[davidsh]

Didn't get that lambda. It was gone within hours, I should seriously have called instead of writing.. Garh!
 
The sigma nb is really growing on me, despite 'only' having the T1 for amping. It's such an easy listen, yet still satisfying and it still has that electrostat sound. Technically not the best 'stat. It's dark-ish, the bass is a little boomy and doesn't seem to be as resolving as my LS, yet it still hits a pretty sweet spot and is very enjoyable.

 

[Chris J]

So what are people's thoughts of the SR-407 vs SR-207?

I just tried the two next to each other at a local meet and the SR-407 sounded a little smoother to my ears in terms of the upper-midrange glare that's present in the SR-207 as well as treble peaks.

Also, the brown colour of the SR-407 is freaking ugly....I don't want poop brown in any of my audio gear.

I've never compared the SR-207 to the 407 but I've heard that you are better off upgrading the amp before you upgrade the 'phones, assuming you had an SRS-2170 or equivalent.
Does anyone have any experience with this type of upgrade?

 

[miceblue]

So what are people's thoughts of the SR-407 vs SR-207?

I just tried the two next to each other at a local meet and the SR-407 sounded a little smoother to my ears in terms of the upper-midrange glare that's present in the SR-207 as well as treble peaks.

Also, the brown colour of the SR-407 is freaking ugly....I don't want poop brown in any of my audio gear.

I've never compared the SR-207 to the 407 but I've heard that you are better off upgrading the amp before you upgrade the 'phones, assuming you had an SRS-2170 or equivalent.
Does anyone have any experience with this type of upgrade?

Perhaps. I don't recall what the amp was with the SR-407, I'll look it up later.

My comparisons were on the same amp though, the SRM-252S.

 

[gefski]

Perhaps. I don't recall what the amp was with the SR-407, I'll look it up later.

My comparisons were on the same amp though, the SRM-252S.

The amp I had at the meet is an SRM-1 MK-2 PRO purchased used. Well regarded, provides both 580 and 230 v bias voltage. "The SRM1-Mk-2 Professional is an FET-input, pure class-A, DC-coupled amplifier. It has no capacitors or transformers in the audio path." I find it to be dead quiet, dynamic, smooth and open. However, it's the only solid state amp in my house, and I 'd like to try a Stax tube amp (or Woo) if I got the chance.

In the noisy venue we couldn't really compare. It would be fun to do a Lambda mini meet in a quiet place.

And yep, I considered getting the 307 just because of the 407 color, but reviews suggested the 407 and 507 were almost identical, and the price difference was significant. There is actually a Stax amp with a brownish front that makes the 407 "look better" (if that's possible).

 

[DefQon]

   
SRA-12S at that price...yeah, way overpriced. That's SRM-T1 money, easily.
 
Any sort of Lambda for $130, though? If it works, GRAB IT ASAP before someone else does! Heck, even if it doesn't work, it would probably fetch that much as a parts unit.

What are you smoking?
 
$500 for an SRA-12S is cheap (depends on condition as well). They usually go for around hundred or so more. Near NOS units go for a few hundred more.
 
Especially handy for those who require the need for preamp and phono and driving earspeakers. 
 
Pro-bias can be easily added in, drives the Lambda's better than the T1/S/W. More output power. More headroom and better clarity but the T1's tube does roll-off some of the brightness or Lambda treble etch if you like that stuff. Can even drive the 009 and O2's fairly decently unlike the T1/006/007t.
 
SRM1-MK2 is the smaller brother of the SRA-12S from what I remember, similar execution at the circuit topology.
 
$130 for a Lambda (regardless of version) is cheap considering it works and no past tampering with the drivers. 

 

[DefQon]

I've never compared the SR-207 to the 407 but I've heard that you are better off upgrading the amp before you upgrade the 'phones, assuming you had an SRS-2170 or equivalent.
Does anyone have any experience with this type of upgrade?

You don't need to upgrade the amp before you upgrade the phones that is just non-sense talk unless you want a completely different setup rather than waiting for that magical improvement placebo to kick in ohh look MOAR IS BETTER etc you get my drift.
 
207 is brighter than the 307/407 but its hard to to compare the bright tonality to the annoyingly bright to the extent of cold treble from the 507.
 
Those that have heard/owned/dis-assembled the 407 and 507 to the bone have reported 407 and 507 share same drivers (not surprised since Stax has done this in past models in history). Difference is headband arc assembly, driver housing chamber and earpads. 507 leather pads on 407 = 507 sound. I haven't tried this myself to confirm this but it's something to take in mind.

 

[NamelessPFG]

What are you smoking?
 
$500 for an SRA-12S is cheap (depends on condition as well). They usually go for around hundred or so more. Near NOS units go for a few hundred more.
 
Especially handy for those who require the need for preamp and phono and driving earspeakers. 
 
Pro-bias can be easily added in, drives the Lambda's better than the T1/S/W. More output power. More headroom and better clarity but the T1's tube does roll-off some of the brightness or Lambda treble etch if you like that stuff. Can even drive the 009 and O2's fairly decently unlike the T1/006/007t.
 
SRM1-MK2 is the smaller brother of the SRA-12S from what I remember, similar execution at the circuit topology.
 
$130 for a Lambda (regardless of version) is cheap considering it works and no past tampering with the drivers. 

 
I've seen 'em go on eBay for $350 and under before fairly regularly.
 
On the flip side, they tend to be units with cards ripped out, stepped attenuators slipped in, and other crazy mods done to them...none of which include making one of the outputs Pro bias, which you'd think they'd have done in the first place.
 
Now, if it were the rare SRA-14S, I could see THAT fetching $500+ easy...

 

[miceblue]

Perhaps. I don't recall what the amp was with the SR-407, I'll look it up later.

My comparisons were on the same amp though, the SRM-252S.

The amp I had at the meet is an SRM-1 MK-2 PRO purchased used. Well regarded, provides both 580 and 230 v bias voltage. "The SRM1-Mk-2 Professional is an FET-input, pure class-A, DC-coupled amplifier. It has no capacitors or transformers in the audio path." I find it to be dead quiet, dynamic, smooth and open. However, it's the only solid state amp in my house, and I 'd like to try a Stax tube amp (or Woo) if I got the chance.

In the noisy venue we couldn't really compare. It would be fun to do a Lambda mini meet in a quiet place.

And yep, I considered getting the 307 just because of the 407 color, but reviews suggested the 407 and 507 were almost identical, and the price difference was significant. There is actually a Stax amp with a brownish front that makes the 407 "look better" (if that's possible).

Ah okay, that's why I got confused when making my YouTube video. I saw the "Normal" port, so I assumed the other port was "Normal" as well, and that's why I thought it was the SR-Lambda.

It really was a noisy venue to do a fair comparison. I had the volume potentiometer on my SRM-252S amp at around 11-12 o'clock. At home, I usually listen with it turned to 8:30-10 o'clock. A mini-meet would be pretty cool! I'd be interested in hearing how the SRM-1 MK-2 PRO sounds. I'll send you a personal message about it.

KingStyles, who couldn't make it to the meet, has an Eddie Current Electra electrostatic tube amp. I wanted to try that at the meet before the last meet, but alas, time wasn't on my side again. >.>

 

[DefQon]

   
I've seen 'em go on eBay for $350 and under before fairly regularly.
 
On the flip side, they tend to be units with cards ripped out, stepped attenuators slipped in, and other crazy mods done to them...none of which include making one of the outputs Pro bias, which you'd think they'd have done in the first place.
 
Now, if it were the rare SRA-14S, I could see THAT fetching $500+ easy...

Sorry but I don't believe it till I see it and I'm on ebay fairly regularly maybe you can point a few out here with dead/end auction ebay links etc etc.
 
I have seen SRA-10 and a very few 12S go for around $350 but those were absolutely piss-poor condition units that the seller listed AS-IS non working, I know because I bought one a moon ago from the States and it did not work till I gave it as spritzer puts it some "TLC" to get it up and running. These units that go for cheap are usually clusterfked to the extent that it really isn't worth fixing.
 
As with modded Stax units....
 
Yeh mods done to them because the people who modded them have absolutely no idea what they are doing which leads me to other point and a true fact is there are not many or hardly any other than spritzer, KG and few competent diy'ers from the other forum that have the know-how on how to have a pro-bias added into the Stax amplifiers, expecially older amps such as the SRM1 that I have, SRA-5/10/12/14 that have high 600 B+ vdc floating around and just steal that voltage point through a divider and tap into the middle ping on the socket. It really is easy once you have somebody like Birgir, KG or a random thread on diyaudio which some EE will help you with, it's not that hard.
 
Speaking of which Stax did have a SRA-12S Gold model back in the day, modded with pro-bias, on ebay too not that long ago, one sold for around $1200? NOS though.
 
SRA-14S/12 similar amps ask spritzer.

 

[davidsh]

Don't tempt me
The condition seems to be good by the way. Used, non-modded and nothing replaced, looks to be in good condition. Still think I'll pass on it as I know almost nothing about soldering yet.

 

[Chris J]

You don't need to upgrade the amp before you upgrade the phones that is just non-sense talk unless you want a completely different setup rather than waiting for that magical improvement placebo to kick in ohh look MOAR IS BETTER etc you get my drift.

207 is brighter than the 307/407 but its hard to to compare the bright tonality to the annoyingly bright to the extent of cold treble from the 507.

Those that have heard/owned/dis-assembled the 407 and 507 to the bone have reported 407 and 507 share same drivers (not surprised since Stax has done this in past models in history). Difference is headband arc assembly, driver housing chamber and earpads. 507 leather pads on 407 = 507 sound. I haven't tried this myself to confirm this but it's something to take in mind.

Actually it's your opinion against someone else's.
Right?

 

[mangler]

Actually it's your opinion against someone else's.
Right?

I've never heard the 507 off of solid state, or any other lambdas, so take this all with a grain of salt: off my tube amp (one of Spritzers creations), the 507 actually sounds pretty balanced, not cold (but not warm either), smooth, and less bright and less harsh than the treble on my TH600 (although the latter is new and not burned in). For me, the major drawback is the comfort, not the frequency response.

For what it's worth, I've been using these with instrumental hip hop (DJ Shadow, Paris Zax), electronic (Haxan Cloak, Holy Other, Lorn, etc...), rock (Mogwai, Radiohead, Led Zeplin, even some At The Gates), jazz (mostly Miles Davis), and bit of classical, and I think the 507 does fairly well with all of these.

On another note, while in the US you can buy 407 for ~500 and turn it into a 507 with new pads (another 100), you can get a new 507 off Price Japan for 700ish, so it's like you're getting the cable and headarc for only 100 more. At least that's how I justified paying more for a 507 over a 407

P.S. I'm not suggesting the TH600s are uncomfortably bright or harsh, I'm just speaking relative to the 507

 

[NamelessPFG]

Sorry but I don't believe it till I see it and I'm on ebay fairly regularly maybe you can point a few out here with dead/end auction ebay links etc etc.
 
I have seen SRA-10 and a very few 12S go for around $350 but those were absolutely piss-poor condition units that the seller listed AS-IS non working, I know because I bought one a moon ago from the States and it did not work till I gave it as spritzer puts it some "TLC" to get it up and running. These units that go for cheap are usually clusterfked to the extent that it really isn't worth fixing.
 
As with modded Stax units....
 
Yeh mods done to them because the people who modded them have absolutely no idea what they are doing which leads me to other point and a true fact is there are not many or hardly any other than spritzer, KG and few competent diy'ers from the other forum that have the know-how on how to have a pro-bias added into the Stax amplifiers, expecially older amps such as the SRM1 that I have, SRA-5/10/12/14 that have high 600 B+ vdc floating around and just steal that voltage point through a divider and tap into the middle ping on the socket. It really is easy once you have somebody like Birgir, KG or a random thread on diyaudio which some EE will help you with, it's not that hard.
 
Speaking of which Stax did have a SRA-12S Gold model back in the day, modded with pro-bias, on ebay too not that long ago, one sold for around $1200? NOS though.
 
SRA-14S/12 similar amps ask spritzer.

 
It wouldn't be the first time my pricing impressions got skewed by eBay, I'll say that much.
 
Shortly before I got the "beater" Lambda that drew me into Stax in the first place, I saw a complete Koss ESP/950 set on eBay for $350 shipped, Buy-It-Now, nothing to suggest it wasn't working. Had me thinking that ESP/950s were really $350 headphones for quite a while...only they haven't dropped below $500 in years, even second-hand. I'm STILL kicking myself over that.
 
Indeed, I was skeptical of the modded units because they were probably devalued by people who didn't know what the hell they were doing. I once saw one with a stepped attenuator and a lot of the internal cards removed on eBay, generally looking like it was modded by a total amateur, brought it up, and spritzer's opinion was something like "Who would butcher an SRA-12S like that..."
 
Regardless, these 'stat amp prices aren't doing anyone's wallets any favors, and I really don't want that bulky receiver on my desk just to drive a little SRD-7/SB. Some people advise using cheap $40 T-amps with those transformer boxes, but I also recall those being one of spritzer's most hated amp designs and how even the transformer boxes deserve pure Class A power or whatever.

 

[noxa]

I'm looking for a bit of advice if possible, I'm looking to buy my first Stax system. I am looking at buying from pricejapan as the savings are massive over the UK price but will they play out of the box as they're 100v and the UK is 230v? or do i need a voltage converter and if so which one and where do i find it? sorry if i'm a bit naive on the subject.

 

[autoteleology]

How do I replace the capacitors in my SRM-T1?