The Headcase Stax thread

[spritzer]

Blah... just get an APL NWO. I have my eye on a high-end table but I just don't want to open up that particular money pit until I've bought a few speakers.

[catscratch]

NOS dacs are your friend. I simply love this AudioZone unit on the SR-007...

No balanced output on that AudioZone (right?). Also, I didn't want to use the Rega as a transport since I simply HATE that top-loading mechanism. You have to fiddle with it and adjust it out the ass, and by the time you're ready to listen you want to hang yourself with your own colon.

I'll see though, I just want something that's good enough for now, and in a few months when I have 3k to blow, I'll get something better.

[deepak]

Blah... just get an APL NWO. I have my eye on a high-end table but I just don't want to open up that particular money pit until I've bought a few speakers.

Digital wise I still really like the Emm Labs. I too would like to hear a good NOS DAC, but I'm not sure if the sound would be to my liking.

I don't think I'd get a high end table until I had the speakers sorted out as well. Though I did hear back from Galibier that there is a guy with one of their TTs very close to my parents house

[spritzer]

No balanced output on that AudioZone (right?). Also, I didn't want to use the Rega as a transport since I simply HATE that top-loading mechanism. You have to fiddle with it and adjust it out the ass, and by the time you're ready to listen you want to hang yourself with your own colon.

I'll see though, I just want something that's good enough for now, and in a few months when I have 3k to blow, I'll get something better.

The AudioZone is SE only but you could always feed it through a transformer or something if you have to use balanced though I'm finally done with that shit.

Toploaders suck for the most part so just get some old Sony or Esoteric player for transport duty. Some of the best transports ever made are in those old machines....

Digital wise I still really like the Emm Labs. I too would like to hear a good NOS DAC, but I'm not sure if the sound would be to my liking.

I don't think I'd get a high end table until I had the speakers sorted out as well. Though I did hear back from Galibier that there is a guy with one of their TTs very close to my parents house

I didn't like the two EMM Labs setups I've heard but they were by no means bad. A NOS dac is a good change of flavor and works really well in a computer setup.

I was thinking more along the lines of a SME for me but DEW EET!!!!!

[luvdunhill]

...if you have to use balanced though I'm finally done with that shit.

yeah, join the team!

[luvdunhill]

Digital wise I still really like the Emm Labs. I too would like to hear a good NOS DAC, but I'm not sure if the sound would be to my liking.

next meet you attend, let me know and I will see what I can do. I just acquired a second Bitstream (stock not modded)... The optical is busted though... shipping would be pretty cheap, as it's pretty small. Doesn't hold a candle to the modded versions, but it's a taste

[Torpedo]

next meet you attend, let me know and I will see what I can do. I just acquired a second Bitstream (stock not modded)... The optical is busted though... shipping would be pretty cheap, as it's pretty small. Doesn't hold a candle to the modded versions, but it's a taste

Do you mean a Museatex Melior? Nice sounding DACs. Maybe Meitner was more into good sound than into making money those days

[spritzer]

depends on the top loader.

Maybe if we are talking about a ML 31...

yeah, join the team!

SE rules!!!

[deepak]

next meet you attend, let me know and I will see what I can do. I just acquired a second Bitstream (stock not modded)... The optical is busted though... shipping would be pretty cheap, as it's pretty small. Doesn't hold a candle to the modded versions, but it's a taste

Cool

I shouldn't have let the Bitstream I told you about slip through my fingers

But given the age of these DACs the electrolytic caps would need to be replaced anyway?

I'm still really curious how the Museatex stuff measures.

[spritzer]

But given the age of these DACs the electrolytic caps would need to be replaced anyway?

It wouldn't hurt to do so but 30-40 year old Stax amps still sound just fine on their stock caps and there is a lot more heat in there then in most dac's.

[luvdunhill]

Do you mean a Museatex Melior? Nice sounding DACs. Maybe Meitner was more into good sound than into making money those days

he's the only person I trust to do a switching supply properly... but yeah, the older gear is pretty sweet.

[Torpedo]

he's the only person I trust to do a switching supply properly... but yeah, the older gear is pretty sweet.

I own a modified Bidat, a friend of mine owns another one which has external PS transformer, and I had the chance to listen to the modified Melior in my system. They're different DACs, I mean all three, but the Bidats are different animals than the Melior. For some time Bidats were produced using a switching PS too, but they stopped that and got back to the normal PS.

It's very possible that Deepak liked the Melior, it's really engaging. It has that kind of "bitstream" sound that also some old Marantz players and Discmans have, but with a bit more of resolution.

Regarding the top loaders, I wouldn't dismiss the CEC transports either.

The old Sony CDP-X7xx-ES series were very good ones, I still keep a 707 "just in case"

Rgrds

[iceman94]

depends on the top loader.

The Northstar toploader is pretty sweet.../fanboi

[Duggeh]

Blah... just get an APL NWO. I have my eye on a high-end table but I just don't want to open up that particular money pit until I've bought a few speakers.

Then defy your nature and open up something budget. A lower end Pro-Ject, it'd give you the excuse to stockpile on LPs while the TOTL turntable is waiting to be chosen.

[spritzer]

Then defy your nature and open up something budget. A lower end Pro-Ject, it'd give you the excuse to stockpile on LPs while the TOTL turntable is waiting to be chosen.

I do have some old TT's and a lot of vinyl but fist step is to build some way to get music from the computer and into the APL. I'm thinking of going Sooloos style with a small PC and a touch screen.

[deepak]

I do have some old TT's and a lot of vinyl but fist step is to build some way to get music from the computer and into the APL. I'm thinking of going Sooloos style with a small PC and a touch screen.

You should give the Squeezebox 3 a shot. Very little that can go wrong with one of them. Really good transport as well.

I'd like to see a color screen and album art in a future version.

[The Monkey]

Ok gang, where do I get a SR-303 replacement cable?

[spritzer]

You should give the Squeezebox 3 a shot. Very little that can go wrong with one of them. Really good transport as well.

I'd like to see a color screen and album art in a future version.

I'm working on getting a Duet to try out but a simple touch screen and a small DIY PC with a great digital out could work better for me. I could also emulate it so that I can use one remote to control the PC, APL and APL in dac mode.

Ok gang, where do I get a SR-303 replacement cable?

Call Yama's and ask them plus there are some deputy services that offer spare parts directly from Stax in Japan.

[deepak]

I'm working on getting a Duet to try out but a simple touch screen and a small DIY PC with a great digital out could work better for me. I could also emulate it so that I can use one remote to control the PC, APL and APL in dac mode.

Call Yama's and ask them plus there are some deputy services that offer spare parts directly from Stax in Japan.

Would you be DIY'ing the touch screen remote?

I read in Home Theater magazine that they did that for one of the NFL players (Jerry Rice I believe) and there was about 13000 lines of code for the touchscreen remote that controlled his HT/music setup :o

[spritzer]

Would you be DIY'ing the touch screen remote?

I read in Home Theater magazine that they did that for one of the NFL players (Jerry Rice I believe) and there was about 13000 lines of code for the touchscreen remote that controlled his HT/music setup :o

I'm not that crazy. I'm just going to program the sony remote as something and use those codes on the PC.

[Elephas]

Is the O2 mk1 really that good?

I don't recall ever storing such expectations for a piece of 'thing' in my entire life. Whenever in my life I get to hear/own this thing, I'd better be utterly blown away.

The first time I heard the O2Mk1 + KGSS, I was very impressed. Up until that time, I only had dynamic headphones. Fairly good ones, such as L3000, W5000, R10 etc.

I was particularly impressed by the O2Mk1's refinement, details, precise imaging and sense of smoothness and liquidity. Its few negatives to me were a slightly dark tonality, a smallish headstage, and an average size soundstage.

That O2Mk1 + KGSS was the beginning of a fall into the abyss. I no longer have the KGSS and currently use an Aristaeus, and ended up with several electrostats including the HE90 and SR-Omega, my two favorite headphones.

[spritzer]

SR-Omega on Agon. The price isn't bad but they will always be a gamble due to the failing drivers.

[catscratch]

Wow, the O2 really does show up your source like nobody else's business.

Listening with an 840c in the system right now, balanced outputs to 717. It's such a different sound! The Rega was clearly inadequate for the system, with grain, a shouty tone to the upper mids, limited extension top and bottom, and a smallish soundstage. The 840c fixes these problems. The sound is smooth, liquid, and free of artifacts except for a slight sheen on the treble and upper mids - I'm guessing that's the upsampling making its presence known. The tone of the midrange is neutral (actually slightly warmer than the Rega), the highs are very even but slightly pushed forward - very K1000-like, actually - and the bass is deep and tight but not overstated. Soundstage is much more open and three-dimensional than the Rega, and imaging is not bad, though not quite all the way up there.

Basically, the sound is that of extreme transparency and air, with very good detail and a correct tone.

Still, not all is well, since this combo lacks weight and fullness. Midrange is correct in tone and is fluid, but is also a bit thin. It's like looking at a holograph of an image rather than an actual image. Very nice, detailed, colorful, and three-dimensional, but not solid. And, when you crank up the dial to compensate for the lack of solidity, the highs quickly let you know that they are, in fact, pushed forward. Even the Rega sounded distinctly fuller, though on the whole, the 840c is in a different league entirely.

The whole sound signature of the player is very K1k-like, if it makes sense to compare a transducer's sound signature to a player's.

Basically, the player is IMO a very solid mid-fi machine that has the detail of a high-end machine, has a very nice tone, but is somewhat lacking in solidity and fullness, and has a slight digital sheen. Basically, about what I'd expect from a $1500 new player that's worth its money and isn't a rip-off. I'm guessing if it had a discrete output stage, and used a better DAC that didn't upsample, it would have a more robust sound.

Still, I'm not going to complain, as it's a massive improvement on what went on before. On the whole, I quite like it.

Time for more listening.

[jinp6301]

Basically, the player is IMO a very solid mid-fi machine that has the detail of a high-end machine, has a very nice tone, but is somewhat lacking in solidity and fullness, and has a slight digital sheen.

Very similar to what I thought of the 840c when I auditioned it. Except I thought the tone was off and it had more then a little digital glare.

[spritzer]

Basic rule of thumb with electrostatics... if they sound like crap, don't blame the transducers.