The Headcase Stax thread

[Arthrimus]

I wonder if the L-700 pads will fit older Lambdas. The L-500 pads look pretty much identical to legacy lambda pads, and since the L-500 and L-700 share the same frame the pads should interchange. I'm guessing the L-700 pads will provide a better seal than the legacy lambda pads, and I'm curious how that would alter the sound of other Lambdas. 

Edited October 11, 2015 by Arthrimus

[Ali-Pacha]

There's a plastic part previous Lambda don't have. Angle used to be processed through pads, now it's there through this plastic part, and pads look flat now. There's also an angle on the grid of the enclosure former Lambdas don't have.

Ali

Edited October 11, 2015 by Ali-Pacha

[wink]

So, who's up for these little wonders..?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ESLAB-ELECTROSTATIC-HEADPHONES-PMB-/252126535303?hash=item3ab3e99e87:g:MTUAAOSw~gRV5Vxp

[DefQon]

Too expensive.

Anyway I recently repaired a Micro Seiki MX-2 package composed of the MS-1 headphone and its adaptor and I have to say despite the flatened pads it has more balls, bass, speed and less coloration to the mids and mid bass compared to my 4 pairs of SR-3/New and 3N even though it is made by Stax for Micro with evident design cues taken from the SR-3 range. The bias and stator supply and wiring is a weird one as it has 4 pins a`la electret fashion but is a full blown electrostat. It has 1 wire for per channel for the stators divided by a resistor network and 1 wire per channel for bias supply which I`m not exactly sure at this stage. Now the step up current through the transformers via the speaker terminals provides enough volume even with the adaptor powered off which is just some diodes and 5M resistors for each channel from the 100vac AC (the Japan export models utilised a battery pack) to supply the bias but of course when the adaptor is powered by the power outlet, volume gain increases, early bass distortion is cancelled out and all other weird anomalies to the sound is mitigated and the sound output is what I would rate over the SR-3 ranges sound quality by a notch and almost SR-5 territory.  And my pair have flattened pads so the seal is broken for 100% bass output.

[wink]

Too expensive.

But,    but,    but,,,,      It's a collectors' item....       

 

You know you want it.........      

[Madra]

This is my first post on this forum and I am seeking your advice.

I have a Stax Lambda Signature that I bought in 1993. The HP was stored for a very long time and is not in operating condition. The drivers' membranes (or dust covers if any) are wrinkled, the foam covering the membrane has decayed.

Is a Stax Lambda Signature repairable?

Compared to current production Stax (thinking of the new L-700) is the Lambda Signature still competitive sound wise? is it worth repairing or I am better off buying one of the current models?

[DefQon]

You know you want it.........      

Nah I've stopped collecting and buying headphones shortly after my head-fi ban, have gone over to the dark side with a high end analogue setup and various speakers. The only headphones I would consider buying when they pop up is the SR-4070, SR-X MK3 Pro and the Sigma NB and Pro for reasonable prices then my Stax collection would be complete.

This is my first post on this forum and I am seeking your advice.

I have a Stax Lambda Signature that I bought in 1993. The HP was stored for a very long time and is not in operating condition. The drivers' membranes (or dust covers if any) are wrinkled, the foam covering the membrane has decayed.

Is a Stax Lambda Signature repairable?

Compared to current production Stax (thinking of the new L-700) is the Lambda Signature still competitive sound wise? is it worth repairing or I am better off buying one of the current models?

The wrinkled membrane outside of the drivers and you can see through the mesh gap on the earpad side is the dust cover and it is normal. You actually cannot see the driver diaphragm unless you took the whole driver apart as it's sandwiched inside in between the stator housing. What do you mean by not in operating condition? Unless the headphone was stored in very humid or sunlight conditions diaphragm inside may have stuck to one of the stators and repair is not possible unless you break open the drivers.

If the dust cover has holes then dust would have settled in by now and will cause driver squealing and channel imbalance when powered on.

There are no more NOS Signature drivers from Stax distributors and they will replace it with a modern day 407 driver for few hundred dollars which you may as well buy a new Stax headphone.

[kugino]

edit: damn, imbalance seems to still be there...using L/R channel tests. thought it was fixed but not...aargh!

Edited October 17, 2015 by kugino

[Madra]

Thank you DefCon for your prompt response

The 407 is a 400$ HP, repairing the Signatures with 407 drivers would probably cost more!

Will send the Stax to a friend who repairs Quad electrostatics, maybe he can fix it. 

Meanwhile, will keep a close look for impressions of the newly released L-700 

[DefQon]

407 drivers is more expensive then what the complete headphone would go for in Jp.

Edited October 19, 2015 by DefQon

[sorenb]

407 drivers is more expensive then what the complete headphone would go for in Jp.

does the x07 drivers fit into x04 or previous? from my knowledge they do not.

Edited October 19, 2015 by sorenb

[spritzer]

With a bit of glue they will fit just fine...   

[DefQon]

does the x07 drivers fit into x04 or previous? from my knowledge they do not.

They will fit but just the way it is secured will be different to the old baffle setup of the typical old Lambda's (404 and before). You can either glue/use of strong industrial strength double sided tape the driver casing assembly to the baffle or you can drill 4 holes into the existing baffle to line up with the holes on driver assembly housing.

Repairing Lambda drivers is possible as I've done a few but it requires a lot of effort and time into prying the epoxied driver open without damaging the drivers. Once open there may be a slight chance the force transferred over to the stator and gold ring holding the diaphragm will be slightly bit warped (easy to fix). Then you need to clean and scrap off the old epoxy and glue material Stax used to sandwich the drivers, so re-assembly the stators are absolutely flat. There is also the 60% possibility of the original diaphragm needing a clean/re-coat from dust and glue bit debris settling inside but a higher chance you need to re-diaphragm the driver, which is an easy process but more so trial and error to getting the tension right without hurting the bass UNLESS you have a proper measuring and tension rig involving a pound gauge used to a certain pounds per square inch of weight/force distribution for the mylar across the stator. 

[sorenb]

They will fit but just the way it is secured will be different to the old baffle setup of the typical old Lambda's (404 and before). You can either glue/use of strong industrial strength double sided tape the driver casing assembly to the baffle or you can drill 4 holes into the existing baffle to line up with the holes on driver assembly housing.

Repairing Lambda drivers is possible as I've done a few but it requires a lot of effort and time into prying the epoxied driver open without damaging the drivers. Once open there may be a slight chance the force transferred over to the stator and gold ring holding the diaphragm will be slightly bit warped (easy to fix). Then you need to clean and scrap off the old epoxy and glue material Stax used to sandwich the drivers, so re-assembly the stators are absolutely flat. There is also the 60% possibility of the original diaphragm needing a clean/re-coat from dust and glue bit debris settling inside but a higher chance you need to re-diaphragm the driver, which is an easy process but more so trial and error to getting the tension right without hurting the bass UNLESS you have a proper measuring and tension rig involving a pound gauge used to a certain pounds per square inch of weight/force distribution for the mylar across the stator. 

ok ... expressed myself badly. Replacing lambda/sigma drivers with x04 drivers is a rather simple straight forward job ...whereas replacing using x07 is far more risky due to the reasons you described very well..

As far as I know the mylar Stax is using is manufactored containing the coating, it is not applied by Stax?

[DefQon]

If you`re trying to transplant x07 drivers onto old x04 Lambdas. You need glue or tape or drill holes.

If you`re recoating x07 drivers it is easy but not for x04 and older drivers because it is epoxied together.

No mylar comes coated. Pretty sure Stax coats it in house.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

[gepardcv]

I tried the port plug mod on my 007A. As others observed, it definitely increases the incidence of the Stax fart, which is mildly but not overwhelmingly annoying. Bass does seem tightened up, but I think I may have lost some mids and treble; both sound more muted than I remember (though it's hard to tell without comparing to a stock 007A). Is this expected?

[spritzer]

No, it should only affect the bass.  There should be a drastic change so something isn't right. 

[DefQon]

So my ECR-400 has finally been converted to a full blown e-stat. I wouldn't exact call it a Lambda killer but it has traits that makes it very natural and pleasingly sounding, but the speed of this thing is incredible and hold's its own against a O2 mk1 powered off a BHSE for black metal. Anyway the bass and volume suffers on 580v and 640vdc bias when I turn it up to my normal listening levels as the d/s gap is quite large between the diaphragm and stators. What would be the easiest bias supply that can provide up to 1kv bias (so I can adjust for 700,800 and 900vdc) for testing?

 

Next up ECR-500 on the bench.

Edited October 23, 2015 by DefQon

[spritzer]

Easiest supply would be a HV DC-DC converter.  Feed it up to 12V for a 1000V output.  There are even 10KV versions and higher. 

[DefQon]

Thanks I was testing it on my SRM 1 and 3S amp and they didn`t have the juice so I decided to try my 323S and SRM 1 MK2 both which have a higher output power and it sounded a lot better but still not driving it to its potential.

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[arnaud]

Shure it's not Stax but still worth sharing:

Shure KSE1500

200V bias and 2000USD just for the earphones. There's a separate portable dac/amp for another 1k.

Any publicity is good publicity so I hope Stax will benefit from the hallow effect :).

arnaud

[HeadphoneAddict]

Shure it's not Stax but still worth sharing:

Shure KSE1500

200V bias and 2000USD just for the earphones. There's a separate portable dac/amp for another 1k.

Any publicity is good publicity so I hope Stax will benefit from the hallow effect :).

arnaud

I'm still happy with my Audiocats modded SRM-001 Mk2 - as long as I use them with the headband and light insertion into my ear canals it sounds a lot like an SR-007 on a KGSS amp.

[catscratch]

Already have a thread for it. I already flipped out over the idiotic price. Though I guess it's inline with what everyone else is doing.

What I'm wondering about is what someone on head-fi mentioned - how are these going to handle the abuse that regularly comes with a pair of IEMs? I'm far from gentle with mine, and sweat, dust, impacts, being in a pocket somewhere, and generally being used on the move is not something that I see a very fragile electrostatic driver enduring for long.

I do admit that I'm tempted by an electrostatic IEM, but probably not for $3k, and probably not from Shure, given that I pretty much hated most of their IEMs that I've heard. Treble spikes the size of the Himalayas aren't really my thing... could be the fit, of course.

[spritzer]

They would have some big seals on either side of the drivers to keep the moisture out of them.  That and a very well insulated cable and cable entry.  I would also look into not doing a constant charge setup for a role like this even if it means slightly higher distortion figures.  I also have my doubts about how they are dealing with the backwave. 

[arnaud]

So, I got a chance to check out the L-700 last week end while at the local audio festival in Tokyo.

I did not expect much really (I almost missed the show altogether but made the effort to go even if just to say to various friends). I was proved so wrong... Driven from Stax amp, the SR009 was almost put to shame by the new lambda. Their really listened, the voicing is much improved, full bodied yet very open and extended, bass is clean but present in the right amount.

At 1/3 the price of the SR009 and cheaper than SR007, being apparently very easy to drive (it's still a lamdba after all), it's a no brainer.

I predict Stax is going to make some noise with this one (haven't tried the L-500). 

Otherwise, I confirmed with Stax the driver is angled, just a bit (a few degrees) but enough to bring the soundstage a bit in front. 

I did not spend enough time to be able to even trust my own impressions, but it was enough to get me seriously interested in a proper evaluation / possibly starting to save up.

My BHSE is dead atm anyhow so something that sounds better than the 009 through stax amps is a welcome news to me, especially if it's also relatively affordable!

Cheers,

Arnaud