[SR-71Panorama]

That must be him, yeah. Maybe its been quietly available from authorized EAR dealers this whole time? Interesting...

Although today's price would probably be +$8k I'd wager (!)

 

[audiod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Benchmark is a poor source to my ears and it doesn't deserve all the praise it is regularly showered with.

Wow! Do I agree with that statement.

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can you post some pics of them? I had a couple of very early sets here once and they looked similar to what you are describing. The ESP950 has been in production for almost 20 years now so no wonder there have been some changes.

I took some pictures last night but i haven't had time to scale them down.

http://166.70.233.190/IMG_0036.JPG with poor focus and accurate color representation
http://166.70.233.190/IMG_0035.JPG for a sharper version with color brought to extremes by the flash

The earpad was off so i could use some tape to pull hairs out of the foam, which turned into just removing the foam because it was crumbling.

The arc lacks the embossed "KOSS" branding that my A/250 has, and has a gold "Koss" badge where the A/250 arc has the white "A/250" badge.

Edit: Hmm, i really should clean my keyboard.

 

[spritzer]

Thanks for the photo's. Time to send them back to Koss and get a new set for 150$...

Quote:

Originally Posted by kintsaki /img/forum/go_quote.gif When I was first replying to your post I encountered a failure and had to rewrite it. In the process I forgot to ask you this: Doubling voltage results in quadrupling power. If db is related to sound pressure level then a 6 db theoretical increase is available. Is this applicable to electrostatic headphones as it is in dynamics or not? can you explain?

You are correct, my brain is still fried after the 19 hours at work yesterday.

The 3db figure came from my rattled brain confusing the power and voltage db figures.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by antonyfirst /img/forum/go_quote.gif The headband is different too: while the DIY version used a single metal band covered in leather (which started to become painful after a while), the original version has two metal bands, distanced and covered with the black leather.

Hmmm, then some of us don't remember correctly.
I remember the SR-X/MK3 Pro (the pair I sold you) as having a leather headband with two parallel metal bands in it.

Not the best pictures, but its all I can provide:

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spritzer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the photo's. Time to send them back to Koss and get a new set for 150$...

Yes, I'm a little disappointed, but you can't be a cheap person without being prepared for the eventuality that something you buy might turn out to be in horrible condition. And really all this means is a week or two more delay.

I kinda like the red grilles. Kinda. I'll like more having them not squeal at me though.

 

[bjarnetv]

so... i got back my float electrostats yesterday, after half a years "storage", and they sounded just as awesome as i remembered.

i promised myself i would leave them alone for a week or so; giving me some time to reaquaint myself with them, getting used to how they sound before modding them.

turns out i have no self restraint...

i had previously modded them, using aproximately 1kg of blutack, but this was before my ortho modding days, and i didnt know how important it was to make an airtight baffle seal, so the bluetack and stock foam mounts had to go.

i made a new edge to mount the drivers on using bitumen, added a thin bluetack gasket before sticking the driver on top.

i then did the same on the other side of the driver, sealing it to the outer grill, making sure there were no leaks anywhere.

the drivers are now tightly clamped in place, and the bitumen has added some much needed mass to the plastic housing.

they now sound a lot more balanced and natural; the bass also tightened up considerably. more slam, less bloat.
cant really give any more detailed description yet though, as i just did the mod, and need some more listening time.

i really recommend all jecklin owners to at least perform this mod on their electrostatic floats, as it really improves the sound... its also quite easy and almost risk free.

next up: trying to make some huge, cheese-wedge shaped leather pads.

 

[vvanrij]

Hi,

I got my Lambda Nova Signatures today, all I can say is WOW. I never expected them to sound so much better then the 404's. Its much more organic, natural sounding, balanced, but not boring in the least. I really really like it! Thanks for all the recommendations.

Now a stupid question

, how am I supposed to change earpads on the Stax headphones? I did a search but didn't find anything (sorry), they come with some sort of selfadhesive tape formed in the shape of the earpads.

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vvanrij /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now a stupid question , how am I supposed to change earpads on the Stax headphones? I did a search but didn't find anything (sorry), they come with some sort of selfadhesive tape formed in the shape of the earpads.

On my normal-bias lambda, i basically had to peel the old pads off with the help of a butter knife or something. They really didn't want to come off - left behind some vinyl. Then i had to scrape off the old doubletape and adhesive. Cleaned it up with denatured ethyl alcohol on a rag.

Oh. Remove the slabs from the headband first. Carefully.

 

[mark_h]

Is it usual for stax to get better with burn in, mine appear to be doing so but I am not sure if this is familiarity or brain burn in (lol) they seem to be getting smoother, more liquid with better, deeper imaging? The bass seems more defined also.

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lyricalmoments /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just curious, like to hear from you guys at what volume you listen to your music on the Stax, esp those with the 717 + O2 combo. On my dynamic setup, volume knob tends to stay at 1 level most of the time. I've been listening to the 717 + O2 for a few days now and I find myself having to readjust the volume knob - Jazz at 9-10 o'clock and Classical at 12 o'clock, the latter tends to sound pretty far away as compared to my dynamic amps.

I set the volume control on my 717/007A at the 12:00 setting. It seemed that I used to set it up about one number higher before I started using Silclear contact enhancer. Using that stuff tends to increase the signal level even if you don't touch the volume control.

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks. And come to think of it, I think i have a li-po pack around here somewhere that outputs something in the neighborhood of 9v. One of those emergency power supply things for cell phones and whatnot, with a variable output. Edit: And, two observations. 1: Most ESP/950 pictures I've seen show black grilles w/ a red badge on each yoke. I have no badges, and the grilles have a flat reddish paintjob. 2: They seem to squeal a bit. This might end up meaning that i send them to koss for warranty repair, which is annoying, but i can still hardly complain for the price.

Would these be still under warranty if you are not the original owner? The warranty is pretty clear about that.

I once fixed a squeal on a 950 after Koss couldn't. The cable to the eraphone cup was too close to the electrode on the driver and was shorting it out just enough to squeal.

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by edstrelow /img/forum/go_quote.gif Would these be still under warranty if you are not the original owner? The warranty is pretty clear about that.

I haven't heard of anyone having a problem with that.

Has anyone?

 

[catscratch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lyricalmoments /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just curious, like to hear from you guys at what volume you listen to your music on the Stax, esp those with the 717 + O2 combo. On my dynamic setup, volume knob tends to stay at 1 level most of the time. I've been listening to the 717 + O2 for a few days now and I find myself having to readjust the volume knob - Jazz at 9-10 o'clock and Classical at 12 o'clock, the latter tends to sound pretty far away as compared to my dynamic amps.

It depends on the source, and the music. Balanced output has 3dB more gain than unbalanced, and different sources have different output levels to begin with, so you really can't compare them like that. Also recordings tend to have so much variation between flawless but quiet old classical and jazz recordings to modern brickwalled rock crap with zero dynamic range, that you really can't tell by volume knob position alone.

Still, with critical listening, I usually listen at 9:00 or so for the loud stuff, which I don't ever listen to anyway, between 10 and 12 for well-produced electronica, and sometimes, but rarely up to 1 or 2 for very quiet classical. Casual listening levels are lower, usually around 9-10 for the well-produced stuff.

Sometimes I do crank it way higher than that though. Some things are just meant to be heard at concert volume levels.

 

[edstrelow]

Over the weekend my Stax 717 amp shut down twice while running the 007A. I had turned it on after I got up in the morning but didn't get around to listening for about 4 hours. When I put some music on it played for about 3 minutes, then there was a short screech and the sound sound stopped. After I turned the amp off for a minute. It played again and then did the same shut down a few minutes later.

I let it sit for about 1/2 hour, blew some dust out of the amp, tried it again and it worked fine. I haven't had any problem since but I have not left it sitting for 4 hours at a time.

Anyone have any idea what could be going on?

Is there a protective circuit or what?

I suspect overheating and think I should open the unit up and clean it properly. It has an open grill on top and has been collecting room dust for a few years now.