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post #166 of 18428
2/21/07 at 9:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by edstrelow View Post
Interesting to see some discussion of the Jecklin Floats, Koss ESP9 and Stax SRX MkIII.

I preferred the Floats most, the ESP9 next and the SRXIII third. I probably listened to the 9's most because, I liked their isolation and they had better bass than the others.

I regret that somewhat, since I would like to hear them on the Stax SRA 12S amp, which I originally bought for the Sigmas and still have.

I have tried to get the ESP 9' s to run off a Stax SRA 12S amp, without success and I can't see why since they still run off the transformer.
edstrelow,
I also have a SRA-12s (I plan on posting a comparo to the SRM-1mk2 Pro soon) that I love. It is a all FET device (phone, line & driver amp sections). It is great on the SRXIII, SR-5 and low bias Lambda's. With a Behringer DSP-8024 EQ in the tape loop I can make the SRXIII sound fantastic!!! Deep Bass.

I am in the process of trying to get my ESP-9's to work with a Stax amp. I will keep you posted.

AudioD
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post #167 of 18428
2/21/07 at 11:12am
There's a Sigma (non-pro) with a SR12S on sale on ebay with a BNP of Euro750 Wonder if its worth that kind of dough...
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post #168 of 18428
2/21/07 at 11:16am
I saw that too. They are both in the most gorgeous condition though. The Sigmas have the original stand and everything.
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post #169 of 18428
2/21/07 at 11:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by edstrelow View Post
Interesting to see some discussion of the Jecklin Floats, Koss ESP9 and Stax SRX MkIII. I once had all of these at one time. In fact I had 2 pairs of Floats, one black and one silver.

While none was supremely better than the other, they all sounded quite different. I preferred the Floats most, the ESP9 next and the SRXIII third. I probably listened to the 9's most because, I liked their isolation and they had better bass than the others. I sold the SRXIII's eventually, after I first heard the Stax Sigma at a dealer. I regret that somewhat, since I would like to hear them on the Stax SRA 12S amp, which I originally bought for the Sigmas and still have.

The Jecklins unfortunately kind of fell apart. The wire to the one of the stators came off and I couldn't solder it back one without melting the diaphrgam. The other one wasn't working either, for reasons I don't recall. I finally sold both pairs for about $40.00 to a guy who said he thought he could fix them. He called them "head Quads."

I still have the Koss ESP9's though. Sound is hard to assess since I ill-advisedly gave them to an engineer who complained about a high frequency emphasis circuit, which he then ripped out. Unfortunately it made them sound somewhat dull afterwards.

I have tried to get the ESP 9' s to run off a Stax SRA 12S amp, without success and I can't see why since they still run off the transformer.

Odd but I just got a new copy of Stereophile in which the editor talks about the richness of offerings in high end audio compared to 25 years ago. Of course this is not so in regard to electrostatic headphones, where we are forced to ramble on about the phones of our youth and see these designs go for increasingly high prices on Ebay.
Hi Edstrelow,
Great to see someone else speaking out for the Jecklins too! "Head Quads" is exactly what they are! Really sorry to hear your's broke down. I preferred them over the SR-X Mk 3 too, but since I mounted Omega earpads on the SR-X (a huge improvement), I'm not so sure anymore.
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post #170 of 18428
2/21/07 at 12:27pm
I have been looking for a backup set of Lambda Pro's but decided that paying current prices and taking the gamble of buying used is not in the cards. I just ordered the SR-202's from AudioCubesII. I'm hoping they sound more like the Lambda Pro then the 303 or 404. When I get them I will be able to do a comparo of the Lambda, Lambda Pro, 202 & 404. Sounds like a all day event.
Audiod
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post #171 of 18428
2/21/07 at 1:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stereoholic View Post

Is there any sonic difference with an adapter verse paying the USA importers their MUCH higher price for the 120 volt versions (finding system for about $3,000 in Japan)?

Best Japan dealer?

Best prices USA dealer, if such a beast exists?

2. I've been obsessed with tube gear and found with my current system rolling tubes in the Audiopax 88 amp made a dramatic difference.

Any tube rolling suggestions for the 007tA?
1. I don't know how audible the transformer would be. For Japanese dealers, Audiocubes, EIFL, and pricejapan come to mind.

Elusivedisc.com has the combo you want at $3894 in the US (prices just went up a bit recently):

http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo....mber=STXSRS007

Audiocubes has the same rig at $2999 from Japan:

http://www.audiocubes.com/category/H...Amplifier.html

Buying from Japan made sense to me when Stax US was selling this rig for $6K. It's less clear now, since pricing is a bit more competitive. It's still a $900 difference, but you get US voltage, and support from Stax US. IIRC EIFL used to be able to provide amps at US voltages, but you'd have to contact Koji there and ask.

The standout tube for the 007t to me is the Raytheon 6FQ7/6CG7 short plate made in Japan. I believe that the actual maker of the tubes was Toshiba (since I've seen the same tube under their name). This is not a simple replacement, as you will need a fairly well matched set of tubes, and will have to rebias the amp once you've changed tubes. Bias instructions have been posted, and the search function should find them.
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post #172 of 18428
2/21/07 at 2:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by audiod View Post
I have been looking for a backup set of Lambda Pro's but decided that paying current prices and taking the gamble of buying used is not in the cards. I just ordered the SR-202's from AudioCubesII. I'm hoping they sound more like the Lambda Pro then the 303 or 404. When I get them I will be able to do a comparo of the Lambda, Lambda Pro, 202 & 404. Sounds like a all day event.
Audiod
Could someone give me the link to the AudioCubesII site?

Thanks,

Gene
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post #173 of 18428
2/21/07 at 3:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goosepond View Post
Could someone give me the link to the AudioCubesII site?

Thanks,

Gene
www.audiocubes2.com

Audiod
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post #174 of 18428
2/21/07 at 5:48pm
Well, I did it!
I took one of my ESP-9’s apart. The foam damping is rotten and gooey. The diaphragm is quite large. The diaphragm conductive coating appears to be a hand painted on silver oxide (probably similar to the Quad ESL57. There is another diaphragm used as a dust shield that is between the active diaphragm and inner stator (strange). The back wave first goes through a felt layer then some paper tissue then the foam. The whole design looks extremely well engineered. The stators are a perforated copper colored metal plates that are mounted to the injection molded frame. It feels very rigid and well damped. Because the foam is sticky it is going to be difficult (maybe impossible) to clean off the assembly without getting particles between the inner stator and the dust shield.

AudioD

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post #175 of 18428
2/21/07 at 6:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hirsch View Post
1. I don't know how audible the transformer would be. For Japanese dealers, Audiocubes, EIFL, and pricejapan come to mind.

Elusivedisc.com has the combo you want at $3894 in the US (prices just went up a bit recently):

http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo....mber=STXSRS007

Audiocubes has the same rig at $2999 from Japan:

http://www.audiocubes.com/category/H...Amplifier.html

Buying from Japan made sense to me when Stax US was selling this rig for $6K. It's less clear now, since pricing is a bit more competitive. It's still a $900 difference, but you get US voltage, and support from Stax US. IIRC EIFL used to be able to provide amps at US voltages, but you'd have to contact Koji there and ask.

The standout tube for the 007t to me is the Raytheon 6FQ7/6CG7 short plate made in Japan. I believe that the actual maker of the tubes was Toshiba (since I've seen the same tube under their name). This is not a simple replacement, as you will need a fairly well matched set of tubes, and will have to rebias the amp once you've changed tubes. Bias instructions have been posted, and the search function should find them.
Hirsch,

Thanks for your comments. I pondered your thoughts and decided to buy from USA dealer. Got a fair price from Elusivedisc, Jason. They'll ship today and I'll have by Friday to start burn in over the weekend.

Will look into rolling tubes in a couple of weeks once they get burned in.

Thanks again,
Jack
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post #176 of 18428
2/21/07 at 6:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by audiod View Post
Well, I did it!
I took one of my ESP-9’s apart. The foam damping is rotten and gooey. The diaphragm is quite large. The diaphragm conductive coating appears to be a hand painted on silver oxide (probably similar to the Quad ESL57. There is another diaphragm used as a dust shield that is between the active diaphragm and inner stator (strange). The back wave first goes through a felt layer then some paper tissue then the foam. The whole design looks extremely well engineered. The stators are a perforated copper colored metal plates that are mounted to the injection molded frame. It feels very rigid and well damped. Because the foam is sticky it is going to be difficult (maybe impossible) to clean off the assembly without getting particles between the inner stator and the dust shield.

AudioD
This is what I've been looking at all day. The foam in my set is charcoal gray and it has turned into the same oily goo that destroyed the electronics in my ESP6. I haven't dug this deep though because putting the ESP6 together wasn't a very pleasant experience and I can make most measurements on the outside of the drivers. The drivers appear to be the exact same design as the original ESP6 driver though I'm pretty sure that Koss used thicker stator spacers and increased the bias voltage.

I've installed an IEC socket on the E.9 and it has a low level hum in AC mode so it isn't usable.

BTW. The Quad ESL used diluted nylon as conductive coating.
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post #177 of 18428
2/21/07 at 7:37pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by spritzer View Post
it is clear they use a higher bias then 230v because the sound wasn't very loud but I didn't want to risk 580v on them.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if it was higher bias. The ESP950 uses 600v, higher than any other headphone.

Have you tried measuring the voltage coming out of their transformer box?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Stereoholic View Post
I'm dropping out of the "speaker" realm and going back to headphones. Used to have the Stax Lambda Pro and it's amp. Liked the Stax sound a lot but got obsessed with horn speakers and left it behind. Now selling off horns system and returning to something more reasonable.

Planning on immediate purchase of Stax Omega II and SRM-007tA. Only other candidate that I've consider is the Sennheiser HE90 but I'm not finding any available and don't have the patience to wait for a "used" paid. Plus, I have always liked the Stax products.

Questions:
1. Find prices from Japan dramatically better BUT they are 100 volt units verse USA standard (I'm in Atlanta, GA area).
Advice on best way to address this issue would be appreciated.
I noted one dealer included a device to correct for the voltage difference.

Is there any sonic difference with an adapter verse paying the USA importers their MUCH higher price for the 120 volt versions (finding system for about $3,000 in Japan)?

Best Japan dealer?

Best prices USA dealer, if such a beast exists?

2. I've been obsessed with tube gear and found with my current system rolling tubes in the Audiopax 88 amp made a dramatic difference.

Any tube rolling suggestions for the 007tA?

FYI: I'm planning on using the Alesis Master Link as my source and taking balanced signal out of it via Nordost Valhalla XLR balanced interconnects to the 007tA. (If you have not played with the Alesis it's is definately worth a listen. I use it to "remaster" store bought CD's. Import purchased CD into Alesis the burn a new "master" to a cyrogenically treated blank CD. Sonic improvement is dramatic! If you want more info, just ask me.)
To view my speaker based system go to:
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....ull&1176644109

Also considering as an alternative to the Stax the Audio-Technica ATH L-3000 if I can find a new pair or as new used. Suggestions?

Your suggestions are appreciated.
Jack
A lot of us import Stax headphones from Japan. The process is quite easy.

Stax amps will either need to be run through a stepdown transformer, or find someone very well versed in electronics to modify them to 115v.

Another option would be to not buy one of Stax's amps at all, and buy one of the "cottage industry" made electrostatic headphone amps available. Tube-based examples are:
Singlepower ES-1 ($4k-11k depending on options)
McAlister Audio EA-1/4/6 (~$800-$1300)
Woo Audio GES ($1250)
Rudistor Egmont ($1700-5000 depending on options)

I wouldn't take an L3000 over an Omega II personally.


Quote:
Originally Posted by jigster View Post
There's a Sigma (non-pro) with a SR12S on sale on ebay with a BNP of Euro750 Wonder if its worth that kind of dough...
Nice condition, but still a few hundred too much.

Of course, you could always throw an offer at the seller and see how he responds.
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post #178 of 18428
2/21/07 at 9:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carl View Post
It wouldn't surprise me at all if it was higher bias. The ESP950 uses 600v, higher than any other headphone.

Have you tried measuring the voltage coming out of their transformer box?
I have made a few measurements with the multimeter but haven''t found it yet. I can't remove the main pcb from the case to retrace without totally dismantling it and I simply can't be bothered. This is a fairly complicated design and it is a rats nest of wires with AC power intersecting input wiring time and time again and every thing is tied back to the pcb to make assembly easier.
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post #179 of 18428
2/21/07 at 11:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by spritzer View Post
This is what I've been looking at all day. The foam in my set is charcoal gray and it has turned into the same oily goo that destroyed the electronics in my ESP6. I haven't dug this deep though because putting the ESP6 together wasn't a very pleasant experience and I can make most measurements on the outside of the drivers. The drivers appear to be the exact same design as the original ESP6 driver though I'm pretty sure that Koss used thicker stator spacers and increased the bias voltage.

I've installed an IEC socket on the E.9 and it has a low level hum in AC mode so it isn't usable.

BTW. The Quad ESL used diluted nylon as conductive coating.
I recall some years ago someone reported, possibly on Headwize, that the foam backing on the ESP 9 deteriorated and caused the circuit board it sat on to short circuit. He had to fully clean the circuit board before the unit would work properly.
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post #180 of 18428
2/21/07 at 11:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stereoholic View Post
Questions:
1. Find prices from Japan dramatically better BUT they are 100 volt units verse USA standard (I'm in Atlanta, GA area).
Advice on best way to address this issue would be appreciated.
I noted one dealer included a device to correct for the voltage difference.
EIFL in Japan was able to provide me with a Stax 717 about 8 months ago, set for 117 volts. Audiocubes instead provides a transformer. Evidently you can reset some jumpers in most of the Stax amps to set them up for the correct voltage, but it is not as easy as it once was, where you just moved a plug. The newest amps apparently are even more difficult to adjust voltage. This is Stax' way of fighting the Gray Market distributers in Japan.
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