[donc55]

STAX USA hates the grey market, but will not do out of warrant repair for "ALL" units sold in Japan.
 
If you "legally" bought an SR-009 in Japan and carried it into the USA, they provide no service!
 
They can not tell grey market from "legally" bought in Japan, by looking at the serial number!
 
So STAX USA screws the "legally" bought customers too!
 
There is also grey market for watches and cameras in the USA, but you can still get out of warranty repairs for all products in the USA!
 
STAX USA is being a prick!

 

[mulveling]

 
STAX USA is being a prick!

True, but a bigger issue is that, by user reports, even USA-bought Stax headphones won't get viable out-of-warranty support from Stax USA. Charging almost as much (or more) for a driver repair as the cost of a new product isn't support. That's what irks me, and it's a key point to highlight for people deciding where to buy L700/007/009. I guess Yamas will let you buy extra 009 ear pads -- that seems to be about the only positive service/support you'll get for the premium paid. Fortunately the 009 ear pad leather should last a long time with care (the foam breakdown over time may be more likely though).

 

[donc55]

  True, but a bigger issue is that, by user reports, even USA-bought Stax headphones won't get viable out-of-warranty support from Stax USA. Charging almost as much (or more) for a driver repair as the cost of a new product isn't support. That's what irks me, and it's a key point that to highlight for people deciding where to buy L700/007/009. I guess Yamas will let you buy extra 009 ear pads -- that seems to be about the only positive service/support you'll get for the premium paid.

WOW!
 
They are now TOTALLY CORRUPT!
 
It is time to let the STAX Japan company know this situation!

 

[Golfnutz]

   
Good news George...Plurison is the Canadian dealer now for Stax and I've found them quite good to deal with. I bought a back up pair of ear-pads from them and they were most responsive and easy to deal with (unlike like you know 

).

Plurison replaced the cable on my SR-009 almost 2 years ago (loose wire at strain relief). There was never any conversation where I purchased the headphones.
 
Price for the same repair was almost identical to David's in the UK (after dollar conversion).
 
I agree, very good to deal with (they told me what the cost would be before sending them my SR-009's).

 

[MacedonianHero]

 
Plurison replaced the cable on my SR-009 almost 2 years ago (loose wire at strain relief). There was never any conversation where I purchased the headphones.
 
Price for the same repair was almost identical to David's in the UK (after dollar conversion).
 
I agree, very good to deal with (they told me what the cost would be before sending them my SR-009's).

 
Good to know...thanks! I am so glad we can avoid Stax USA and deal with Plurison!

 

[Fafner]

I had the very same problem with mine (SN 2825), my dealer had to send it to Japan. Even my amp's balance control wasn't enough to compensate the imbalance I was experiencing. I got it back today, it took about 2 months for my dealer to internally test it, send it to Japan and get it back. 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.

 

[donc55]

These Japanese companies sell to anyone. If they can not vent sellers that go grey market, it is their own fault!
 
Cannon and Seiko will service any product in the US regardless of where it was bought, and at what discount. Cameras and watches are sold all over the internet from US companies for cheap, and you can get, at worst, out of warrant repairs. There are many many dealers and non approved sources, that will also repair any Nikon.
 
The STAX factory is the only place that can repair the SR-009. Why doesn't STAX send out spare electrostatic panels to dealers around the world, for easy swap out, and avoid the return to Japan! I guess they are not that smart!
 
Canon and Seiko value the customer, STAX does not.

 

[kodreaming]

The market is so small and they have a monopoly, why care ?
 
I guess it is just really hard to make good electrostatic phone and no one wants to compete for such a tiny market segment. 

 

[arnaud]

The SR009 gets a bit special treatment I think. In particular, I can't imagine Stax letting their dealers replace drivers for them. They'd want to guarantee matched pair of drivers and they not only run the individual drivers but also once assembled onto the headphone. As such, there is probably no way Stax will let an SR009 get to a customer before them having played something through it for a week or so...
 
Also, resellers / distributors are the 1st to complain about Grey market so you can bet they are the ones who will enforce strict policies in regards to not repairing grey market items. Stax have an obligation to repair any SR009 headphone but, obviously, grey market units must find their way back to Stax through the original purchase channel...
 
When buying 2nd hand, I guess its your responsibility to get original purchase receipts and such from the seller to make sure you can get your unit repaired (even out of warranty in present case).
 
Personally, I don't actually want to justify the american distributor policy, they just seem wrong from start to end and can only hope that Stax will do something about it at some point (I personally told Stax sales director many customers complained about poor service from US region).
 
cheers,
arnaud

 

[kodreaming]

At the end of day, the problem boils down to one thing:  Stax does not repair out of warranty item unless you go through the original seller. 

 

[kodreaming]

Great. Now my right side driver is actually having a quite audible hissing sound when there is no music playing...
 
I guess it is time to get help from my Japanese friend to get this thing serviced from Japan hopefully... 

 

[headfiro55]

Is it possible to buy necessary driver unit or parts, components for SR-009 repairing from STAX Japan company directly? (through PayPal or Bank ransfer or something)
 
I am not saying Earpads or Headband.
 
Of course, I am living in outside of Japan, have a SR-009 gray market version (Japanese domestic product).
I bought it when I was in Japan.
 
Has anyone ever tried it?

 

[arnaud]

Impossible I think, they only service unit if you send it in (and it must go through original sales channel).

 

[headfiro55]

I got answers from STAX Japan yesterday.
 
To sum up, they do not accept any service requests from overseas, and they said that they cannot ship any repairs parts to their overseas customers directly because of the contract between them and the dealer in each country.
 
In conclusion,
In order to repair domestic goods purchased in Japan, (1) you must visit Japan directly to visit STAX Head office or (2) Visit the store where you purchased the product or (3) Ask a friend who is going to go to Japan.
Lastly, (5) you can ask your relatives or close acquaintances who living in Japan.
 
There is no other way to repair it.
 
If you are not suitable for any circumstances above,
Buying domestic products can be a huge gamble.
If the product fails, you will be in a very difficult situation.
 
In addition, unlike dynamic headphones, electrostatic headphones diaphragm are vulnerable to dust, and very easy to be damaged with a slight amount of physical damage.
 

I hope this will help those who are in trouble.
 
PS 1: Here is one thing I'm not sure about the number (1).
I had heard that It was possible from someone who had visited STAX head office to repair his SR-007 on other webpage free board.
But, when I received a reply from STAX Japan, they were saying like this "We will repair only from the Japanese shop you bought" on it's content.
If this is true, I am not sure whether I can go directly to the headquarter to receive repair service or cannot.
So I asked them that may I do it?
But, I have not received any further responses from them so far.
Therefore, for this part, I think it would be better to hear replies from someone who had experienced it.

I don't think my request is blocked by their spam filtering system because I sent only one email to them.
I think they're trying to dodge my questions on purpose.
I don't know why.
I am really sad now.
Even though I am foreigner and living in outside of Japan, obviously I am a their customer.

 

[SmellyGas]

Can anyone tell me if I'm having this driver problem as well?
Whenever I cup my hands over the exterior mesh to form a seal, the volume on both sides temporarily becomes muffled. However, on one side, it takes 10-15 secs longer to recover than the other. I also notice that on that one side only, I can feel a faint electricity like sensation in my hand if I touch the mesh and push gently.
Is this the same issue?