it into the right shape. I've also used polyurethane in the past which good results but superglue won't work and epoxy is just nasty.

Pratt Audio Stax passive driver For Sale | AudiogoN

Ehhh somebody not getting the concept of a high impedance bias supply... Also, a rather odd way of hooking up the transformers.

[Kabeer]

There is still upgraditis, it just changes form, instead you start upgrading your amp and source, then you get bored of that and move into diy, then eventually I will toy with speakers, then I will die, such is life

Awesome post

Upgraditis is a bad bad thing. Sometimes I miss my iriver buds+iriver h140 (sommetimes )

[Emooze]

Sticky sheet worked. Driver's on there pretty solidly now. And most importantly, no more rattle on the bass notes!

[swt61]

Cool!

[spritzer]

Right now I'm listening to a bit of a puzzle, a SR-404 which doesn't suck. \ I bought this set on Y!JP as a future donor for a Sigma transplant but after cleaning them I gave them a listen and while they are bright and edgy as any Lambda the midrange isn't shouty and grating. Now this could be a SR-SC1 which somebody has removed all the markings but I doubt it. They are clearly from early on in the production and 100% stock (I did pull out the earpad foam as it had holes in it). Very strange indeed...

[padam]

Now the other question is whether a shouty one works better in a Sigma enclosure or they will sound the same.

[spritzer]

I have a feeling that I'll be keeping this set intact for testing new amps. I do think the Sigma enclosure needs the extra edge as the NB Lambda is very peaky in an undamped housing.

Ohh and the Alps RK27 may rot in hell!! Just installed one of the Alpha pots in the KGSS (the TKD's wouldn't fit because of the thick front panel) and the difference is far from subtle.

[jp11801]

When I find the engineer that designed the pads for the 007 I am going to kick them in the nuts. Putting the new pads on my mkls was fucking torture.

[spritzer]

It gets easier the second time around. Also Mk1 pads are slightly easier then the Mk2 pads as the material is much nicer. SR-Omega pads are even worse though with those small socket/pin fasteners.

[catscratch]

Right now I'm listening to a bit of a puzzle, a SR-404 which doesn't suck. \ I bought this set on Y!JP as a future donor for a Sigma transplant but after cleaning them I gave them a listen and while they are bright and edgy as any Lambda the midrange isn't shouty and grating. Now this could be a SR-SC1 which somebody has removed all the markings but I doubt it. They are clearly from early on in the production and 100% stock (I did pull out the earpad foam as it had holes in it). Very strange indeed...

Does Stax have a history of AKG-like behavior, i.e. making changes to headphones halfway through the production run and not announcing it? Or is it shoddy QC?

Right now I'm listening to yet another modded SR-001 and man, could this thing be any more similar to the O2 please? Same tonality, very similar focused soundstage and fluid sound, not as good obviously but really a baby version of the O2 even more so than the stock 001 is. Really cool. Though now I'll need a portable source that doesn't suck.

[spritzer]

Does Stax have a history of AKG-like behavior, i.e. making changes to headphones halfway through the production run and not announcing it? Or is it shoddy QC?

Neither of those things applies to Stax and that's what makes it so puzzling to me. I've long lost count of how many SR-404's I've owned over the years (20+ probably) and they all had this annoying as hell midrange honk which means I can't spend more then 10 minutes listening to them. This one is more like the 404LE, slightly thin compared to the SR-007 but midrange etch.

Right now I'm listening to yet another modded SR-001 and man, could this thing be any more similar to the O2 please? Same tonality, very similar focused soundstage and fluid sound, not as good obviously but really a baby version of the O2 even more so than the stock 001 is. Really cool. Though now I'll need a portable source that doesn't suck.

Have you ever heard the SR-003 off a BH? Well worth the audition.

[catscratch]

That's coming. I think I'll be in the market for a BH/BHSE quite soon. I've long since realized that for me everything else just won't cut it.

[dreamwhisper]

That's coming. I think I'll be in the market for a BH/BHSE quite soon. I've long since realized that for me everything else just won't cut it.

it's a pain in the ass to drop that much cash on them, but really not everyone gets to hear sound this good.

Yes we're destined to be slaves to audio enjoyment. ...

But no worries, in the long run there is little suffering

[jgazal]

Have you ever heard the SR-003 off a BH? Well worth the audition.

I was wondering if the absence of a big resonant structure in the SR-003 could make a more focused soundstage (at least compared to SR-202, SR-303 and SR-404). Is this the case? That

[Dusty Chalk]

I have always been reticent with the SR-003 because I thought that little transducer area could not move that much air, no matter the amplifier.

They're closer to the ear, so they don't need to move that much air. (And don't anyone else try to argue with me about this, I've got one 4-letter word for y'all: JH13.)

Dew et.

[spritzer]

I was wondering if the absence of a big resonant structure in the SR-003 could make a more focused soundstage (at least compared to SR-202, SR-303 and SR-404). Is this the case? That’s why I presume they sound similar to SR-007.

It has more to do with the heavy air damping going on rather then the structure. The open area on the SR-001/003 stators is only about a quarter of the total area.

But how much does the BHSE improve SR-003's frequency response? Are there more highs and more bass?

There is plenty of bass to start with but it is cleaner. Highs have more range but it is mostly the midrange which gains a lot more presence.

I have always been reticent with the SR-003 because I thought that little transducer area could not move that much air, no matter the amplifier. Of course I know that they are not going to reach the omegas. But how they (SR-003 with BHSE) compare to SR-303 with, for instance, a SRM-323?

Electrostatic transducers don't move air in that sense, they produce sound via vibration. But like Dusty said, the size of the transducer has to be in context with the air it needs to excite.

I don't know what happens to me, but I feel uncomfortable with circumaural headphones. Is SR-003 more comfortable in that manner?

Maybe I am wrong about the SR-003. Not the first time it happens, though...

The SR-003 isn't a circumaural but comfortable they are not.

[Kabeer]

The SR-003 isn't a circumaural but comfortable they are not.

I had the SR-001 (practically the same), and I found it uncomfy, untill I bent out the headband a bit to reduce the clamp to very light. And i seal the tips against my ear canal opening rather than pushing them in like iems. And then I found it quite comfy!

[spritzer]

When used like that they are fine for short test sessions (they are great for checking hum in amps and other issues like that) but the tips weren't comfy enough for and long term listening.

[charliex]

Well, my Airbow SR-SC-1's just came in a couple of hours ago and it looks like I'm not going to bed anytime soon. Been listenin' to Alan Parsons Project and Air's Moon Safari and like wow!

These are so smooth, transparent and effortless, you can listen to them for hours. Currently running them through a SRM-1/MK-2 C Version since my SRM-T1 hasnt come in yet. Gonna try them tomorrow from

an SRD-7 Mk 2 and my Technics SU-V5. They don't have the 404 etch and treble is somewhat more tamed. Bass is deep and tight with punch. I don't know how these compare to the 404LE's having

never heard them, but they certainly blow away my 404 signatures. Too bad these aren't marketed outside of Japan...these are keepers!

[jgazal]

They're closer to the ear, so they don't need to move that much air. (And don't anyone else try to argue with me about this, I've got one 4-letter word for y'all: JH13.)

Dew et.

It has more to do with the heavy air damping going on rather then the structure. The open area on the SR-001/003 stators is only about a quarter of the total area.

There is plenty of bass to start with but it is cleaner. Highs have more range but it is mostly the midrange which gains a lot more presence.

Electrostatic transducers don't move air in that sense, they produce sound via vibration. But like Dusty said, the size of the transducer has to be in context with the air it needs to excite.

You’re both right. Now I see the nonsense I said. I recall a in-ear Shure I used to have with plenty of bass...

[Hens]

Hey, has anyone got listening comparisons experience with both the original omegas and the omega II's?

A pair of original omegas have popped up on ebay aus and its piped my interest.

[Dusty Chalk]

Unmodified, I believe the consensus is that the earlier model is preferred -- the II's have a bass hump that most non-rockers don't like.