Stax Interview and Factory tour 12/12/12

[arnaud]

Thanks all for the comments!
 
Some time after the introduction of the SR009, I did ask about the direction for the new flagship amplifier and at that time (fall 2010 or spring 2011, don't remember), it was undecided which direction to go (solid state or tubes).
 
In the actual state, the topology is likely decided since they mentioned about a "completed design" and currently into casing considerations. Also, taking into considerations that difficulties with sourcing SS parts that can handle such high voltages (especially if we go into T2 territory), it's probably fair to speculate the product will be tube based or at least hybrid type. Maybe some clueless guy like spritzer could share his views on this (and we can see how true his words were once the product is released) .
 
For the age of the workers, it is quite variable: 10+ years in average but the 3 senior staff we meet all have 20-30+ years experience, so with 13 staff, I let you guess what is the average age of the remaining staff.
 
Arnaud

 

[audionewbi]

One day I shall have be STAXED and be blessed with heavenly sounds produce by the SR009.

Thanks for the interview, i read it line by line Love STAX design philosophy, if it is not better than what we had before what is the point of making another product?

 

[jjinh]

There's some interesting and exciting news in the article: I'm glad Edifier is taking a hands-off approach to their management of Stax, and that Stax are trying to develop a new high-end amp.
 
Thanks to all those involved for their excellent work... I wish I could have been there!

 

[charliex]

Terrific interview and info - thanks so much SCOTTSMRNYC, ARNAUD AND CURROWONG  - you guys make a great team.
With a new amp on the horizon I am now tempted to start starving the family and saving voraciously for both the SR009 and future T-2 replacement.
To think that a mere 4 years ago I was a simple iBud and Bose user and today am a sworn Stax aficionado (love my SR-007Mk1).
Thanks again for the insight into a remarkable company.

 

[Scottsmrnyc]

Continued thanks to all who have commented.

 

[Hutnicks]

Really enjoyed this article and sure hope Stax is around for some time to come. Hard to be in a niche market like that for so long. I'd love to see them release a few more binaural recordings under the AudioStax label again
 
But for the "and of a great price point" observation."  Well, first time in 40 years I've heard that.
 

 

[bcschmerker4]

Thanks for bringing up an article on a headphone-fidelity company whose namesake's recordings I'm already familiar with on the music side, spec., stax®/Concord® CD's (identifiable by the "snapping-fingers" logo), which are manufactured in the San Francisco, CA, USA, Bay Area.  Do STAX® Earspeakers require specialty offboard amplifier/power supplies to energize them, as I suspect the case to be?  Already having one Asus® XONAR® running under Microsoft® Windows® 7.0.8001 (MultiProcessor Kernel 6.1.7601) and now considering a second XONAR® for running under Ubuntu® 12.04.2-LTS (LinUX Kernel 3.2.0-38-generic-amd64), I can feed any offboard headset amp/PSU, should one be required, from the XONAR's® dual RCA jacks.
 

 

[thecourier]

I always wanted to Try Stax headphones, but knowing about the company behind the name is a good start. Thanks! 

 

[K_19]

Thank you for your efforts, to everybody involved in making this happen. 

  It was an awesome read!
 
But the Stax folks' expressions in the picture... or the lack thereof... why so serious 

  

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Thank you so very much for sharing. The distinctly human side of this hobby has always been one of the facets that interests me most, and hearing the thoughts and perspective of those behind such legendary products is utterly fascinating. 

 
Ditto. I certainly appreciate the 009s even more after seeing what goes into making them.
 
Quote:

I'm very surprised they can do that with 13 employees

 
Well, the parts manufacture is outsourced to various companies, so an oversimplified view of what they do is design, assembly and testing. IMO to really appreciate what they've achieved you have to unbox a pair of 009s, where even the plastic cover around the box and inner box are both perfectly folded and taped and even the inner wooden box and foam are all absolutely perfectly designed and fitted. Overall its their painstaking attention to the finest details in their products that makes them what they are.
 
Quote:

I love the amp rack, they clearly love the SRA line. 

 
I want the fancy headphone stands that were in the cabinets! I'd never seen them before.
 
Quote:

There's some interesting and exciting news in the article: I'm glad Edifier is taking a hands-off approach to their management of Stax, and that Stax are trying to develop a new high-end amp.
 
Thanks to all those involved for their excellent work... I wish I could have been there!

 
Mr Meguro struck me as being a completely practically-minded businessman, so my speculation for the reasons for the Edifier buy-out was it that was straight-forward business decision aimed at keeping Stax going in the future by entering into the Chinese market. I wouldn't be surprised if designing a T2 successor would have been quite risky for them without better financial support.

 

[jazzfan]

It was a delight to read such an informative and engaging interview.  Fine example of Head-fi at its best!  Outstanding work guys!

 

[jjinh]

Quote:

I want the fancy headphone stands that were in the cabinets! I'd never seen them before.

 
Yep, that's a nice mug tree they're using for the SR-003s.

 

[purk]

Thanks for the wonderful article guys.  A very informative piece.  I'm curious to see what is to come of the new amplifier.  I recently purchased the SR009 and they are indeed the most 

transparent, and has the highest resolution in my book. 

 

[n3rdling]

Thanks for doing this guys, really well done!

 

[NamelessPFG]

Great read!
 
One of these days, I'd like to visit the Stax HQ myself, SR-Lambda in tow. It's this headphone that I bought here over a year ago that still hasn't been dethroned overall. I didn't even like the newer SR-202 as much, due to a combination of some changes in the sound presentation and higher clamping force. (Everything else is way out of my budget, though; it's a fluke that I managed to afford this Lambda in the first place, probably because someone already rebuilt the drivers. $5,000 for an SR-009, plus another $500 minimum for a Pro bias amp to drive it, just isn't happening any time soon.)
 
In that light, I would have liked to ask them about those Normal bias Lambdas, and how they would be compared to their more recent offerings in retrospect, colorations and whatnot. It's not just that the midrange is emphasized, but that the overall tone is different. More pleasing to me, actually. Sounds clean and natural, instead of having some strange rough texture overlaid on it all.
 
For all I know, I might still like it over all their other notable models like the Lambda Nova Signature, SR-Omega, SR-007, and even the SR-009, though only proper auditions will reveal that for sure.