[jenkinsontherun]

i bought those adaptors with brainwavz pads and didnt enjoy them after a bit of testing, it sits wrong on my head , especially with the original headband and then the sound signature is kinda wrong , muffled , however again others like it.
The original sound signature is much better but my ears where touching the grill, heating and the pads where toooo thin and almost hurting me.

Hopefully after getting the Vesper pads 20mm (i put the full specs earlier) and the more expensive sr-l700 headband, i just found bliss end game headphones .

I have a physically large head (though it doesn't do much ). If worst comes to worst, I'll just cut the fabric band right down the middle, then use some elastics to re-bind it. That essentially creates a larger head band.

It's what I did with the AKG K500. It's surprisingly comfortable. Of course, the resale value goes down the drain. The white string is a surgical mask band, which has great elasticity properties for this kind of mod. Snip snip.

Some equipment have multi voltage PSU. The Playstation since the 3 comes to mind.
Others have a voltage selector, one mode supports 100-130v, the other 220-240v. A lot of desktop PC PSUs are like that. Sometimes the selector is covered by a sticker so it's not bumped or moved by accident to the other voltage. If you are lucky, the PSU will short circuit before dealing any damage to the internal components. Happened to a friend, everything else functioned alright, but the PSU was toasted.

In my case, I really hope that the step down converted doesn't get "lost" or impounded at my country's customs.
It happened to me before when I purchased a Schiit Magni 2 Uber amp to complete my Uber Stack, I did it via a PC parts importer. They gave me a generic wall wart that didn't work with the amp. I had to use the Modi wall wart in the Magni, and the generic wall wart on the Modi. It actually worked alright, but wasn't ideal. I had to buy a Schiit wall wart via an audio equipment importer.
For audio equipment I only trust importers and dealers specialized on them.

Nice

 

[EJSorona]

I have a physically large head (though it doesn't do much ). If worst comes to worst, I'll just cut the fabric band right down the middle, then use some elastics to re-bind it. That essentially creates a larger head band.


It's what I did with the AKG K500. It's surprisingly comfortable. Of course, the resale value goes down the drain. The white string is a surgical mask band, which has great elasticity properties for this kind of mod. Snip snip.


Nice

The headband on the Lambdas, specially the L300, is rather brittle. It broke on some people.
If the headband on my L700 breaks, I will plan to fix them with aluminum finger splints. Some people even went as fast as to almost fully replace the headband with an aluminum or brass strip, they leave enough of the original headband to screw the homemade metal headband in place.
I used to own a Siberia V2 headset, they died on me, I salvaged the USB dongle and the headband, which is made of two spring steel strips. I later bought a Sony PS Gold headset, that priece of garbange, its headband broke after a couple of months of use, I fixed it with the steel strips from the Siberia V2. They weren't that bad, they had a detachable cable, and the battery charge lasted months. The current PS Gold version has a much lighter, and probably better made, headband.

 

[ProLoL]

Sorry, I am a bit confused. This is the 3100 system I bought. https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Stax-SRS-3100-Ear-speaker-system/114627476296?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Is that a bad purchase? Maybe I should have researched a bit more on the power supply.

This is what is confusing me:

The amp is 100V, the power supply that it comes with is ??V, the recommended power supply is 12V? The wall outlet is 120V. Can you please explain this to me?

Thanks

Hello, no it's a great purchase. The amplifier doesn't have an internal power supply, you'll receive an external power supply japanese 100v with this package.
Purchase an Ifi Ipower 12V and you're good to go. The amplifier requires 12Volts and that's it, required wattage such as 110v or 220v is irrelevant.
The power supply provided in this package clearly states 100V so you can't use it and don't buy a step up transformer, it's garbage that will increase the noise floor.
As I said, Ifi Ipower 12v is the best solution or just go to your local hardware store to get a suitable 12v power supply (cable) for your amplifier.

 

[jenkinsontherun]

Hello, no it's a great purchase. The amplifier doesn't have an internal power supply, you'll receive an external power supply japanese 100v with this package.
Purchase an Ifi Ipower 12V and you're good to go. The amplifier requires 12Volts and that's it, required wattage such as 110v or 220v is irrelevant.
The power supply provided in this package clearly states 100V so you can't use it and don't buy a step up transformer, it's garbage that will increase the noise floor.
As I said, Ifi Ipower 12v is the best solution or just go to your local hardware store to get a suitable 12v power supply (cable) for your amplifier.

Yea, that makes sense. It's all becoming clear now

 

[EJSorona]

You have an option. Then again, I suggested the step down converter as a last resort.
Reading further regarding that step up/down transformers can create more noise, now I'm kinda worried. Well, maybe I should ask the technician that built my tube amp, maybe he has a solution for me, maybe a step down tranformer with noise reduction filters (if that's even possible), or even have the guts to modify the 353X so it works at 230V 50hz.
I read that old Stax amps can be easily modified to different voltages, whereas newer ones are locked to a specific region.
We'll see in a week or so. The bugger is still on its way while I have the earspeakers resting in their foam and cardboard coffin.

 

[Doom0]

@jenkinsontherun
I too can recommend iFi iPower 12V (normal, not iPower X). According to specs it can be plugged into 100-240VAC (50-60Hz) outlet = so basically everywhere, you don't have to worry about it anymore.

There is one important thing though.
STAX 252S has inverted polarity input. See image:

It basically says that outer surface (barrel) of plug must be positive (+), while inner surface (tip) must be negative (-). See how plug looks like:

On the other hand, iFi iPower has standard polarity:

As you can see from the image, it says that barrel is negative (-), while tip is positive (+).

As Wiki says:
The outer body of the plug is one contact, most often but not always the negative side of the supply. Inverted polarity plugs can, and do, damage circuitry when plugged in, even if the voltage is correct; not all equipment is equipped with protection. A pin mounted in the socket makes contact with a second internal contact. The outer plug contact is often called the barrel, sleeve or ring, while the inner one is called the tip.

Luckily for you, iFi iPower comes with white Reverse Polarity Plug:

You will have to put this reverse polarity plug on normal plug before connecting it to 252S. Then you should be good. That's how I use it with my 252S amp.

If you don't want to use iPower but other AC/DC adapters, you still need to check the polarity. As wiki said, most come with standard polarity - opposite of what 252S amp needs.

If you prefer to use step up/step down transformers, then you don't have to worry about polarity because AC/DC adapter that comes with 252S has correct polarity for amp of course

 

[jenkinsontherun]

@jenkinsontherun
I too can recommend iFi iPower 12V (normal, not iPower X). According to specs it can be plugged into 100-240VAC (50-60Hz) outlet = so basically everywhere, you don't have to worry about it anymore.

There is one important thing though.
STAX 252S has inverted polarity input. See image:

It basically says that outer surface (barrel) of plug must be positive (+), while inner surface (tip) must be negative (-). See how plug looks like:

On the other hand, iFi iPower has standard polarity:

As you can see from the image, it says that barrel is negative (-), while tip is positive (+).

As Wiki says:
The outer body of the plug is one contact, most often but not always the negative side of the supply. Inverted polarity plugs can, and do, damage circuitry when plugged in, even if the voltage is correct; not all equipment is equipped with protection. A pin mounted in the socket makes contact with a second internal contact. The outer plug contact is often called the barrel, sleeve or ring, while the inner one is called the tip.

Luckily for you, iFi iPower comes with white Reverse Polarity Plug:

You will have to put this reverse polarity plug on normal plug before connecting it to 252S. Then you should be good. That's how I use it with my 252S amp.

If you don't want to use iPower but other AC/DC adapters, you still need to check the polarity. As wiki said, most come with standard polarity - opposite of what 252S amp needs.

If you prefer to use step up/step down transformers, then you don't have to worry about polarity because AC/DC adapter that comes with 252S has correct polarity for amp of course

This is exactly what I needed! Thanks a lot

I bought this one:
https://www.electronicsforless.ca/i...-dc-power-adapter-with-travel-plugs-7819.html
Yea, it comes with the adaptor.

Lol, to be honest, I probably would have missed this detail and potentially broken an amp.

Btw, @Doom0 , there was talk about noise in the above posts. What's your take on all of that discussion?

 

[jenkinsontherun]

So I want to make a summary post, potentially as copy/paste for beginners in electronics. This is just based on what I learned in this thread, so fee free to correct me:
---------------------------------------------
Most amps, such as the Stax SRM-252S, require a DC voltage to operate.

To convert the wall voltage, which is AC, to DC voltage required by the amp, a AC/DC power supply is required.

However, specific properties of the power supply are required for the amp to function properly. For the SRM-252S, these properties from a power supply are required:

-12Volts output voltage
-More than 0.5 amps of current
-Inverted polarity
-The power supply is also rated for a certain 'input' voltage, ie. the voltage from the wall. A 100V power supply cannot be used on a 120V wall.

---------------------------------------------
Does this sound right? From an experts perspective, it obviously sounds very simple, but I'm sure there's a lot of people who would like summarised notes like this as well.

Probably can be shortened as well.

 

[jenkinsontherun]

So I want to make a summary post, potentially as copy/paste for beginners in electronics. This is just based on what I learned in this thread, so fee free to correct me:
---------------------------------------------
Most amps, such as the Stax SRM-252S, require a DC voltage to operate.

To convert the wall voltage, which is AC, to DC voltage required by the amp, a AC/DC power supply is required.

However, the DC voltage is specific to the amp, and can vary. For the SRM-252S, these properties of the power supply are required:

-12Volts
-More than 0.5 amps of current
-Inverted polarity
-The power supply is also rated for a certain 'input' voltage, ie. the voltage from the wall. A 100V power supply cannot be used on a 120V wall.

So in a way, there are two things to worry about: what the power supply requires, and what the amp requires. If these two things are satisfied, you are safe to use the power supply on your own amplifier.
---------------------------------------------
Does this sound right? From an experts perspective, it obviously sounds very simple, but I'm sure there's a lot of people who would like summarised notes like this as well.

Probably can be shortened as well.

In this post, I listed 4 general properties: power supply output voltage, power supply intake voltage, amperage requirement, and polarity. Any more? Does voltage wave frequency matter? 50 Hz in Japan, 60Hz in Canada...

Ultimate goal: reduce power supply requirements to a few properties (I listed 4 already)

 

[robo24]

Just got a barely used set of the standard L300. Wow!
I've had the SR-007 MKII for nearly a year, and while overall they're "better" the L300 are more engaging, especially as a first impression. I'm using them with a TT2 as DAC to iFi iESL so that may be better than the stock amp many of these were sold as. Pads aren't exactly comfortable, but they're not uncomfortable either. I started with the Koss 95X as my first electrostatics, but if I'd started with these, I don't know that I would have bothered with anything more expensive for a long time. These are the 2nd cheapest audiophile headphones I have (after the 58X) and they punch way above their price. I certainly understand comments by some that they're end game for them.

They do have a somewhat narrow soundstage, but I’m starting to realize a wide soundstage isn’t necessary for my enjoyment. They’re exciting, kind of liquid sounding, even lush at times. Perhaps this is what people mean by musical? Yosi Arakawa stuff and Infected Mushroom is what I’ve spent most of my time so far listening to with these and such music plays to their strengths.

Part of me was thinking of getting some money back by selling off my iESL and estats but now with these, no way. Often a sense of fun and an emotional reaction is more important than being the best or amazing in any one category. They’ve also not been as bass-light as I thought they’d be.

 

[AudioCats]

...

Lol, to be honest, I probably would have missed this detail and potentially broken an amp.

...

mini stax amps have a power fuse inside, it will just pop if over-voltage or reverse-polarity is encountered. The main part of the amp will be ok. Just open the case and replace the fuse if that happens.

 

[Swann36]

Just received my L300LE and 353x in black from Headamp (using this with an OL DAC with RCA-in listening via Google Play Music [haters please feel free to hate]). I'm upgrading from an SRM-1/MK-2 with Lambda Pros. The difference is clear -- these are smoother and more detailed, and voices in particular sound even more realistic (I feel like I've moved from the rear of the orchestra to the front center -- perfect). It's easier to place different instruments if listening to jazz, and the soundstage is similar to the Lambda Pros (which is to say, really big). The bass is tighter and punchier, though I detect a bit less rumble at verrry low frequencies (e.g., in Daft Punk's "Doin' it Right", there's a bit less rumble at the intro).

Notably, this isn't a comment on vanilla L300's, but as far as I know, they don't have a thread yet (sorry, mods, if I'm wrong).

I briefly tried normal L300s beside L700s a couple years ago, and the difference I remembered between them was mostly a smoothness gap, with the L700s coming out on top but not justifying the price in my mind. I can't effectively compare the L300LE to those two (and it's been awhile), but for ~$1,800, this setup (OL DAC, SRM-353x, SR-L300LE) is really damn good, and probably end-game for me. Plus everything is nicely designed with that sweet, sweet gold foil logo that I'm a sucker for and reminds me of the glory days of premium Japanese electronics.

Great to read .. as its now 2021 are they ...L300LE SRM 353X & OL DAC ... still with you ?

 

[Swann36]

I mentioned they look "built to last decades" prematurely. Certainly the earspeakers are built well, but I noticed the headband is just plastic, and somewhat thin. Makes me wonder how long until they break or the clamping force is reduced which would also impact the sound. I got mine from HeadAmp Audio and they said they cover any defects in the first month; 1st year Stax covers it under their warranty and after that Stax covers it out of warranty. I'll be careful though, at least I've never broken headphones that others have reported being fragile, such as the Soundmagic HP-100 mine's still intact years later.

Also these outdo my former Koss ESP 950 earspeakers to the point they are barely even comparable

You might think that plastic isn't strong, but i can say that i have some Koss K7s which were a birthday present to me in the 1970s and they are still in use by myself in 2021

 

[DecentLevi]

Hey guys, my blasted headband broke. I want to replace it with the metal one. Any advise on a source to get one? I'm in the U.S. and can consider an overseas source for a good price, and have the L300 Limited Edition.

This plastic is a design flaw no matter if it's a special material - I put it on somewhat fast & could've bent it an inch too far outward but it should've withstood that. This headband makes me afraid to let anyone with a big head try it.

 

[Lord Rexter]

You might want to check this https://staxaudio.com/headband/stax-sr-l700mk2-headband-assembly