[Feilong4]

Find wire rated for 600V, the go to recommendation from the stax mafia for internal wiring in amps is teflon shielded wire, but there are of course alternatives.

Thanks for letting me know! I've got a few other questions:

- Do you have a specific source where one might get some?
- Does the wire have to be a particular gauge?
- Since it'll be for a Normal bias plug (230V), would it be ok to go for wires at a lower rating or is it still recommended to get ones rated at 600V?

 

[chinsettawong]

Ah, thanks! Do you so happen to know what wires can be used to make a cable? I'm not sure where to source the wires or whether wires from Mogami W2893 cables would be ok.

I use Koss electrostatic headphones’ extension cord. You can call the service center and buy from them.

 

[JimL11]

Thanks for letting me know! I've got a few other questions:

- Do you have a specific source where one might get some?
- Does the wire have to be a particular gauge?
- Since it'll be for a Normal bias plug (230V), would it be ok to go for wires at a lower rating or is it still recommended to get ones rated at 600V?

What you need is not only proper voltage rating, but also low capacitance. Also, you want the wire to have a stable capacitance, which means not loose wires like the HFM. You will notice that the two most experienced (by far) manufacturers of electrostatic headphones, Koss and Stax, have both settled on a parallel ribbon cable design, which should tell you something. Probably your best bets are either Koss ribbon type extension cables, which have 6 wires, or an old Stax 6 wire extension cable. Of course for the Koss you'll have to cut off the end and strip the wires. Of course the Stax already has the plug installed.

 

[Feilong4]

I use Koss electrostatic headphones’ extension cord. You can call the service center and buy from them.

What you need is not only proper voltage rating, but also low capacitance. Also, you want the wire to have a stable capacitance, which means not loose wires like the HFM. You will notice that the two most experienced (by far) manufacturers of electrostatic headphones, Koss and Stax, have both settled on a parallel ribbon cable design, which should tell you something. Probably your best bets are either Koss ribbon type extension cables, which have 6 wires, or an old Stax 6 wire extension cable. Of course for the Koss you'll have to cut off the end and strip the wires. Of course the Stax already has the plug installed.

Do you guys know how much Koss is selling them for? I emailed a rep and was told that there isn't any in stock. A buddy of mine also told me to call them since they may give me a different answer.

The only other place that sells them that I was able to dig up is FongAudio for 59 USD.

 

[vrockz]

Hi,

Could any one of you SR-007 Mk2 owners help me out on my question.

Would STAX SRM-D50 be able to drive STAX SR-007MK2?

 

[BenF]

Hi,

Could any one of you SR-007 Mk2 owners help me out on my question.

Would STAX SRM-D50 be able to drive STAX SR-007MK2?

No, it can barely drive 009

 

[vrockz]

No, it can barely drive 009

Thanks for the reply BenF.

What amp would you recommend between STAX SRM-007tII and STAX SRM-727II.

 

[BenF]

Thanks for the reply BenF.

What amp would you recommend between STAX SRM-007tII and STAX SRM-727II.

You really should audition 007MK2 with the amp before purchasing either one of them.
It sounded very warm/dark on Blue Hawaii, very un-electrostat-like.

 

[-HaVoC-Tzu-]

While I cant agree 100% here. I will absolutely concede that the Voce is fantastic headphone. I think there are a few things about this headphone that people miss when they listen to it. Obviously it will not have the detail of the 009 or 009S. Its advantages are harder to notice as they are not what people typically notice in a new headphone. The Voce is the first headphone I have come across that instead of placing the typical emphasis of detail on the top end they focus it on the midrange and background details. In my initial listening sessions I was able to hear things in the midrange so clearly that I didnt hear on the 009/S. The 009/S still shows you the background in detail, but just not quite in the same way. That being said I do enjoy the 009S above the Voce in every other way.

The other thing that will really impact the Voce and all of your stat cans is a great amp and a great source. You read a post about the importance a great dac on every couple posts. I can attest to this 100% having just received the best dac I've heard to date and experienced the unreal changes it has made to the sound of my setup. Everything improved dramatically. Soundstage, 3 dimensionality, tonality, imaging, and every other audiophile descriptive word you can think of. The change that was most dramatic was the one I least expected to experience. The Terminator instantly made the bass that was previously perceived as weak or slightly underpowered sound perfect and more impactful and accurate. It just goes to show how much information is lost by an inferior DAC.

I drove from the Bay Area to Can Jam So Cal just to hear electrostatics because they are hard to find here.
Unfortunately they didn’t have the two STAX headphones that I wanted to hear, the SR-009S and the SR-007mk2
However they did have a Voce hooked up to a Chord Dave/m-scaler/blue Hawaii. The level of detail is unlike anything i’ve heard before. It really sounded like I was there on stage with Bob Marley looking down at the crowd (I had no idea those old recordings were that good).
The level of detail is insane, but the sound is not sugar-coated at all, just pure detail which I can appreciate, but I think it would make sense to have this and an LCD-4 to get kind of the opposite effect.
They also had the RR1-Conquest and L700.
THE RR1, while to me was not nearly as good as the Voce detail wise is VERY good for the price, it competes with headphones in the $1500 price range.
The L700, I listened to on 2 separate amps and was not impressed (I like my Utopia better).

Does the 009S and/or 007mk2 have a more ‘lovely’ sound than the voce without sacrificing detail?

 

[Dan Lee]

@vrockz I have a couple questions just to get a better understanding of where you are headed with stats. What are you planning to use as your DAC? What is your budget for an amp? Do you plan to upgrade in the future if you find stats to your liking?

@-HaVoC-Tzu- I imagine the BHSE paired with the DAVE will sound a bit different then my Carbon paired with the Denafrips Terminator. That being said I have the 007MK2 on the way but havent reviewed them yet. The 009 is very accurate sounding for the most part. It definitely has an emphasis on the top end though. There is no coloration or 'lovely' nature to the sound. The 009S is essentially the same as the 009 only it does seem to have a sense of richness or a 'lovely' nature to the sound though subtle. For me the Voce has all of these qualities perfectly melded together without the top end emphasis. The 009/S is definitely a bit more detailed up top, but the Voce is at the very least close and the midrange is more detailed on the Voce. I find that they work very well as complementary pairs.

 

[vrockz]

@vrockz I have a couple questions just to get a better understanding of where you are headed with stats. What are you planning to use as your DAC? What is your budget for an amp? Do you plan to upgrade in the future if you find stats to your liking?

Thanks for you reply Dan.

I was initially planning to use STAX SRM-D50 as DAC/AMP with STAX SR-007MK2, but the other user informed that D50 would not be able to drive 007 so i haven't decided on the DAC yet, i will have to investigate if i can use my HDV 820 as DAC/Preamp. My budget for an electrostatic amp is around 1500 -1800. Yes, if i find stats to my linking i am planning to upgrade in future to 009s but that it atleast after an year.

 

[VRacer-111]

Thanks for you reply Dan.

I was initially planning to use STAX SRM-D50 as DAC/AMP with STAX SR-007MK2, but the other user informed that D50 would not be able to drive 007 so i haven't decided on the DAC yet, i will have to investigate if i can use my HDV 820 as DAC/Preamp. My budget for an electrostatic amp is around 1500 -1800. Yes, if i find stats to my linking i am planning to upgrade in future to 009s but that it atleast after an year.

Do you have a good, high quality 2-channel stereo amp? If so you can run an electrostat transformer for it like the Mjolnir Audio modded STAX SRD-7. I've listened to an SR-007 Mk2 on my setup (RME ADI-2 DAC [as a DAC preamp] -> NAD C275BEE -> Mjolnir SRD-7) and it was definitely better than my L300 Limiteds... driven very well and had the best bass I've heard to date from a stock STAX. Most cost effective way to really run more demanding estats and you can swap out/try different amps to find preference if you wish as the amp determines how estats will sound more so than with dynamic or planar magnetics.

 

[arielext]

.

 

[Torac]

Hi, I have a problem I'm hoping someone might be able to help me with. I own a SRM-T1 and L-300, the l300 sounds pretty nice up to '2' on the volume pot of the T1 however after that everything sounds really distorted. I have replaced the tubes which didn't make much difference, I also replaced the caps in the T1 and rebiased it and this helped make it clearer but the problem is still there. Any suggestions, could really do with a point in the right direction? Thanks.

 

[JimL11]

Hi, I have a problem I'm hoping someone might be able to help me with. I own a SRM-T1 and L-300, the l300 sounds pretty nice up to '2' on the volume pot of the T1 however after that everything sounds really distorted. I have replaced the tubes which didn't make much difference, I also replaced the caps in the T1 and rebiased it and this helped make it clearer but the problem is still there. Any suggestions, could really do with a point in the right direction? Thanks.

Hmm. The SRM-T1/006 series are generally considered ideal amps for the Lambda series, which includes the L-300 as one of the current iterations. It may be that you are demanding too much volume, which could damage you hearing in the long run. So one possibility is to just accept the limit as being what is safe for your ears long term.

Two o'clock on the volume control is really pretty high, although to some extent it also depends on the output of your sources. However, what may be happening is that you are running into the limits of the amp. In the case of the T1 the limiting factor is the output resistors, which are 66 kilohms and suck up the majority of the signal current by Ohm's law V = IR, where V is voltage, I is current, and R is resistance. The output resistors in fact use more current than the headphones, which have a higher impedance - the L300 has a rated impedance of 145 kilohms at 10 kHz, and progressively higher at lower frequencies.

Replacing the output resistors with constant current sources greatly alleviates this problem, as constant current sources do not burn up any significant signal current, thus allowing the output tubes to send significantly more signal current to the headphones. I published an article on this in AudioXpress magazine July 2017 which discusses this in some detail. One thing that was left out of the article but is highly recommended is the addition of 5 megohm bias resistors between the last bias supply capacitor and the output socket. These can be interposed where the bias supply wires go from the circuit board to the output socket. For further discussion of the sonic results of this mod, check out the posts between Muffinhead and myself from Jan and Feb 2018 in this thread.