[AC1]

Well today ended being a pretty crappy day all around, but on top of it I was informed about further repairs needed for my OmegaIIs, which might be interesting information on the cost of repair and such for future or current Omega owners.
Initially they were having an intermittent left side signal, where moving the cable around affected whether there was signal or not. So logically it made sense that it seemed the cable needed replacing. Well, finding where they could be fixed was also a task since the US repair center (which is actually not even far from where I live) only repairs US units, which is fine, however they would not even give me information as to where to go to get mine repaired. Luckily my pair had come from Canada (warranty for this had long passed since I believe these only had one year, now I believe they are two year), where the Canadian repair center there does repairs for both the US and Canadian Staxs.
Great, got in contact with them and found out the cable cost to repair and ship back to me would be around $260, not cheap, but not too bad either. Sent it to them and after some delay in getting the cable from Japan they were eventually able to change it. However, I was informed today that changing the cable did not fix the problem and there might be something wrong with the electrode. Well, changing the electrode also can not be done at their facility since it requires a clean room, so now my OmegaIIs have to be sent back to Japan to be fixed. The cost of replacing the electrodes (have to do both sides) will run $560 shipped back to me, which is quite a bit more painful. Luckily I do not have to pay for the cable change, so I only have to pay the difference. The other option would have been to replace both the entire cup/diaphragm/enclosure, but that would have cost $1700 which obviously is totally not worth it.
I have to say that with the whole zzz KGSS thing still up in the air and this, the Stax have been a pretty big headache to own. Oh well, done complaining, hopefully the info is useful since I have not seen any mention of repairs for Omegas and their associated cost.

 

[Swampwalker]

What a drag. Sorry to hear about your problems with those cans. Hope your day tomorrow is better, and think about how good they will sound when you get them back.

 

[minya]

Sorry, man. I hope everything turns out okay.

- Chris

 

[KR...]

Sorry to hear that. I am sure that it will be well worth it when it is all said and done.

 

[Nik]

This is the first time i heard something about Omega's problems...

Best!
Nicola

 

[Canman]

At least they didn't charge for the cable. Hope you get your headphones back quickly.

 

[kevin gilmore]

quote

Well, changing the electrode also can not be done at their facility since it requires a clean room, so now my OmegaIIs have to be sent back to Japan to be fixed

Absolute rubbish. Each element is a complete module that is open to
the air to begin with. Replacing an element takes no more than 10 minutes.
Although you really should replace both sides to make sure levels are
matched.

Contact eifl in japan and see if they can still get elements. Then do
the repair job yourself.

 

[AC1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevin gilmore Absolute rubbish. Each element is a complete module that is open to the air to begin with. Replacing an element takes no more than 10 minutes. Although you really should replace both sides to make sure levels are matched. Contact eifl in japan and see if they can still get elements. Then do the repair job yourself.

Interesting, now that I recall, the repair place mentioned the element costing $1700 to buy from Stax, though it sounded like it would be the whole enclosure. It wasn’t that clear of a conversation, couldn’t really understand the persons English that well even though I had him explain it twice.

 

[Edwood]

Heh.. glad i never bought into all of that Stax hype. How is the Linux support for this Headphone? I know creative stuff is usually pretty well supported. Could it possibly be auto-detected in the future? Is ALSA developing drivers at this point in time? I'm somewhat tired of having to muck with the 2496 every time i switch to a new OS. Would be nice to have drivers built into the kernel like most creative cards have.

No way in hell would this ever be my main headphone (since electrostatics suck after all) However, I might grab one of these if the support is there. If not, i'll just stick with what i have now. I'll never understand why people bother using electrostatics as headphones. Its an ergonomic disaster. I have to be laying down in a comfy chair to do any serious listening.

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Sorry just poking some fun at Tim.

Man, that sucks about the problems you're having. It's a laughable joke how much companies try to charge for replacement parts and "service", which inevitably end up costing more then just buying a new one.

I agree that the clean room bit sounds like BS. Hopefully Koji can get a good price on the replacement parts, if he can get them at all.

-Ed

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AC1 Interesting, now that I recall, the repair place mentioned the element costing $1700 to buy from Stax, though it sounded like it would be the whole enclosure. It wasn’t that clear of a conversation, couldn’t really understand the persons English that well even though I had him explain it twice.

$1700?!? For both or each?

What? Is the replacement part basically buying a new pair of Omega 2's?

Did you find out if Koji at EIFL can get the drivers alone for less?

-Ed

 

[AC1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood $1700?!? For both or each? What? Is the replacement part basically buying a new pair of Omega 2's? Did you find out if Koji at EIFL can get the drivers alone for less? -Ed

The price would be for the pair, though obviously still not worth it. Haven’t found out anything from Eifl, but I do not get the feeling that getting parts will be that cheap either. My pair is on its way to Japan, and at this point I just want to get it fixed, hopefully it will end up happening without further complications.