[Don Quichotte]

Hello!

There seems to be another problem with my new Stax 3030 setup and aparently a much more serious this time. Occasionally I hear a faint but easily noticeable sound like a buzz or a whistle in one of my headphones. Since it is present only from time to time and I am not able to make it happen at my wish (although it seems to appear more and more often), it’s quite difficult for me to go to the service of the shop I bought the Stax from and ask for a repair because I would probably not be able to show the problem the technician (most of the time the Stax seem to work perfectly well). I am trying to describe the problem in detail below, just in case you could suggest me what could be the malfunction – so that I can give the technician a hint what to look for (I'm not quite sure he was in the situation to repair some Stax ever before...). Thanks in advance!

So here are some more details. Some could be of no use, but I mentioned them anyway; I highlighted what I think is more important:

- I heard the sound a few times in the right headphone and more often in the left one, but never in both at the same time
- Usually, the buzz or whistle is not perfectly constant, it sounds more like “boiling” than like flowing fluently, sometimes it's even intermitent; also, in the different occasions when it appears it has different intensity and even different tonality. The way it sounds makes me think of a kind of a short, an electric arch or something like this
- The buzz is not influenced by the volume control knob, it remains there even if I turn the volume control to 0
- Once it has started, the buzz sound cannot be removed by stopping the CD player or by disconnecting the Stax energizer from the CD player (removing all the cables from the Stax input and output in the back of the unit) – so it’s not a ground loop or a problem of the CD player or of the connections
- If I disconnect the headphones from the energizer, the buzz disappears instantly. If I connect them back, the buzz reappears (but it does not reappear if I connect the headphones to the lower voltage “NORMAL” output instead of “PRO”! – or at least I don’t hear it)
- If I turn the energizer off, the buzz remains there for several seconds, then fades out and dissapears; if I turn the energizer immediately on again, the buzz comes back
- The only two ways to stop the buzz are: 1. to turn the energizer off for a longer period of time (like 15 minutes) or 2. to wait until it dissapears by itself (it happened a few times, but it reappeared after a while)
- There are no hum inducing sources around (and it’s not a hum anyway); I tried grounding the energizer from the ground connector or the back, but without any effect; the headphone cable seems OK (I played with it a bit and it’s not broke inside or something)
- The music reproduction doesn’t change in itself, it remains very good (normal), just mixed with this buzz sound
- I’m not sure about this, but playing loud music (orchestral fortissimo, volume knob at 4 or 5 = 11 o’clock or 12 o’clock, normal 2V output CD player) seems to increase the chances that it appears or even sometimes to make it get worse if it was already present
- Sometimes the buzz appears when playing music that is not loud at all or even when the music is not playing at the moment
- I was able to stop the buzz once by shaking the headphone for a couple of seconds, but then after about a second of silence the buzz came back

 

[buggalugs]

This problem is one I've experienced over the years with various electrostatic phones.
Sometimes one of your own hairs will insinuate its' way through the foam earpads (it's surprising how far they will penetrate). This stray hair or hairs will sometimes enter far enough to touch a nearby part of the energising plates and cause a localised aberration in biasing.
The problem is quickly and easily resolved by using a piece of sellotape (sticky side down of course) and gently but methodically applying it over all the exposed foam earpad parts - you'll be surprised at the hubris it picks up apart from stray hairs.
If this simple procedure doesn't work the phones will need specialist repair I'm afraid.

 

[Don Quichotte]

I'll try the sellotape trick in a few hours and report back. However, if this is the problem, I don't understand why it doesn't manifest itself at all while the headphone is plugged into the lower voltage "Normal" amp output. Also,
Quote:

"Sound Element" is protected by "Protection Film" so that dust, hair and dandruff, etc. will not be reached to Element (unit).

(from the Stax response to my questioning regarding precisely the risk of hair protruding through the foam).

Thanks for the answer. I am pretty sure I will have to have the phones and / or amp repaired, I just need some hints on what could be wrong so that I can help the technician with these suggestion in case I am not be able to replicate the problem in front of him.

 

[edstrelow]

Could be hair although I have rarely had this with Stax. Could be some other short circuit in the diaphragm or even an amplifier problem.

 

[setmenu]

A few years had a pair of lambdas returned from servicing [new drivers fitted]
and experienced a similar problem when first listening.
I was told it could be caused by arcing due to poor soldering of the driver
connections etc?
The effect finally disappeared after about a week or so.
The phones sounded fine.


Setmenu

 

[Don Quichotte]

I tried cleaning as suggested above and it didn't help. It seems now there's a tendency for the buzz to install and become permanent after perhaps 10-20 minutes since turning the amp on. It only occured in the left phone for the past two days and right now it's quite low in intensity, but it's there. I will talk to the shop tomorow about repairing and keep you posted. In the mean time, if any one of you guys had any other experiences with this kind of problem, please share. It could help me a lot.

Edstrelow, what did you do when you had "hair problems"? Used Braun Silkepil?

How did you get rid of the problem?

Setmenu, it sounds to me too like arching somewhere, but how could it cure by itself? I don't get it. Also, why it never happens when the amp is really cold (just turned on after at least 15-20 minutes of inactivity) or from the lower voltage output?

Stax confusion. I think every Stax user should have a tiny little Kevin Gilmore to keep him / her headppy - ummm, I mean happy.

sigh...

 

[Don Quichotte]

Just received an answer from Stax confirming that there might be a problem with the transducer (-s?). In the mean time I even had the surprise to keep hearing the buzz for a few seconds (up to ~10 sec.!) AFTER DISCONNECTING THE HEADPHONES FROM THEIR AMP! Ain't that cool!?! Usually it goes away instantly as I unplug the headphones, but anyway...

Going to the shop tomorrow. The dealer told me that he had a similar problem with some 404 and it went away with burn in. Kinda strange. Will keep you posted.