[Gallaine]

Quote:

Originally posted by Matthew-Spaltro I heard something on head-fi about being carefull of leaving music to play when your not listening to a elctrostatic earphone. That it can damage the driver. Any weight to this rumor?

I did alot of research before buying my Stax 4040 and I didn't come across this. I'd be interested in knowing where you found it, or even if it is really true - I'd hate to damage my earspeakers!

BTW, I found the 404 earspeakers to be one of the most comfortable 'phones I've tried.

 

[Frag|LE-]

Quote:

Originally posted by Matthew-Spaltro Great detail that surpases the HD 600. Yes, that fast. Even less forgiving of bad recordings then the HD 600.

I dont agree. I was disappointed after listening to the current stax lineup .. excluding the omega IIs which I have yet to hear. I actually prefer "the veil" over most high end headphones. The only phones I enjoy more than the HD600s are the HE90s .. which are, soundwise, uncomparable.

 

[radrd]

Quote:

I did alot of research before buying my Stax 4040 and I didn't come across this. I'd be interested in knowing where you found it, or even if it is really true - I'd hate to damage my earspeakers!

I'm pretty sure that I read it on the Stax site or somewhere else that was reputable. Is there any documentation that came with your system? If it is an issue, then I would expect that Stax would note it somewhere.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

You are NOT supposed to play Stax earspeakers when they are not encountering some resistance like your head or at least some books. They are built to encounter the pressure of your head, and many have stated that you just don't run them without some form of back pressure on them. Check headwize for some info also.

The reason we don't get this info is we order the stuff from Japan and you either don't get a book, or it comes in Japanese. The price you pay for getting something so cheap.

 

[Matt]

...saying that they "heard the Stax line and were disappointed," I must say that at the HeadRoom WOH Tour, I listened to the Stax systems next to the dynamics and felt very much the same way. This was after I had bought my Classic System II.

At the tour stop, they had the Omega II's which were not as euphonic overall as, say, the HD600's on a BlockHead. They also had\ the 4040 system, which was (as has been said in this very thread) thin-sounding, lacking impact, etc.

The real revelation comes when you take a system home and spend time with it. The virtues of the Stax system creep in and then flood in on you. You realize that your "wandering eye" (in the general price range, of course) is absolutely gone, as you are hearing timbre reproduced in an uncannily natural way, etc. You start hearing things you never heard in living, breathing *ways* you have never before heard on any "reproduction" of music. You realize that you are listening to something very special and your desire to stay right where you are (again, in the general price range) is exceedingly strong.

Stax system suffer from Negative Bose Syndrome: they do not impress on first listen and then that's it, after you've taken it home, harsh, fatiguing and awful reality hits. No, it's the diametric opposite.

I am very confident that with an extended audition not in the presence of "slamming" dynamic gear, most serious listeners would prefer the electrostatics to dynamics as a function of sheer enjoyment over time, after they've given themselves a chance to "readjust" to the electrostatic earspeakers' peculiarites, namely lack of impactful bass (a factor which does steal a large facet of realism).

When I had my Classic System II (I sold it and now have Signatures and am awaiting a KGSS electrostatic amp), I would sit down most evenings and very nearly without fail would have one or more of those "heart sinking" moments, where the sheer beauty of something or other would just hit you right in the heart...this is what Stax is all about, to me, and this is why I am sticking with them.

- Matt

 

[Matthew-Spaltro]

That is exactly why I am keeping them. Like I said they still need to burn in. I will admit it is a weird sound at first. The instruments sort of just float in their own space in the recording. It's very weird at first. The lack of slam is also strange and I still haven't got used to that fact. But the mid range detail far surpases any dynamic i've ever heard. So does the soundstage. I hear tape hiss were I couldn't have in the HD600 in the older recordings. Simply amazing, but weird!

 

[ablaze]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gallaine I did alot of research before buying my Stax 4040 and I didn't come across this. I'd be interested in knowing where you found it, or even if it is really true - I'd hate to damage my earspeakers! BTW, I found the 404 earspeakers to be one of the most comfortable 'phones I've tried.

now Gallaine, are you saying I'm spouting unsubstantiated rubbish?

ok, look here,
http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...hlight=srs3030

Quote:

Also, these babies need to break-in. Big time. They should be ready after 200-300 hours. When you break-in these earspeakers, do not let them sit on the table with music playing! In fact, avoid having music going through them when you're not wearing them! I was told by the STAX distributor that the earspeakers are constructed to play against load (read: your head). Leaving them playing without any kind of resistance between them is not very "healthy" (don't ask me why....). So when you burn them in, put some books between them, so the earpads are stuck closely to the books. Let them "mature" for around a week with slightly higher volume than your usual listening zone, and they should be fine by then (^_^)

thats what Keiso said, and thats where I read it

 

[Gallaine]

Quote:

Originally posted by ablaze now Gallaine, are you saying I'm spouting unsubstantiated rubbish? ok, look here, http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showt...hlight=srs3030 thats what Jude said, and thats where I read it

Hmmm., take a look at the originator of the quote in my post. Unless I missed something, you aren't Matthew-Spaltro. So I guess the answer to your question is, no.

But to answer perhaps a broader indictment, I don't take everything I read at face-value

- especially when it begins with "I read something somwhere..."

The manual that came with my Stax 404 earspeakers (printed in both Japanese and English) has no warnings about avoiding playing music through the earspeakers with no "load". I have contacted Stax's North American Service Center via email about this very question. Hopefully I'll get a response soon.

 

[Matthew-Spaltro]

I didn't come here to be made sport of

 

[Gallaine]

Quote:

Originally posted by Matthew-Spaltro I didn't come here to be made sport of

I don't follow.

 

[Matthew-Spaltro]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gallaine Hmmm., take a look at the originator of the quote in my post. Unless I missed something, you aren't Matthew-Spaltro. So I guess the answer to your question is, no.

That.

 

[ablaze]

Quote:

Originally posted by Gallaine Hmmm., take a look at the originator of the quote in my post. Unless I missed something, you aren't Matthew-Spaltro. So I guess the answer to your question is, no. But to answer perhaps a broader indictment, I don't take everything I read at face-value - especially when it begins with "I read something somwhere..." The manual that came with my Stax 404 earspeakers (printed in both Japanese and English) has no warnings about avoiding playing music through the earspeakers with no "load". I have contacted Stax's North American Service Center via email about this very question. Hopefully I'll get a response soon.

oops. my bad

anyway, do let us know what Stax says. cheers

 

[Gallaine]

Quote:

Originally posted by Matthew-Spaltro That.

I think you misunderstood my post. It was a response to Ablaze not you. My original post was a question to you and Ablaze responded as if I somehow accused him of false information. I wasn't making "sport" of you.

 

[Matthew-Spaltro]

Ok. I misunderstood.

 

[Mike Scarpitti]

Quote:

Originally posted by Matt ...saying that they "heard the Stax line and were disappointed," I must say that at the HeadRoom WOH Tour, I listened to the Stax systems next to the dynamics and felt very much the same way. This was after I had bought my Classic System II. At the tour stop, they had the Omega II's which were not as euphonic overall as, say, the HD600's on a BlockHead. They also had\ the 4040 system, which was (as has been said in this very thread) thin-sounding, lacking impact, etc. The real revelation comes when you take a system home and spend time with it. The virtues of the Stax system creep in and then flood in on you. You realize that your "wandering eye" (in the general price range, of course) is absolutely gone, as you are hearing timbre reproduced in an uncannily natural way, etc. You start hearing things you never heard in living, breathing *ways* you have never before heard on any "reproduction" of music. You realize that you are listening to something very special and your desire to stay right where you are (again, in the general price range) is exceedingly strong. Stax system suffer from Negative Bose Syndrome: they do not impress on first listen and then that's it, after you've taken it home, harsh, fatiguing and awful reality hits. No, it's the diametric opposite. I am very confident that with an extended audition not in the presence of "slamming" dynamic gear, most serious listeners would prefer the electrostatics to dynamics as a function of sheer enjoyment over time, after they've given themselves a chance to "readjust" to the electrostatic earspeakers' peculiarites, namely lack of impactful bass (a factor which does steal a large facet of realism). When I had my Classic System II (I sold it and now have Signatures and am awaiting a KGSS electrostatic amp), I would sit down most evenings and very nearly without fail would have one or more of those "heart sinking" moments, where the sheer beauty of something or other would just hit you right in the heart...this is what Stax is all about, to me, and this is why I am sticking with them. - Matt

What I have been saying here for months.