[mskorpik]

I am a avid music lover and shared this passion with my late uncle who was an extreme audiophile. I was the niece who could hear adjustments in his system and I think he appreciated that. I am ever so grateful to him for leaving me his masterpiece. I am working on self educating myself while to try to recreate his sound system invention that I recently inherited. I am a civil engineer think I have potential to learn and figure it out but I know almost nothing about audio systems. I have not met anyone local who can advise so I created an account to seek help from you. By the way, I have zero intention in selling the equipment. So... here it goes... pardon me for silly questions as I am a virgin in this sense:
 
Not hooked up to the system I found:
 
(1) STAX driver unit for earspeaker SRM 1/ MK 2 but there is no power cord.
 
In a brown crumpled up grocery bag with dust:
(1) STAX headphone (boxy type) with normal plug
(1) STAX headphone (boxy typle) with professional plug
(1) STAX headphone SRM 5 with slightly bent normal plug
 
Here are my questions:
 
1. What kind of power plug should I use? The back of the box says "AC 100V 117 V 50-60 Hz 33 W". Do I need a special cord specifically for STAX or just a cord that meets a portion of these specs?
2. Where might one find said cord?
3. What is the difference between the normal vs professional plug?
4. Is it reasonable to try to bend the bent prongs?
5. Is this web page a good forum for general audio questions related to turntables, amps, etc.?
 
Thanks to you for your advice.

 

[steve2151]

The cord is a standard power cable. If you're in the US, 117V is the correct voltage setting.
 
The normal and professional outputs have different voltages, with the pro being 580 V and the normal being 230 V. You won't be able to plug a normal type plug into a pro output, which is a very good thing.
 
You should be able to bend the prongs back with no ill effects. Just make sure not they won't break off first. 
 
You can ask questions about turntables in the dedicated source component forms and amps in the amplifier forums. The majority of source discussion around here tends to be focused on digital audio converters (dacs) nowadays since most people store their music on their computers. You could just get a usb dac with RCA out and run your music from your PC to the amp that way.

 

[Rizlaw]

No special STAX AC power cord is required. You can buy a power cord at Monoprice: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10228&cs_id=1022801&p_id=5280&seq=1&format=2

 

[mskorpik]

Wow! I just drummed up a power cord and hooked up my ipod through a digital to RCA. I have NEVER heard my music like this before. I think I am in love. Quick questions... how critical is it to hook up a ground to the ground thing on the back and what do I hook that up to? Also, is it ok to directly hook an ipod to it or is better to run it through an amp first? Thanks for the help! I don't think I will leave my house for some time.
 

 

[steve2151]

No need for another amp (that would be double amping and bad for distortion reasons), but getting a nice desktop dac would be an audible improvement over your iPod's internal dac.
 
Don't touch the ground post unless you're experiencing humming issues or fiddling with the amp's internals. Humming is occasionally caused by static buildup on the amp's case, which you can eliminate by running cable from the ground post. 

 

[mskorpik]

Got it. Thanks a ton. I certainly appreciate it.