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If the buzzing gets quieter when you pump music through it and louder when its just idling, then you probably got some dust or gunk into it that causing arcs between the stators and diaphram. Otherwise you've screwed up the mechanical damping.

The volume problem might be the result of the drivers getting old, but there are plenty of other things that might have caused it (soundcard settings, faulty cables, incorrect balance adjustment on amp...)

The lesson of the day is don't pull appart the drivers in your electrostatic headphones unless you have a backup set to use in case you screw up.

I didn't pull apart the drivers actually, the "mechanical damping" I spoke of was only a rubber band thats somehow "sticks" the driver to the headphone's enclosure and the diaphragm that protects the stators is still intact. After I cleaned off the residual glue, the hum is present, but just barely.

And yeah, never mess around electrostatic drivers unless you have a spare >.> and lol, post number 888, hope that means something

edit: the hum is not audible with the pads on, maybe it had been there all along and I only noticed it after I took it apart? I tested the balance using audiodeck's "left right" test, could anyone check whether the "right" test is softer than the "left" test?

Could this be the root of my problems? Note the blackened connections.

and... does anyone know what purpose is served by the blue watchacallit in the pictures? Thanks

My SR-X and the older SR-5 doesn't have the blue stuff.

BTW can you measure the thickness of the drivers? Thinking of doing some stax modding.

I opened the back of my SR-5 the grills kinda... came off <.< (I noticed that the previous owner did some glueing on the grills =P)

Does anyone know how to open up the Sr-X Mk III drivers?

My right side driver is spotty. When I move my head it cuts in and out.

I hope you have reached this stage already.
http://earsp.web.fc2.com/kako-e/sr-x...c_jpg_view.htm

From there, you can remove the 3 wires by gently rocking and pulling the metal piece the wires are attached to. They are friction-fit on the three metal piece. You do not need to remove the black circular piece that the drivers are attached to. Please remember the different position of the wires.

After which you will have a driver + black piece. There are 3-4 tiny screws on the side of drivers. Remove them. Slide a flat screw between the gap of the 2 translucent plastic which are attached by the screws. Gently rock front and back until the inner piece pops out. Take note that there are 3 tiny flat silvery wires that goes from outside to inside. If you damage them, you will have a hard time repairing it.

Once you pop open them, you will see the membrane between the 2 gold stators. The membrane is separated from one of the stators by a silver ring. You should see some oxidation where the sharp electrode touches silver ring. Turn the ring around so that the sharp electrode does not touch any oxidised parts.

Hopefully that oxidation is the culprit. If not, the wires somewhere might be shot.

Some guidance provided by John Buchanan in a previous post. I am not responsible for any screw ups. The above is purely from my memory and I've only done it once.

Thanks for the reply but I need to know how to get to open the driver housing too. I have tried pulling them apart and unscrewing them.

Edit: Nevermind, I got it. Where the headband joins the housing unscrews and the metal comes off.

Wow, thanks for that link and the information!

A few links further in, there appears a chart containing a few comparative specs for the Mk 3 and Mk 3 Pro models (my interpretations of which specs are cited are in italics):


SR-X/MK3（1975） / 　SR-X/MK3PRO（1985）

30Hz～25KHz / 15Hz～30KHz

nominal impedance (10KHz): 130KΩ / 140KΩ

sensitivity (100Vr.m.s/1KHz): 97dB / 103dB

Interesting, no? Now I'll simply HAVE to get a Mk 3 Pro. Let the word go forth from this time and place; let every bidder know, whether he wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the success of acquiring said SR-X Mk 3 Pro.

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*Gets into his tank and starts the engine*

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Yep. Stax made the fatal turn with the Sigma in 1977. Up until then, it'd been a case of trying to make the most accurate headphones possible; with the Sigma it was an attempt to simulate the sound of loudspeakers in a room - not quite the same thing.

The Sigma actually added a spurious "acoustic" to the reproduction; the Lambda's compromised on this but still doctored the sound to some degree ("semi-panoramic" vs "panoramic as with the Sigma). And you can't blame Stax. People bitched about how they preferred listening to speakers rather than headphones because headphones sounded...well.....headphon-ey. So no wonder Stax tried to give them that comfortable sitting-by-the-logfire-dozing-off ambience. And they were a success so.....

However, not having heard the Omega's, I'd assumed they were a fresh attempt by Stax to reassert themselves in the Accuracy Stakes. Now you tell me they're still in the Sigma/Lambda mould?

I'm guessing, based on their total lack of soundstage, and superlative nature as headphones that just want to be headphones, that the SR-X was the last of the non-"speaker" Stax?

Best,

-Jason

I wish Stax would bring back even a single headphone based on headphone ideals rather than speakers. A SR-X mk4, prehaps.



Yes Jason, the SR-5N from '82 and the SR-X Pro from '85 were the last of them before the Sigma/Lambda/Alpha generation took over.

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" Headphones that just want to be headphones".........great advertising slogan, doncha think?

Not sure I'd agree that the SR-X has a total lack of soundstage. Maybe I've just got acclimatized to them but I think they sound "out of head" when the music calls for it. They do have a tendency to sound constricted and small when driven by the wrong stuff but with a top amp they bloom and expand. I know that when I compared them with a 404 through the 006t I preferred the 404 for size of the sonic image but that went out the window when I hooked them up to my Nuforce RF9. I think in that setup the soundstage is superior.

BTW I've done some more listening through different interconnects. The Luminous Audio Technology seems (it may be my imagination, of course) to have even more thumping bass and rounder sound than the Transparent Audio Ultra (through the Golden Tube SE40) but I'll have to do some more comparisons to be sure.

Also, has anybody else tried to bypass their outboard DAC and preamp and just connected the variable output of their CD player direct to power amp? One of the big improvements I've made and it's a damn size cheaper as well. The wiriness and thinness of strings through my Apogee Stage was cured and the overall weight and bass punch improved considerably, as did soundstage.

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Heck, plenty of professionals still use and/or fondly remember the SR-X 3; why didn't they just keep making 'em?

Has anyone besides jaZZ tried modifying a Lambda to act more like an SR-X? He added damping; it would be interesting to revert to flat pads as well or make the angle of diaphragm to ear user-adjustable, like the K1000. Slide-in thicknesses of damping material wouldn't be a bad idea either. That way you could have it any way you wanted it, from full-on SR-X sound (but with the big diaphragm) to Sigma-like spaciness.

Oh well. We're dreamin'...