The Stax thread - Page 152  

Hmm... and this explains what?

Which company is responsible for the successful Omega IIs?

Seems like most companies evolve and change over the decades, maybe you could elaborate?

The 404 is not my cup of tea but then I doubt the older lambdas would be either. They'll be close enough for me not to care.

Some confusion here about the Stax nomenclature (what else is new)

The Lambda series seem to have had several iterations... there's the Lambda Signature, which I gather is 6 pins and normal bias.

The Lambda Pro I've been able to find on auction is Lambda Pro Nova... it also says BASIC on each earspeaker. Is this the Lambda Pro everyone enthuses over?

Then there's the Lambda Pro Classic, with a different name and different box design, still in production 8 years ago according to one seller. The box design is pretty close to the current SR-404.

Finally, the latest rectangular Stax phones, such as my SR-404, are still marked with a Greek lambda (upside-down V) symbol... Stax considers these to be Lambdas, or at least related to the earlier Lambdas?

Any help in sussing all this out would be greatly appreciated...

Patrick

t makes my head hurt just thinking about all the lambda iterations

Don't get me wrong the 404s are still the current production phone under $500 that I would take. They are NOT BAD AT ALL by any means.

Can't speak for the out-of-production models, but the manual that accompanied my ca. 2000 model SR-202's says SR-Lambda Series: SR-202 Basic, SR-303 Classic, and SR-404 Signature. So, they are Lambdas, just improved over the old models with thinner diaphragm.

So do the engineers have a better vision?

Interesting, I've not heard of those. Someone should really pull all the info in this thread together, shake and bake, and produce a nice FAQ. (Or a book!)

Thanks Carl, this is very useful. I had no idea that the Signature post-dated the Pro. I hope that when people here post about these two models, they actually mean the 1982 and 1987 models that are listed above - no guarantee I suppose!

Some more questions! Which of these is normal bias and which pro bias? And where do the Sigma and Gamma ranges fall, datewise, statuswise and biaswise, with respect to the Lambdas?

I did find this useful link on the Stax site, btw... it's great so far as it goes, but could use more detail when you click on the links (mostly just pics), and since it's completely chronological it's hard to make sense of the structure of the line at any one date, let alone the technological and marketing developments in the history of the company:

http://www.stax.co.jp/Export/History.html

Some fascinating looking products though!

Patrick

Edit: the PDFs at the above link actually contain lots of useful information... not every product or product line has them, but sometimes you can find them attached to subsequent iterations of a product (e.g. SR-X Mk III, 1975).

@J Harris:

Normal biased are the ones with 230V; pro-biased are the 580V. Normal bias uses 6 plugs; pro-bias use 5 plugs.

Well, the older stuff seems to have gotten priced out of the stratosphere, so I'm looking at possibly going with the 4040 set, at around 1200, or taking a much colder plunge into deep blue water for the OIIs.

I knew I was in trouble when my google search for Ipod buds turned up this place.

Currently, used (obviously cant get new) lambda pro's with SRM-1/MK2 drivers go for ~$600+shipping on ebay. I wont tell you that i caught a BIN for $250.
Anyway, i would look in that direction if you are willing to spend the money, obviously the impressions here are that the lambda pros outpace the 404's.