[kodreaming]

I just picked up a SR-009 + Carbon combo this weekend. While I was at the seller's house, I listened to it for a few minutes and it sounded fine to me and I did not hear any channel imbalance.
 
Since I don't have a DAC with XLR out at the moment, I got two RCA adapters for XLR so I can hook the amp up with my speaker amp (Peachtree Nova125) today through pre-amp.  I thought the sound was a bit weird but I thought it might be the factor I connect RCA to XLR from a pre-amp out, but my wife noticed the left channel actually sounds louder than the right.  
 
I thought it is because my cheap cable + adapter is acting up, so I plug them into my Violectric v200 XLR inputs and used http://www.audiocheck.net/audiotests_stereo.php to test with my LCD-3. They sounded fine, so I know it is not my cable problem...
 
What could be the problem here, the DAC ?
I find it hard to believe it just developed the problem in last 48 hours...

 

[NA Blur]

Could be dust or moisture on the drivers, but is most likely a parasitic charge somewhere and after everything is fully warmed up it should go away.  Does your amp have a way to balance the channels because a good E-stat amp will usually have some way of balancing the sound because this issue is so common.
 
If you think it is the amp you should have the trimpots checked to make sure they match and then verify the DC offsets.
 
If you think it is the headphone see if it goes away after leaving the system on for 20 minutes. If it does not go away you may have to look into returning the headphones and kindly insist that they change the drivers due to a channel imbalance. Many times they do a brief check for the imbalance and do not find anything so you need to be specific about the problem.

 

[kodreaming]

The amp I have is KGSSHV Carbon from mjolnir-audio. It only has one volume knob.
I got this used and I did try them back then, so I don't think he would take the return...
 
I did have it on for at least 20 minutes and the problem is there. I have emailed Stax USA and hoping they would at least do an out-of-warranty repair, maybe ?
 
I will need to get a proper DAC with balanced out, but I doubt that is the problem here.

 

[yates7592]

How old / SN are the 009's?

 

[kodreaming]

SZ9-3376, not sure how old it is, but looks pretty new.

 

[wuwhere]

There is a thread on this.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/555908/stax-sr-009-channel-imbalance-trouble-driver-problem

 

[georgep]

  The amp I have is KGSSHV Carbon from mjolnir-audio. It only has one volume knob.
I got this used and I did try them back then, so I don't think he would take the return...
 
I did have it on for at least 20 minutes and the problem is there. I have emailed Stax USA and hoping they would at least do an out-of-warranty repair, maybe ?
 
I will need to get a proper DAC with balanced out, but I doubt that is the problem here.

 
Did you try it with the cables switched right to left just to rule out the adapters (assuming you did)? And if you have access to a known good stax amplifier you could see if the imbalance is still there, or if it is with the amp. That said, it is unlikely to be the amp, except to the extent that there is some imbalance at the volume pot, which is not unheard of, particularly at lower sound levels - plus, not aware of any non-stax electrostatic amp that has the split volume knob (and i dont believe the T2 had it either), except the dual stereo KGSSHVs made by Headamp long ago. Unfortunately, even if you checked the balance/offset voltages on the right and left sides of the amp, that wont tell you anything unless one is in the 100s of volts range and the other is in the single or low double digits. Which pot is in your build?

 

[kodreaming]

Thanks @georgep. I did try swapping the cable and also tried the cable with my other AMP with balanced in + another headphone. The cables seem to be ok. 
I have a DAC + XLR cables coming tomorrow so I can wire them up properly, but I am not hopeful at this point.
 
Not really sure which pot is in my build? I guess I can email spritzer with my serial number, but you are probably right. It doesn't feel it is an amp issue. 
 
Guess my best option is to get it serviced somehow ? Emailed Stax USA, but haven't heard back. If there is someone local (SF Bay Area) that I can try mine with their amp, that would also be helpful.
 
Also, it looks like SRM-007tII can adjust left and right volume separately...

 

[kodreaming]

Got my new dac and connected it with Xlr cable. Still the same problem.

I will just switch to use a Stax amp that has separate volume for each channel and end this chapter. It is sad a device at this price level is so fragile. Why bother making it in Japan, just make it in China and at least you can blame the Chinese workers when the **** stop working...

 

[Fafner]

I had the very same problem with mine, my dealer had to send it to Japan. Even my amp's balance control wasn't enough to compensate the imbalance I was experiencing after 30 minutes playback. SN is around your's.

 

[Fafner]

Got mine back today. According to my dealer's notes, it was "technically replaced". The box has the same SN it had before, but something has changed for sure. The old one's imbalance was obvious right from the beginning of a listening session, and became more and more pronounced reaching its apparent peak after around 30 minutes. This one seems flawless so far, let's hope it stays like this.

 

[NA Blur]

@ Fafner
 
Awesome!

 

[rayofsi]

i would talk to the seller for something like this..
 
not sure i can live with channel imbalance, i went ape **** when i realized my sr009 had imbalance. Eventually ended up with a pair with 0 issues. Shipped to me via ups or fedex and took a week to arrive, but 0 issues. Think its one of the original sr009 from before stax got sold.
 
for the money you paid.. you need to bring up the issue with the seller.