The Headcase Stax thread

[HeadphoneAddict]

Any suggestions for a source with similar porosity to the original? Did a shootout yesterday and they did not fair as well as my HD600/Equinox

Though I think I am just spoiled by O2/SR-Omega and my fondness for them the last time I owned them was when I didn't have any Omega.

When I compared the SR-Lambda that you have to my current pair which retains the mineral wool, yours had a slightly looser bass (less control) and a slightly more open or spacious sound at the expense of less imaging focus.

Edited April 22, 2012 by HeadphoneAddict

[spritzer]

Any suggestions for a source with similar porosity to the original? Did a shootout yesterday and they did not fair as well as my HD600/Equinox

Though I think I am just spoiled by O2/SR-Omega and my fondness for them the last time I owned them was when I didn't have any Omega.

You could try some thin glass wool or anything similar at the local hardware store. Thin foam would also work but it won't sound the same.

[congo5]

Hi all:

I've enjoyed reading this thread, the last two weeks..

In the mid 70's I bought the Stax sr-44 set. And enjoyed them for 20 years.. Until the cable wore out..

this was before I had internet skills... I tried to fix...made it worse..got shocked..threw them out..

Recently I found the other fourm and then this one..began reading...

bought another sr-44 set > very low volume..broken.

so got a set of sr-84's that do work, with minor channel imbalance.. transplanted the drivers into the

sr-40 because I like the look and feel of them..

last week I picked up from ebay the sr-3n ..

very nice...like new condition...

OK am using a srd-7 to drive it and it takes an hour

to charge up>> low volume -- lots of distortion,

but when charged !! they are the best I have heard...

the srd7 came from korea and is 100V only..

from what I could find on google there may be zeners to cap the voltage and thus its safe to use on 120v?? also the power light blinks...(randomly)

I do HVAC and tried to use a Fieldpeace meter to check bias but could not find any voltage that looks even close to 230v dc....In the bias circuit Is the case ground?

I have another srd-7 on the way, so will figure this out later this week.

Tommorow I will have .. Mylar C 2um 20M + Elvamide 60g ..

and plan to fix the sr-40 drivers, I do plan on attempting to convert them into electrostatic drivers..

I have pictures and dimensions of the internals.. It looks doable at this point.

1) make a bias connection on the brass center ring ( tig weld, conductive glue?)

2) replace mylar and dust-covers.

3) rewire with 6 conductor 1000v wire...

whether this works or not ,, I will then follow chinsettawong's steps and build new drivers... no cnc machine here but I do

have a bridgeport with digital readouts..

also want to build a poormans amp when its ready.

Ok its clear that this is a small group here in the head-fi stax thread ..

and I am not in your league, of knowledge or buying ability..

but will try to catch up where I can.

Gary in ohio

[deepak]

rofl I had the speaker connections going into my EL34 integrated hooked up wrong so the polarity was all wacky with the Lambdas. They sound much better now.

Thanks for the wool tips Birgir

[wink]

Mineral Wool

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_wool

Google is your friend.

[deepak]

Mineral Wool

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Mineral_wool

Google is your friend.

I did a Google search when he told me exactly what it is.

The wiki article didn't exactly answer the second question, which was regarding where to purchase similar porosity. Pretty pictures though!

[wink]

I guess trial and error is indicated.

You could contact possibly some manufacturers for a sample of their product.

Sometimes this works.

[ujamerstand]

Try your local home depot or home hardware.

[wink]

Trouble here is if they only sell a whole batt or roll, and you only want/need a half a square foot.

Edited April 23, 2012 by wink

[deepak]

I'm not gonna mess with them. Like I said in the previous page I had screwed up the polarity when I rewired the system after moving it.

[HeadphoneAddict]

I'm not gonna mess with them. Like I said in the previous page I had screwed up the polarity when I rewired the system after moving it.

Yeah, I only heard those slight differences in bass and soundstage between a stock pair and the Lambdas that you have now. They certainly didn't sound bad when I had them.

[John Buchanan]

The Lambda wool is still available from Stax USA - I got some for a set of Lambda Pros at the beginning of the year - the Lambda Pros were too damaged when they arrived to salvage the drivers (the rest of the parts were good however).

[Currawong]

Since I don't want to blow up an amp I don't own trying it: Will 6SN7s work in a T1S or 007t using octal to noval adaptors? I realise that I'd have to keep the top case off doing such a thing, but am curious to experiment with the pile of tubes I have here if they would (PITA that it would be to re-bias every time).

[kevin gilmore]

You proably don't want to do that. 700 volts on tubes that should take no more than 450v.

But the voltage gain is similar, so if the tubes don't arc, it would work.

[spritzer]

The 6CG7 is pretty much just a noval version of the 6SN7 so it should work just fine but do check the heater currents in the datasheets so that they are similar/same. The added benefit would be to use the rugged versions of the tube which can handle more voltage, GTA, GTB etc.

Hi all:

I've enjoyed reading this thread, the last two weeks..

In the mid 70's I bought the Stax sr-44 set. And enjoyed them for 20 years.. Until the cable wore out..

this was before I had internet skills... I tried to fix...made it worse..got shocked..threw them out..

Recently I found the other fourm and then this one..began reading...

bought another sr-44 set > very low volume..broken.

so got a set of sr-84's that do work, with minor channel imbalance.. transplanted the drivers into the

sr-40 because I like the look and feel of them..

last week I picked up from ebay the sr-3n ..

very nice...like new condition...

OK am using a srd-7 to drive it and it takes an hour

to charge up>> low volume -- lots of distortion,

but when charged !! they are the best I have heard...

the srd7 came from korea and is 100V only..

from what I could find on google there may be zeners to cap the voltage and thus its safe to use on 120v?? also the power light blinks...(randomly)

I do HVAC and tried to use a Fieldpeace meter to check bias but could not find any voltage that looks even close to 230v dc....In the bias circuit Is the case ground?

I have another srd-7 on the way, so will figure this out later this week.

Tommorow I will have .. Mylar C 2um 20M + Elvamide 60g ..

and plan to fix the sr-40 drivers, I do plan on attempting to convert them into electrostatic drivers..

I have pictures and dimensions of the internals.. It looks doable at this point.

1) make a bias connection on the brass center ring ( tig weld, conductive glue?)

2) replace mylar and dust-covers.

3) rewire with 6 conductor 1000v wire...

whether this works or not ,, I will then follow chinsettawong's steps and build new drivers... no cnc machine here but I do

have a bridgeport with digital readouts..

also want to build a poormans amp when its ready.

Ok its clear that this is a small group here in the head-fi stax thread ..

and I am not in your league, of knowledge or buying ability..

but will try to catch up where I can.

Gary in ohio

The SRD-7's are as different as they are many but all but the very early units have a 100V "harmonic suppressor" (two 100V zeners back to back) on the input so the voltage the bias circuit sees is never higher than that. The chassis isn't connected to anything so the ground is the center tap on the transformers (two green wires).

Your plans with the electret drivers are sound and the only tricky part is getting the bias connection. You also might have to tamper with the bias voltage since the diaphragm/stator gap on these is unknown. It's obviously geared to work well with the Stax electrostatic sets but that doesn't tell us a whole lot. I'd also try and sweep the diaphragm in the electrets with a grounded metal bit to try and dissipate the charge which is causing the imbalance. These drivers don't wear out so either it arced or a charge is sitting on it causing the imbalance.

[Tachikoma]

Since I don't want to blow up an amp I don't own trying it: Will 6SN7s work in a T1S or 007t using octal to noval adaptors? I realise that I'd have to keep the top case off doing such a thing, but am curious to experiment with the pile of tubes I have here if they would (PITA that it would be to re-bias every time).

Yes, that's what I've been doing with my T1S Pretty sure it hasn't blown up but I'm not sure whether they're any better than good old japanese 6CG7s.

[spritzer]

In case anybody missed it over there, the Floats are coming back:

http://www.open-end-music.de/vb3/showthread.php?t=4455

I have some issues with the driver mounting but they do look interesting if rather fugly.

[padam]

And also very pricey if the 2000 EUR estimation is right.

[spritzer]

That's excessive but expected.

[chinsettawong]

And also very pricey if the 2000 EUR estimation is right.

Wow!!!

[John Buchanan]

That's excessive but expected.

I'm sure I just saw a vision of a brand new Float Electrostatic in Birgir's future!

Edited April 28, 2012 by John Buchanan

[spritzer]

It would be a welcome change if these fit my head... I may get a set since I'm eternally curious about this stuff.

On a similar note, I was talking to a friend yesterday who had a huge collection of very nice cameras but sold a lot of it to pay for a Leica S2 system to compliment his M9. He was at the local Fuji dealer and didn't even look at the new cameras they had there, the Leica system just killed any curiosity to try anything different. I do wonder why this hasn't happened to me yet with not one headphone ever coming close to besting my old SR-007 over the last 10 years.

[wink]

Taket H2

[RudeWolf]

El Seedy Too?

[deepak]

Taket H2