[scompton]

I have the Stax SR-3, SR-5, normal bias Gamma, and normal bias Lambda.  The Stax clearly beat every ortho except the T40 and T30 with XB pads for comfort.  They beat every ortho I've heard on sound stage, including the modern ones.  Orthos have more weight to the music that the Stax. 
 
I also listen to the Stax SR-30 and Signet TK33 frequenly.  They're a step down, but still nice sounding and very comfortable. 
 
I have a Sony ECR-500, but I don't have an energizer for it so I've never heard it.
 
At work right now, I have the YH-100, SR-5 and TK33.  I usually listen to the YH-100 first, and when it gets uncomfortable, I'll switch to one of the others.

 

[leeperry]

What worries me a bit w/ those vintage yamies is that there seems to have been quite a lot of manufacturing discrepancies, possibly drivers aging differently, and more than anything else poor synergy w/ headamps?
 
I mean, in this post, ericj says that the out-of-head sound of the HP-1 really lacks to his ears: http://www.head-fi.org/t/111193/orthodynamic-roundup/2085#post_4017511
 
Seriously, I've briefly owned a MS1i...it was nothing like those HP-1's! I currently own both a sintered and an anisotropic HP-1, and they both output a pretty amazing out-of-the-head holographic SS off my two beefy DAC's(Stello Eximus DP-1 and Asus Essence One)...so I'm a bit puzzled tbh, coz I get a more stunning 3D SS than out of the cd3k 

 
It seems to me that the angled drivers of the cd3k allow it to go for a quick-buck 3D SS but the major drawback is that even mono sounds like a stadium DSP, hah. My HP-1's can do narrow mono or stunning 3D depending on the source material...a bit like that S-Logic+ thingie on the Ultrasone's 

 
Headstaging is really up there for me atm, I also see that those Stax transformers require a speakers amp...and I keep reading ppl raving about the "magical" Yamie mids, but hardly ever about those vintage STAX...and now you say that music sounds better to you on the Yamie ^^

 

[scompton]

I like the Stax. They have a light and airy sound that's very good for chamber music, acoustic jazz, etc. not as good for genres that sound better with more body to the sound, especially if there's a lot of bass. They're kind of like the planar version of the AKG Kx01.

 

[Kabeer]

Stax have great speed, if you listen to classical and chamber music etc like scompton said they would be great.
 
But for vocals, and rock and any other kind of music i prefer orthos by far. I just found stats too thin, and none had the 'heft' and reality of wieght behind the sound that orthos have.

The only exception iv heard  i think being the Sigma Pro, which was very nice (but lacked the deepest bass punch). And the O2 which did have nice bass punch, but lacked to me that heft that only orthos provide (but wasa nice phone ofc).
 
If you like more articulate clear music with extremeeely open and airy sound, stats are the way forward. If you like mids that sound like liquid gold, and bass to rock you, orthos are the way.

 

[gurubhai]

Quote:

Gurubhai, have you got photos?

Here are some pics :

HP50 paper diaper is the main damping layer followed by thinner paper to enforce damping and to prevent rockwool from entering driver innards.Initially did not planned to use the felt on sides but placed them since the bass was taking a hit.

Rockwool filling the cup & outer felt also replaced with paper.
 
 
And since I got the camera out, I took some more



 

 

[AnAnalogSpirit]

gurubhai, those are nice pics!
 
Question for the group, I've got a pair of nice HP3 drivers and plan on gutting an ATH-RE70 and reworking it to open-back, but I know very very little on what type of damping those drivers need. Would it be possible for some of you to point me in the right direction?
 
There's such a plethora of info on the T50RP, but I don't exactly know where to find much on the Yamahas, and even peeking in this thread I haven't seen much about the HP3.
 
Thank you all

 

[wualta]

Quote:

 
 
HP50 paper diaper is the main damping layer followed by thinner paper to enforce damping and to prevent rockwool from entering driver innards.Initially did not planned to use the felt on sides but placed them since the bass was taking a hit.
 
Rockwool filling the cup & outer felt also replaced with paper.

Aha, thanks for the good quality photos. So the felt is on the outside of the damping layers. The bass was reduced.. due to the extra damping, yes? and then you got it back by placing the felt strips on there. Did that fix the bass right away, or did you listen to the result only after putting the grilles back on?
 

Quote:

There's such a plethora of info on the T50RP, but I don't exactly know where to find much on the Yamahas, and even peeking in this thread I haven't seen much about the HP3.

Can't find a thing, eh? Go to http://headfi.qix.it/ and type HP3 damping in the appropriate box. 
 

 

[AnAnalogSpirit]

Thank You wualta,
 
HOW EMBARRASING that I forgot MY OWN post... (haha) although in my defense I had lost the link for the search engine. Much obliged!!!
 
(I feel like I'm on Short Attention Span Theater ATM... but I deserve that!)

 

[gurubhai]

Quote:

Aha, thanks for the good quality photos. So the felt is on the outside of the damping layers. The bass was reduced.. due to the extra damping, yes? and then you got it back by placing the felt strips on there. Did that fix the bass right away, or did you listen to the result only after putting the grilles back on?
 
 

The HP50 paper diaper is the main damping layer but it does not reach the top & bottom openings, so they basically just had a thin paper covering them.I won't call that thin paper a damping layer. The Top & bottom openings were effectively undamped/very minimally damped. We closed the headphone & it sounded very good except for the decreased bass.
It was a bit surprising since I expected the bass to increase by the reduction of damping. Then we tried closing the openings one at a time & determined that the bass increases on closing the top/bottom opening.So, we applied the paper layers again & applied the felt strips. The bass increased. On closing the grilles, the bass increased slightly further probably due to more pressure on felt strips.

 

[ludoo]

Quote:

BTW, anyone ever compared a vintage Stax such as the "Stax SR-X Mark-3" to the vintage Yamie's? Too bad its compatible transformers need to be plugged onto a speaker amp...
 
But this review sure sounds appealing: http://kenrockwell.com/audio/stax/sr-x-mark-3.htm

 
I damped my first pair of HP-3 using the SR-3N I had at the time, and while the Stax had better treble and soundstage, the Yamahas were much better at everything else. I also have a kind of aversion to stats sound, they have a kind of exaggerated liquid smoothness that I find unnatural and extremely unpleasant.
 
BTW am I the only one that does not get email alerts most of the time from HF? I much preferred the simpler, faster, more reliable old forum...
 

 

[scompton]

I've turned off most of my alerts because I was getting to many. I still have alerts for PMs and I always get them. I don't always get alerts for each post in a thread. I'm not sure what the algorithm is, but I do get alerts for posts that are a couple of hours apart.

 

[dyna10x]

Just acquired a vintage amfiton Tds 15 from a fellow member. I have been enjoying a modded fostex t50 for the past year, so when an opportunity came up to get an old ortho at a good price I jumped. Well I must say it is a very impressive phone, very balanced and airy open sound. Even sounds good out of my iPhone. Amazing that you can get such good sound for the price. This driver deserves a better cup and pad so I am thinking of doing something with wood and full sized pads.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Is that the one that was in the Stax frame?

 

[ri_toast]

Here http://wiki.faust3d.com/wiki/index.php?title=AMFITON_TDS-15_(%D0%A2%D0%94%D0%A1-15_)
very much the size of the sr30

 

[wualta]

Quote:

HOW EMBARRASSING that I forgot MY OWN post... (haha) although in my defense I had lost the link for the search engine. Much obliged!!!
 
(I feel like I'm on Short Attention Span Theater ATM... but I deserve that!)

[evil giggling] Tee hee hee hee. [\giggling] No harm done. Just so everyone knows, there's a link to the Ludo Search Engine in post #1 of this thread. Kabeer has it in his sig field. Don't leave the home planet without it.