[svyr]

mmm, under US$1K
interesting - in the pic the inner headband holders look similar to AKG K340.
Anyone want to pay $1K for screws instead of the SR-404/lambda system? I wonder if you get leather pads for that 

, aside from a probably tasty new driver
 
Quote:

73000jpy is quite good, especially compared to the Taiwanese price on those pics that were posted.

 

[paxeaxe23]

Which set of phones?  
 
Second hand SR-5 or one of the three "budget" phones SR-202, 303 or 404?
 
I've got a pair of white SR-5's  and need to buy a  second set for the Hybrid eXStatA amp that I am just starting to put together .
 
How markedly different are the newer "Budget" Phones  compared to my SR-5's There are quite a few SR-5's for sale for under 130 Euros that I can see and although I am quite willing to pay between 400 - 700 euros for one of the newer Budget models , just wonder how much better these will perform than my old SR-5.
 
Given I have the eXStatA SS and soon my new Hybrid I will be buying the phones without bundled amps and wonder if there is a big difference between the three budget phones or if its more the difference between the bundled amps/adaptors that differentiate then.
 
Thanks
 
 
 
 

 

[padam]

Depends on what kind of sound you're after, the Lambdas have a diffused but maybe less focused type of sound compared to the smaller vintage phones. Each phones has its strengths and weaknesses. But the difference between the 303 and 404 is minimal, the 202 is a bit different (but not inferior).

 

[reiserFS]

Quote:

um, the sr-507 is 73,000yen. the sr-404le was 63,000yen if I remember correctly.

I'm talking about a used mint condition pair, which usually goes for 600$ if you manage to grab one.
 

 

[dcpoor]

and 73,000y would be ~$850.

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

Which set of phones?  
 
Second hand SR-5 or one of the three "budget" phones SR-202, 303 or 404?
 
I've got a pair of white SR-5's  and need to buy a  second set for the Hybrid eXStatA amp that I am just starting to put together .
 
How markedly different are the newer "Budget" Phones  compared to my SR-5's There are quite a few SR-5's for sale for under 130 Euros that I can see and although I am quite willing to pay between 400 - 700 euros for one of the newer Budget models , just wonder how much better these will perform than my old SR-5.
 
Given I have the eXStatA SS and soon my new Hybrid I will be buying the phones without bundled amps and wonder if there is a big difference between the three budget phones or if its more the difference between the bundled amps/adaptors that differentiate then.
 
Thanks
 
 The white SR5 has a nice balanced sound  and is I think a great phone.  However the later Lambdas (I have  a Signature and 404)  have more definition and timbre  due possibly to the thinner diaphragms or higher bias.  Also they have more treble and deeper bass. Of course you are going to need a high bias amp or transformer box.  I personally recommend the old SRM1Mk2 amp with high and low bias sockets.
 
 I can't speak as to the differences between the 202, 303 and 404 but I am very sceptical of those who claim advantages of the cheaper models.   Only with the 404 do you get the top of the line cable, same as the 007. 
 
I am a proponent of removing the foam backing of all Lambdas.
 
.http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/443060/is-the-stax-lambda-signature-supposed-to-be-damped-on-second-thought-ditch-the-foam-backing-on-all-the-lambdas
 
 After I got new foam backing for my Signatures I discovered they sounded like crap and removed them.  I suspect a lot of the sonic differences between various Lambdas are due to differing thicknesses of the back foam and one reason many old Lambdas sound good is that the back foam has deteriorated on them to the point that they are not really there, messing up the sound.

 

[svyr]

Got a SRM-1/mk2 off jjinh, plugged it into my 100v jap transformer and....
the FULL volume is only 1/4 at most of what SRM-300 gives off at 3 o'clock. To top it off past 2 o'clock it starts clipping.
 
Any Ideas? 

 

[svyr]

Mmmm, looks like it's royally FUBAR - the fat capacitors are cracked, the transformer looks to have melt marks on it and god knows what else. 
 
 
here are the pics: 

 

Picturesright click and open in a new window to view a full-size one)
 

Or visit the gallery: 
http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll163/svyr/srm1mk2-fubar/
 
Can someone please tell me if it's even wired for 100v (I can post another pic, if the ones posted don't have the needed one)?

 

[kevin gilmore]

You have to take off the cover on the back and look at the plug to see what voltage its set for.
 
All the stax transformers look like this after that many years. Except for the T2 transformers
which look much worse. 
 
Just because the heatshrink on the caps is cracked, that really does not mean anything, but
at this age the caps should be replaced.
 
Likely the amp is currently set for 220 volts, and running it on 100 volts, and it will barely work.
 
Edit: that model has the selector switch.  take the 2 screws off that cover the selector switch
and take a look at what it is set for.

 

[spritzer]

Yeah, you have to remove the back panel to see how the wires are really connected.  This is why I always put a sticker on every gear I modify to indicate the real input voltage...
 
Ohh and change those caps.  They are way past their sell by date...

 

[svyr]

Thanks Kevin and Spritzer!
 
ummm, http://assets.head-fi.org/c/c7/494x370px-LL-c78809eb_img6455v.jpg so I'm guessing you mean the cover to the right of the ground thingy... Interesting, I thought if it says '100v only' it doesn't have the switch. I'll have a look after work.
 
Quote:

You have to take off the cover on the back and look at the plug to see what voltage its set for.
 
All the stax transformers look like this after that many years. Except for the T2 transformers
which look much worse. 
 
Just because the heatshrink on the caps is cracked, that really does not mean anything, but
at this age the caps should be replaced.
 
Likely the amp is currently set for 220 volts, and running it on 100 volts, and it will barely work.
 
Edit: that model has the selector switch.  take the 2 screws off that cover the selector switch
and take a look at what it is set for.

 
>Ohh and change those caps. They are way past their sell by date...
 
Ummm, if I go for bulk 'refreshment', what else apart from the large 100uf 400v caps needs replacing after errr 30 years of life? Also, is this a suitable subs for the 400v100uf caps http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=RE6156 ?
 
 
> This is why I always put a sticker on every gear I modify to indicate the real input voltage...
 
Judging by the scratches around the screws it has been taken apart more than once, and god knowns what they did to it. Sound idea about the sticker though. or at least crossing out 100v only if it's been rewired.
 
 
>All the stax transformers look like this after that many years. 
 
I understand they're not cheap, but do I need to get a new one as well?

 

[jjinh]

Vlad, sincere apologies about the issues you're having with the amp. Firstly if you have persistent issues with the amp I'm sure you know you can also talk to me about it.
 
Like I mentioned to you before you bought it I had never taken the amp out of the box it was sent in until the day I packed it up for you. This was because as I had no use for it and, in particular, I do not have the relevant step-down transformer to make it functional.
 
I'll reiterate some details I provided to you prepurchase as it may help solve the problems you are having: this amp was purchased as part of a lambda sig + amp kit earlier in the year from Japan using Craig/Kuboten. It's the SRM-1mk2 with both Pro and Normal bias sockets. Now since the voltage selector has been removed I can only assume it is still set for 100v as I see no reason why it'd be set for anything else. But as Kevin has mentioned it's perhaps still worth a check.
 
Other than that I cant help you with much of the the technical details (which is probably why you posted here ) as I simply do not know much about stuff in the area.
 
I can tell you a new transformer costs about 200AUD landed in Australia from Stax Japan but I'm not sure if we need to look at that (yet).

 

[kevin gilmore]

Once you remove the two screws, if there is no selector plug, it likely pops out
to take a better picture.  All the wires are on the transformer, so its easy to
rewire if you have to.
 
As far as the new caps, you need to physically measure to make sure
the new caps will fit. Otherwise anything with the right physical size and
ratings would be ok.
 
A voltmeter is going to help if the voltage selector is wired right.

 

[svyr]

Alright, thanks everyone. I'll let you know how it looks tonight!

 

[svyr]

MKaay, I don't know if this makes any sense but here are the pics/description.
 
You can see the slots at the back behind the panel with the screws on the 1st pic.
 
The table below describes how the wires from the transformer are connected to it.
Pins are from left to right, as if we were looking at them from the same side as the voltage thingy (i.e. looking into the amp from the side of the voltage thingy)(look at the pics and you'll get it).
 
w1/w2 are just white wires that connect from PIN TO PIN. other wires connect from the transformer to pins (duno about the two white ones though, i presume they do too)).
 
 
 
 

Green	Brown(w2)	white(w1)	nothing	white(w2)
gray(w1)	purple	blue	nothing	nothing

Pics:
 


 
 
So, 220,240,100 or 110v or wired incorrectly? 
If it's not 240v or 100v, how do I rewire it to 240?
 
 
Btw, when I took off the screws at the back (2 at the cover, 2 at the sides of the voltage thingy), it could move, but it's sorta stuck on something, so I couldn't take it out and take a proper pic.
 
 
>A voltmeter is going to help if the voltage selector is wired right.
 
lol... Kevin, I thought after helping me debug the SRM-300/SRM-252a you started thinking more in the direction of 'a voltmeter will help you electrocute yourself and burn the amp, unless given explicit/ultra verbose directions'