[duncan1]

ChrisJ is right .  A Japanese wall wart MADE for the Japanese market is 100V/60HZ . Plugging that into a US socket  which has approx-120/130 V/60HZ will cause an increased output voltage above the standard output- UNLESS the said wall wart is SMPS  AND says --for UNIVERSAL use 100V---to 240V [UK] or 100V--to 125V [US] in THAT case it is "self adjusting" otherwise do not use it. Older wall warts had mains transformers in them[bulky] they certainly wont be suitable for " universal use" UNLESS there is voltage adjustments on  them.

 

[autoteleology]

Duncan, your posts are a bit hard to read sometimes because of the lack of formatting.

That being said, what the heck is the Alpha Pro Excellent? Is this just a tweaked/rebranded Gamma?

 

[EveTan]

@DefQon
 
So I guess the only thing I can do is wait? How long did it take your channel imbalance to fix itself?

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

 
Sorry for the OT, but which OPAMP?

 
I can't say but it starts with LME... 

  There is a reason why some of these chipamps are quite good indeed. 
 
Quote:

If it's you then it's fine since you will doing it some good but it came up you've been outbid by another kuboten member so yeah.

 
Didn't even want to win them given the repairs needed but I've adopted yet another broken Stax set. 
 
Quote:

That being said, what the heck is the Alpha Pro Excellent? Is this just a tweaked/rebranded Gamma?

 
Special Japan only version of the Gamma Pro with PC-OCC cable and  different earpads.  The pads were later used on all Gamma Pro's but not the cable. 

 

[3X0]

Quote:

What was the final price of that HE60/HEV70 setup?

The one I bought from Headroom? $800.
 
 
Main problem(s) being HEV70 is wonky (which is OK since I got a SRM-T1) and the right driver is super quiet.
 
 
I've realized that the right driver's imbalance/volume fluctuates over time (it's occasionally quieter or louder) -- this leads me to believe it is a driver issue rather than an electrical/retermination issue.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

 
It seems that no one has a sure recommendation for a proper wallwart for these units...  

  Power pins have the polarity reversed or something like that for Japanese wallwarts..

 
Edit: Oooops, Duncan already answered this!
 
It's pretty simple, for North American use, look for a Wall Wart that reads: 120 Vac Input, 12 Vdc Output, make sure it has the right output current rating (500 mA or more) and make sure the power pin has the right polarity WRT "+" and "-".
 
It should be a linear power supply, but that information may be hard to come by.
 
It should NOT read: Switchmode Power Supply, or Switching Power Supply, or Switcher Power Supply or SMPS.

 

[rgs9200m]

Quote:

 
 
I would go for the 717 if you can find a good example. I love mine, fast, good bass and none fatigiing. To me the Stax tubed amps sound a bit slow and flatter.
 
 

Maybe that's why the 007t/ii amp sounds very nice to me with my 009s. Just a thought. (The bass is especially good. Still have to watch out for brightness, but just occasionally, so still
some room for improvement.)

 

[Chris J]

ChrisJ is right .  A Japanese wall wart MADE for the Japanese market is 100V/60HZ . Plugging that into a US socket  which has approx-120/130 V/60HZ will cause an increased output voltage above the standard output- UNLESS the said wall wart is SMPS  AND says --for UNIVERSAL use 100V---to 240V [UK] or 100V--to 125V [US] in THAT case it is "self adjusting" otherwise do not use it. Older wall warts had mains transformers in them[bulky] they certainly wont be suitable for " universal use" UNLESS there is voltage adjustments on  them.

 
Somewhere buried in this endless Head Fi thread either Kevin Gilmore or Spritzer or someone else??? advised us to NOT use a Switching Power Supply or Switch Mode Power Supply. Can anyone expand on this??

 

[rgs9200m]

HAM noise? I would think this refers to HAM Radio interference. (Amateur Radio).

 

[miceblue]

I'm measuring stuff before I hook everything together.

My vampire detecting "Kill a Watt" device says the wall voltage is ~126-134 V rounding up. Measuring the Japanese wall wart while directly connecting it to the wall, it has a voltage of 20.2 V.

Don't use a 100 V wall wart in North America if you love your Stax energizer!

I don't have an energiser though?

So yesterday, er 0:15 today, I tried this:
Wall outlet -> surge protector -> Kill-a-Watt -> 100 V wall wart -> SRM-252S

MacBook Pro -> Monoprice USB -> ODAC -> 3.5 mm to RCA cable -> SRM-252S -> SR-207 -> my ears

1. Plug in ODAC to my computer
2. Plug in 3.5 mm to RCA cable into ODAC then SRM-252S
3. Plug in SR-207 into the SRM-252S in the proper orientation
4. Plug in 100 V wall wart
5. Plug in DC jack of wall wart into SRM-252S
6. Turn on SRM-252S by turning the potentiometer
7. Wait a few minutes and observe any weird sounds
8. Place ST-207 on head and observe any weird sounds
9. Play music on MacBook Pro at maximum digital volume
10. Observe any weird noises
11. Slowly adjust SRM-252S potentiometer until sufficient low-volume
12. Observe any weird noises

Kill-a-Watt readings were 24.7 V and 10,4 W.

I had a ~25 minute listen and these things sound surprisingly balanced to me. Very good bass extension, very revealing relative to the K 701 I have, smooth treble, natural-sounding 2D soundtage compared to the linear-sounding one on the K 701, and pretty warm.

I took the SR-207 on and off my head a few times without misic playing and I observed a slight crinkling sound in the left driver, which I'm assuming is the STAX fart.

After my listening session:
1. Turn off music
2. Turn off SRM-252S
3. Wait a few minutes
4. Unplug DC plug from SRM-252S
5. Unplug 100 V wall wart from Kill-a-Watt
6. Unplug SR-207 from SRM-252S
7. Unplug 3.5 mm to RCA cable from ODAC


So all in all, I observed nothing noticeably wrong during this test session apart from the Kill-a-Watt readings. . The 100V wall wart was warm, but it was nothing out of the ordinary in my experience; it got almost as warm as my MacBook Pro charger brick when I'm charging my MacBook Pro from, say 20% battery to 100%.

 

[duncan1]

  CriJ-This intrigues me. In the past 5--10 years most if not all power supplies that pug into a wall  are switch mode. This is an industry benefit as it is a lot cheaper to buy SMPS parts in bulk than big transformers . It means to the customer that the PS is slim /lightweight and can easily output a lot of current. But if you mean "don't buy SMPS for Audio---I quite AGREE! Watch the film of 2 of them on a social network and the illegal copy can be heard with the ear and on a     AM radio.What I did not know was that you can still get wall warts with--MAINS transformers in them Is that the case in the US??? most have been changed in the UK to SMPS . If you need a current of several amps they have got to be big and heavy  small ones proved unreliable due to being enclosed in a plastic shell and blew their internal fuses[internal in the transformer windings]  .Hope you can "put me straight" on this? ---Just noticed Miceblues post and he says it works just fine ? so I take it it is a SMPS [universal] ???- transformer would blow or be way overvoltage   -maybe more info from Miceblue?

 

[K_19]

Quote:

 
Edit: Oooops, Duncan already answered this!It's pretty simple, for North American use, look for a Wall Wart that reads: 120 Vac Input, 12 Vdc Output, make sure it has the right output current rating and make sure the power pin has the right polarity WRT "+" and "-".It should NOT read: Switchmode Power Supply, or Switching Power Supply, or Switcher Power Supply.

 
This is the problem... finding a wallwart with the VAC and VDC ratings is easy enough, but I cannot find one anywhere which has the polarity correct for this version (nearly everything with this rating has the center barrel positive instead of negative)... they are either incredibly rare or I'm clearly not looking hard enough...

 

[miceblue]

Quote:

Quote:

 
Edit: Oooops, Duncan already answered this!It's pretty simple, for North American use, look for a Wall Wart that reads: 120 Vac Input, 12 Vdc Output, make sure it has the right output current rating and make sure the power pin has the right polarity WRT "+" and "-".It should NOT read: Switchmode Power Supply, or Switching Power Supply, or Switcher Power Supply.

 
This is the problem... finding a wallwart with the VAC and VDC ratings is easy enough, but I cannot find one anywhere which has the polarity correct for this version (nearly everything with this rating has the center barrel positive instead of negative)... they are either incredibly rare or I'm clearly not looking hard enough...

So I ask for the third time now, will this work?
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_203036_-1
 
120 V AC 60Hz primary voltage
12 V DC output
1.5 A
18 W
Center negative
AC-DC unregulated linear
 
I'm expecting an answer other than from DefQon since he already answered it.
 
 
And also for the third time here, will this work?
http://www.voltage-converter-transformers.com/product_info.php?category_id=10016468&products_id=10061420
 
 
And I recently found this. Will this work?
http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/sacom/item/1372935/
 
 
Again, y'all say don't use X, but then you don't give any recommendations otherwise. Y'all say don't use X, but you don't say why, nor what will happen. I just tried the 100 V thing and nothing noticeably bad happened. I contacted the person in Japan whom I bought the SRS-2170 from and I received the reply:
Quote:

Me: [size=x-small][size=10pt]I do have a question though regarding the STAX unit. As you might already know, I live in the United States and the voltages here are 120 V instead of 100 V in Japan. Do you have a recommended AC to DC wall adaptor and/or transformer?[/size][/size]
 
[size=x-small][size=10pt]Person: I have heard that it will basically work, but I think it might be better and safer over the long term to use a voltage converter.[/size][/size]

 

[shipsupt]

Why are you making this so complicated?  Your questions have been answered over and over...  Why do you insist on using a PSU rated for 100V when you know you've got US voltages?
 
Here... this will work fine, I've used it for a few years in the US.  
 
 
Radio Shack
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3807944 (You can probably find the same model on Amazon cheaper, 273-358.)
And this http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3807940&locale=en_US (Make sure you plug the adapter in for the right polarity, it's marked on the amp)
 
If you go to a retail store you might even find one that comes with a selection of tips.  

 

[M-13]

Quote:

That...took forever to process and upload to YouTube. >_<
 

Nice miceblue I enjoyed it. I skipped over some of the boring parts, but I like how thorough you were.
 
Did you get yours through Price Japan? What was wait time after you paid? Did you go DHL or EMS shipping?