i just had to send back my stax 404s to audiocubes because it appears that the left driver is bad and has been since i got them. shortly after receiving them i noticed a very low but still noticeable ticking sound in the left earcup, if i gently tapped on the outside of the earspeaker i could get it to go away after awhile. but it kept coming back, so i contacted kohn and he said the left driver was probably bad, so i sent them back. 2 to 4 weeks without my electrostats (and i've barely had them long enough to get used to their sound), now i don't know what i'm going to do without them for that long, i'm already suffering from withdrawls........ help!!!!

Take a deep breath Paul. Life goes on without the Stax on hand for listening. You'll appreciate them all the more when they return. Sorry to hear you're plagued with a problem that will part you and the Stax cans for a while.

thanks doug, with words of encouragement like that i think i'll make it through this after all!

I completely understand. I sold my SRM-313 last Wednesday and have been without Stax since. My KGSS is shipping this week, I believe, so hopefully I will not starve much longer. I NEED MUSIC!

- Chris

Don't you have other headphones? W1000 and HD600?

yeah but nothing to power the w1000's.

i am using the hd600>mg head otl mkII>rega planet right now until i get my babies back, once you go electrostatic you never want to go back, i'm tellin ya it's an addiction....

Life without stax... argh, that's rough! sorry to hear about it

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That's for sure. Man, whenever I swap over to my dynamic cans the sounds is SO much worse that I can almost not listen to it any more. I did do a stint of about three weeks without listnening to the Stax cans, and will likely go another two or so soon in an attempt to lessen some tinnitus bothering me. The sad part is I listen so low during normal listening that I am convinced that the problem is the home theater system more than anything.

Sorry about the Stax, but think back to the time when you were content and didn't own nice headphones. Like me. Then pretend that you're getting the Stax for the first time. Or don't listen to me. Just relax....surely you can power your other headphones with something else. Like the computer you're viewing this post on right now.

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Tick, tick, tick...

"What's up, man"

"I'm on the wagon"

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Sorry to hear of your problems. That is rather unusual, DOA Stax. I'm glad that Audiocubes is helping you so nicely, though. It is too bad the time quote seems rather long, though, not to mention a new round of break-in (again...)

And no, the addiction doesn't get better from here.

But is is cool that you got addicted...so fast. I am glad you like them and wish you well for the future replacements.

How long did you allow your old ones to break in, BTW?

What are your impressions after going back to the mg head/hd600s? I'm interested, as I owned a similar system a bit ago.

Is it just me or are there many problems with Stax phones? I've heard many complaints about buzzing sounds and ticking in their headphones (not and complaints on the Omega 2's wich can be understandable )

Mindless,

I'm curious, other than this one and the one other pair of SR404s, are there any others that failed that I am not remembering? If so, two cans out of all those sold and used here is no big deal at all. It could also be why the plant shutdown in Japan for a while, to fix a problem they were having. (IIRC the plant shutdown for a few weeks, but I could be wrong.)

So far, it seems that these failures are right out of the box, not due to use or abuse. I prefer to have them fail right away under warranty so that they are replaced and I get a pair that serves me well for the next decade, rather than getting a pair that fails a year or two into its life.

Stax are generally known to last for more than a decade uder normal use. They seem to be sold off by their owners in full working condition in order to facilitate an upgrade to a newer design. I know that if they release an Omega III anytime soon I will be selling off my IIs to buy them.

andrze, i actually am impressed with the hd600/mg head combo using the rega planet as the source. it's nice and warm which is how i like it. i guess that's why i never got rid of my mg heads, they really are good amps. it's just that after using what many consider to be one of the best amp/headphone combos (not including the newer incarnations of the kgss) out there, you kind of get spoiled on that sound, although i really haven't had either the amp or the headphones long enough to really get used to the electrostatic sound, although i can tell you that the kgss is an outstanding amp. i guess i could have used this as an excuse to upgrade to the omega's (the thought actually crossed my mind more than once) but i think i'll give the 404s one more shot.

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Once you have Stax, you can't go back to those, you wouldn't want to make him more depress than he already is.