The Stax thread - Page 60  

Ye olde Stax avatar too eh Jahn. You know you dont need those Grados really. ;P

I'm so excited I even cleared up/reserved a precious bit of real estate on my not-so-big table for the amp!

Don't take all the 'perfect component matching' as gospel. I have used mine with all-sorts of stuff and they always sound great if not really optimal. At the minute I have my Rio Karma feeding my stax gear directly with standard cheap but decent interconnects and a standard mains cable... sounds freakin awesome. Better stuff will make it sound better but I've never heard them sound bad or even mediocre. They are very capable of showing up deficiencies along the chain but it's not nearly as critical as people make out imo. I never fail to get involved in the music.

Synergy, not overall cost, is key here. I've had better results with the 001 when using an $5 vintage CDP than with a MicroDAC.

As far as power goes - I suggest plugging the amp straight into the wall, and waiting a bit on power components until the rest of the system is finalized. There is a noticeable improvement in plugging into the wall than there is in using a power strip, but I have yet to experiment with aftermarket power cables.

I don't understand why Stax systems would be any more sensitive to clean power and power cables than dynamic headphone systems. In speaker-fi, there is a lot of talk about power regardless of transducer principle (ribbons, electrostats, dynamics, etc).

I like your advice. I think I'll plug the amp straight into the wall and see how it works first. How do I know whether the noise floor is too high? I've never had a problem with say, using the Hornet from the mains.

Not only that, it's a jen-yew-wine Inkmo avatar. All rights reserved. When he returns from his many travels, we should commission a set of Stax avatars from him in honor of this thread.

So my first ever pair of Stax has arrived - SR-003!



First impressions:
I never thought the cable would be so flexible! I was like, "octopus ink + fettuccine?" They're very very open! There's absolutely no isolation whatsoever. The tips are pretty comfortable, but I have to use the headband, otherwise, they won't stay on. The tips just rest on the opening of my ear canals. Are tips supposed to go INTO the ear canal?

Unfortunately, my amp is still on its way from SA, so I can't really listen to them yet! I'll post impressions when the rest of the family arrives...

I just received my SRS-005A system (SRM252A+SR-003) and it's good, so good that I haven't listened to my dynamic rig (M^3 + HD650) since, except for a few brief comparisions. I found SR-003 very very natural sounding -- the first time i feel the orchestral violins' warmth, the sound i have longed for since day one i got into headphones. Piano sounds extremely sweet through these babystaxen as well.

I prefer using them without the headband and found them extremely comfortable.

So I've been comparing the SRM-1/Mk II to the SRM-310. The difference is negligable. The 310 is perhaps a bit more detailed and a little bit "faster" sounding. The SRM-1/Mk II is a bit fuller sounding and a bit slower in comparison. Honestly I'd go with either. I'm draw a little more to the 310 due to form factor (build in headphone stand). The 310 lacks the snazzy volume contol of the SRM-1, but that might be easily remedied.

Overall I don't hear much difference between the two, the differences I describe are slight.

ARGH!! I want my amp to come now! Do the tips go into your ears? I think my ear canals are slightly too small for the large ones to go in, but the small tips can just about fit inside

Seeing that the SRM-310 is currently in production, it would probably be the one to get. I'm guessing you used your Lambda Pros to test the two amps then.

Has anyone heard the difference between the balanced and single-ended inputs of a Stax amp (say 006t/007t)? Is it a bit pointless to use an RCA to male XLR adapter if the source isn't balanced?

And one other question not to do with amps:
Is the Lambda Signature the same as the Lambda Pro Signature? And is the Lambda Pro Signature better than the Lambda Pro (technically or Stax hierarchy-wise)? Is it worth trying the Lambda Pro Signature if I'm already going to have the SR-404?

Not really. The tips don't really reach in like an IEM. They rest on the entrance of my ear canels (i've only use the big tips). With the headband, and right orientation,they can make a seal to the external canel grooves. I personally don't quite like the seal feeling so I twist the earphone a little to break off the seal, this way, they are more comfortable and also sound better to me. I love them.... so far, this is probably my best headphone acquisition. I hope you like them too

It's funny how you get a seal, but still hear 99% of what's going on around you I'm not too used to that being an IEM person

I guess a 'seal' might be too strong a word....i guess i should have said they fit snuggly on the entrance of my ear canal

This sucks!

I just got the rig working, and was enjoying the absolutely wonderful sound of the SR-404 in combination with the EA-1, when the left driver on the SR-404 started giving out. It clips heavily with lots of bass or very loud passages. Given that I listen to a lot of orchestral classical music as well as a lot of virtuoso piano, dynamic passages aren't that few and far between. Given that I listen louder than what is probably a healthy level, dynamic passages are even more, er... dynamic than they ought to be. Hearing that crackling is really ticking me off. I'm pretty sure that it's the SR-404, since when I run the EA-1 with the SR-003, everything's just peachy. I'll test it with the SRM-313 when I get home, but the 313 doesn't evoke the kind of bass and dynamic range out of the SR-404 that the EA-1 does.

So, I need a driver replacement. Of course, this pair was bought from Audiocubes, which means that I'll have to shell out a pretty penny for a pair of drivers from Stax.

To those that have had to do similar things: how much did driver replacement in the SR-404 or equivalent series cost you? How long was the turn-around time?

I'm wondering if it may not be more worth it to just buy another pair of SR-404's, and then DIY replace drivers in this one when the not-too-rare Lambda-series driver auction pops up on That Auction Site. I have no experience with DIY whatsoever, but my father does, and perhaps he'll share his secrets. And, the prospect of Lambda Pro drivers in an SR-404 does sound interesting

What do you guys think?

I think the reason people say you need very good associated equipment with most Stax phones is that they produce incredible detail and if you put crap into them they will tell you by putting crap out.

That said, I am currently using the Stax 404 with a fairly low grade system with great results, a portable dvd player, feeding a JVC Dolby Headphone unit, the amp portion of the JVC feeding the line-in of an old SRDP Stax portable amp. The sound is very good with the sr003 mini phones, but great with the 404. Not even the interconnects are good, the dvd player feeds the JVC with an optical line, but the input to the amp is a somewhat cheesy Monster Cable mini-RCA cable.

Synergy doesn't always have to be expensive.