The Stax Thread III

[newbluesuit]

Still a newbie with Stax but was just coincidentally looking at the D50 or 400 as an upgrade on my SRM252S so was curious about your comments on the D50, saw this darker one but just assumed it was the lighting as they are obviously silver everywhere else.

The color in this picture (from Stax International) is closer to the color of the unit I have received than any other promotional picture on the web. That color is definitely not silver (see attached picture of the unit I have received next to a silver MacBook Pro M1, both under the same bright light) but rather ‘dark grey’ or ‘gunmetal’. The question remains whether silver units have ever existed (according to the reseller who sent me the dark grey unit, Stax claim that there has only ever been one color for the D50—but they also say that the color in question is indeed ‘silver’…).

Hopefully someone here owns a D50 that they purchased a few years ago and can tell us whether that unit is silver or dark grey.

 

[aokman]

I'm not so sure about that. We live in an era where our homes and workplaces are strewn with small electronic devices that just have a capacitive dropper on mains voltage, no isolation aside from a single diode drop.

You’re not strapping that device on your head lol… Not to mention metal chassis, no grounding, no mains isolation, no other protection than a fuse. Boy those were different times lol.

I think everyone needs to keep in mind also…. A retailer or local distributor isn't STAX. Most of this will be done on their own because they want to avoid RMAs as they’re on the hook in many countries under local consumer law, regardless of STAX approving or denying a warranty claim…

 

[Rob80b]

The question remains whether silver units have ever existed (according to the reseller who sent me the dark grey unit, Stax claim that there has only ever been one color for the D50—but they also say that the color in question is indeed ‘silver’…).

Hopefully someone here owns a D50 that they purchased a few years ago and can tell us whether that unit is silver or dark grey.

As noted elsewhere.
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/stax-srm-d50-amp-dac.11883/
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/stax-srm-d50.43477/

 

[newbluesuit]

As noted elsewhere.
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/stax-srm-d50-amp-dac.11883/
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/stax-srm-d50.43477/

In the second picture of the first ad, the D50 looks similar if not lighter in color to the SMSL SU-8 on the left (and much lighter than the device below the SU-8, but I don't know what that is). I've never seen an SU-8 ‘in person’, but the picture in this ASR thread suggests it's very close to a silver Mac mini (this particular model was not available in space gray) or a silver TEAC UD-503: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...smsl-su-8-version-2-balanced-dac.5433/page-32. We're inching closer to a proof that silver D50s do exist…

 

[Rob80b]

We're inching closer to a proof that silver D50s do exist…

I almost ordered one last week and I assumed like yourself that they are silver so thanks for the homework.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Its especially crazy given how often we have heard of them failing/having imbalance issues - with a $2000USD+shipping etc driver replacement fee out of warranty (and the warranty isn't transferable also.) I'd genuinely own a pair if they either had a longer warranty, or were known to be much more robust.

This is also the reason I passed on owning them again. Although they don't fully match my presentation preferences, they are damn good. But this, along with overlap in my current stash, were the main factors in passing.

 

[ericj]

You’re not strapping that device on your head lol… Not to mention metal chassis, no grounding, no mains isolation, no other protection than a fuse. Boy those were different times lol.

I think everyone needs to keep in mind also…. A retailer or local distributor isn't STAX. Most of this will be done on their own because they want to avoid RMAs as they’re on the hook in many countries under local consumer law, regardless of STAX approving or denying a warranty claim…

There have been a few cases where people listening to music on earbuds in the tub while recharging their device have been electrocuted. Probably splashed water onto the charger.

 

[mulveling]

This is also the reason I passed on owning them again. Although they don't fully match my presentation preferences, they are damn good. But this, along with overlap in my current stash, were the main factors in passing.

Absolutely! It was also a big problem with 009 and 009S, early in their respective releases. I got hit on an early 009S, and Justin @ head-amp.com went above-and-beyond to immediately ship a new one - or I'd have been waiting a while. Funny how they don't seem to have this problem with their cheap-and-cheerful Lambdas, even L700 with same driver tech as 009. The big risk of buying X9000 used and geting a driver problem - just added to the "no thanks, don't need em".

 

[ericj]

Anyway, i've been poking around my recently acquired SRA-3S to identify parts for replacement. It's not *exactly like the schematic. The main filter caps are 22uf instead of the specified 40uf, there's a pair of 35v zeners in series tacked to the back of the main board, and where the schematic specifies the SD-1 diodes with the little D-shaped plastic case that we normally see in an srd-7, it has these cheery fellows. I will probably sub in 1n4007 or something. I assume this means that my unit is an earlier revision than the schematic. The serial number is 2538.

Never seen a diode like this.

 

[yaluen]

The color in this picture (from Stax International) is closer to the color of the unit I have received than any other promotional picture on the web. That color is definitely not silver (see attached picture of the unit I have received next to a silver MacBook Pro M1, both under the same bright light) but rather ‘dark grey’ or ‘gunmetal’. The question remains whether silver units have ever existed (according to the reseller who sent me the dark grey unit, Stax claim that there has only ever been one color for the D50—but they also say that the color in question is indeed ‘silver’…).

Hopefully someone here owns a D50 that they purchased a few years ago and can tell us whether that unit is silver or dark grey.

Headamp has a photo on their D50 page that features a macbook in the same image that shows the silver finish.

Searching for a more definitive answer, Wayback Machine would suggest there was a change made between January and April of 2023, the January capture being the last to show the original colour.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230129162728/https://stax-international.com/products/srm-d50/

https://web.archive.org/web/20230403015751/https://stax-international.com/products/srm-d50/

I'm guessing a decision was made to change the finish to align with the SRM-D10MK2 which was likely in development at the time. Original D10 on the left.

As @SolarCetacean mentioned previously, the D50 doesn't exist in Stax's domestic catalogue and could be it's not even a product managed by Stax HQ in Japan, but by Stax International/Edifier. Perhaps news of the change was lost in the shuffle somewhere and was never properly relayed to distributors, or even internally for that matter it seems.

 

[Herbie151]

Its especially crazy given how often we have heard of them failing/having imbalance issues - with a $2000USD+shipping etc driver replacement fee out of warranty (and the warranty isn't transferable also.) I'd genuinely own a pair if they either had a longer warranty, or were known to be much more robust.

Is there a feeling that the x9000 is generally basdly built or likely to have imbalance issues? Kinda worrying at that price......

 

[Rob80b]

Perhaps news of the change was lost in the shuffle somewhere and was never properly relayed to distributors, or even internally for that matter it seems.

Looks like it, believe you've solved the mystery .....Grey it is! Thanks
If Stax were more popular on this forum and elsewhere it would have come to light much sooner, I've been here since 2003 and just getting my toes wet although I've been aware of them since the 70s when I 1st got into headphones.

 

[ufospls2]

Is there a feeling that the x9000 is generally basdly built or likely to have imbalance issues? Kinda worrying at that price......

Badly built - no, the build quality, and craftsmanship is pretty incredible.

Likely to have imbalance? - Sadly, entirely possible. Likely? I'm not sure. A lottery perhaps. There are many reports of it happening, too many IMO for the driver replacement costs and warranty length and terms to make the X9000 a viable purchase at $6200MSRP.

 

[ludoo]

Probably of little interest to the majority of you using modern Staxes, but I just finished fixing my second pair of SR-Xmk1 which I received a while ago. These seem to be quite rare, as it's only the second pair I've seen at auction in a few years.

Noting down here for posterity: headband bolts and nuts are M2, and if they have low sound output, hum, or any other kind of audio issue the first troubleshooting step is to remove the damn thermistors.

How do they sound? Warmer and less technical than the mk2/mk3, I really like them. Here are pics of the left and right drivers before surgery. They are currently singing happily out of my T1s.

 

[SolarCetacean]

There are many reports of it happening, too many IMO for the driver replacement costs and warranty length and terms to make the X9000 a viable purchase at $6200MSRP.

How many is "many" though? Keeping in mind the selection bias that only people with problems will talk about it while those who don't tend to keep quiet, how prevalent do you think the problem really is? Like sure, we have a few reports (I've seen less than 10) from people of their drivers failing and costing a lot of money to replace, but those sorts of reports occur with literally any product; if it was hundreds of different people having issues I'd be concerned, but two dozen reports of failures out of over 1000 units shipped is IMO not a cause for concern. Even if we assume that the reported problems in English represent only a quarter of true problems, that's still like 100 out of >1000 units. Of course, risk tolerance varies and I might be a bit less risk-averse when it comes to these sorts of things. And I say that as someone whose personal X9000 (which I purchased new but at a dealer discount) is currently being repaired for a bass-frequency channel imbalance.