[JimL11]

SRM-007tA stax amp can drive SR-009S headphone? Anybody has experience?

There actually is a decent short review of the SRM-007A on InnerFidelity driving the 009. Bottom line, sounds decent at moderate levels but loses it at higher levels. If you are willing to do some DIY there is a relatively inexpensive fix, which consists of replacing the output plate resistors with a constant current load. Same fix applies to the T1/006 series, which is less expensive to begin with. It does void your warranty, though.

 

[bcoryh]

Welcome, Cory. I'm also largely a long-time lurker here and recently made the commitment to the BHSE and two pairs of 009S "ear speakers" (one for me, one for my wife and listening partner). We couldn't be happier with this combination given our listening priorities and the kinds of music we listen to - mostly acoustic and classical.

Now that we have over 1,000 hours on the headphones and amplifier, we're ready to consider some further refinements with interconnect cables, AC conditioning and tubes. I'll be interested in your assessment of the new tubes you've received and what differences in sound you hear with them.

A dual Stax family - it's great that you can enjoy it together. My wife was interested enough to say, "Oh, that sounds good," and then never return.

There is so much good information on these threads, some suggesting that the BHSE is not as responsive to different tubes, cables, etc., and others suggesting the opposite. Part of the enjoyment is experimenting for ourselves. Speaking of which, my new quad matched NOS Holland Philips Miniwatt EL34 / 6CA7 Metal Base tubes are firing up as I write....

 

[Rushton]

A dual Stax family - it's great that you can enjoy it together. My wife was interested enough to say, "Oh, that sounds good," and then never return.

There is so much good information on these threads, some suggesting that the BHSE is not as responsive to different tubes, cables, etc., and others suggesting the opposite. Part of the enjoyment is experimenting for ourselves. Speaking of which, my new quad matched NOS Holland Philips Miniwatt EL34 / 6CA7 Metal Base tubes are firing up as I write....

My wife and I have been listening partners for over 45 years now. Great to have a fellow music lover in the listening room. When we started to downsize and sold our primary system, we decided that we'd switch to headphones instead of floor standing speakers. Of course, this meant getting two pairs!

I think I've probably read all the divergent comments about tubes with the BHSE. And I've seen the recommendation to go with these rarified NOS tubes you've selected. I'll be interested in your comments about the difference you're hearing once the tubes have a hundred hours or so on them. (I've always listened with tube gear of one stripe or another. The BHSE is the next generation in a long-ish line of predecessors.)

 

[SoundInTheSea]

Appreciate your answer. Do you have a link for the DIY fix?

There actually is a decent short review of the SRM-007A on InnerFidelity driving the 009. Bottom line, sounds decent at moderate levels but loses it at higher levels. If you are willing to do some DIY there is a relatively inexpensive fix, which consists of replacing the output plate resistors with a constant current load. Same fix applies to the T1/006 series, which is less expensive to begin with. It does void your warranty, though.

 

[SoundInTheSea]

Hey Stax users,
I am almost to pull trigger for SRM-007tA + SR-L700 combo.
Do you guys have a particular power transformer (120v to 100v) to recommend for SRM-007tA amp? Is it a good idea to use a regular transformer that I can find in a local hardware store? What wattage transformer I should use?

 

[JimL11]

Appreciate your answer. Do you have a link for the DIY fix?

Not a link per se. There is an article in AudioXpress July 2017 on modifying the SRM-T1, which is basically the same circuit as the 007 but with two 6CG7 tubes instead of four. You would have to adapt the constant current mod to put out a higher current, e.g. about 7.5 mA instead of 4.9 mA, so it's not exactly plug and play. If you got a T1 instead (which would cost less) you could do the mod pretty much directly from the article. There is also a discussion on this thread in Jan/Feb of 2018 about the mod. It's less than $100 in parts, which includes replacing the electrolytic caps in the T1. You have to rebias the amp afterwards, and it's a bit easier procedure with the T1 as there are less pots that need adjusting.

 

[edstrelow]

Indeed it sounds like a bad connection of some sort.
In my experience a faulty cable can be tricky.
The cable may be broken somewhere other than at the actual inlet. It may have broken further down the cable.
Try to fixate the driver and move the cable by holding it at the splitter rather, and see if you can provoke the issue.

Indeed you are correct, my friend. I finally determined that the fault is a broken wire either in the strain relief section of the cable or further down in the cable itself. This was the same problem that caused me to buy the previous replacement cord 2 years ago. I bought the phones themselves shortly after the 007A came out so the previous cable must have been 10 plus years old. I don't especially abuse my phones, these ones sit next to my bed and get little pulling, tugging etc. Maybe Stax cables use especially soft copper.

At any rate I think I am going to have to buy another cable. What a pain in the A.

 

[Lv100Pidgeot]

I tried doing a search and didn't come up with much. Does anyone know of any speakers that have stax-like detail, speed and transients? Right now I'm using a pair of Kef LS50s and they're damn good, but still not quite there. Should I be looking into Martin Logan? Magnepan? Any tips to the right direction to go would be much appreciated!

 

[Whitigir]

Indeed you are correct, my friend. I finally determined that the fault is a broken wire either in the strain relief section of the cable or further down in the cable itself. This was the same problem that caused me to buy the previous replacement cord 2 years ago. I bought the phones themselves shortly after the 007A came out so the previous cable must have been 10 plus years old. I don't especially abuse my phones, these ones sit next to my bed and get little pulling, tugging etc. Maybe Stax cables use especially soft copper.

At any rate I think I am going to have to buy another cable. What a pain in the A.

Stax Cables is ribbon style, and so it is flat. You just need to hang it up when not in use, otherwise it kept on getting bent repeatedly will cause damages

 

[soren_brix]

Indeed you are correct, my friend. I finally determined that the fault is a broken wire either in the strain relief section of the cable or further down in the cable itself. This was the same problem that caused me to buy the previous replacement cord 2 years ago. I bought the phones themselves shortly after the 007A came out so the previous cable must have been 10 plus years old. I don't especially abuse my phones, these ones sit next to my bed and get little pulling, tugging etc. Maybe Stax cables use especially soft copper.

At any rate I think I am going to have to buy another cable. What a pain in the A.

If you have located the break point, you might shorten the cable as @bmichels did it his 009's

 

[JimL11]

I tried doing a search and didn't come up with much. Does anyone know of any speakers that have stax-like detail, speed and transients? Right now I'm using a pair of Kef LS50s and they're damn good, but still not quite there. Should I be looking into Martin Logan? Magnepan? Any tips to the right direction to go would be much appreciated!

Original Quad electrostatics would be my suggestion.

 

[336881]

Hey Stax users,
I am almost to pull trigger for SRM-007tA + SR-L700 combo.
Do you guys have a particular power transformer (120v to 100v) to recommend for SRM-007tA amp? Is it a good idea to use a regular transformer that I can find in a local hardware store? What wattage transformer I should use?

Acupwr step down transformer. I kind of like mjolnir octave over anything stax amp for about the same monies though. Acupwr's lowest 300 watt transformer should be more than plenty. I think it is around $150.

I tried doing a search and didn't come up with much. Does anyone know of any speakers that have stax-like detail, speed and transients? Right now I'm using a pair of Kef LS50s and they're damn good, but still not quite there. Should I be looking into Martin Logan? Magnepan? Any tips to the right direction to go would be much appreciated!

There is not much out there that can keep up with e-stat in terms of detail, speed and transients. The closest you will find in Kef ls50s price bracket is honeycomb aluminum (Sony Apm-77w), bio cellulose (Sony Lavoce) and Beryllium (Yamaha ns1000). The Yamaha's are easy to find. The Sony's are not easy to find at all, but worth the search.

 

[edstrelow]

Stax Cables is ribbon style, and so it is flat. You just need to hang it up when not in use, otherwise it kept on getting bent repeatedly will cause damages

Actually I do hang mine up when not in use. The last time I had this problem, I blamed the cleaning ladies, but who knows.

 

[edstrelow]

If you have located the break point, you might shorten the cable as @bmichels did it his 009's

Thanks for the suggestion. I may give this a try if I can't get a new cable or it breaks again. The only tricky part seems to be cutting the strain relief part down the middle.

 

[soren_brix]

Thanks for the suggestion. I may give this a try if I can't get a new cable or it breaks again. The only tricky part seems to be cutting the strain relief part down the middle.

which is easier than you might think ...