The Stax thread (New) - Page 60

Stax or DIY Cables?

A bit off topic, but still a Stax issue as far as I can tell...

One of my Lambda Pros and my Sigmas both have bad cables. I need to hold my head still or move the cables around until I get sound. My Lambdas seem to be done on the right side... last time I listened I couldn't get any sound at all. I have a couple of questions to anyone with experience here:

1. I can get a direct fit "basic series" 202 cable for $55, and a signature cable (I think it's a 404 cable) for $80, both from Yamasinc. Does anyone have experience with sonic comparisons between the two? Also, has anyone fit either one of these to a Sigma? I think the Sigma/404 thread mentions this was done, but I'd like some details on what I would need to do to get these cables to fit that model.

2. Has anyone done any DIY for Stax cables? I'm thinking of something like the original Nordost flatline speaker cable. It has 8 conductors, which may be a fun experiment... or it could be trimmed down to 6 conductors. These are spaced rectangular conductors in a plastic sheath. Much like a ribbon cable. The stuff is unwieldy, but it may be good sonically. Also, has anyone found a suitable plug to use? I think Allied has the sockets, but I'm not sure about cord-mounted plugs.

I know the voltages are high, but they aren't that high. Of course, I'm used to feeding a 5 kV signal to my Acoustats, which pretty much relegates me to 10 kV test probe wire...

Thanks in advance!

The oldest Sigmas (pre 1979) used the old crappy cloth covered cables but after that they used the Lambda cables. The new cables should be a drop in replacement.

Allied has both plugs and sockets that work but they are pretty low quality, nothing like the Stax stuff but they work just fine. I have built my own cables from scratch but beware of the insulation required. It's pretty hard to make a DIY cable as flexible as the Stax stuff. For insulation you should go for Teflon that is at least 3 mill's thick or more to be safe.

Hi everyone,

I've been hesitant about asking this question on the public forums (I was more inclined to ask some by PM), but here is a question for those who have owned/heard Stax headphones. I'm am absolutely aware of the amateurism and almost somewhat pointlessness of my question, but I just wanted to get a feeling for people's opinions. It's a commonly asked question by new members of the boards, and often looked down upon, but here it goes:

How would you rank or put in tiers the Stax earspeakers you have heard and/or owned based on how much you enjoy them? This is the common novice question of "Rank the headphones that you own", but this time a little more specific in that we're speaking of solely Stax cans ranked/tiered on your personal enjoyment.

Thanks so much everyone and cheers,
Venio

Edit: I'll also add my list below. As of now, I've only heard the SR-007,
so I can't say much. I hope to hear more in the coming months.

SR-007 Omega II (heard, truly awe-inspiring experience)
SR-X MKIII

SR-007
SR-202
-gap-
SR-001
SR-3N

Thats my enjoyment index.

SR-007 (heard but not owned)
SR-Lambda Signature (own)
SR-Lambda Pro (own)
SR-Sigma Pro (heard)
SR-202 (heard)
SR-X/MKIII (own)
SR-80 (owned)
SR-001 (own)

SR-007

(Big gap)

SR-202

(Smaller gap)

SR-001/003

All owned.

I've heard the 303s with SS amp, the 404s with tubes, and they're not worth the difference over the 202s, imo...

Haven't heard any of the old junque

SR-007 (own)
4070 (heard)
-gap-
SR-X Mk3 (own)
-larger gap-
SR-003 (own)

Despite owning the SR-404 I haven't heard it for more than 5 minutes yet.

I guess sometime I'll get to hear Carl's Sigma Pro and Airbow SR-SC1. For now I'd rank the non-Stax HE60 electrostatic just below the 4070 but hearing them through a better amp could easily change that ordering.

SR-007 (heard)
SR-Lambda Pro (own)
SR-XmkIII (own)
SR-Lambda (own)
SR-202 (own)
SR-5 w/SRX elements (own)
SR-Sigma Pro (heard)
SR-Lambda Pro Sig (owned)
SR-404 (owned)
SR-303 (owned)
SR-Sigma (owned)



All driven by a SRM-1mkII (except the SR-007 which was driven by a SRM-007t)

The order changes a little depending on the drive unit (SRM-1mkII Pro, SRA-12s or SRD-7mkII.

Well, that was a fast auction on Ebay!

Someone put up Lambda Pros with SRD-7 for a 350 buy-it-now, and by the time I got an alert, it was gone.

I guess that's a pretty good price for that set-up, and, as I'm still in the market for and SRD-7, (and the Lambda Pros seem to be pretty highly regarded these parts) I'd probably have gone for it, but I was about 10 minutes too late.

Amazing...

Speaking of eBay, it seems at least a few people think highly enough of the Omega I's to escalate the going the price into the stratosphere (and I don't doubt that there will be a few here who agree).

The final price was an astounding $3651!

Man, this hobby needs a reality check.

SR-X Mk3
SR-003
Gamma
SR-404

.

SR-007 (own)
Lambda Pro (own)
SR-404 (own)

The Omega II by quite a large margin now as I slowly get these finicky beasts figured out. (ICs, tubes, etc) They are AMAZING but very picky .

Had some transformer fun w/ lan today...


(there's a SRD-6 SB in the middle of that stack)



Lots of moving pieces going on, with gear being added, warmed up, plugged in. Hard to say what we liked, tho lots of things sounded different.

I think lan may be becoming a fan of the SR-Lambda (normal biased) though. It's certainly one of my fav cans.

Oh, HE60 with modded HEV70... quite an interesting sound. Not what I expected. Wished we also had an adapter to try it out of the SRD7 mk2...

Best,

-Jason