The Stax thread - Page 50  

A proud owner now of sigma/srm1 pro I dont think they're leaving my ears for a very long time!
also saw an sr80/srx(1 input driver). How does this combo sounds like and say compared to newer 404/313 ?

I just received my Stax 4040A Set yesterday. To my surprise the only negative thing i could find about the electrostatic sound is the sometimes strange bass, but it depends on the recording. However i dont hear any of the negatives which are mentioned about the 404/303, ie. thin sounding, no bass, too analytical. Compared to my W5000 these are a nice set of slightly more "fun" tuned headphones, with a similar freq. range as the AD2000.
For my taste the bass is a little too boosted and highs a little too veiled, but im sure i can fine tune it a little bit with other tubes. The W5000 however is technically a few steps ahead, especially paired with the HA5000 its superior in headstage/soundstage. Without the HA5000, the W5k is still clearer & less veiled, more detailed & refined, however im sure the W5k is a more of a loveit/hateit headphone than the Stax.
The AD2000 still sounds more airy than the stax but otherwise the Stax is more refined with better headstage.. somewhere above the AD2000 and below the W5000.

I like it a lot, it's a nice addition to the ATs.

Congrats on the pick-up. But the more impt question is - which headphone brings you closer to Minmi?

Best,

-Jason

I have the SR80/SRD4, and it sounds very lovely. The phones are practically invisible. (don't know if that's the combo you were looking for, but just my 2cents)

Congratulations!
The Stax SRS-4040 System is really great. I rank it #2 of the headphone systems I have heard...

I'm very happy with my Stax Lambda with SRD7SB adaptor. Only problem I ever had was the cabling went flakey and found that tungsten wire is virtually impossible to solder where the breaks were. I finally found a NOS cable assembly and now all is well again...


Dave

I just received an SRM-1/MK2 Pro and man is it awesome. And after opening it up it looks like it'll be easy to convert the non-pro jack to pro. Essentially the signal lines are in series between the two jacks and there are two separate wires coming off the board to each jack for the bias. Just remove the low bias and attach a jumper from the pro jack to the non-pro jack. Might even add a switch to go back and forth.

The 404 is a more detailed phone but which can sound harsh in the treble region. I think you will find that the Sigmas are very listenable with a wide range of sources and types of music. The 404 is problematic with less than excellent recordings. I have three sets of Sigmas, low bias, pro and a Sigma modified with 404 cable and transducers and I find I increasingly prefer them to the lambda line (which includes the 404). The forward mounted and rear-firing Sigma phones are virtually unique in design and have a great sense of ambience and space which almost no other phone can approach.

http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=177715

http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=183810

I wouldn't agree with Carl that the older amp is better and the 313 runs both high and low bias phones.
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The SRM 1 Mk 2 Professional (not the PP version) runs both Pro and normal Stax phones and sounds great. Also had the variable input voltage plug so you could run it anywhere in the world by changing the plug around. The SRM 3 had the lower output voltage. This one might be a bit marginal with less efficient phones (such as the Sigma and Omega 2), whereas the SRM 1 Mk 2 Pro has no problems. The 717 is even better for Pro phones.

hah! finally snagged a pro box. on its way from good ol' Europe as we speak.

edit: wadya know. I'm a headphoneus supremus.

Is the PP version significantly better?