[Arthrumus]

Are both drive units. Inside the 404 signature  slightly angled? 

S.

Technically the drivers are not angled, the pads are the part that is angled and yes both sides are angled.

 

[astrostar59]

Scratched my head on that comment myself. Went to the Abyss site, "Proprietary planar magnetic...", so nope, not ES.

Electrostatic headphones need a bias current to charge' the panels, then an AC (music) current is applied that then moves the panels in or our (huge simplification). This bias current to charge the panels in Stax pro case is 580v which sounds insanely dangerous but the current has a tiny amount of amps, but high voltage. You can touch the pins on a Stax plug after removing the headphone lead, and don't feel anything.
 
Planar Magnetics and others like them use magnets placed around the panels and add a current (music) move also move the panels in or out, BUT there is no bias current applied.
 
There are positives and negatives to both types. One of the advantages to Electrostatics is the panel is very light and has remarkably fast response.
 
In the Senn HD800s fpor example, it is more of a conventional speaker with a cone and magnet arrangement. 

 

[Quixote79]

  Electrostatic headphones need a bias current to charge' the panels, then an AC (music) current is applied that then moves the panels in or our (huge simplification). This bias current to charge the panels in Stax pro case is 580v which sounds insanely dangerous but the current has a tiny amount of amps, but high voltage. You can touch the pins on a Stax plug after removing the headphone lead, and don't feel anything.
 
Planar Magnetics and others like them use magnets placed around the panels and add a current (music) move also move the panels in or out, BUT there is no bias current applied.
 
There are positives and negatives to both types. One of the advantages to Electrostatics is the panel is very light and has remarkably fast response.
 
In the Senn HD800s fpor example, it is more of a conventional speaker with a cone and magnet arrangement. 

580v of bias current sounds dangerous - does it real has to be so much amper? i not think i listen to music as loud as panels moves in or out. is there not a way to cut down the voltage on the ampers - sound more safe i gues

 

[Tinkerer]

 
580v of bias current sounds dangerous - does it real has to be so much amper? i not think i listen to music as loud as panels moves in or out. is there not a way to cut down the voltage on the ampers - sound more safe i gues

 
Volts are electric potential, not current. The higher the bias voltage, the more sensitive the headphones/speakers, and the more detail you can wring out of them. It's just a teeny tiny charge on the stators. Less of a charge than you zap yourself with from touching a doorknob after walking on carpet.
 
I've made the mistake of accidentally touching the bias line with my hand when I was testing an electrostatic amp once. Forgot the thing was running. Gave me a good little zap but nothing dangerous.
 
Now the power supply, that will stop your heart. Though, you know, so will sticking your hand into the PSU of a microwave or a television when it's running. And you would have to stick your hand into a running amplifier to have that happen.

 

[ToroFiestaSol]

  The only older Stax model that had enough midbass weight for my tastes was the SR-X Mk 3
What ?!?! Unless he has the pro (although unobtainium) version.
An Abyss is electrostatic ? C'mon...

Ali
 

 
Had the same reaction when I read that "review"...clueless and dumb reviewer.

 

[gefski]

Electrostatic headphones need a bias current to charge' the panels, then an AC (music) current is applied that then moves the panels in or our (huge simplification). This bias current to charge the panels in Stax pro case is 580v which sounds insanely dangerous but the current has a tiny amount of amps, but high voltage. You can touch the pins on a Stax plug after removing the headphone lead, and don't feel anything.

Planar Magnetics and others like them use magnets placed around the panels and add a current (music) move also move the panels in or out, BUT there is no bias current applied.

There are positives and negatives to both types. One of the advantages to Electrostatics is the panel is very light and has remarkably fast response.

In the Senn HD800s fpor example, it is more of a conventional speaker with a cone and magnet arrangement. 

Just adding to astrostar59 comments, not disagreeing with anything:

Operationally, planar magnetics are closer to conventional drivers than they are to ES. They use a voice coil on the planar driver, though it is "printed" rather than in a coil. And the driver is suspended between permanent magnets. Just like a conventional driver, the music signal goes to the driver.

ES uses neither voice coil nor magnets. In Stax' case, the mylar driver receives a (+ -) 580v charge. It is suspended between plates (not magnets). Then the music signal goes to the plates, not the driver. The (+ -) charged driver is pushed/pulled by the music signal.

 

[Arthrumus]

Electrostatic headphones need a bias current to charge' the panels, then an AC (music) current is applied that then moves the panels in or our (huge simplification). This bias current to charge the panels in Stax pro case is 580v which sounds insanely dangerous but the current has a tiny amount of amps, but high voltage. You can touch the pins on a Stax plug after removing the headphone lead, and don't feel anything.

Planar Magnetics and others like them use magnets placed around the panels and add a current (music) move also move the panels in or out, BUT there is no bias current applied.

There are positives and negatives to both types. One of the advantages to Electrostatics is the panel is very light and has remarkably fast response.

In the Senn HD800s fpor example, it is more of a conventional speaker with a cone and magnet arrangement. 

Maybe you should leave unsolicited explanations of headphone driver technologies to someone who actually knows something about it.

 

[astrostar59]

Maybe you should leave unsolicited explanations of headphone driver technologies to someone who actually knows something about it.

Maybe you should contribute instead of acting like a child.

 

[astrostar59]

Just adding to astrostar59 comments, not disagreeing with anything:

Operationally, planar magnetics are closer to conventional drivers than they are to ES. They use a voice coil on the planar driver, though it is "printed" rather than in a coil. And the driver is suspended between permanent magnets. Just like a conventional driver, the music signal goes to the driver.

ES uses neither voice coil nor magnets. In Stax' case, the mylar driver receives a (+ -) 580v charge. It is suspended between plates (not magnets). Then the music signal goes to the plates, not the driver. The (+ -) charged driver is pushed/pulled by the music signal.

Thank you that is most helpful.

 

[Quixote79]

Maybe you should leave unsolicited explanations of headphone driver technologies to someone who actually knows something about it.

dont know why you say something like that. he now what he talks about ... he also explains how amps works.

 

[Quixote79]

Just adding to astrostar59 comments, not disagreeing with anything:

Operationally, planar magnetics are closer to conventional drivers than they are to ES. They use a voice coil on the planar driver, though it is "printed" rather than in a coil. And the driver is suspended between permanent magnets. Just like a conventional driver, the music signal goes to the driver.

ES uses neither voice coil nor magnets. In Stax' case, the mylar driver receives a (+ -) 580v charge. It is suspended between plates (not magnets). Then the music signal goes to the plates, not the driver. The (+ -) charged driver is pushed/pulled by the music signal.

what does panels do then??? and is the driver + on one side and - on other side - like a magnet?

 

[Arthrumus]

Maybe you should contribute instead of acting like a child.

I do contribute on a regular basis and I give accurate and concise answers. What I don't do is spout off incomprehensible posts about things that I don't understand. I am here both to learn and to be informative where I can. Posts like yours show that you either do not know, or are incapable of putting into words what you know about this topic, neither of which serve to "contribute" to this forum.

The only reason I didn't correct your post is because it had already been corrected by other members, and because it was completely unsolicited in the first place.

 

[astrostar59]

I do contribute on a regular basis and I give accurate and concise answers. What I don't do is spout off incomprehensible posts about things that I don't understand. I am here both to learn and to be informative where I can. Posts like yours show that you either do not know, or are incapable of putting into words what you know about this topic, neither of which serve to "contribute" to this forum.

The only reason I didn't correct your post is because it had already been corrected by other members, and because it was completely unsolicited in the first place.

Time out...

 

[jgazal]

What is the precise terminology?
I thought the terms were:
A) stators (or less ideally plates)
B) diaphragm (or less ideally film)
C) driver (or capacitive transducer) to name the whole set composed of stators, spacers and diaphragm.

 

[Arthrumus]

Hmm, having owned Stax HPs for 25 years and currently own the 009s and 007s and some LNS I do have some knowledge as a USER. I don't pretend to know exactly how the Abyss for example works, but that is on their website. As far I have see I didn't miss quote. Maybe you s all seeing all knowledge can enlighten us then. The original poster was curious as to why the Abyss was not a ES. I did not know I had to get your supreme permission to post here. Damb, I have posted maybe 2K already, I am so sorry about that.

Going back to enjoying my Carbon and 009s fed by my Audio Note DAC 5 Special. That is why I enjoy this hobby, the music, politics and games are for well, I don't need to say...

Cool man, I've only been working with Stax headphones for 3 years, but in that time I have repaired and restored several vintage sets of headphones, modified a couple of amplifiers, converted several SRD boxes to Pro bias with custom built bias circuits, added normal bias to an SRM-727 and am currently building an SRX Plus amp. With all that said I'm far from an expert, but my knowledge about Stax is almost entirely technical in nature due to my personal interests. I'm sure there are many non technical things that you know about Stax that I do not because of your years of experience as a user.

I've got nothing personal against you but that post irked me because it was so confusing and incomplete that anybody trying to learn about Stax would probably leave more confused than when they arrived after reading it.

What is the precise terminology?
I thought the terms were:
A) stators (or less ideally plates)
B) diaphragm (or less ideally film)
C) driver (or capacitive transducer) to name the whole set composed of stators, spacers and diaphragm.

You got it. The diaphragm is also sometimes referred to as the membrane.