[ubs28]

  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.

 
 
How about sending the headphone to the shop in Japan you bought it from and let them take care of the repair? And when the repair is done, ask them to send it back to you. Ofcourse you will have to pay for shipping costs.

 

[AnakChan]

How about sending the headphone to the shop in Japan you bought it from and let them take care of the repair? And when the repair is done, ask them to send it back to you. Ofcourse you will have to pay for shipping costs.

Assuming the local store in Japan is willing to do that. I would be surprised if they do actually. Businesses like Price Japan wouldn't exist if they did.

 

[HemiSam]

FromJapan did it for my imbalanced SR-007A's.  I had to cover shipping.
 
HS

 

[kodreaming]

  FromJapan did it for my imbalanced SR-007A's.  I had to cover shipping.
 
HS

 
Did you buy yours from them or they can do this as a paid service ?

 

[HemiSam]

   
Did you buy yours from them or they can do this as a paid service ?

 
I purchased from them directly...they are basically a service.  When the imbalance occurred, FromJapan had to go to the Stax merchant that the purchase was made through and get them to make good on the warranty.  I ended up with a new pair of 007A's, but it did take a little while.  I strongly recommend using a good credit card in case you have any issues.  
 
HS

 

[Julez]

I am able to repair broken drivers of 009s and basically every other Stax headphone by recoating the drivers or make completly new drivers. But the glued Lambda drivers are a big pain to repair. In my opinion if there is a channel imbalance the coating has already failed. Dustissues do often very quickly damage the membrane and burn little holes in them. If there are just a few very tiny holes this will not matter to sound and channel balance and the membrane can be recoated. If someone has problems getting his 009s repaired shoot me a pm to discuss prices and other details. I am located in Germany.

 

[nepherte]

  I am able to repair broken drivers of 009s and basically every other Stax headphone by recoating the drivers or make completly new drivers. But the glued Lambda drivers are a big pain to repair. In my opinion if there is a channel imbalance the coating has already failed. Dustissues do often very quickly damage the membrane and burn little holes in them. If there are just a few very tiny holes this will not matter to sound and channel balance and the membrane can be recoated. If someone has problems getting his 009s repaired shoot me a pm to discuss prices and other details. I am located in Germany.

Good to know.

 

[John Heng]

Dear All, I recently purchased an SR009 (s/no 3599) few months back. After enjoying listening to its incredible sound for a few months, the sound on the left driver, particularly the left treble start to fade and the volume was lower than my right side. I found out on this forum that many are experiencing the same imbalance problem. I swap amps and swap with my older Lamda pro and the problem indeed stem from the Sr009 headphone itself.

Now, I own a pair of Martin Logan Ethos which are electrostatics also. And they suffer a similar problem after prolong use with the fading of the treble and channel imbalance. On their forum, the solution is to give the membranes a light wash ( yes...wash with water).

I thought the SR009 was also suffering the same problem. Though the membrane may be thinner.
I carefully removed the fabric cover over the pad, then undid the 6 small philips screws holding the ear pad using a spectacle screw driver set.

Once ear pad is removed, you will see a black circular metal mesh and O ring. Very carefully lift the O ring and metal mesh up and out. The super thin membrane is just underneath and now exposed. Be super careful not to touch the membrane. I use a glass of water, then use a drinking straw, put straw into the clean water, then block the top end of straw with my index finger. I then carry the straw over the membrane ( 1or 2 inches) above. Then releasing my index finger, a few drops of water are release and flow over the thin membrane. You can tilt the driver at an angle so that the water can run off. Make sure water runs off away from the wires. Do a few times on the membrane to wash the whole surface. Then the other side.The other side just have to drop the water through the grating onto the membrane.

Once you are satisfied that the membrane is decently clean ( shine bright light on the membrane and look under magnification), I use a hair dryer in cold air low speed setting to just gently blow the large bubbles of water away. My hair dryer is blowing about 2 feet away to ensure no hard blowing.

Can also soak up any leftover large droplets of water left on the membrane with the edge of a tissue. Be super careful not to touch the membrane itself.

Once pretty dry, ( there may be other smaller water droplets) left behind is ok.

Now super carefully put back the metal mesh and O ring, then screw back the ear pad but do not insert the fabric cover back yet.

To properly dry the SR009, I place the SR009 in a large seal plastic box with a large box of drying agent ( you can get from supermarket those you place amongst clothes to stop mould growth e.g. thirsty hippo). I close the plastic box with the SR009 and drying agent inside for 2 days to allow the drying agent to thoroughly dry the SR009. After two days or so, check the membrane surface is thoroughly dry with no hint of water droplets.

Now replace back the fabric protector.

I fire up my SR009 and the sound is back to original and balance. Treble back to normal. So fluent and delicate. Volume back to normal.

I find that just trying to blow away dust off the membrane with a blower does not work. It must be water. If the water in your area is not clean or hard, then use bottle water.

Very happy with the result.

Now I keep my SR009 in a plastic box with drying agent and away from dust.
If you need further guidance, you can email me direct on mkhheng@gmail.com.

I am a mechanical/mechatronics engineering Snr lecturer from Nanyang Tecnological Uni, Singapore.

Hope my posting helps those suffering this same issue. There is actually nothing really to spoil in the headphone itself. That is why Stax can return the headphone without detecting any fault. Is just dirty membranes.

 

[chinsettawong]

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[Whitigir]

Dear All, I recently purchased an SR009 (s/no 3599) few months back. After enjoying listening to its incredible sound for a few months, the sound on the left driver, particularly the left treble start to fade and the volume was lower than my right side. I found out on this forum that many are experiencing the same imbalance problem. I swap amps and swap with my older Lamda pro and the problem indeed stem from the Sr009 headphone itself.

Now, I own a pair of Martin Logan Ethos which are electrostatics also. And they suffer a similar problem after prolong use with the fading of the treble and channel imbalance. On their forum, the solution is to give the membranes a light wash ( yes...wash with water).

I thought the SR009 was also suffering the same problem. Though the membrane may be thinner.
I carefully removed the fabric cover over the pad, then undid the 6 small philips screws holding the ear pad using a spectacle screw driver set.

Once ear pad is removed, you will see a black circular metal mesh and O ring. Very carefully lift the O ring and metal mesh up and out. The super thin membrane is just underneath and now exposed. Be super careful not to touch the membrane. I use a glass of water, then use a drinking straw, put straw into the clean water, then block the top end of straw with my index finger. I then carry the straw over the membrane ( 1or 2 inches) above. Then releasing my index finger, a few drops of water are release and flow over the thin membrane. You can tilt the driver at an angle so that the water can run off. Make sure water runs off away from the wires. Do a few times on the membrane to wash the whole surface. Then the other side.The other side just have to drop the water through the grating onto the membrane.

Once you are satisfied that the membrane is decently clean ( shine bright light on the membrane and look under magnification), I use a hair dryer in cold air low speed setting to just gently blow the large bubbles of water away. My hair dryer is blowing about 2 feet away to ensure no hard blowing.

Can also soak up any leftover large droplets of water left on the membrane with the edge of a tissue. Be super careful not to touch the membrane itself.

Once pretty dry, ( there may be other smaller water droplets) left behind is ok.

Now super carefully put back the metal mesh and O ring, then screw back the ear pad but do not insert the fabric cover back yet.

To properly dry the SR009, I place the SR009 in a large seal plastic box with a large box of drying agent ( you can get from supermarket those you place amongst clothes to stop mould growth e.g. thirsty hippo). I close the plastic box with the SR009 and drying agent inside for 2 days to allow the drying agent to thoroughly dry the SR009. After two days or so, check the membrane surface is thoroughly dry with no hint of water droplets.

Now replace back the fabric protector.

I fire up my SR009 and the sound is back to original and balance. Treble back to normal. So fluent and delicate. Volume back to normal.

I find that just trying to blow away dust off the membrane with a blower does not work. It must be water. If the water in your area is not clean or hard, then use bottle water.

Very happy with the result.

Now I keep my SR009 in a plastic box with drying agent and away from dust.
If you need further guidance, you can email me direct on mkhheng@gmail.com.

I am a mechanical/mechatronics engineering Snr lecturer from Nanyang Tecnological Uni, Singapore.

Hope my posting helps those suffering this same issue. There is actually nothing really to spoil in the headphone itself. That is why Stax can return the headphone without detecting any fault. Is just dirty membranes.

Thank you sir for the excellent write up about the problem and how to solve the issue.

 

[Julez]

Hello John Heng,

I am glad your 009 works again. But obviously (reading your text carefully) you did not do anything to the membrane. You just did wash the dustcovers (also made of the same mylar foil) of the driver wich are protecting the driver from dustparticels and humidity. I am not shure how this cured the problem but if your 009 is working again thumbs up.

If you had washed the membrane, that sits between the stators (as can be seen on the picture further down), with water after opening the driver itselve (again six screws to open the white driver housing) the headphone would most probably not work anymore as you would have washed away or damaged the coating or at least had dust entering the driver and then the membrane would have most probably be damaged by arcing because of dust that entered the driver.

I would not recommend to use water (or better destilled water) to wash anything regarding the membran. Just gently use a very soft brush. Only exception is if you would try to repair the headphone by recoating the membrane. For this step it would be useful to wash away the old (defective) coating from the membrane (on both sides) before applying a new coating.

I would also not recommend to open the driver without beeing in a dustfree room (like for producing microchips) as any small dustparticle that enters a Stax driver can (and most likely will) cause damage to the membrane. Here is a picture what can happen if dust enters the driver:

 

[astrostar59]

Julez, how did dust get into the driver space in the example you show? It looks like it trashed (scorched) the membrane. I wonder if dust jammed between the outer film and this driver itself can cause an imbalance as John Heng states? If this is true, it is possibly good news, as a way to fix an imbalance ourselves if out of warranty period, when I presume Stax won't replace them for free?

And of course, paying for 2 x new drivers would probably cost more than half the 009 cost.

 

[John Heng]

Hello John Heng,

I am glad your 009 works again. But obviously (reading your text carefully) you did not do anything to the membrane. You just did wash the dustcovers (also made of the same mylar foil) of the driver wich are protecting the driver from dustparticels and humidity. I am not shure how this cured the problem but if your 009 is working again thumbs up.

If you had washed the membrane, that sits between the stators (as can be seen on the picture further down), with water after opening the driver itselve (again six screws to open the white driver housing) the headphone would most probably not work anymore as you would have washed away or damaged the coating or at least had dust entering the driver and then the membrane would have most probably be damaged by arcing because of dust that entered the driver.

I would not recommend to use water (or better destilled water) to wash anything regarding the membran. Just gently use a very soft brush. Only exception is if you would try to repair the headphone by recoating the membrane. For this step it would be useful to wash away the old (defective) coating from the membrane (on both sides) before applying a new coating.

I would also not recommend to open the driver without beeing in a dustfree room (like for producing microchips) as any small dustparticle that enters a Stax driver can (and most likely will) cause damage to the membrane. Here is a picture what can happen if dust enters the driver:

Yes... I did wash the membrane itself with drops of water. Yes there is this fear of damaging the thin conductive coating on the membrane. Same with my Marin Logan speakers. But from my two experiences with washing my stax and martin logans, the sound is really back once the membranes are clean again. Sorry I did not include photos of my disassembly.

Hello John Heng,

I am glad your 009 works again. But obviously (reading your text carefully) you did not do anything to the membrane. You just did wash the dustcovers (also made of the same mylar foil) of the driver wich are protecting the driver from dustparticels and humidity. I am not shure how this cured the problem but if your 009 is working again thumbs up.

If you had washed the membrane, that sits between the stators (as can be seen on the picture further down), with water after opening the driver itselve (again six screws to open the white driver housing) the headphone would most probably not work anymore as you would have washed away or damaged the coating or at least had dust entering the driver and then the membrane would have most probably be damaged by arcing because of dust that entered the driver.

I would not recommend to use water (or better destilled water) to wash anything regarding the membran. Just gently use a very soft brush. Only exception is if you would try to repair the headphone by recoating the membrane. For this step it would be useful to wash away the old (defective) coating from the membrane (on both sides) before applying a new coating.

I would also not recommend to open the driver without beeing in a dustfree room (like for producing microchips) as any small dustparticle that enters a Stax driver can (and most likely will) cause damage to the membrane. Here is a picture what can happen if dust enters the driver:

Yes. I did wash the clear membrane film just below the metal mesh with drops of water. I did not open anything else beyond that. There is only one superthin clear membrane sandwiched between the two hex shaped stators. Same with my Martin Longan speakers in construction. Yes, there is this fear that washing the membrane will destroy the conductive coating on the membranes. Same for members in the martin logan forum. That was my initial fear too. But when I was successful in washing my martin logans and restoring its pristine sound, I thought the same must apply to my Sr009. Just reporting my experiences and just reporting that I have solved my SR009 imbalance problem.

Its amazing for the SR009, how just a slight drop in balance or resolution between the two drivers affects the imaging and sound stage so much. I did not realise it. At one point it even sounded pretty close to my Lamda pro with the gap not very wide. Now after washing, the sound gap between the two is really wide again and there is no comparison between the two. Maybe I should consider washing my Lamda pros too. My Lamda pros were bought in 1990 making then 27 years old and they still produce magnificent sound compared to vast majority of headphones out there. But the SR009 driven with a decent valve amp is just another level above. I am still using my 27 year old SRM T1 but the valves have been replaced with electro-harmonix 6cg7 gold tubes. My source is a Linn akurate DSM playing 24bit 192khz flac files.

 

[John Heng]

Hello John Heng,

I am glad your 009 works again. But obviously (reading your text carefully) you did not do anything to the membrane. You just did wash the dustcovers (also made of the same mylar foil) of the driver wich are protecting the driver from dustparticels and humidity. I am not shure how this cured the problem but if your 009 is working again thumbs up.

If you had washed the membrane, that sits between the stators (as can be seen on the picture further down), with water after opening the driver itselve (again six screws to open the white driver housing) the headphone would most probably not work anymore as you would have washed away or damaged the coating or at least had dust entering the driver and then the membrane would have most probably be damaged by arcing because of dust that entered the driver.

I would not recommend to use water (or better destilled water) to wash anything regarding the membran. Just gently use a very soft brush. Only exception is if you would try to repair the headphone by recoating the membrane. For this step it would be useful to wash away the old (defective) coating from the membrane (on both sides) before applying a new coating.

I would also not recommend to open the driver without beeing in a dustfree room (like for producing microchips) as any small dustparticle that enters a Stax driver can (and most likely will) cause damage to the membrane. Here is a picture what can happen if dust enters the driver:

Ahhh... I studied your photo carefully. Your stator besides having the hex cross bar shape has the little metal micro holes meshing protecting the membrane. So it will make it more challenging to get the water to pass this additional micro metal hole mesh. My SR009 just has the hex cross bars but without the metal micro holes mesh to protect the membrane.
When I use the hairdryer, can see the clear membrane flexing back and forth. So have to blow very gently.

I did not need to open the white plastic housing. When the circular metal mesh and o ring is removed ( these two are not fasten down in any way. It just sits on the white plastic housing) the membrane is already exposed except the thin areas covered by the hex cross bars.

Does your SR009 have the circular metal mesh with the O ring? Did not see that in your photo. My circular metal mesh and o ring is black in colour.

Obviously, Stax have made some design changes between the earlier and later Sr009 models.

 

[arnaud]

Water, hairdryer... that all sounds very much like the very last thing I'd attempt to do, you are brave!

I also don't quite understand how you got that imbalanced resolved by dropping water on the dust screens.

Arnaud