[RKarim]

You need to open the cover and take a photo of the transformer section. From the 323S i've seen in the wild, there 3 version with different wiring board type to change the voltage from 100, 110, 120, 220,230,240
I've done one before in the past and the same to my SRM-600 and SRM-T1S both are different. But easily done if you have a bit of soldering skills

Alright, I will quote you and send a photo when I get it.

 

[Mach3]

Should look something like this post
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-stax-thread-new.223263/page-1320#post-8803910

 

[PolloLoco]

Most of my listening these days is through a Stax SRM 717 and either a Stax L700 or Kaldas RR1.

I've recently tried to experiment with adding a tube pre-amp between my DAC and the SRM 717, hoping to get some tube warmth and twang without buying a tube electrostatic amp. Surprisingly - I picked up practically no difference through casual listening. I've used an FX Audio tube buffer, and a Loxjie P20 as preamps, and I've rolled at least 3 types of tubes with each. Though cheap, I enjoyed their effects on my dynamic headphones in the past.

To continue the experiment, I added a switch between my DAC and the Stax Amp and Tube preamps. That way, with the flick of a switch, I go from XLR directly to the SRM 717 - and RCA to either of the tube pre-amps first. The switch is instantaneous, to hopefully eliminate the placebo effect.

When I've carefully volume matched, if I switch between the tube sources, the music sounds completely uninterrupted with practically NO tonal difference. I'm not picking up any tube warmth. At best, what I can hear is a smoothing of certain recordings with a little grain through solid state.

Is there a reason I can't seem to tube pre-amp the SRM 717? Does the Stax amp somehow clean up the 2nd order distortion? Or are my ears just that bad at 42 years of age?

To be clear I'm switching between these chains:

Sabaj D5 DAC - XLR to Switch, to Stax SRM 717
Sabaj D5 DAC - RCA to Tube Pre-amp, to Switch, to Stax SRM 717

 

[mnemonix]

The Stax energiser will not clean up any existing distortion in the sound, at best it will simply amplify what it is fed without adding any more.

But congratulations, you are discovering what many people who don't blind test will never admit to, in most circumstances, amps, dacs, cables etc will make little or no difference to the sound.

I wouldn't personally be trying to change the sound of my $1500 headphones with a $50 ebay tube special anyway; in fact you'd probably get better and more controllable results adding a VST effect into the digital audio path if it's sourced from a pc - tube, saturation, tape simulation, parametric eq etc. there are plenty of ways of screwing up your expensively produced audio signal if you really want to. That or do what the the Stax mafia recommend and spend another $2000 on a tube based energiser!

 

[PolloLoco]

The Stax energiser will not clean up any existing distortion in the sound, at best it will simply amplify what it is fed without adding any more.

But congratulations, you are discovering what many people who don't blind test will never admit to, in most circumstances, amps, dacs, cables etc will make little or no difference to the sound.

I wouldn't personally be trying to change the sound of my $1500 headphones with a $50 ebay tube special anyway; in fact you'd probably get better and more controllable results adding a VST effect into the digital audio path if it's sourced from a pc - tube, saturation, tape simulation, parametric eq etc. there are plenty of ways of screwing up your expensively produced audio signal if you really want to. That or do what the the Stax mafia recommend and spend another $2000 on a tube based energiser!

Thanks for the feedback. The two cheap tube preamps I already had, from long before I got hooked on stats. I figured I'd have fun messing with the sound based on hardware I already had - but am shocked by no audible change. I enjoy experimenting.

I was thinking that I might get a better tube preamp like a Little Dot 3 or Valhalla 2, but at this point I think it may be a waste of money.

 

[T3RIAD]

Whenever I see an audio product with reviews that look like this:

• "Really improves the sound a whole lot"
• "Holy crap! What a difference!"
• "Bigger soundstage, more bass, less sibilance, more refinement, better midrange, higher detail.."
• "Meh...didn't make much of a difference."

Then the fourth review is usually right.

 

[playmusic]

This is my first posting, and I hope that this thread is the right place to post it.

I recently listened to a Stax SR-009s and a L700 Mk2 via SRM-T8000.
I liked the 009s significantly more than the L700. The audibility of details was surprising with the 009s.

There was one aspect though, where I am not certain: the bass.
The bass reproduction of the L700 was louder.
When listening, I carefully positioned the earspeakers. The sealing between headphone and head was as good as I could manage. (Bass did not change when I pushed the earspeakers a bit more with my hands to my head.)

When I listened with the 009s to a piano sonata or to the double bass part in a piece then it sounded fine.
But when I then switched to the L700 the piano sounded "fuller" via the more louder bass.

I am wondering now: Is the bass reproduced by the L700 artificially louder than the recording and has the 009s actually the correct bass volume reproduction?
Or is the bass reproduction of the 009s too faint?

Has anyone of you directly compared the 009s reproduction of e.g. a piano recording and a live instrument and checked whether bass reproduction of the 009s is accurate?
I am looking forward to your feedback!

 

[491838]

You don't test bass with piano music lol but yes, the L700 has a bump at 70(ish) Hz so they are a bit warmer in the bass but they roll-off quicker afterwards than the 009 if I recall.

 

[Mach3]

Dealux is correct. To test bass, you find the most badass upbeat RnB track and turn the volume all the way to dynamic rumble.

 

[walakalulu]

If you want better bass reproduction you’ll need to look at other amps than Stax ie Gilmore designs. Stax cans tend not to do boom box bass but favour accuracy over weight. Audeze are excellent for bass addicts though.

 

[playmusic]

Thank you for your replies.
Maybe I should have phrased my question a bit differently.

A regular 88-key piano has a frequency range of ca. 30 Hz - 4 kHz.
And a double bass a relevant range of ca. 70 - 250 Hz. (Actually down to 40 Hz, but the low notes are rather faint on the instrument itself).
So, there are low frequency elements in these instruments.

I was wondering if anybody has compared (either by memory or by having the instrument next to their 009s or 700 Mk2) the reproduction of the music
with the actual instrument.
I have no access to piano, double bass, etc. - let alone next to a Stax setup for direct comparison.
I realize the dependency of the Stax sound reproduction on the amp as expressed in posts here and other threads.

 

[491838]

You'd probably be better off with something like an LCD-4 or better yet, a Susvara, if you want that deep bass reproduction. Stax stuff doesn't have very present bass.

 

[Tugbars]

You'd probably be better off with something like an LCD-4 or better yet, a Susvara, if you want that deep bass reproduction. Stax stuff doesn't have very present bass.

It really depends on the model.

 

[mobbaddict]

The SR-007 can be seriously fun with hip-hop and such (even trap music). But it's a different bass presentation than a planar, more ethereal.

 

[BenF]

...Be happy you are satisfied with the entry level Stax!

I'm enjoying my TOTL Stax 009 even more, thank you very much.
I just wish people wouldn't associate higher price with better sound so rigidly.
A random 60000$ car will be better than a random 20000$ car in 99.9% of cases, but a 600$ headphone isn't guaranteed to outperform a 200$ headphone.

Bill of materials of a more expensive headphone isn't necessarily higher (at least not significantly) than that of a cheaper one.
The price difference often goes into marketing/profit, or into a better build quality - which helps to sell at a higher price, but doesn't do much for sound.

Chart measurements don’t make music and listening is subjective.

Of course - chart measurements only show half the data - quantity, not quality. Headphones that measure similarly, may have a similar sound signature, but still differ greatly in the sound quality.
Quantity is still important though - if a headphone drops 10dB over just 0.6kHz in the vocal range, vocals are not going to sound great.