[bonatto]

Hey guys!
This is my first incursion into the hi-fi audio world so perhaps I should introduce myself.

For the past few years I've been involved with watch collecting and this hobby brought me closer to one of my father's best friends, who collects as well, is a certified audiophile and used to write in an audio magazine here in Brazil.

He gave me the "Bug".

About 3 years ago I bought a Shure e3c and have been enjoying it greatly since, not only was I amazed by the sound quality I was very pleased with the fact that they block out sound, making it perfect for my trips back and forth from Brazil to the US.

On this last trip (about a week ago), my father's friend asked me to bring back for him a set of Quad 12 monitors, Wadia iTransport, and some cables for his new ipod system.
To my surprise, when I arrived, he gifted me his old stax system that due to work, he never had time to use anymore.

I've set it up using my computer since I don't yet have any "real" source equipment, nor do I see myself getting something like a CD player in the near future.

I've had a turtle beach external usb soundcard (pictured) with a blue-jeans cable for use in other applications, so I figured that for now, it would do.

It's sad to hear all my old music all ripped in 192-320kbps through this system, so I've been re-ripping a ton of cds in the apple lossless and they sound quite good.

The things I need help/advice with are the following:

1. I would like to understand this amplifier, its technical features, etc. Does anyone have a scanned copy of the manual perhaps? I would like to know about maintenance, care, etc. Can I leave it on for extended periods of time (8 hours or so) or should I give it a break?

2. I will eventually want to purchase a high quality DAC and am probably willing to spend up to 400 bucks or so. What would be the recommended DAC for this application?

3. Cables. The shorter the better? I don't need too much flexibility so a short cable will do fine.

4. Any type of cleaning recommended for the earspeakers?

Thanks in advance!!!
Kind regards,
Fred Bonatto

I've attatched a photo of my desk, don't mind the Sony speakers, I don't use them much, so the lcd doesn't really get in the way of anything hehe.

 

[Comfy]

First of all, welcome to Head-Fi! After a gift like that, I'm actually quite happy about your wallet.

A very nice Stax set.

Here is the collected knowledge:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f113/s...ad-new-223263/
Stax Earspeakers Overview - Wikiphonia

 

[bjarnetv]

thats quite a gift; hope you enjoy them, and welcome to headfi.

mafia/ninja member ludoo made a great search engine for anything stax++, in case you need some hard to find information
Home / Head-Fi Megathreads

oh, and what kind of lambdas are those; signatures?

 

[bonatto]

yeah, those are signatures!
Thanks for all the info guys!

 

[krmathis]

Very nice Stax setup you got there.
Welcome to Head-Fi!

 

[vvanrij]

Best choice you ever made!

 

[padam]

Good to see a T1 with the same colour scheme as my T1S, I have to say that's one hell of a gift

You might want to look for an Apogee Duet (Mac only) or a HeadAmp Pico DAC as a source, they are both said to be great.

 

[Michgelsen]

That's the exact same setup I have! I enjoy it a lot. I'm sure you will too.


To answer some of your questions:

1. I don't have a scanner to scan the manual of the SRM-T1 for you, unfortunately. I can however give you a few maintenance tips. Leaving the amplifier on for extended periods of time is no problem at all. If you ever replace the tubes, they need to be biased correctly. Instructions can be found here.
Concerning the headphones, it's best to keep them away from dust and too much moisture. Most people put them in a plastic bag when not in use, to protect them from those things.

2. I don't know about a suited DAC, because there's so much choice. You may want to ask this in the 'Source' subforum.

3. Shorter is better, but 50cm or 100cm will not matter. Use whatever you like.

4. Cleaning the earspeakers then. As I said, you should prevent dust from 'contaminating' the unit by storing them in a plastic bag. It's also wise to check once in a while, or before you put them on for example, if there are any hairs cought in the foam or in the little corners behind the earpads. If so, pull them out. That's about the best you can do.
The drivers of the headphones consist of the diaphragm with a stator on each side and a dust cover on top of that, on both sides as well obviously. So, the driver is a closed unit that is built to be dust proof. Unfortunately, the tiniest dust particles can slip through sometimes. You will hear this as tiny squealing noises. Might this happen, don't worry, they will probably go away after a while. Since the driver is built as a closed unit, you don't want to open them to clean them out. (You'll probably let more dust in than you can get out!) This should be done only by professionals. The dust cover of a Lambda Signature is of high quality. You will likely never have dust problems with them, but keeping them in a plastic bag to be sure can't hurt.