The Headcase Stax thread

[Jon L]

40 minutes ago, Pars said:

3) high price (so you know it's gotta be good) - actually not too bad at $1400

I was thinking it might be nice alternative tranformer box for electrostats and dynamics (presuming design is safe unlike WEE),.... until I saw the price 

[spritzer]

There is a lot of BS in that...like a lot a lot...  The whole part about the bias supply being a battery supply and the super 1kV Wima caps... 

Also why the hell at the Stax sockets upside down? 

51 minutes ago, dsavitsk said:

Doubtful. But even if there is, there will be considerably more across your head.

True but it would have been beneficial to keep them at an angle.  It would also have been beneficial to have a better amp in there, a proper preamp not using the cheapest parts so it was really nitpicking... 

[gepardcv]

I had the misfortune of hearing an iESL (plugged into an iCAN) unit several months ago. It was a joke. It had a 009 plugged into it, which I wasn't super interested in (in retrospect, a mistake), so I double-checked all the dials for the right bias setting, etc., and plugged in my 007. With the volume turned all the way up, it barely made a sound. I don't blast my music, but this thing at max reached about the same loudness as a Carbon with the volume pot at 8:30-9:00. Then I remembered that I have no reason to trust iFi to know about the 5M bias ballast resistor, had no way to check, and proceeded to yank out my headphones before anything bad happened to them. Then I fled the room, with a rictus grin frozen on my face. I now wish I stayed long enough to find out if it actually worked with the 009.

For iFi's sake, I hope this was an early unit with problems which have since been fixed. If not, then buying the iESL to power Stax headphones is absurd. The SRM-252S costs a fraction of its price, and has the desirable property of actually working.

[justreadingup]

No, no, no...you've got it all wrong.

This amp is for estats which need to be energised so it's a completely different animal. 

"Imagine that your electrostatic headphones are like the top of the range Porsche. A Porsche engine requires a lot more power than your standard car. So do electrostatic headphones! They need to be ‘charged’ or more accurately, ‘energised’."

[Pars]

An engine doesn't REQUIRE power, it MAKES power. Not sure what you are trying to get at with your quote...

[JimL]

3 hours ago, justreadingup said:

"They need to be ‘energized’ or more accurately, ‘charged’."

Fixed it for them. 

[spritzer]

Indeed and when the charge is there, it will stay there for some time.  The ifi spiel is just BS on top of other BS claims. 

[spritzer]

In other news, I just heard a Senn HE-1 has landed in Iceland.  I missed a call from the Senn rep during the week so I guess I need to haul some gear over to their place for a comparison... 

[justreadingup]

14 hours ago, Pars said:

An engine doesn't REQUIRE power, it MAKES power. Not sure what you are trying to get at with your quote...

Yes, I know this.

In their ad they spell energize with an (s) instead of a (z) that's what I was getting at with my post, nothing to do with their stupid  anology (which was wrong as well) about the Porsche engine.

[Pars]

Haven't seen the ad, so didn't get the reference...

[Porkyan]

How does the L300 with 252s compare to the new Aeons?

 

 

[zolkis]

On 10/14/2017 at 4:34 PM, spritzer said:

In other news, I just heard a Senn HE-1 has landed in Iceland.  I missed a call from the Senn rep during the week so I guess I need to haul some gear over to their place for a comparison... 

Now that would be interesting. I've heard the HE-1 in their booth, but no chance for comparisons. From memory, subjectively not much better than a well driven 007, or any better than a 009 (slightly smaller sound stage on the HE1 and no hint of treble hash)  - but as usual, there is a chance memory fails me :). The price definitely doesn't justify performance. Hopefully in the future Sennheiser will make a more regular e-stat with similar driver tech (but without amp part built in the headphones), possible to drive from 3rd party amps. In my short experience the gain from cutting cable length to near-zero is not that much, but they've likely done their homework on this.

[Whitigir]

Now, when would we have the new Stax Headphones . It has been years since 009 first released.  The one thing I do realize about Stax and good amp is that it is so easy to blow off my ears drums, because everything is so clean and clear and the louder the better it sound. I have to learn and restrain to preserve my ears

Edited October 22, 2017 by Whitigir

[Ledzepp]

Apologies if this is off-topic:  any Stax owners here from Boston or New England area?  There is a local meet-up planned for Nov/11th in Cambridge, MA. I'd love to be able to hear a 007 or 009 :-)

 

 

 

[Jensethi]

Dear SR-009 connaisseurs,
since I recently was able to hear both the SR-007 and the SR-009 on the SRM -T8000 I've felt a potent urge to obtain an SR-009 together with a proper energizer.
It seems as there may not be an opportunity for me to hear the SR-009 with a BHSE or a KGSSHV Carbon between which I am hesitant to decide. Due, the cost of an SRM-T8000 here in Switzerland being almost the same as the BHSE and Spritzers comments on the former it was eliminated from my list. Still, I feel a bit lost coming to a decision. 
Therefore I would humbly seek advice from you.  

[chinsettawong]

PM Spritzer and kindly ask him to build you a Carbon. 

[Rossliew]

Just buy a pre-built Carbon from Spritzer..

[spritzer]

I can also sell you a T-8000 if you'd like it... 

[aldavey]

No don't listen to him,  a Spritzer Carbon with the 009s is where it's at.

[SeaWolf]

   I recommend getting a Badger, a Justin and a Spritzer locking them in a closet whichever comes out buy that amp. Badger = T8000

But there are a lot of impressions contrasting the BHSE and Carbon. It is down to your preferences, you will be happy with either decision.

[padam]

I would go BHSE. Tubes are definitely nice to have in the signal chain (midrange just sounds more natural imho) and more poweeer is always welcomed.

But if you like the SR009s, you will probably be happy with any of these options (they were pretty nice with even the humble SRM-717, so I can't imagine any of these being inferior to that, but the T8000 might not be a big step up from that compared to the other two)

Edited November 8, 2017 by padam

[GeorgeP]

If you are looking to spend in the neighborhood of $5k, then go BHSE (which is about $6k or thereabouts, all in). If you want to spend less than $4k then look to the myriad of KGSSHV carbon builders out there, or pick up a used one for even more savings. But none of the above answers are wrong (except maybe getting the T8000).

[Jensethi]

1 hour ago, spritzer said:

I can also sell you a T-8000 if you'd like it... 

Oh, you still have one? Secretly, I was rather hoping to join the STAX-Mafia by acquiring a much venerated non-STAX energizer.

[spritzer]

Yup, it is still here.  I took one for the team as the T8000 is not popular at all. 

[justin]

you could get this much of the MSB amp