The Headcase Stax thread

[mypasswordis]

I guess you must like a rounder instead of boxier sound.

[Salt Peanuts]

At roughly the same price about as a used O2, I would jump on the O2 first...

Where are you finding your used O2? The retail prince on SR-507 is

[deepak]

I await HeadphoneAddict MPI's review to see if they have rubbery bass

[mypasswordis]

Anyone want to send a pair to me for review, go right ahead.

[manaox2]

Where are you finding your used O2? The retail prince on SR-507 is

[forbigger]

folks, lately when i place and take off my o2 from my head sometimes it emits a sound like a subtle fart. is this the infamous o2 fart ? if so what makes it happen? and it only happened lately not in the beginning when i bought it

[Torpedo]

[Les_Garten]

folks, lately when i place and take off my o2 from my head sometimes it emits a sound like a subtle fart. is this the infamous o2 fart ? if so what makes it happen? and it only happened lately not in the beginning when i bought it

That makes it an Ol' Fart...

[spritzer]

It's caused by trapped air trying to escape to equalize the pressure. Put the earphones on and with music playing, press them gently towards the head... I don't recommend doing this with the HE90, it's a bit unnerving...

[bobkatz]

Warning to everyone: the following is a love-letter to Stax:

I received my first Pro Bias Stax Headphone yesterday. Ironic that in nearly 40 years of owning Stax phones I never upgraded to Pro before today. Padam sold me an SR5-Gold-ND headshell that had been converted to Pro using (I think) a pair of new Gamma drivers and an OCC gold-plug low capacitance Pro cable. It was clean as a whistle and clearly never used (or hardly used). The headphone pads are soft as new. (By the way, I'd like to buy some replacement pads for my old SR-5s. Audiocubes has them listed on their site but it's not clear from my letter to them if they really have them).

I'm still listening to these new Gold phones with a disadvantage, through my old Stax SRA-12S amplifier (has all new electrolytics, though). I'll goose the bias and I'm going to change the coupling caps to 2 uF as soon as the Vishays come from Antique Radio Supply. Anyway, I listened to these new Gold Pro SR5's yesterday and I'm in love. Where the standard SR5s are a little weak in the bass, the Gold Pro SR5s are solid and extended. Where the standard SR5s have a little rise in the upper midrange, the Gold Pros are smooth and accurate. Where the standard SR5s are a little muted in the extreme highs (above 12 kHz), the Gold Pros seem to have a little rise there, perhaps 1 dB up from "correct" or "flat".* This extreme HF rise is very pleasant to the ear and doesn't bother at all. I could easily tone that down with a little RC circuit if necessary, if only to match the presentation on my Revel speakers. Perhaps the rise is due to a combination of the the low capacitance Pro cable, along with my mods to the SRA (removing all excess old coax cable, extra switches and circuitry, installing a new volume control), and perhaps some of it is the high end distortion of a 40-year old amplifier design. Regardless----these Gold SR5s are instantly the best headphones I've ever owned, among the best headphones in the world. They rival the best speakers I've ever owned. Very addictive to listen to. Everything sounds so correct and beautiful and accurate I could mix with these phones and get very close tonally to correct for speakers, except for certain balance issues and stereo separation issues where headphones can't perform. Someone could start a mix on these Gold SR5s and get it 90% there and then take it to us for finishing on loudspeakers with excellent translation.

Now I can't wait to hear the Omega IIs I have on order from Woo. How much better can they possibly be than these fantastic Gold SR5s?

These Pro bias phones are at least 6 dB less sensitive than the normal bias models I have. Making it impossible to listen to both models at once and pointing out why the 1000 volt swings in the KGSS I've got on order will be the order of the day. The SRA doesn't seem to be clipping, though, probably because I just don't push my earphones higher than about 83 dB SPL average/103 dB instantaneous peak.

We must also take into account that I'm playing old SR5s with diaphragms that are AT LEAST 30 years old! I replaced them some time in the mid 80's if I recall correctly.

* Compared to what I know these sources to be, having mastered much of the music I auditioned yesterday. I'm very comfortable where the high end sits on these various pieces of music I've mastered, so I can say with confidence that the SR5 Golds have a little rise above 12k.

[spritzer]

Very nice read. The Omegas have a similar family sound but even more control and less of a "sound" of their own. Deeper bass, soundstage depth (well as much as a headphone can pull off) plus a much higher level of comfort. Those leather earpads are just beyond comfy. The only "problem" with the Omegas is their demand for better designed amps and insatiable need for more power. Now we never really need all that voltage swing something like the KGSS will give us but it does mean the amp is just idling at normal listening levels. The SRA shouldn't clip at all but I'm not sure how linear it really is once you start pushing it.

As for SR-5 earpads, I got a bunch of them from a Japanese source in 2007 but I just checked and it looks like they don't have any left. Now you could try some similar earpads like those designed for the Denon 5000/7000 headphones or even the SR-007 earpads which are roughly the same size.

[padam]

Somebody wants a little discount on an SR-507?

SECOND HANDS

[mrarroyo]

About $783 USD, has anyone else ordered from them? Thanks.

[mypasswordis]

That makes it an Ol' Fart...

Someone pull the trigger on dat dere SR-507! And my second hand is for typing.

[Les_Garten]

Someone pull the trigger on dat dere SR-507! And my second hand is for typing.

You need to concentrate on the Task at hand...

I told you about that...

[Deadneddz]

I received a pair of MK2 pads finally. I was looking at the instructions for replacing the ear pads but i'm not sure about something. It seems that there is a third flap in the MK2 pad instructions in which the spring goes under, while the MK1 shows the spring going under the second flap. Is it correct for the spring to go under the hard plastic ring directly onto the mesh? Or does the spring go under the cloth flap on top of the hard plastic ring? I did the former when installing my pads, and i'm hoping that I don't need to rip this apart again...

[spritzer]

There isn't a third flap, the Mk2 fitting is to the inside of the fabric support since the spring is smaller.

[Deadneddz]

Thats what I thought, unless you consider under the plastic ring another flap...but that just didn't make any sense.

Anyways, the MK2 pads are pretty darn sweet. It seems to change the sound just a bit although it could just be my mind playing tricks. The bass seems a bit more present and the overall sound just very slightly darker. I quite like it, especially not having sweaty ears anymore!

[spritzer]

There is a bit more bass but the comfort makes all the difference for me...

[Les_Garten]

Thats what I thought, unless you consider under the plastic ring another flap...but that just didn't make any sense.

Anyways, the MK2 pads are pretty darn sweet. It seems to change the sound just a bit although it could just be my mind playing tricks. The bass seems a bit more present and the overall sound just very slightly darker. I quite like it, especially not having sweaty ears anymore!

Sound perhaps less Synthetic and MOAR Organic?

[Deadneddz]

Sound perhaps less Synthetic and MOAR Organic?

MOAR orgasmic......comfort wise that is.

[Les_Garten]

There ya go! I knew it started with an "O".

[BlueDoor]

SR-507 price quote in PriceJapan :

PriceJapan.com

[John Buchanan]

I have a Stax Monitor which has developed an intermittent fault in the left channel (of two separate phones). It sounds like a high pitched scratchy noise, and occasionally the image shifts to the right while this is happening. Any suggestions? The amp behaved perfectly at the techs recently - the curse of the intermittent fault.

[TommyTunes]

Apparently the 507 list price will be $1099 in the USA, Elusive Disc now has them on their web site. Who is a dependable company to order from in Japan? Thanks.