The Stax thread (New)

[edstrelow]

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict

I'd like to see a photo from the same angle after the blu-tak, please.

Sorry I didn't take that shot. You just fill in the space between the black ridge at the bottom, and the upper ledge of the white section. Its all pretty obvious where the gap is when you see it live.

As regards the sound of the 007A, I consider it exceptional and very neutral sounding. I have been in no hurry to try the blutac mod because I wasn't sure it was needed. However I have not heard the 007 so I can't compare it. However I do recall a lot of comment about it being dark, i.e. bassy.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by edstrelow

Sorry I didn't take that shot. You just fill in the space between the black ridge at the bottom, and the upper ledge of the white section. Its all pretty obvious where the gap is when you see it live.

As regards the sound of the 007A, I consider it exceptional and very neutral sounding. I have been in no hurry to try the blutac mod because I wasn't sure it was needed. However I have not heard the 007 so I can't compare it. However I do recall a lot of comment about it being dark, i.e. bassy.

How deep did you fill the hole?

How do you like it now? I have not been in a hurry to do the port mod, although I had to do the ear-pad spring mod right away. Burn-in has helped pull the mids back as much or more than the earpad mod. I do have the HandiTak to do it now...

[edstrelow]

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict

How deep did you fill the hole?

How do you like it now? I have not been in a hurry to do the port mod, although I had to do the ear-pad spring mod right away. Burn-in has helped pull the mids back as much or more than the earpad mod. I do have the HandiTak to do it now...

See my new thread TO TWEAK OR NOT TO TWEAK.

[HeadphoneAddict]

More Stax and Stats comparisons - O2 and GES still wins, weird:

11/9/08 - mini-meet with plaidplatypus at my crib - MD5000DE, Stax - Koss ESP950 - HE60, ATH-A900 vs D2000

[spritzer]

Originally Posted by Kraps

Fair enough. Then how do we know if mk1 sounds supposedly better than mk2 if there is actually no "mk1" or "mk2 sound", but rather "japanese", "american" , "german", etc. sound

The sound of the Mk1 is well established and I've compared phones from Japan, Europe and the US with no difference in sound. The Mk2 should be viewed as a work in progress since Stax almost always makes some changes after the phones have entered production, they changed the cable on the Sigma and the damping, there was a new earpad design for the Lambda, the SR-Omega went through a few changes and the 4070 was redesigned with new cups after a tragic design flaw. The German market may only be the first to get redesigned Mk2's and others might follow suit.

Originally Posted by Victor Chew

Sorry, I made the humidity sound so bad. It is not as bad as I have made it out to be. Spritzer your fault as well that we have frightened others! Ha! Ha! Stax speakerphones are not that fragile. As Spritzer said, the voltage for stax at the speaker end is not that high. Arcing and burning holes in the speakers is only when it is really humid and you push the phones really hard. This is more so with home rigs in humid climate when people crank up the voulme really loud. After every listening session, wipe off the mositure from the phones pads with a dry piece of cloth and hang the phones on the speaker stands to air for a while (ie. 1 hour should be more than enough). Thereafter, I just use a piece of light towel to cover over it to prevent excess dust. You can use a dry cabinet as jigster suggested but I am a bit of a lazy person in this aspect. Further, when amps continue to charge the phones even when off you will need to have a hole in the dry cabinet for the wires to be connected. I believe the BH continues to keep the phones charged even when it is off; but I stand corrected. Spritzer will be more knowledgeable in this aspect.

Some of the old BH (and KGSS) amps have an "always on bias supply" which continues to supply bias after the amp is turned off but this fad has mostly died out now. There was no need for it in the first place since the phones charge up in an instant (unless they have a parasitic charge stuck on the diaphragm which is rare) but the amp takes a few hours to warm up. This change was blamed on the phones charging up which isn't the case.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Spritzer - the ESP950 you sold me take a few minutes to charge up, both symmetrically slow chargers. I assumed that was normal for them, since it's been like that from "day 1". They sound great once charged, but for the first 2-3 seconds there is no sound at all, then it starts getting louder and louder over the next 2-3 minutes like the volume knob is being slowly turned up.

Should I be worried?

[donunus]

Sorry to seem ignorant! do stax cans have burn in or is it only warm up before every use that is needed for optimal sound?

[spritzer]

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict

Spritzer - the ESP950 you sold me take a few minutes to charge up, both symmetrically slow chargers. I assumed that was normal for them, since it's been like that from "day 1". They sound great once charged, but for the first 2-3 seconds there is no sound at all, then it starts getting louder and louder over the next 2-3 minutes like the volume knob is being slowly turned up.

Should I be worried?

No need to be worried since the Koss design is different from Stax. A couple of seconds to charge up can be normal but people were talking about hours which isn't normal unless you are talking about the old normal bias phones.

[audiod]

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict

Spritzer - the ESP950 you sold me take a few minutes to charge up, both symmetrically slow chargers. I assumed that was normal for them, since it's been like that from "day 1". They sound great once charged, but for the first 2-3 seconds there is no sound at all, then it starts getting louder and louder over the next 2-3 minutes like the volume knob is being slowly turned up.

Should I be worried?

Mine come up to about 80% in just a few seconds. Remember they have a lifetime warranty! I'm on my third set. Three is the charm.

[padam]

I was supposed to buy the Stax set today evening, but unfortunately an unexpected event prevented it... But at least I could hear how it sounded (I didn't realize that I had been listening to it for an hour or so) and I know that now or later I will get one.

[brat]

Originally Posted by cosmopragma

The german distributor did complain about the sound quality and now all Mk2s for the german market are different from the japanese.They are already port modded by Stax.

Are you sure that there is a new (port-modded) version of SR-007mk2 ???
And I wonder why japanese or americans do not complain so effectively of their mk2's to provoke a port mod

[cosmopragma]

Originally Posted by brat

Are you sure that there is a new (port-modded) version of SR-007mk2 ???

I didn't disassemble them for a comparison but as aforementioned Mr. Zuehlke, the PR representative of Stax Germany, claims it.

[brat]

Originally Posted by cosmopragma

I didn't disassemble them for a comparison but as aforementioned Mr. Zuehlke, the PR representative of Stax Germany, claims it.

It's exclusive news (for me at least) to know that Stax officialy admit their failure with the new mk2 model of their flagsjip model. Is there any information about a new version of Omega IImk2 from a source more close to the Stax head office?

[krmathis]

Originally Posted by brat

Are you sure that there is a new (port-modded) version of SR-007mk2 ???
And I wonder why japanese or americans do not complain so effectively of their mk2's to provoke a port mod

I would guess...
1. The MK2 are not sold in Japan. Its for export only...
2. Very few americans are probably aware of the major design change, and hence don't care/know.

Its nice to see that the german distributor have complained to Stax about it though, and that its "fixed" on their 'phones. Hopefully Stax learn from it (again).

[brat]

Originally Posted by krmathis

I would guess...
1. The MK2 are not sold in Japan. Its for export only...

Well... is there any difference between SR-007II and SR-007A ?
Maybe I did miss something.