[Zoide]

I am using this for my 3100 system
https://www.sbooster.com/botw-pp-eco-12v-132v/srm-252s

Demoed it at the store, next to the regular power supply, it made enough of a difference to me to make me buy it.

300 Euro! :O

 

[Hunki Chunki]

300 Euro! :O

yeah.. I know right... ah well..

 

[Pahani]

For the 252S, I'd likely purchase the PS that Mjolnir sells. They design and build amps from scratch, so I'm thinking they know what they're doing!

http://www.mjolnir-audio.com/diy-supplies/

Scroll to the bottom of the page.

 

[makne]

I am using this for my 3100 system
https://www.sbooster.com/botw-pp-eco-12v-132v/srm-252s

Demoed it at the store, next to the regular power supply, it made enough of a difference to me to make me buy it.

Oh dear, that costs as much as the amp itself (and it's bigger lol).
What type of sound changes did you experience?
I am soo close to ordering the Ifi iPower right now...

 

[makne]

For the 252S, I'd likely purchase the PS that Mjolnir sells. They design and build amps from scratch, so I'm thinking they know what they're doing!

http://www.mjolnir-audio.com/diy-supplies/

Scroll to the bottom of the page.

Thanks!
I emailed him, asking if his power supply could improve the sound and if I should choose the Ifi or the one he's selling.

 

[Zoide]

Thanks!
I emailed him, asking if his power supply could improve the sound and if I should choose the Ifi or the one he's selling.

Well, there is an obvious conflict of interest...

 

[makne]

This is his answer:

Hi Magnus,

The stock Stax supply is nothing but a transformer with a rectifier
inside so nothing special. Feed it 230V and it will give you raw
12VDC. Now if you are using a switching PSU then that could upset the
switcher in the amp if it runs at the wrong frequency and the sound
will suffer. It could also be struggling with the load for some reason or
a bad component in there.
Hard to say.

My PSU is just a basic switcher that runs at the right frequency to
work with the Stax stuff and not supposed to be an upgrade in any way.
I had to look up the ifi stuff and yeah...audiophile snake oil BS.
"Military Radar Tech for Audio"... what a pile of rubbish. Neat package
but that's it.

Now what I do for my own amps is to go through old routers/switches
(stuff like that) and search for 12V/1A PSU's and then switch the polarity
on them.
Some of these are just transformers and rectifiers in small brick and
work perfectly for Stax once the polarity has been swapped.

So how I interpreted it, the PSU won't make a big difference if my current one is working properly. Even so, for the price he's asking it's a small risk, and I'm planning on keeping the amp for a while. So I've decided to buy a PSU from him

 

[macromark]

any more thoughts on using L700 pads on L300?
So far I've seen mixed feedback, some like the sound and some don't. If someone could describe the sound changes, and even compare them to the L700, it would be appreciated.
Is there any loss in clarity, resolution, detail retrieval?
So far I've read that the pads increase comfort and soundstage, but changes/colours the midrange. That is basically what I heard when comparing the L300 and L700, so I'm wondering if the pad swap mostly changes the L300 more towards the L700's sound.

Sure, I'll jump back in. The stock pads are OK for comfort but they allowed my ears to touch the screens (as others have noted). I did get used to this but when I saw this thread, I decided to go ahead and try the L700 pads. Here's what I noticed:

• The L700 pads are thick enough to push my ears away from the screens. Mission accomplished (or so I thought). However...
• The L700 pads are noticeably warmer on my head... still talking about comfort here; not sound. On a warm day, you will perspire a bit more with these!
• Bass with the L700 pads is affected but not in the way I thought it would be. I assumed the tighter seal would yield deeper bass... it does not (at least for me). In fact, the stock L300 pads seem to go deeper. I'm talking about the very lowest 1/2 octave of so close to the area where you 'feel' bass more than hear it. I've yet to switch back to the L300 pads to double check this but I'm pretty sure of what I'm hearing.
• Otherwise, the L700 pads and stock pads sound pretty much the same.
• FWIW, the L700 pads are described as being "synthetic leather" on the site where I got them (staxaudio.com).

 

[makne]

Sure, I'll jump back in. The stock pads are OK for comfort but they allowed my ears to touch the screens (as others have noted). I did get used to this but when I saw this thread, I decided to go ahead and try the L700 pads. Here's what I noticed:

• The L700 pads are thick enough to push my ears away from the screens. Mission accomplished (or so I thought). However...
• The L700 pads are noticeably warmer on my head... still talking about comfort here; not sound. On a warm day, you will perspire a bit more with these!
• Bass with the L700 pads is affected but not in the way I thought it would be. I assumed the tighter seal would yield deeper bass... it does not (at least for me). In fact, the stock L300 pads seem to go deeper. I'm talking about the very lowest 1/2 octave of so close to the area where you 'feel' bass more than hear it. I've yet to switch back to the L300 pads to double check this but I'm pretty sure of what I'm hearing.
• Otherwise, the L700 pads and stock pads sound pretty much the same.
• FWIW, the L700 pads are described as being "synthetic leather" on the site where I got them (staxaudio.com).

I experienced the same thing about the bass on both the ZMF lambskin and HM5 flat velours. Guess it's because of the increased distance from diaphragm to ear. However I've got some more issues with the ZMF pads that outwheighs the improved comfort imo.

My problem with the ZMF pads is that while they give a wider soundstage, they also seem to thin out the sound. Less midrange, less body to instruments and vocals, lacking timbre and harmonics. This also seems to amplify/making more clear the harsh upper-mid/7k range I'm having a little trouble with. With the stock pads it's tolerable, but with the ZMF's it's just too much for me.

So right now I'm okay with the stock pads, but obviously comfort could be better. Wondering if the L700 pads could be the answer. As they're more similar to the stock pads than the ZMF's are, maybe they won't change/degrade the sound to the same degree.
Still, it's a pretty hefty price tag to make a gamble on... Think I need more time to consider if it's worth the risk.

 

[imran27]

Any comparisons of the SRS-3100 combo with the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO?

 

[Music Alchemist]

Photo I took when I owned the SR-L300 and SR-Lambda. (Can't wait to try higher-end STAX!)

 

[JimJames]

What's the soundstage and imaging like in the sr 300?

 

[makne]

What's the soundstage and imaging like in the sr 300?

Pretty narrow and intimate. My Elear is considered as OK+ width and pretty shallow depth (z-axis), but is still bigger/more expansive than the L300. But the L300's soundstage is more airy, and imaging is insanely accurate and precise.

 

[JimJames]

Pretty narrow and intimate. My Elear is considered as OK+ width and pretty shallow depth (z-axis), but is still bigger/more expansive than the L300. But the L300's soundstage is more airy, and imaging is insanely accurate and precise.

And you reckon soundstage improves much with the pad mods?

 

[makne]

And you reckon soundstage improves much with the pad mods?

It does get wider, and somewhat deeper at least if you use angled pads. But at the end of the day I preferred the stock pads, I felt like pad mods altered the sound signature for the worse (More uneven treble, less sub-bass) and decreases the e-stat magic resolution. This was with ZMF lambskin pads.

I haven't tried the L700 pads on the L300, that may give different results. The L700 has a wider soundstage anyway, but still intimate z-axis.