[David1961]

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

 
I've used the plastic cover with my 009's since I got those earspeakers in December 2011, and I haven't had one problem with them.

 

[tremolo]

If you live in a dry climate, it can get  a lot of static electricity. I threw mine in the garbage can.

 

[David1961]

I'm from the North of England, so that's probably the reason I haven't had a problem while using the cover.

 

[astrostar59]

  If you live in a dry climate, it can get  a lot of static electricity. I threw mine in the garbage can.

I live in an almost desert climate, in South Spain. So I use a stuffed bird display case Ha Ha, looks nuts but works a treat. All I need now is to stick some feathers on the ear cups and I'm done. No static, no dust, and I can see the phones as well.
 

 

[CybDev]

I live in an almost desert climate, in South Spain. So I use a stuffed bird display case Ha Ha, looks nuts but works a treat. All I need now is to stick some feathers on the ear cups and I'm done. No static, no dust, and I can see the phones as well.

That looks awesome, where did you get it?

 

[astrostar59]

You know, I used to work in IT and Polyester shirts can kill PC chipsets, the static charge that can build up by swinging arms and moving around, it's lethal to electronic stuff. Likewise, wearing such clothing and putting on the 009s, with their earthing through the 5 pins leads, it might be the cause. We used to use an earthing strap on our wrists before venturing inside a PC.... How many times do you go to your car door and get a flash?
 
Me, it's so hot here, I listen in my underpants, so no problem so far. Only issue this summer is my ears get hot! Hey, I recommend nude listening, sod the neighbours, this is serious audio gear we are talking guys.

 

[astrostar59]

I got both the glass display case and the headphone stand on Amazon. It was about £40 whole thing. I drilled some small holes in the top to allow some venting, as in Winter the ear cups can go grow white mould, though that only seems to happen if not used for ages. I use my nearly every day.

 

[meraias]

hmm, I didn't know this page exists. I'll have to share my story here, hoping that some one could tell me what to do, or not at least this would give others an idea of what the worst could have happen and be informed in their decisions. at the present I am greatly discouraged...
 
Ive got a pair of 009s which is imbalanced out of the box from day 1 bought from PJ, and actually I bought it together with a 727A.
the imbalance is quite severe that I had to listen with the right volume control tweaked higher than the left on the driver. (which im not sure if its really a default that you have to do this for a new driver unit, which I doubt it)
 
I suspected that its the headphone that's the problem since thats what one would normally expect,
having not known anyone around my area with another driver to test with,
I sent a mail to PJ and was discouraged to get it sent back by the guy over and over again saying that many wasted money for pointless round trips. After a few mail exchange, they finally gave permission for a repair.
That took around 6 weeks until it finally get back to me. I've been informed that both left and right drivers are being replaced, which I thought its suppose to be just the right side that's the problem but oh well...
 
upon listening, the problem is still there, more so its exactly the same as my impression previously and no change what so ever left>right...
I wrote another mail to PJ and this time they started becoming hostile. I thought I would try to sought for a refund, but PJ turned me down in quite a hostile way. They don't do it, and they say I would have to send it back for a repair even though if this is an endless game.
 
Fine! I shall play your endless game, only this time I sent both my driver and headphone together. 
I packed my driver in the box forgetting to tweak the right volume knob down since that's the position I listened to for my imbalanced 009.
since I sent the boxes off, I wrote a mail to PJ requesting them to put a simple note in saying "please ensure that the knobs are aligned to the bottom". they revert with contempt saying that I demand them too much and refused to do it, even then claiming a second time ship back was much harder than the first, and again the same feedback about wasting my shipping. If feels like they offered warranty reluctantly without genuinely wanted to help you get things fixed...
 
another 1.5 months had passed (which is now), and they finally returned the stuffs to me, only that this time, they charged me 50$ extra in addition to shipping since they couldn't find any fault in it. I paid and received my phones and drivers back in a week.
 
guess what?, its still there, the imbalance exactly the same as before. The strange thing is that the volume knob of the driver is still tilted at the position I previously requested PJ to put a note on... I cant help but think that all these times, my things are not being fixed nor was it even being checked on at all.
And now, Im a sad guy being left with this piece of gear which im too guilty to even sell it on Head Fi, both the amp and the phones which is faulty is still a mystery, and I know shipping this back is not going to help any more and I have spent more than enough... Perhaps I should list it on really cheap soon and hoped for the best. 
I spent more than half a year worth of salary accumulation just to reach my Hi fi dreams, and it did nothing but overwhelmed me with grieve and disappointment that I cant even enjoy listening to musics any more, with this amount spent, i will be through with hi fi for a long time...

 

[antonyfirst]

I think we should require the SR-009 to be sold with lifetime warranty, given its cost and these problems.
 
In any case, by reading these reports, it almost looks like if Price Japan is hoarding defective units on purpose, to resell and gain on it...

 

[astrostar59]

Hang on. I do sympathise with the driver imbalance issue. BUT you went to PJ - why? To save you money not buying from a registered dealer.  You now want PJ to act like a registered dealer, and ship back and forth to some far flung country at their expense? Seems daft. It's like buying a grey import Honda, then complaining the local dealer won't service it.
 
Please, folks, buy from your local dealer or importer. I did and ate the cost. Get the 2 or 3 years warranty, pay the list price.
 
I am guessing, but maybe PJ has undercut so many importers to various countries, Stax basically put them to the back of the queue, or maybe don't even honour the repairs at all, and PJ have to fund it. Dunno. But something is way off here.
 
If I was you, I would pay Stax for a replacement driver, fit it yourself (easy to do) and sell them or keep them. It seems most imbalance issues crop up in days from new, so ongoing reliability is ok. The same thing happened to the early 507s.
 
Are PJ even allowed to sell to none Japanese states. Is it legal? Does anyone know? I have seen dealer block outs before with various hifi manufacturers. They can't let mass sales of unit go out at 70% list, it kills the dealer network. Then we have this mess...

 

[arnaud]

I've always been giving pj and Stax the benefit of the doubt but this is just not right...

The grey market export is clearly illegal not authorized by Stax so I could imagine Stax is refusing to service units that come from them if they have evidence PJ is not respecting their sales policy (e.g domestic sale only).

Given PJ's website and the not insignificant number of customers, it's probably not that difficult for Stax to realise the issue (and most likely they're getting claims back from their official blood sucking distribution network).

I can't imagine Stax would reserve the lemons for PJ but, suffice to say, you are definitely taking your chance ordering through pj today...

I could try to bring these topics to Stax attention / try to get official stance. But not sure what I am going to hear back about pj: Stax is doing all they can to prevent this kind of grey channel (although they could simply refuse to sell to such dealers in the first place once identified though).

To the fellow with the 009 issue: any chance you have someone around (stat owner) whom you could send the 009 to in order to see if it's a driver rather than phone issue? Where are you located?

Arnaud

 

[shipsupt]

  Are PJ even allowed to sell to none Japanese states. Is it legal? Does anyone know? I have seen dealer block outs before with various hifi manufacturers. They can't let mass sales of unit go out at 70% list, it kills the dealer network. Then we have this mess...

 
Sure it's legal.  Essentially they are buying and reselling as a private entity, no different than an individual buying a pair in Japan and then selling them.  Which is why the whole warranty issue is a problem for them, there is no warranty transfer.  They have to approach STAX each time as the "owner" for warranty work.  
 
I was treated really well by PJ in the past on this issue.  Over time I hear the stories changing from good to bad.... I think they are just tired of playing middle man for so many returns when STAX keeps telling them nothing is wrong with the headphones.  Of course, if they are, they could stop selling them too...

 

[astrostar59]

   
Sure it's legal.  Essentially they are buying and reselling as a private entity, no different than an individual buying a pair in Japan and then selling them.  Which is why the whole warranty issue is a problem for them, there is no warranty transfer.  They have to approach STAX each time as the "owner" for warranty work.  
 
I was treated really well by PJ in the past on this issue.  Over time I hear the stories changing from good to bad.... I think they are just tired of playing middle man for so many returns when STAX keeps telling them nothing is wrong with the headphones.  Of course, if they are, they could stop selling them too...

Wow, is that a fact? Or guesswork? If that is a fact, then this is NOT right or legal. I get the idea most buy from PJ thinking they are a dealer or at least a Japanese shop that has warranty and the rights to sell over the world. Isn't the box unopened though? I guess so, but the return situation is not return to Stax is it. If it was, it would be ok to buy from PJ. I have little sympathy for this. The motive to buy from PJ is the discount. That has to be based on the buyer knowing that that situation exists....
 
Clearly this PJ thing is running it's course. The 009 issue seems bigger and is too much money to ignore than the 507 issues of the past. I would strongly recommend Stax buyers to save a bit longer and get 009s from your local dealer networks. Or risk loosing sleep for the first 2 years 'warranty period'. And if selling your 00s and less than 2 years old, it would be honest to say bought from PJ so the buyer is aware.

 

[David1961]

If I was to get another pair of SR-009's, I'd still get them from PJ, simply because if I did find any problems, then with the money I'd save over buying a pair in the UK, I could have them fixed in the UK with that saved money, and probably still have some left over.
Fortunately with the pair I have which I got from PJ in December 2011, I've not had any problems with the SQ.

 

[meraias]

Thanks guys for responding, yea I've taken my chance, and it turned out to be a mess... : (
please pardon me for flooding a page of wrath here, you know it makes me feel much better doing so, it means something to me... bear with me mate.
 
Hi, astrostar, couldn agree more with what you said about paying more for authorized dealers, you got your point across.
"ship back and forth to some far flung country at their expense?" - I never had this element implied astrostar, in fact I dont mind so as long as it fixes my problem, its just that especially i found some fishy issues that does not jibe with their responsibilities - 'the knob' and my item being returned with exactly the same fault, which is just really hard to get over with
but thank you for your suggestion, how much will the drivers cost exactly? im expecting it to be quite close to the whole, which im quite tight in funds atm...
ive seen some one buying faulty stax drivers at the sale forum, its quite tempting to go that direction, though I hadn't ask what the offer will be.
 
Hi arnaud, im located in Australia Canberra, where head-fiers are known to lurk underground : (
do you happen to know any one in australia that can help me test my phones? worst comes to worst i may have to ship it to some one overseas to test it for me.
 
Hi, shipsupt, Its good to hear you got yours fine in one piece, guess I just hit the landmine, still, registered dealer or not, middle man or what so ever you name yourself, no reason to discount being trustworthy.
as much as I wanted to spill my mind about things, the problem could have been the chain above PJ which they sourced the merchandise from.(maybe, as all of you had discussed, PJ may not have sourced it directly from STAX for the regional issue)