[DefQon]

Sort of.

The first one was bought over 2 years ago, back when I was just getting into this Head-Fi thing with only an AD700 to my name at the time. It was made clear that it had rebuilt drivers with 2.5 micron diaphragms, no mineral wool, and was generally not in stock condition...but that it still sounded good, and for $250 with an SRD-7/SB included, how could I say no? I already had a spare A/V receiver lying around to power the transformer box, so the amp barrier was not an issue.

Of course, I couldn't truly say I had an original, Normal-bias SR-Lambda knowing all the changes it underwent. The frame has seen better days, given how roughed-up it looks. The headband, while not obvious to me at the time 'til I got my hands on other Lambdas, is rather stretched-out, isn't as wide, and almost looks as if it was meant for a different arc assembly. The cable actually had a 5-pin Pro bias plug, though there's no way I'd dare risk killing the drivers by plugging it into a Pro bias outlet. (Given that the nameplates at the top of the cups are blank and don't have "PROFESSIONAL" or other text on them, I'm guessing that the original 6-pin cable was damaged somehow, and whoever repaired these things had to use a 5-pin replacement due to the relative lack of 6-pin Lambda cables.) And the pads...they were in such a terrible state that the prior owner actually cut strips of soft microfiber cloth and taped them to the contact areas of the earpads, just for comfort's sake!

Fair enough. I feel that you will definitely like the SR 5 or SR 5N Gold as the forward mids are sort of similar to the Lambdas just on the more fun and musical side.

 

[NamelessPFG]

Part of the reason I didn't experiment with stuffing those mostly empty earcups on the first Lambda with assorted damping materials was that I liked the way it sounded already. No need to fix what isn't broken already, as some would say.
 
I may experiment with removing the mineral wool from the second Lambda, partially out of curiosity and partially because spritzer thinks it sounds even better that way, like Stax didn't need to bother with damping material in the first place. The lack of mineral wool damping from the Lambda Signature onward suggests that already.
 
But I probably won't do it immediately, either. Especially not when I'd like to take the chance to have a Normal bias SR-Lambda in good condition like this evaluated by a select few people. I mentioned Mad Lust Envy initially, but how about getting a CSD graph out of 'em? The more we can learn about these sets, the better.
 
...Hey, my SRM-T1 tracking info finally updated, and it's in Atlanta as of today! That probably means it's getting delivered tomorrow!

 

[autoteleology]

Yeah, sorry about running you up with the price. I felt bad about that, and that's why I decided to advertise the fact I was interested in the second pair of NB Lambdas that came up. I didn't want to repeat the past.
 
I won't be here much in the next week or so because I feel like I'm on the razor's edge of being permanently banned from the site, and I don't want to push my luck. I'll still be doing my electret review.

 

[NamelessPFG]

I just considered it the expected cost of getting a sought-after, discontinued piece of equipment...though if I could predict the future, I would have let you have this one at a lower price (I honestly thought there'd be more people than you also sniping at it!) and taken shots at the still-complete-in-box set that's up on eBay now.
 
My main regret has more to do with being financially stupid and making expensive purchases I don't need to make just to sate my curiosity, especially since I already have a working Stax Lambda system. Equipment enthusiasm in any field is insidious like that.
 
But when that equipment finally arrives on my doorstep, and it works...my mind also has this habit of suddenly going "Yep, totally worth it." Certainly doesn't help the matter any, does it?

 

[autoteleology]

You're telling me. I've spent a good grand (and made nearly that much selling off old junk I don't need) on various stuff in the past few months, most of it audio equipment.
 
In other news, here's another listing for an SRD-X and an SR-50. The SR-50 has matte, not glossy, cups (unlike the version I own, from the same seller, who previously mentioned they had two), the wall wart is missing, and both units are in much poorer condition than the first listing I purchased.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Stax-SRD-X-Portable-Earspeaker-Adaptor-with-SR-50-Headphones-/161091577844?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item2581ce67f4
 

 

[NamelessPFG]

IT HAS ARRIVED!
 

 
Gotta admit, it's a whole lot lighter than I expected something with vacuum tubes to be. But it certainly works, and takes up a fraction of the space of the receiver it's sitting on top of!

 

[vid]

My SR-5 arrived, too, some days ago. Actually bought them as the Gold version, but call it fate that I got the normal ones.
 
Having spent half an hour with them yesterday, I'm not sure if they can outdo my modded Unipolar 2000 electrets. But I'm sure some more use will stretch them out a bit.

 

[davidsh]

Looking forward to impressions, nameless.

 

[NamelessPFG]

I can say that the SRM-T1 doesn't seem to make things sound dramatically different from the receiver and SRD-7/SB. The headphones used have more effect on the sound quality, as expected.

But the relatively compact and light SRM-T1 frees up a lot of desk space, along with providing proper Pro bias outputs. It could be a potential foundation for an SR-009 down the road, if I ever felt like spending that much on a headphone.

As for comparing the stock SR-Lambda with the rebuilt-driver beater Lambda I've had for the last two years, as I said earlier in the thread, it's the same excellent midrange, but with much more even bass and treble response. Possibly slightly smaller soundstage due to the mineral wool damping, but I'll mess with that later.

 

[DefQon]

My SR-5 arrived, too, some days ago. Actually bought them as the Gold version, but call it fate that I got the normal ones.

Having spent half an hour with them yesterday, I'm not sure if they can outdo my modded Unipolar 2000 electrets. But I'm sure some more use will stretch them out a bit.

Man don't mod them, there forward midrange is where its worth.

 

[vid]

I did like the mids and especially the spatial projection of vocals.

 

[DefQon]

I did like the mids and especially the spatial projection of vocals.

Indeed. Sounds even better off my adaptor powered via my VK-2100.

 

[NamelessPFG]

So I decided to look up the eBay auction history of Stax equipment, and:
 
You've gotta be kidding me...
 
A $250 (shipping included) SRM-T1. That's one hell of a deal...provided that whoever modded the thing knew what the hell he was doing. Too bad the description's awfully vague about what mods were done, making it seem rather sketchy.
 
On the flip side, I can't believe someone paid this much!
 
Someone pry me away from eBay already...

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

 

That's the one I mentioned before. 

 

[NamelessPFG]

Anyway, I'm just going through and listening to my music library again (and the occasional Internet radio stream).
 
Once again, I'm reminded of why I went to the trouble of going Stax specifically, now that I have some reference points with other headphones. (Though I still need more experience overall; the HE-400 and SR-202 + SRM-212 experience was valuable, but I'm still effectively deaf when it comes to knowing AKG, Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser, to name a few.)
 
Strings are hauntingly sharp, sparkly and precise, but NOT ear-piercingly irritating about it (maybe unless the recording's just terrible). Drums are punchy. Nothing gets in the way of voices.
 
But I think, above all, it's that there is no sort of artificial texture or veil that I've noticed while listening, even critically. There is just...music. The whole band might as well be playing around my head with nothing between them.
 
Even now, my "beater" Lambda, as I've grown to calling it, sounds relatively veiled by comparison at my usual listening levels, mostly because of the midrange peak shooting the vocals noticeably forward from the rest of the music, but otherwise being on the mark tonally. This stock SR-Lambda is, as I have said before, more cohesive throughout the spectrum. No EQ has been applied in either case, before you ask.
 
Now, to do something about the spares...I no longer have a need for the transformer boxes, and I'm sure someone out there might want to get their feet wet in all of this with the "beater" Lambda, just as I did two years ago.