[eee1111]

It’s hard to gauge potential sales from enthusiasm level on forum like this. It’s more like an echo chamber where everything is amplified.

Not everyone that posts here everyday has enough fund to buy the X9000 at the launch period. Some of the ones who got the fund will wait for favorable reviews and comparisons from esteemed figures such as the baker. Some will wait for X9000 to appear on the secondary market. Some will wait for the price drop. Some will go for auditions and decided that it is not four times better than 007.

I dont say that X9000 will fail, I really want it to be a hit so we will see more in the future but if we look at the r&d budget that they have to spend to develop X9000 and the potential sales of X9000, for a small company such as Stax the possibility to develop another flagship product without financial backing would be small.

Even if we see X9000 as the flagship product that will bring halo effect to the rest of their product line, I dont see any enthusiasm (at least on this forum) for Stax’s more affordable line. At least for the current offering. But who knows, maybe they have something new to offer later.

Getting something new other than the 009 is good news. All we need now is impressions.

And I wouldn’t call them a tiny company. They were bought out and there is definitely money backing the company.

And…the lambdas are pretty good as a bunch of people are very happy with them

 

[KDS315]

Still (also) using my 20-30y old Lambdas and still top!!

 

[AudioCats]

I have done a little srm-313 modding lately. It seems that the 313 can be brought up to the (stock) 007t level performance rather easily.

mod details are in the DIY seciton.

test phones=sr007
the stock srm-007t has "no brand" tubes (only visible marking is " 6CG7, 6FQ7, USA", I think these might be the stock tubes provided by Stax with the amp).

** 313 early verison, stage-b (Vishay VAR in shunt volume control; TL431 as D4, 4mA output bias): more transparent, more "live", more bite but no glare; smaller stage, more bass but maybe not going as deep;
** 007t: more open sound, wider stage; richer sound but has glare/irritation; back ground not as clean;
bass quality/texture is about the same in both amps.
overall I'd rate they at about the same level, different presentations.

parts cost for a 313 stage-B mod:
vishay VAR z-foil resistors, 22k to 33k, ~$18 each, needs 2 (from partsconnexion)
R25 change to 330k 1w, PRP, ~$1 each, needs 2 (partsconnexion)
D4 change to precision voltage reference, 2.5v, needs 2.
( There are many 2.5v reference devices available, I will test more to see if there is a clear winner, but just the plain TL431 is already much better than a LED. 1% TL431 is ~$1 each.)
heatsink-improvement related: ~$10 (two aluminum L brackets, screws and bolts, thermal compound).
while you are at it, might as well replace the electrolytic power capacitors, they are probably 20 years old by now.

 

[KDS315]

Really, THAT simple mod provides that much?? I also have an older 313 which I brought back to life, sounds not bad but compared to a SRM-T1 (CCS/ECC99 mod) THAT blows the 313 out of the water easily... No way a 313 can drive a 007 successfully

 

[AudioCats]

Really, THAT simple mod provides that much?? I also have an older 313 which I brought back to life, sounds not bad but compared to a SRM-T1 (CCS/ECC99 mod) THAT blows the 313 out of the water easily... No way a 313 can drive a 007 successfully

my impression of the stock 313 (driving 007), see if it agrees with your impression:
"before the mod, listened to the 313's in stock condition. Both sounded about the same, closed-in (kind of cluster-phobic), with some abrasiveness ("mid-range-burn", wants to fry the brain)."

the mod above has 3 components:
1) shunt volume control, using vishay z foil as input resistors. This opens up the sound stage, and solves the "mid range burn" problem.
2) upping the final (current buffer) stage bias to 4mA, increase the available reserve for output current. The stock amp has about 2mA bias, upping it to 4mA triples the available reserve (at max swing about 1mA is used in the feedback, so the available current left for output is 1mA stock and 3mA modded). This opens up the sound stage further and helps bass control.
3) (if used) precision voltage reference improves the transparency. Otherwise the sound is kind of thick.

the 313 final stage is a current booster with CCS, 3mA from that stage should be more effective than a stock T1 (which runs at about 5mA but has plate resistor in output stage). 007t uses one tube per line but the total plate current is not much higher at about 7~8mA, also with plate resistor not CCS. Your T1 has CCS at output and probably runs higher current than a stock T1, of course it will have a lot more bass control than a stock 313.
I was not surprised that the 3mA juice from modded 313 gave about the same degree of bass control as the stock 007t.

on the other hand, I am sure once the shunt-volume-control is done to the 007t it will win hands down.
This 313 mod have some practical value for someone ( who already have the amp) in a location where Stax stuff is not easily available. Otherwise it is more convenient to just get a 007t from Japan and use as-is. (007t can be had for about $550 from yahoo.JP via Buyee, or about $700 off ebay)


somehow my ESP950 didn't sound that great with the modded 313, the sr007 was much better, I was surprised. I was expecting lesser differences since the amp is just a mid-grade Stax after all.

 

[KDS315]

Getting a higher "bias current" for the 313 certainly enhances its SQ if this is safe for the component ratings.
Certainly sounds like an interesting mod....

My T1 has massively gained from CCS plus ECC99 tubes!

 

[elton7033]

Some photo I found on internet (Twitter japan) of the new SR-X9000, the dark brown pads looking cool like the 007mk1

 

[ToroFiestaSol]

Some photo I found on internet (Twitter japan) of the new SR-X9000, the dark brown pads looking cool like the 007mk1

LOOK AT THAT!!!!!!

I'M IN UTTER DISBELIEF, BROTHER. SO BEAUTIFUL, PERFECT COLOR SCHEME. NEW OMEGA CONFIRMED.

 

[zomkung]

Is this the defect?

 

[KDS315]

Is this the defect?

No it is called OCD

 

[treebug]

No it is called OCD

OCD is understandable at this sort of money!

 

[elton7033]

Is this the defect?

Again these are pre-production demo unit which STAX loan for store in Japan for demo, so I would expect the QC standard might be different from the real deal. Not to mention many does not treat it like how we baby them lol
But totally agree on this price point there should be no defect, this pad also looks like its a different material compare to the SR009 series hope it wont flake overtime like the audio technica ones.
Otherwise it might be wise to buy an extra pair of pads just in case when STAX stop making these.

 

[KDS315]

Yep, agree, way too early to judge production quality based on pre-production units etc.
Japanese products are known to always be perfect in every little detail; I guess this
one will be produced in Japan, too...

 

[zomkung]

The new headpad looks like the one from Hifiman.

I have an O2-MK1 with 22 years old and still working fine.

 

[Symbiose]

I will buy the new Stax flagship headphone and would like to pair it with Stax amplifier, which one is better? SRM-700T, SRM-700S or SRM-8000T.

Were I live doesnt have another dealer of electrostatic amplifier, only Stax, because of this I will stick with Stax.