[David1961]

I got my 009's from PJ December 2011 and I've not had one problem with them, apart from me not liking the original headband.

 

[paradoxper]

I really still don't get the warranty thing. PJ sent them back to Stax for testing and they found no problems.
Spritzer alluded that there isn't really a imbalance problem,
it's just certain environmental factors can affect stats. I believe there have been a few who reported imbalance issues, had them sent to Stax -
passing whatever tests Stax conducts and sent back noting no issues were found - yet owners find their pair are back to normal.
Just goes back to the whole throw 'em on a plane ride thing.
 
That $50 fee is bull though. PJ is however 'honoring' their 'warranty,' no?

 

[MacedonianHero]

 

  Because they looked that way? 

 
According to elusivedisc.com, the SR-009s are their #1 selling headphone by a good margin (in terms of units sold, not $) and while some experience imbalance issues (like all other stat headphones), I think you're exaggerating the number affected. I (and many) have had units for many years all without issue (knock on wood of course); hopefully your pair will work for many years problem free.
 
What amp are you using? Have you ruled it out? Sorry I might have missed that.

 


PJ are not a dealer in Japan, but they do only sell new stuff - they act as a middle man for Japanese dealers getting a cut from the buyer and likely a cut from the dealer as well. The $50 charge sounds a bit jerky given that they make some good money on these, but one can also see how their margins could start to shrink if they are just doing busy work. I have bought from PJ and know many others who have as well and everything has been perfect. And although you save quite a chunk of money in dealing with them, they should be upfront with ancillary fees where something is found not to require warranty repair (and maybe it is somewhere on their website that I have not seen). And yes, I too see the imbalance issue as seriously overblown, but do understand the frustration that people must feel when it happens to them.

I think he has a KGSSHV, but can't recall if he had another amp or Stax headset to rule out the amp.

Hey George: 
 
Good point...another pair of headphones in the KGSSHV would have ruled out the amp. I wonder if that was done? 

 

[marcoarment]

  I really still don't get the warranty thing. PJ sent them back to Stax for testing and they found no problems.
Spritzer alluded that there isn't really a imbalance problem,
it's just certain environmental factors can affect stats. I believe there have been a few who reported imbalance issues, had them sent to Stax -
passing whatever tests Stax conducts and sent back noting no issues were found - yet owners find their pair are back to normal.
Just goes back to the whole throw 'em on a plane ride thing.

 
I discussed this a couple months back in this thread, but basically, I think the random-environmental-problems explanation is incorrect and implausible given the data from almost every report of this problem and my own testing of mine.
 
My environment was typical. They were used in a 72-degree air-conditioned office in early June in a suburb of New York City. It wasn't unusually hot, cold, humid, or dry. There's no carpeting and I never notice static shocks on anything, even in the winter. They worked perfectly with no imbalance at all for the first 4 days, then developed a large imbalance rapidly over a span of a few hours. From that point forward, whenever they were used, the imbalance was either immediately apparent or became very apparent within the first few minutes of listening, and within about 30 minutes, the right channel was almost completely silent.
 
This persisted, with exactly the same problem, with two very different amps (Stax 323S and Spritzer-built KGSSHV) plugged into different circuits in different rooms around the house, touching and grounding the pins to discharge them, multiple periods of leaving them in the box for spans up to 15 days, and even one experiment spending a few days in-box in the freezer. No matter what I did, the problem was the exact same. Same driver (right). Same imbalance. Same rate of change. Persisted for over a month before I sent them in. If this were really an environmental issue, I'd expect some variance.
 
I've never seen a single report of anyone having any luck with these home "environmental" remedies. Making the environmental theories even less likely, this imbalance also always shows up within the first few days or weeks of ownership, never after months or years — again, no variance.
 
Beyond one forum's anecdotes, PJ told me they've been processing "many" imbalance-repair claims recently, and they've handled far more 009s than any of us. They said they almost always come back with the same statement from Stax: allegedly no repairs done, claiming they can't reproduce the problem.
 
The story's the same from almost everyone I've found: They get sent back to Stax, Stax claims there's no problem, but they come back fully fixed. And — here's the kicker — I haven't found a single person whose imbalance has recurred after being ("not") fixed by Stax. If it comes back and works, it always works after that.
 
So what's more likely? Two extra airplane rides, beyond the ones that delivered them in the first place, somehow permanently fix a not-actually-defective driver from a reliably reproducible problem for almost everyone? Or a proud company doesn't want to admit to a flaw they don't know how to eradicate in their flagship product, so they just quietly fix and return the ones that come in?
 
I'm not a crazy conspiracy theorist. I'm a realist and a skeptic. The simplest explanation is usually the correct one.

 

[arnaud]

  The story's the same from almost everyone I've found: They get sent back to Stax, Stax claims there's no problem, but they come back fully fixed. And — here's the kicker — I haven't found a single person whose imbalance has recurred after being ("not") fixed by Stax. If it comes back and works, it always works after that.

 
So what's your issue then? Having to pay an extra $50 for PJ to cover the shipment cost back to you or some other kind of handling fee? Sounds like a cheap solution considering how much you shaved off by going grey route.
 
Arnaud

 

[marcoarment]

Besides general frustration at my own situation, my issue is the dishonesty from Stax and overly defensive, hostile, and dismissive denial from some people here.
 
Look, I'm a huge fan of a lot of Apple stuff. We get "fanboy" accusations all the time. I know how it goes. But when Apple screws up, I call them out on it. No company gets everything right every time. There's nothing wrong with considering and admitting that Stax has very likely screwed something up here, and if that's true, they're handling it extremely poorly.

 

[gepardcv]

Thank you for posting the description of your environment. It seems pretty definitive. Let's wait for you to get the headphones back, and post here about whether the imbalance problem went away.

 

[arnaud]

But Stax never said there was no issue. They even put initial batch on hold at the product release. For 3 months or so I recall. From that, what changed is a more stringent QC test to weed out the lemons. But it never cured the problem, hence your story here.

Now, it would really seem like there's a reproducibility issue and probably the root cause of imbalance wasn't ever completely understood.

But what else do you want Stax to do for you? Just not sell anymore 009 because there's a 3% return rate or whatever actual number it is? Makes no sense to me as they servicing units under warranty (going through authorized dealer will get it fixed at no cost, grey market bears its delay and return shipping costs, you knew that going in).

To me, you're whining about a situation you're solely responsible for: you took your chance going through grey market and seem to attract trouble. Stax fanboy or not, i don't what Stax should do more for you.

Arnaud

 

[complin]

Well if I interpret correctly some clarification is being asked for from Stax.
Its not implausible Stax are covering up a problem, companies have done that in the past. The worst culprits used to be car manufacturers but since there have been so many exposures of this in the past few years they dont dare do it any longer.
There have been issues in the past particularly with the 717 amplifier reliability but as far as I know its was a bad patch. Their dealers were very vocal about the issue but personally I have not heard any such major issues about the 009.
 
Since Stax facilitated the factory tour perhaps we as a community to voice our concerns and ask them for a statement?

 

[jgazal]

 
(...) PJ told me they've been processing "many" imbalance-repair claims recently (...)

 
Do PJ register an increase of imbalance repair claims particularly in August? Did they tell you this behavior repeat every year?

 

[astrostar59]

Is the imbalance issue appearing soon after purchase of the new 009s? Or is it a year later for example?
I was told by some that the issue crops up in a month or less post purchase. If that is the case, then the 009 owners can rest a bit easier. If longer to appear, we can begin to panic....

 

[marcoarment]

   
Do PJ register an increase of imbalance repair claims particularly in August? Did they tell you this behavior repeat every year?

 
I see what you're getting at, but I don't know. That comment about many repairs lately was in early July anyway.
 
I really don't think it's related to humidity since I keep my office between 35–55% year-round (there's actually a hygrometer next to my desk for monitoring this), and again, I would expect the problem to have seen some variance in testing mine over a month, rather than being exactly the same every time. (June and early July in New York include a pretty big variety of weather conditions.)
 

  Is the imbalance issue appearing soon after purchase of the new 009s? Or is it a year later for example?
I was told by some that the issue crops up in a month or less post purchase. If that is the case, then the 009 owners can rest a bit easier. If longer to appear, we can begin to panic....

 
I've only ever heard of this problem happening within the first few days or weeks of purchase. Once it's fixed, it never recurs.

 

[astrostar59]

Oh Good! I well cancel throwing myself off the cliff then.... I might get the 009s wet, then there WOULD be a channel imbalance!

 

[jgazal]

  I see what you're getting at, but I don't know.

Thank you for sharing with us. I was thinking the climate at the test room in the manufacturer facility (or even the initial logistic path) and not in the several climates of typical consumers in northern hemisphere. It is just that I feel very curious about the causes of such imbalance.
 
This is an humidity chart for Tokyo:
 

   
http://www.weather-and-climate.com/average-monthly-Rainfall-Temperature-Sunshine,Tokyo,Japan

 

[tremolo]

If static is possible culprit, stay away from that plastic cover that Stax sells.