STAX SRM-D50

[Rob80b]

Im attaching a new picture I took of my (dark grey) unit together with my SR-009s. As you can see, on the picture the unit is pretty close to the SR-009s in color. In real life it absolutely isn't, even under a strong light.

I'm still on the fence regarding either the D50 or the SRM 400 and how much a difference either will make powering the L300s over the little 252S.
Since incorporating the Shiit Loki EQ to bring up the lower bass it's no longer necessary to increase the volume where the 252s got into problems with distortion, although if there's power in reserve the overall sound should in theory be more relaxed or less stressed on demanding passages.
The D50 wins on form factor but I like the extra gain I would get from a balanced connection with the SRM 400.

 

[newbluesuit]

The Danish reseller who had a demo SRM-D50 for sale (recommended to me in the general Stax thread) told me that the color of that demo unit was the same as my current unit, and that they'd never seen another color.

I'm still returning my dark grey D50 to the reseller I bought it from, as I really dislike the color. It's a shame because as others have pointed out the D50 has a more appealing form factor and feels sturdier than the Stax energizers made in Japan, even the very high-end ones. Hopefully going forward the new energizers from Stax will be a bit more stylish than what we've had so far (but in silver, not dark grey!) and they'll improve their communication to avoid misleading their customers…

 

[purk]

The Danish reseller who had a demo SRM-D50 for sale (recommended to me in the general Stax thread) told me that the color of that demo unit was the same as my current unit, and that they'd never seen another color.

I'm still returning my dark grey D50 to the reseller I bought it from, as I really dislike the color. It's a shame because as others have pointed out the D50 has a more appealing form factor and feels sturdier than the Stax energizers made in Japan, even the very high-end ones. Hopefully going forward the new energizers from Stax will be a bit more stylish than what we've had so far (but in silver, not dark grey!) and they'll improve their communication to avoid misleading their customers…

You can buy my silver if you want.

 

[yaluen]

I've never owned the D50, nor seen it in person, so was just speculating on what the explanation could be for all these conflicting signals.

Best pic I was able to find was this with a D50 sitting on a Merging NADAC (definitely silver) beside a D10 posted late 2018.

 

[Rob80b]

So I'm starting to think that all units may in fact be the same dark grey color as mine

Sorry one more...this Aussie site lists their unit as being specifically silver as in distinguishing it from another color choice, that maybe being grey?
https://www.heynowhifi.com.au/products/stax-srm-d50-compact-driver-with-dac-silver

 

[newbluesuit]

Sorry one more...this Aussie site lists their unit as being specifically silver as in distinguishing it from another color choice, that being grey?
https://www.heynowhifi.com.au/products/stax-srm-d50-compact-driver-with-dac-silver

The reseller I ordered my unit from was also listing it as ‘silver’ (that's why I ordered from them without asking about the color first, even though I had already seen the dark grey pictures on the Stax International website). They say that this is how the D50 has been described in the Stax catalog since its introduction several years ago, and also that the pictures are all provided by Stax directly. They recognized that the pictures were misleading and said that they would change them on their website (which is probably what Stax International did some time ago, too).

They also claim that Stax confirmed there has only ever been one color of D50s (which is coherent with their catalog, except that the color in question is not silver but dark grey—which could be a translation issue, or maybe the person who worded the catalog entry was looking at the pictures rather than at an actual unit?). The Danish reseller that was recommended to me in the other thread also said there is only one color, and it's the same as my unit (at least they don't call it silver on their website, but they use the same pictures from Stax). Since I can make my dark grey unit look silver-ish in pictures (but not in real life), and since no other user here has given convincing proof that they own an actual silver D50, for now I have no reason to believe that silver units exist. My memory of the unit I demoed several years ago must be wrong…

I've never seen a Merging NADAC ‘in person’ (which is funny, given that Merging are just a few miles from my place!) but I know their pro models, and the color is quite unusual. It's silver-ish but very matte, and it doesn't render well in pictures (similar to the D50 in this respect). I wouldn't use it as a reference. The picture above does prove that the D50 is not as dark as the D10, however, but I've never seen a picture of a D10 that made it look silver, unlike the D50, so they must be a different finish anyway.

 

[Rob80b]

The reseller I ordered my unit from was also listing it as ‘silver’......

Ok..we will leave it at that unless someone who actual owns a silver steps in.

 

[purk]

Mine is silver for sure. For reference, the Stax SRM-353X, topping stacks (P50, D50s, and A50s), and Questyle 600i are in the photos.

The 353 and Topping are both silver while the Questyle 600i comes in gunmetal grey.

I hope this settles it.

 

[Rob80b]

Ok..we will leave it at that unless someone who actual owns a silver steps in.

Mine is silver for sure.

I hope this settles it.

 

[newbluesuit]

@purk If your silver D50 is indeed for sale, as you suggested earlier, maybe @Rob80b will be interested (I'm assuming it's a 120V unit?).

 

[Rob80b]

@purk If your silver D50 is indeed for sale, as you suggested earlier, maybe @Rob80b will be interested (I'm assuming it's a 120V unit?).

Reading my mind.

 

[purk]

Yes, it is a 120V unit. Yes, PM me if you want it. Thanks.

 

[Rob80b]

PM sent

Monday:

........maybe Rob80b will be interested ...........

And I was.
But the epilogue to all this was that while calculating all the applicable fees for purk's D50 coming into Canada I received a notice from Ebay that an offer I had previously made on a SRM 400 was accepted, thought it was ignored (sellers can do this without notice) so was now basically committed to the 400.
The 400 or a 353X were previously my 1st choice as the balanced inputs are a must for running long cables, which I will eventually be doing, the D50 is an attractive and more accommodating package though.

 

[newbluesuit]

Stax have just changed their position and sent a message to the reseller of my dark grey unit, which I think will be the final word on this issue.

The D50 is ‘dark silver’ in Europe and Japan and ‘silver’ in other markets. The dark units are CE compliant while the others aren't. Non-compliant units cannot be imported to Europe.

Of course, ‘dark silver’ is not really a thing (silver is by definition a light color) so they must mean ‘dark metal’. It's quite interesting that Stax chooses to make units that aren't CE compliant. It's also very strange that they do not mention the two color variants on their own website and send promotional pictures of a silver unit to their European resellers.

I guess I'll have to go buy a 230V silver D50 in Australia and then smuggle it back to Switzerland…

 

[Rob80b]

The D50 is ‘dark silver’ in Europe and Japan and ‘silver’ in other markets.

Odd though, for a unit that was released in 2018 that the differences are just coming to light.

Anyway as noted above I have a SRM 400 on the way, very different form factor but only slightly different specs over the D50.

SRM 400
-Gain: 60dB
-Harmonic distortion: 0.01% or less (1kHz/100Vrms output)
-Input impedance: 50k Ω (RCA), 50k Ω x 2 (XLR)
-Maximum output voltage: 400Vrms (1kHz)

SRM D50
-Gain: 59 dB
-Harmonic distortion: 0.025% or less/1kHz-10kHz /When use with SR-L series
-Input Impedance: 20kΩ (RCA
-Maximum Input Level: 30V/ RCA, at minimum volume
-Maximum Output Voltage: 400V RMS (1130Vp-p)

Either or should be an upgrade on my current SRM 252S, which sadly will distort the signal quite abruptly when pushed too hard, some music just begs to be played a little louder , otherwise it sounds fine and if one only listens at moderate levels the 280 V RMS output is more than enough power.