The Stax thread (New)

[spritzer]

I'm still here but just to be clear, I have never and will never modify amplifiers for other people.  All the gear I mod is mine and then sold once I'm done with it. 

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

I have been lurking here on head-fi off and on for several years and read I don't know how many threads lately for the past few weeks... I have finally been looking into getting some entry level stax but I think my initial budget (which was originally for some mid level senns) is probably too low (<$200).  What is a reasonable expectation to have for an entry level set of stax (or other electrostatic perhaps) headphones and either an energizer or amp?  
 
It looks like amps tend to cost quite a bit more and I do have a receiver I could use for now with an energizer.  The main thing is, I intend to use this at work (closed office door so sound leakage isn't a problem) and I plan on having them on most of the day so they need to be comfortable (amusing that this issue has been discussed recently).  For me, that usually means circumaural.  From my understanding, the lambdas are, as well as the gammas/alphas.  Are there any other stax that would qualify (in the lower budget range that is , I doubt it's worth discussing the higher end in this case! )  I've been unable to tell for sure if the SR-3s are or not.
 
I'm OK with them not looking perfect as long as they sound OK, but I'm not sure how much that would tend to drop the price if at all.
 
I've read conflicting comments on whether gammas (which appear to possibly be reachable in my range, at least I had found some historically) are worth it sound wise compared with lambdas.  This would be my first higher-end setup so in truth I'd probably be happy with even the lower end stax...  
 
Thanks for any help!

In that  price range I would recommend one of the SR3/SR5 phones which you can probably get with a transformer.  For what it's worth I am considering selling my SR5 and SRD-6 mains-biased energizer  for a bit less than $200.00.  The phones are one of the most comfortable that Stax put out and the sound is pretty nicely balanced, i.e no nasty peaks or dips that I can detect.  You may also find the old Stax portable amps SRDX and the like, often for less than $100.00.  You can run them from the mains or use 8 C cells for poratble use.
 
 
Quote:

@ livewire: Thanks for the advice!
 
Has anyone bought stuffs from EIFL recently? I learned from the STAX threads here that they offer very good deals on STAX earspeakers and amp. I googled the website and sent a few inquiry for a quote, yet didn't hear back from them. In addition, I kept reading people mentioned dealing with a guy named Koji, yet I can't find his contact info. Are they still in business? Any info will be appreciated.

 
http://www.eifl.co.jp/index/export/stax/stax.htm

I bought  an 007A, 717 amp and  a few other things from them and found them quite reliable.  You may have to wave some money in front of them to get a reply.

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

In that  price range I would recommend one of the SR3/SR5 phones which you can probably get with a transformer.  For what it's worth I am considering selling my SR5 and SRD-6 mains-biased energizer  for a bit less than $200.00.  The phones are one of the most comfortable that Stax put out and the sound is pretty nicely balanced, i.e no nasty peaks or dips that I can detect.  You may also find the old Stax portable amps SRDX and the like, often for less than $100.00.  You can run them from the mains or use 8 C cells for poratble use.
 
 
Quote:


I bought  an 007A, 717 amp and  a few other things from them and found them quite reliable.  You may have to wave some money in front of them to get a reply.

Eifll and Stax's webpages...
 
WTH is up with them?
 
They don't have ANY website designers in ALL of the Japanese Empire?  I guess that's what happens when you lose the war!
 
Those websites are right out of 1994!  Designed by a 16 year old in 1994...
 
Those 2 websites suck a root!
 
And it's not like they are showcasing Widgets for a half a cent a piece, these are seriously expensive products.

 

[edstrelow]

 
Quote:

Eifll and Stax's webpages...
 
WTH is up with them?
 
They don't have ANY website designers in ALL of the Japanese Empire?  I guess that's what happens when you lose the war!
 
Those websites are right out of 1994!  Designed by a 16 year old in 1994...
 
Those 2 websites suck a root!
 
And it's not like they are showcasing Widgets for a half a cent a piece, these are seriously expensive products.

I don't get it either.  The Stax History hasn't been updated since 2007.
 
However, I don't think it's a good idea to bring up the Second World War.  They may have lost but we are buying their stuff which is better than ours!
 
This reminds me of an incident I had this past summer in Paris.  I had just arrived with my family by train from London and needed to check a map to figure out where our hotel was.  We popped into a McDonalds across the street to get some air conditioning since it was a very hot day. I was accosted by 2 middle-aged American women who on hearing me talking to one of my daughters asked "Are you Americans?" and then proceeded to tells us about how bad the French were.  Their punch line, delivered loudly in a crowded restaurant,  was:
 
"and if it wasn't for us they'd be speaking German now and in my opinion that wouldn't be a bad thing!  The Germans at least  are hospitable!" 
 
I tried to make myself invisible and said "don't say things like that here!"  Our own experience was quite the opposite, no bad encounters, people in the street being helpful  etc.  I thought if these ladies were talking like that to the locals it was not surprising they would have  a hard time.

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

 


I don't get it either.  The Stax History hasn't been updated since 2007.
 
However, I don't think it's a good idea to bring up the Second World War.  They may have lost but we are buying their stuff which is better than ours!
 
This reminds me of an incident I had this past summer in Paris.  I had just arrived with my family by train from London and needed to check a map to figure out where our hotel was.  We popped into a McDonalds across the street to get some air conditioning since it was a very hot day. I was accosted by 2 middle-aged American women who on hearing me talking to one of my daughters asked "Are you Americans?" and then proceeded to tells us about how bad the French were.  Their punch line, delivered loudly in a crowded restaurant,  was:
 
"and if it wasn't for us they'd be speaking German now and in my opinion that wouldn't be a bad thing!  The Germans at least  are hospitable!" 
 
I tried to make myself invisible and said "don't say things like that here!"  Our own experience was quite the opposite, no bad encounters, people in the street being helpful  etc.  I thought if these ladies were talking like that to the locals it was not surprising they would have  a hard time.

Yeah, except I was making a Joke...
 
A joke about the war, not about the website...
 
I hope they neither of them didn't pay more than $50 for those sites.  This has nothing to do with no update since 2007 either.  I would be ashamed of that degree in site development in 1994, no kidding.  I was doing websites in 1994, and I wouldn't have spilled that Flotsam out there. Really embarrasing pages for a Hi-Tech product lineup.

 

[jjinh]

You should have said you were Canadian

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

They don't have ANY website designers in ALL of the Japanese Empire? 
 

That's really not fair. Luxman and Esoteric both have perfectly fine if not incredible flash heavy websites. Obviously Stax doesn't feel that their website is particularly important. Frankly if the choice is "build a new site", or "design some new amps", I'd much rather they work on their amps. Websites from the dark ages are not exclusive to Japan either.
 
Spectral makes some of the best high-end components in America, and their website looks like it was designed by a high school kid in an Intro to HTML class.
 
http://www.spectralaudio.com/

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

 
This reminds me of an incident I had this past summer in Paris.  I had just arrived with my family by train from London and needed to check a map to figure out where our hotel was.  We popped into a McDonalds across the street to get some air conditioning since it was a very hot day. I was accosted by 2 middle-aged American women who on hearing me talking to one of my daughters asked "Are you Americans?" and then proceeded to tells us about how bad the French were.  Their punch line, delivered loudly in a crowded restaurant,  was:
 
"and if it wasn't for us they'd be speaking German now and in my opinion that wouldn't be a bad thing!  The Germans at least  are hospitable!" 
 
I tried to make myself invisible and said "don't say things like that here!"  Our own experience was quite the opposite, no bad encounters, people in the street being helpful  etc.  I thought if these ladies were talking like that to the locals it was not surprising they would have  a hard time.

My experience in France is that if you make even the barest minimum effort to use a few French words and not butcher them, the French are very nice and perfectly hospitable. As little as bonjour and merci should be enough. On the other hand, if you start your interaction with "ya'll have merloT here?" things may not go as well. Frankly I'm not surprised that those types of Americans were found in a McDonald's. The highlight of their vacation was probably seeing what the differences were on the menu.

 

[jeffreyfranz]

 
Quote:

That's really not fair. Luxman and Esoteric both have perfectly fine if not incredible flash heavy websites. Obviously Stax doesn't feel that their website is particularly important. Frankly if the choice is "build a new site", or "design some new amps", I'd much rather they work on their amps. Websites from the dark ages are not exclusive to Japan either.
 
Spectral makes some of the best high-end components in America, and their website looks like it was designed by a high school kid in an Intro to HTML class.
 
http://www.spectralaudio.com/

You're right. I just checked out the Spectral site. Spectral has been in decline since their heyday in the 80s and, maybe, early 90s.

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

You're right. I just checked out the Spectral site. Spectral has been in decline since their heyday in the 80s and, maybe, early 90s.

A new DAC from Spectral would certainly be nice. The SDR-2000 Pro is pretty legendary among vintage DACs, but they decided not to do a follow up because they didn't feel that S/Pdif was up to their standards. Granted its not perfect, but with BNC and a high quality digital receiver, other companies have managed to get by with it. The SDR-4000 may be nice, but it's a dead end.

 

[les_garten]

OK AudiioPhools, let me explain the Joke,   Jeebus Christ!!
 
The Joke was...
 
A REALLY High Tech Japanese product is represented REALLY Poorly in HTML.  Abysmally in fact.
 
That's called IRONY!
 
Get it!
 
Then the connection I made of the word Japanese to the word Empire.
 
Then the connection to WWII and the loss of said war.
 
Then the Joke of, I guess they don't have any website designers, because they lost...  And we got them all...
 
Ahhhh, Never Mind...
 
Jumpin' Jehosifat!
 
The Political Correctness Police and the Website Surveyors can go back to whatever rhey were doing before.
 
Lay on MacDuff...

 

[wind016]

Quote:

OK AudiioPhools, let me explain the Joke,   Jeebus Christ!!
 
The Joke was...
 
A REALLY High Tech Japanese product is represented REALLY Poorly in HTML.  Abysmally in fact.
 
That's called IRONY!
 
Get it!
 
Then the connection I made of the word Japanese to the word Empire.
 
Then the connection to WWII and the loss of said war.
 
Then the Joke of, I guess they don't have any website designers, because they lost...  And we got them all...
 
Ahhhh, Never Mind...
 
Jumpin' Jehosifat!
 
The Political Correctness Police and the Website Surveyors can go back to whatever rhey were doing before.
 
Lay on MacDuff...

I'm offended by your Anti-Asian comments!    Muahaha 

 
 
My Stax O2s are coming! hehe For now, I'd just be able to put them on my head, turn on my computer speakers and pretend that I'm listening to music through them.

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

I'm offended by your Anti-Asian comments!    Muahaha 

 
 
My Stax O2s are coming! hehe For now, I'd just be able to put them on my head, turn on my computer speakers and pretend that I'm listening to music through them.

I don't suppose you are a website developer are you?
 
I know I can come up with 2 referrals off the top of my head...
 
Will that make up for it?
 

 

 

[wink]

les_garten speaks truth.
 
keep at it, les.
 
If they don't get it, they don't have it.
 
As an anonymous modern prophet once stated:
 
"To get where I'm going to, you have to be where I'm at. Can you see where I'm going?".

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

les_garten speaks truth.
 
 
 
"To get where I'm going to, you have to be where I'm at. Can you see where I'm going?".

I didn't understand this till I hit myslef twice in the head with my 1.54 Gigawatt Tesla Coil.
 
Clear as Crystal now, Thanx!
 
Here's the actual Photograph of my moment of Enlightenment:
 

 
 
My Right foot is a little sore for some reason though...