[jjinh]

Quote:

When did you have them up for sale?
 
I've been trying to track down a pair for ages, especially a local pair.

It looks like it was towards the end of last year.
 

 

[jaycalgary]

How does the Sigma compare to the K1000? I read mostly all of the Sigma threads and the K1000 is the only other headphone that does the same kind of thing. I see one person saying
if he wanted headphones that acted like speakers he would by speakers.  I work out in the oil field and stay in the camps so playing speakers as loud as headphones would be hazardous
to my health considering some people work night shift. I will have Sigma Pros soon and maybe K1000 in the future if I find a pair that is the early bass version. K1000 costs quite
a bit more but is it the better headphone?

 

[gilency]

Jay. I just saw one for sale in the forums. Did you look for it?

 

[n3rdling]

IMO the Sigma is a good amount better than the k1000.

 

[plaidplatypus]

I feel that the Sigma and K1000 are in the same ballpark, I'd have a hard time choosing one over the other if I were in the market for both.  The choice would depend heavily on what amps (speaker, headphone, and/or STAX) you already have or are available to you.

 

[edstrelow]

I had  a good opportunity to hear a number of K100's at the last Canjam, in  about 4 different systems.  Some were not at all impressive.  The best were, but had big buck amps and cd players feeding them too.
 
It certainly has some of the forward projection of the Sigma, but when played with the drivers at about 90 degerees to the ear there is a serious loss of bass.  Bass comes back when the drivers are brought back to the more conventional headphone location, firing straight into the ear canals.
 
I found them a lot of fun to play with but lacking the clarity of most electrostatics. 
 
I don't fully understand how they operate since a driver with  a flat frequency response  is  going to lose bass when placed at 90 degrees to the ear.  If nothing else you are going to have  a lot of cancellation from the back wave.  When I tried to run a Lambda in this configuration it gave no bass.   So AKG may have found some way to block the back wave, or is using some kind of mechanical or electronic equalization to improve the frequency response.   As I understand it, their power requirements are quite considerable, even greater than electrostatics.

 

[jaycalgary]

Well I am glad I will have Sigma Pros sent to me soon. I am sure I will enjoy the sound they will bring. Anyone know what kind of numbers Stax produced.Would
there be 1000's of Normal Bias Sigma and 100's of Sigma Pro's? Looks like there may be 10,0000 K1000 out there unless they skipped serial numbers. I
read there was the rare deal way back when that the K1000 was $350 new on clearance but very high now. Is it part because the K1000 appeals to people that
have high end home stereo. It sounds like the same thing they say about the HD800 as the K1000 that you need very expensive matched equipment to bring a
great sound.

 

[jjinh]

Quote:

IMO the Sigma is a good amount better than the k1000.

 
Quote:

I feel that the Sigma and K1000 are in the same ballpark, I'd have a hard time choosing one over the other if I were in the market for both.  The choice would depend heavily on what amps (speaker, headphone, and/or STAX) you already have or are available to you.

Ok, now who has a pair of sigmas they want to sell to me (I loved the K1000s)

 

[98664c3yijh]

gang!
 
one of the drivers of my NB Sigma is substantially lower
than the other (about 3 points on the SRM T1
volume scale) and distorts heavily on louder passages.
i recon it went caput (shorting the pins didn't help)??
 
any idea where I can buy 404 or 404LE drivers and cable
to convert it to Sigma/404? after looking inside of my Sigmas
i think i can do it myself
(guess gently detaching existing drivers is the worst part)
 
thanks!
--j

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

gang!
 
one of the drivers of my NB Sigma is substantially lower
than the other (about 3 points on the SRM T1
volume scale) and distorts heavily on louder passages.
i recon it went caput (shorting the pins didn't help)??
 
any idea where I can buy 404 or 404LE drivers and cable
to convert it to Sigma/404? after looking inside of my Sigmas
i think i can do it myself
(guess gently detaching existing drivers is the worst part)
 
thanks!
--j

If you are in the US the distribuuter is Yamasinc.  They will generally respond to e-mails but don't answer the phone or reply to phone messages.  They did my 404 conversion  for me for about $500 about 4 years ago which isn't too bad to have it done right.
 

 

[gilency]

Is Yamasinc still in business? They have not been answering my emails and I read somewhere they had been dropped. I don't want to spread rumors but really wold like to know. If not them, who?

 

[98664c3yijh]

I think one can do it by himself. This is my plan at least.
I'm asking various EU dealers if they'd sell me
the raw drivers+the cable

 

[gilency]

Quote:

I think one can do it by himself. This is my plan at least.
I'm asking various EU dealers if they'd sell me
the raw drivers+the cable

let us know if they do
 

 

[jaycalgary]

Probably by next weekend I will have Sigma pro's to listen to. They are in the mail. I guess if anything ever happened to the drivers I would upgrade them but I think they are will give me the sound quality I am looking for the way they are. There also probably is not enough of them out there to be  a vintage vandal. How many Sigma pro's would you think there are out there 100's or 1000's? Looks like it took a few years just to sell 100 of the 404LE.

 

[edstrelow]

Stax made 1000 404 LE's.  The Sigma pro was started in 1987 but how long it was built, I don't know.  Stax also offered a Pro rebuild of the basic Sigma for some years.  My own pro was rebuilt that way by Stax in Japan.
 
It's hard to know how many Sigma pros got made, I would guess a few thousand but probably less than 10K.  I base this on the small number that come up for sale compared to say the SRXIII.  Of course it could be that people hang on to them more.
 
An original factory-built Sigma pro uses the ultra-thin, 1 micron,  diaphragm of the original Signature.
 
I think you should like the Sigma pro. It needs a bit of power and many of the Stax amps only put out 300 volts.  A SRM1 MkII, which I believe puts out 340 volts makes it come alive. I would have thought that some of the newer Stax transistor amps such as the 323, which swing 400 volts might work well.  The 717 swings 450 volts and is excellent.