[TimJo]

Thanks for the links!
 
I'm going to start studying the schematics. This is very exciting news...
 

 

[Zida]

I need some opinions here, guys.

I'm a complete electrostatic/stax noob. 100%. I'm pretty noob to high-end hifi gear as well.

I recently got myself a pair of k701 and a Meier Corda Headfive amp to drive it. I was pretty happy with it for a couple of weeks until I heard the speakers in my friend's old cadillac. They sounded like something else altogether. The detail was substantial, instruments were perfectly defined and I had never heard bass that felt truer. And the drums! It was so real I felt like I was watching the drummer in front of me! We were listening to studio recordings of Phish, btw.

Now I'm just trying to find how I can get sound like that in headphones for the least money I can. Is Stax what I'm looking for?
Would these (http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/465502/ic-stax-sr-5nb-fitz-modified-amp) be the right direction for me to head in? For reference I don't have a dedicated DAC, but I don't believe that'd make the difference for me right now.

If I pick up those Stax I'd need to sell my rig _and_ sink in extra money

Thanks for your help, guys

 

[anetode]

You won't get the same sensation of bass from headphones. The way your body and mind are conditioned to respond to rhythmic low frequencies differs from the way your ear is fooled into hearing similar frequencies through headphones. What you want is decay, the K701s are very quick in the bass, which leads to them being appraised as "clinical". You're looking for "warmth". The O2 Staxen are warm, but you might be better of trying something like the Sennheiser HD650 first.

 

[Zida]

Thanks. I've never really understood the terms used to describe bass. I'd have certainly never assumed "decay" was what i wanted, but the more you know..

The bass was definitely a part of what wowed me about his speakers, but I think i should emphasize the clarity and impact of all the instruments. Maybe I need to consider a DAC. I can't even hear the difference between mid-high end mp3 and flac with my stock laptop soundcard.

I feel like I just intruded on the stax community, sorry

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

Thanks. I've never really understood the terms used to describe bass. I'd have certainly never assumed "decay" was what i wanted, but the more you know..

The bass was definitely a part of what wowed me about his speakers, but I think i should emphasize the clarity and impact of all the instruments. Maybe I need to consider a DAC. I can't even hear the difference between mid-high end mp3 and flac with my stock laptop soundcard.

I feel like I just intruded on the stax community, sorrry

 
 
I agree I wouldn't use the term "decay" here unless it is defined in some  way other than what it seems to mean. 
 
 
I agree about the HD 650, it sounds like the speakers in an old Cadillac.
 
 

 

[Zida]

You almost make it sound like you don't like them

I should clarify by "old" I mean late 90's, not a restored actually old one.

 

[les_garten]

 
Quote:

Thanks. I've never really understood the terms used to describe bass. I'd have certainly never assumed "decay" was what i wanted, but the more you know..

The bass was definitely a part of what wowed me about his speakers, but I think i should emphasize the clarity and impact of all the instruments. Maybe I need to consider a DAC. I can't even hear the difference between mid-high end mp3 and flac with my stock laptop soundcard.

I feel like I just intruded on the stax community, sorry

 
 
Get Denon D5000 or D7000s, the most common description is they are like strapping a Stereo System to your head.  Ohh, and don't go to the STAX thread talking about saving money on something, that does not Compute here!


 
Quote:

 
 
I agree I wouldn't use the term "decay" here unless it is defined in some  way other than what it seems to mean. 
 
 
I agree about the HD 650, it sounds like the speakers in an old Cadillac.
 
 

 
Outstanding!!  I couldn't concur more...
 

 

[El_Doug]

Is the BHSE not +/- 750? 
 
Quote:

Anything over +/-580   (the diaphram bias voltage) will likely damage
the headphones as the diaphram will become negative with respect to
the stators. Then bad things happen. Same thing if your turn up the
volume too much on any of these amps when you have the low bias
headphones plugged in.
 

 

[Zida]

My mistake

 
Quote:

Ohh, and don't go to the STAX thread talking about saving money on something, that does not Compute here!

 

[Don Quichotte]

 
Quote:

Also the phones need to be properly warmed up and  I suspect sensitive to the "electret effect" aka "parasitic charge" effect in which the drivers may build up a voltage bias.  This is a general problem with electrostatics and is a better-known issue with electrets.  Things like discharging the pins when you take the phones out help.  I try to leave my phones plugged into the amps at all times even if the amp is off.

 
So you're saying that discharging the phones by touching the pins helps but on the other hand you leave the phones connected to the amp all the time. Does this mean you are not using your own advice? Seems like a contradiction to me. I'm unplugging the phones every time I finish listening for that day and I'm shorting the pins, and I would like to know if this is considered the best thing to do or not.
 
Regarding warming up the phones, have you tested if it's not solely the amp but also the phones? While my hearing seems discernible enough, my audio memory is not that great so finding out for myself would require some effort that I'm not quite ready to put up at the moment.
 
My honest respects to the two "Senor Stax" gentlemen who are bringing wonderful news to the stats' fans table!

 

 

[kevin gilmore]

Quote:

Is the BHSE not +/- 750? 
 
 

 

Nope.   +/-400    no way a 6ca7 can handle 1500 volts.
 
As far as leaving the headphones plugged into an amp that is turned off, unless
you have the always on bias circuit, the headphones will slowly drain thru the
5 meg charging resistor as the rest of the circuit will be close to zero after a
few minutes of being off.

 

 

[anetode]

 
Quote:

 
 
I agree I wouldn't use the term "decay" here unless it is defined in some  way other than what it seems to mean. 
 
 
I agree about the HD 650, it sounds like the speakers in an old Cadillac.
 
 

Yeah, using that term was probably the wrong thing to do. What I was referring to is sometimes also described on head-fi as "speed", which I presume refers to the type of response seen on spectral decay waterfall graphs.
 
And there's something to be said for rolling around in an old caddy

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

 
 
So you're saying that discharging the phones by touching the pins helps but on the other hand you leave the phones connected to the amp all the time. Does this mean you are not using your own advice? Seems like a contradiction to me. I'm unplugging the phones every time I finish listening for that day and I'm shorting the pins, and I would like to know if this is considered the best thing to do or not.
 
Regarding warming up the phones, have you tested if it's not solely the amp but also the phones? While my hearing seems discernible enough, my audio memory is not that great so finding out for myself would require some effort that I'm not quite ready to put up at the moment.
 
My honest respects to the two "Senor Stax" gentlemen who are bringing wonderful news to the stats' fans table!

 

My preference is to leave the phones in their sockets.  This will depend on just what I am doing with them though.  I tend to use the same phone in the same amp day by day, a 707A in a 717 amp,  a Sigma/404 in an SRM1Mk2, a 404 in an SRM3 and a Signature or Sigma Pro in another SRM1Mk2..  If I am changing phones I usually do not want an extra phone still plugged in so I take it out and discharge it. 



 
Quote:

Nope.   +/-400    no way a 6ca7 can handle 1500 volts.
 
As far as leaving the headphones plugged into an amp that is turned off, unless
you have the always on bias circuit, the headphones will slowly drain thru the
5 meg charging resistor as the rest of the circuit will be close to zero after a
few minutes of being off.

Does this mean that leaving the phones in is  much the same as taking the phones out and shorting the pins?

 

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

 

Yeah, using that term was probably the wrong thing to do. What I was referring to is sometimes also described on head-fi as "speed", which I presume refers to the type of response seen on spectral decay waterfall graphs.
 
And there's something to be said for rolling around in an old caddy

I think I see now.  I would think "speed" is the same as "attack"  which is about how quickly a transducer responds to an input signal.  You sometimes see graphs showing how the transducer responds to a square wave.  The ideal being square wave in, square wave out.  I would assume that if there is little decay in the waterfall graphs this is consistent with fast attack so in that sense speed and decay may be the same.
 

 

[kevin gilmore]

 
 
 
Quote:

Does this mean that leaving the phones in is  much the same as taking the phones out and shorting the pins?

 
 
Yes it does