The Stax Thread III

[bertp1]

I might be able to get a used SRS-2020 system for about $200, worth it?

 

[Jones Bob]

If in good shape, a no brainier. Buy it,

 

[richard51]

i had pay that for the same system and its better than many more expansive one

 

[Rayzilla]

My gosh, how can anyone say that the bass is lacking on the 009? I think one time long ago I may have been a minor bass head. These headphones coming out of only the 323S has more than enough bass in my opinion. I know that the amount of bass is a subjective matter and that it is different for everyone but I am almost finding that there is a little more than I even want. Now I suspect that I may be feeling this way because the 323S is not cleaning up the bass and leaving it a little too muddy(?) for my tastes. I guess I will have to deal with this for some time before I can upgrade the amp.   Who knows when a deal on a KGSS-variant of any kind will pop up here in Hong Kong. It could be a long wait so I may as well not think about it. That was my original plan anyway.

 

[mulveling]

  My gosh, how can anyone say that the bass is lacking on the 009? I think one time long ago I may have been a minor bass head. These headphones coming out of only the 323S has more than enough bass in my opinion. I know that the amount of bass is a subjective matter and that it is different for everyone but I am almost finding that there is a little more than I even want. Now I suspect that I may be feeling this way because the 323S is not cleaning up the bass and leaving it a little too muddy(?) for my tastes. I guess I will have to deal with this for some time before I can upgrade the amp.   Who knows when a deal on a KGSS-variant of any kind will pop up here in Hong Kong. It could be a long wait so I may as well not think about it. That was my original plan anyway.

Any KGSS variant will be a nice upgrade, but if possible then wait for a full-size KGSShv; it will blow your mind. I remember hearing a 007 for the first time years ago with a Headamp KGSS and being completely underwhelmed. The HV was a game-changer.

 

[Jones Bob]

Taobao
 
http://world.taobao.com/item/44186651831.htm?spm=a312a.7700714.0.0.Ktb2wD#detail

 

[NoPants]

not the best choice for the 009s

and the 009s are lacking in bass, just need to compare with the 007 side by side but it's just a preference thing

 

[dripf]

I've noticed a quiet hum coming from my 323S that I don't recall having heard before. Sound output is unaffected. It is powered from a 240-100 V 100 W rated toroidal transformer.

Should I be concerned?

 

[Michgelsen]

Through the headphones, or coming from the device itself?
 
Could be simple, harmless transformer buzzing if it's coming from the device itself.
 
If it's a faint hum through the headphones, then it's most likely a grounding problem. To check whether this is the case, try touching the case with your fingers while wearing the headphones and see if the level of hum changes. You are grouding the case a bit this way. If the volume of the hum changes by doing that, it's clear that you have a grounding problem. The solution is to ground the case via the screw terminal on the back, making sure that this is the only connection to ground in your whole system. You should ground your system in one place only, by either connecting a wire from the mentioned screw terminal on your amp to a real ground (if difficult to find, try water or heating pipes, but this may not be sufficient), or for example via another device with a grounded cord/plug/outlet, or alternatively via a coax cable connection if you have a tuner in your system. This ground is then shared by your whole system via the audio interconnect cables, or possibly also via the power strip with grounded outlets that is itself not connected to a grounded outlet.
 
I hope this helps.

 

[Rayzilla]

Taobao

http://world.taobao.com/item/44186651831.htm?spm=a312a.7700714.0.0.Ktb2wD#detail

I wonder if they have a demo room and whether you can buy direct instead of via direct delivery. It shouldn't be too far from here.

 

[Jones Bob]

I think the seller is in Beijing. Pretty far away from HK.

On another site, he details the construction. He did a bang up job building this amp. Filling it with Teflon coupling capacitors and an expensive Alps RK50 volume potentiometer.

Also check the similar sales at the bottom of the Taobao page. A couple of DIY KGST and KGSSHV builds and an original HeadAmp KGSE Blue Hawaii. Lots to look at there.

 

[Rayzilla]

When I was looking at this link, I was on my phone and it said Shenzhen. One of my students, I made a career change to teaching a few years ago, has just read the webpage for me and he said that the vendor is in Shenzhen and Google Translate states the same. I will try to find out some more about this.
 
I noticed the similar sales at the bottom of the page. I thought they were all from the same supplier but it appears not to be the case.

 

[NoPants]

It's a one-off builder, he has posted pictures of his work on other sites if you're interested. It's a Megatron amplifier, bit of overkill for the 009s
 
You would probably be fine with a KGST for your headphones, maybe get someone to build you the new version with the cascode CCS

 

[dripf]

Through the headphones, or coming from the device itself?


 


Could be simple, harmless transformer buzzing if it's coming from the device itself.


 

Hi Michgelsen,

The hum is coming from the unit while the sound output is completely clean. I just want to make sure the 323S transformer is not delaminating or something. Do Stax amps quietly hum or are they typically silent?

 

[Tinkerer]

The transformer in my SRA-12S hums a little, but you have to put your ear right up near the vent to hear it. I don't think it affects performance.