The Stax thread (New) - Page 667

Spritzer and ericj, you both seem to know a lot about this topic. Can any you provide an explanation for this, concerning the HE60? I'm a bit frightened by the possibility of inducing the imbalance yourself.

Wasn't there some apparent imbalance in HE60's when used with Stax amps that was due to the lack of additional resistance on the bias supply? iirc there's a 5 megohm resistor needed. Or maybe that was the HE90. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about headphones I'll never, ever try to purchase. (Too expensive).

Sometimes capacitance builds up in a regular electrostatic headphone, and you can drain it off by shorting the pins on the connector together. Obviously while they're not plugged into anything.

Experience varies. Some people have 'stats that benefit from being drained off from time to time. Some people have the exact same model 'stats and find that they benefit from being plugged into the bias supply for a long time.

The best advice for you, though, is not to drive your HE60 to crazy volume levels. Or any other electrostat or electret.

It was the original HE90 (and some of the first units from the 2005 run) which had these issues but it wasn't just the ballast resistor but also the higher bias which the HE90 didn't like from a Stax amp. Mine always ran fine off 580v though.

Same can be said about my He60's but I did add a resistor to the plug when I recabled, just in case.

I wonder if "Rudistor" added a resistor when he re-terminated the HE60 I bought from Kees for Stax amps... I always discharge the pins when I am done using them.

Judging by how craptacular everything is that he does I would seriously doubt that there is a resistor in there.

So I just got my Stax. And ZOMG. Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Beethoven's Last Night" on these things? ...transcendent.


But I figured I'd poke around here and see if I can't do a little better on the stuff leading into them. An audio geek's upgrades are never done, eh? So here's what's hooked up to what:

E-MU 0404 USB --> Onkyo TX-SR604 --> SRD-7/MkII --> SR-303

I also have a Little Dot Mk IV for preamp duty, but it's waiting on cables (and keeps getting swiped for use as a headphone amp).

Q/A: Would I benefit significantly from getting a different power/integrated amp? If so...what? Some of the NAD integrateds look like a good option, and have source selection to boot. There are also small stereo jobs like the Firestone Big Joe or the TweakCity Gizmo, but maybe those aren't quite powerful enough (I was told I should have about 15W, but I don't know how "about" that is).

It's almost scary to think that it could actually still get better.

Like a babe in the woods.

Yeah...another step or two and "budget" is not going to be a consideration...

where is there a "lambda" smile? I went to the smile list, and its under "imported". nothing shows up though.

I need some thoughts from the Stax mafia...

Guys and girls, a friend of mine is pondering selling off his unused Stax gear, which consists of a variety of vintage and fairly new gear, so I'm considering nabbing some of it, depending how things go with the HD-800s.

My current rig is the SR5NB Gold + Fitz re-boxed portable Stax amp, for which I've ordered a better PSU than the wallwart it came with. The possibilities I'm entertaining are:

SRM1/MKII for the Golds.
T1S for the Golds + future Stax.
T1S for the Golds + 404s.
T1S + 4070s or O2s (if he'll sell them) + risk of divorce if my wife found out the cost.

I liked the 4040II set when I first heard it, of course due to the $6k Esoteric CD player that was the source, but I'm wondering if my softer sounding Northstar (and future very likely softer sounding DAC) will be a good match with a tube amp and either the Golds or Lambdas. The T1S is hard to pass up as it has the most options -- Normal or Pro, balanced or unbalanced input. I gather though that O2s are nicest with solid state and Lambdas with tubes.

What would you do in my shoes?

O2 + T1

Thanks, I've read mixed things about them. A guy in Japan said the sound goes off at a certain volume, so one cannot really rock out to them. Audiod suggested using them with an equalizer to make em more musical. Also, I recall the soundstage isn't supposed to be the greatest, compared to some of the best closed phones in that regard. Hopefully I'll have a chance to hear them soon though at a meet.
PS, I was just wondering why I haven't seen you in the Stax thread recently, figured you were one of the many Head-fi'ers who got a life, remember reading a lot of your posts while doing research. Antonyfirst (who's woodied CD3000s I recently purchased) speaks highly of you.

Faust, may I ask when you say heavy curtains, do you mean doubling them up with 2 sets, or one good set does the trick for you? I could invest in a heavier rod, but the one I bought should be fine for at least one heavy pair. Do you live off a busy avenue? I know a lot of Brooklyn apts are a lot quieter with the traffic drone, but then you get the intermittent noisy A-holes. While curtain shopping on line, is there any type, keyword, or fabric I should be looking for?
Guess I'll see you at the March 21 New York City Head-fi meet? I'm really hoping Spritzer makes it down there. I want to show him my arc-bending on the 007, as I'm not sure I'm doing it right. Seriously, someone should get him a ticket for these events.


Thanks ed, I already have double-paned windows, but it's just a standard thickness glass, so not great. When not listening to music, it's not really NOISY, you don't really notice it until you either listen to music like classical or other quiet music. I doubt theres much leakage since the windows are a modern metal framed type. As a renter, I don't think I could get away with defacing the Meis VanderRow type frames with calk anyway. Looks like I'll have to settle for curtains first.

what gave you that impression?