Hi all,
 
I received my Stax Omega 2s. Haven't been able to use them yet, but I was wondering just long these headphones can last. Have you ever broken a Stax? Did a Stax driver just fail on you? How if it did?
 
Thanks in advance!
 
 

Some of the older Stax get a channel imbalance.  I've seen it reported most often with the SR Omega, Lambda Signature, and Sigma Pro.  The O2 doesn't seem to get the imbalance issue often.  Most Stax should last a very long time though.  There are tons of Stax headphones that are some 30 years old and still sound great.  The biggest issue with the O2mk1 is the strain relief - the cable can get yanked out without care.

Thanks so much for the reply! That eases my worries. I guess if worse comes to worst, I'll look into what Stax recable options there are. Any idea how difficult it is to a get a recable or to perform one?

I don't think you'll find a better cable than what Stax use on the O2, and as long as you don't abuse the Mk1 it should last forever. Treat it as a scientific instrument rather than a disposable headphone and you should never need to worry about it.
 
I would stock up on pads however, although you can use Mk2 pads with no ill effect.

Quote:

catscratch said:

I don't think you'll find a better cable than what Stax use on the O2, and as long as you don't abuse the Mk1 it should last forever. Treat it as a scientific instrument rather than a disposable headphone and you should never need to worry about it.
 
I would stock up on pads however, although you can use Mk2 pads with no ill effect.

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Sounds great! I'm just a bit paranoid I guess. XD

I had a 3/2 channel imbalence on my Lambda sigs. I blew a driver on my SR-303s, but it was caused by a short in one of my DIY amps. Also blew both drivers in my ESP950s, but again my fault. "Normal" people with commercial equipment  don't seem to have these problems except for the imbalence issue. Keep them covered, clean, and as dust free as possible. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Quote:

wind016 said:

Thanks so much for the reply! That eases my worries. I guess if worse comes to worst, I'll look into what Stax recable options there are. Any idea how difficult it is to a get a recable or to perform one?

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I once damaged the cable of my O2 mk1 at the junction inside the phones. By pulling my head away without realising I was treading on the cable on the floor. Ouch! It was quite a strong and sudden yank, so no surprise that something gave way. They're perfectly fine with "normal abuse".
 
It's possible to buy a replacement cable and solder it in yourself, but it really helps if your name is spritzer! When I partly opened up the phones to try myself I very quickly got cold feet. Not straight forward at all for the O2 novice - very fiddley.
 
So I chickened out and sent it back to the UK dealer who originally sold the phones to me. They basically took care of it and the phones came back good as new. I think the dealer sent it to cable specialist dealer who did the actual work. As I was a good customer, this was basically done at cost price for the labour, plus standard retail price for the new cable.  
 
 
 

Quote:

theattorney said:

I once damaged the cable of my O2 mk1 at the junction inside the phones. By pulling my head away without realising I was treading on the cable on the floor. Ouch! It was quite a strong and sudden yank, so no surprise that something gave way. They're perfectly fine with "normal abuse".
 
It's possible to buy a replacement cable and solder it in yourself, but it really helps if your name is spritzer! When I partly opened up the phones to try myself I very quickly got cold feet. Not straight forward at all for the O2 novice - very fiddley.
 
So I chickened out and sent it back to the UK dealer who originally sold the phones to me. They basically took care of it and the phones came back good as new. I think the dealer sent it to cable specialist dealer who did the actual work. As I was a good customer, this was basically done at cost price for the labour, plus standard retail price for the new cable.  
 
 
 

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I hope you got your old cable back. It's quite valuable even with the end screwed up.
 
I did something like this with a set of low bias Sigmas. This actually split the driver on one side, i.e. pulled the diaphragm one electrode apart from the other electrode.   However I just glued the driver unit back together with superglue and amazingly it worked ok for about a year or so until it finally became very imbalanced.  I put it away for a few years and finally sent it to Stax Japan to be rebuilt as a Sigma Pro.
 
In general though these are pretty tough items.  I have heard though that older units driven by transformers tended to arc, causing holes in the diapragms.  I have seen this with some used SRXMKIII' s I bought but not with anything else.

Wind016: I think if you've come this far without mangling any of those fancy wooden Audio Technicas, you should be just fine with the Stax. 
 
Also just think about how many extremely dedicated/helpful/knowledgeable Stax people there are around here. In the unlikely event of an issue, I'm sure you could find someone well qualified to help out.

Thanks for the advice guys! I feel more secure about my purchase now.
 
So summing up...
 
1) Don't tug on headphone wires.
2) Keep dust out of drivers.
3) Drive headphones with proper amplifier.
4) Ask Head-fiers if anything happens.
 
Sounds easy enough =) Anymore advice would be great.

Keep liquids away

I searched water and electrostatic drivers. Found this thread, http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/516310/things-an-electrostat-noob-should-know
 
Still not sure how water will affect electrostatic drivers/headphones different than dynamics though...

Well I'd never want to be near water and very high voltages

Just use de-ionized water and you'll be fine...