The Stax thread (New)

[Anders]

I will try to wait for the ESP950 - HE90 hybrid, if someone will manufacture it.

[spritzer]

Originally Posted by Anders

I will try to wait for the ESP950 - HE90 hybrid, if someone will manufacture it.

It will not be manufactured by anybody, just a single one made by me. Lets just say that having owned almost every production headphone out there opens up a need to come up with crazy new designs...

[randerson3024]

Originally Posted by spritzer

It will not be manufactured by anybody, just a single one made by me. Lets just say that having owned almost every production headphone out there opens up a need to come up with crazy new designs...

Dr Frankenstein - could you post a picture?

[spritzer]

Originally Posted by randerson3024

Dr Frankenstein - could you post a picture?

I haven't started so no...

[edstrelow]

Originally Posted by spritzer

It will not be manufactured by anybody, just a single one made by me. Lets just say that having owned almost every production headphone out there opens up a need to come up with crazy new designs...

Great to hear this. Now if someone could make a better Sigma housing.

[AudioPhewl]

Well, my 4040 rig was delivered today . I'm curious - what valves/tubes do people recommend for the SRM-006tII? I'm loving things at the moment, but if there are better components readily available...

Do they simply pull out and push in, or is it more complicated than that?

Would I have to adjust the bias or anything if I replaced them? Is this difficult to do?

Apologies for all the dumbass questions, I'm not familiar with all this valve lark .

~Phewl.

[Faust2D]

Originally Posted by edstrelow

Great to hear this. Now if someone could make a better Sigma housing.

I second this We need Über-Sigma

[Anders]

Hi AudioPhewl, congratulation for you new rig. I am not sure about the 006t, especially not tII. I think it is similar to 007t and there you have to bias the tubes manually. If you make a search on Head-Fi (with words like bias, 007t, 006t) you will find instuctions at least for the previous models and evaluations of tubes. If it is the same procedure as before, you need a multimeter to measure the voltages when biasing.

I read a German review of 006tII and then it had Electro-Harmonix tubes. I don't know if Stax always install these tubes. Not all like them, I think they are good but a little too bright in the 007t. Could sound different in the new models.

[AudioPhewl]

Thanks, Anders. Yes, it does have the Electro-Harmonix tubes inside. I've got a multimeter, I'll do some searching .

ETA - have done some searching, and adjusting the bias sounds easy enough.

What tubes should I be looking for? Are there any resources available stating the different characteristics of different tubes?

Thanks,

~Phewl.

[treebug]

About to purchase the Stax 007 system. My dealer is urging me to go for the Kimik upgrade. Is it worth the extra money?

[bralk]

Ask him for a demo and decide for yourself

cheers

Tom

[scompton]

I need to get some wire to rewire my K-Mart stats. What's the minimum wire I need for normal bias stats? Also does anyone know the pinout of normal bias Stax? I figure I might as well rewire them to use with Stax transformers.

[spritzer]

Here is the SRD-7 Mk2 schematic with pinout. The top pins are plus but it doesn't really matter all that much. Check the bias supply in the K-mart phones for any extra resistors as the OEM models often used much larger bleed resistors which will make them work badly with Stax phones. You can always remove the large resistors and put some 5meg units in their place and make up the extra with some resistors in the cups of the K-mart. 300v wire is enough for the normal bias units.

[antonyfirst]

Originally Posted by ludoo

I have pestered Spritzer by email between yesterday and today on a pair of SR-3N I recently got from a fellow member. They have a serious imbalance on the right channel, which (mostly) comes and (seldom) goes. Among the different possible causes suggested by Spritzer, the most likely one seems to be



So tonight I opened up the right earcup (click on the pics for high res images)



unscrewed the blue wire and cleaned the contact (risking to lose the microscopic pin that actually makes the contact, I knew it was there only after it pinged on the table surface)



Any difference? No, if anything the situation is worse as now they seem to be pemanently imbalanced.

So, a couple of questions for the gurus.

Can I check the bias with a multimeter to at least make sure it's not a problem in the cable? And how would I go about that, what goes were and what should be the reading?

How else can I try to clean the contact, and/or what can I check apart from that?

Ok guys, Ludo fixed this headphone by adjusting one connection inside the right earcup, and now it works. I was so curious to hear the headphone that he is lending it to me for a few days.
The headphone doesn't have any imbalances to my ears, using my amp.
I compared thoroughly the SR-3unknown (as we can't figure what drivers it uses, so for me it's now a SR-3u ) and the SR-003, using a SRM-1 MkII Pro with both its outs (normal bias and pro bias outs).
The two are pretty similar, but the SR-3u are darker than the SR-003. The SR-3u show a wider recession in the upper mids, which attenuates cymbals, sibilance and metallic details more than the SR-003 (which is already recessed at 8kHz). Vocals (especially female vocals) are meatier using the SR-3u, and lack some air compared to the SR-003. Soundstage is pretty similar with both, the SR-3u are more comfortable but, like every SR-3, with hot weather they made me sweat.
Vocals are more forward with the SR-003, due to them being less recessed in the upper mids. Both have some warmth in the lower mids, but with the SR-3u vocals sound farther from the listener (volume wise, not space-wise).
It's hard to evaluate speed differences, but being more revealing in the upper mids, the SR-003 sound more airy and detailed.
I preferred the SR-003 for sound, while the SR-3u are more comfortable and can certainly please people who like bass and are a bargain under 100€. They remind me of the Shure E50, but it has been to long since last time I listened to the Shures. Due to my sound preferences, anyway, I consider the SR-003 more balanced while not neutral in absolute terms (for example compared to the SR-X MkIII Pro).

[cosmopragma]

I've seen custom amps amps with jacks for HE60s.
Where do you get such jacks?
I've heard you can't get them from Sennheiser nor butcher the HEV70 since the connector is not separate but the pins are directly soldered onto the PCB.
Meh.