The Headcase Stax thread

[jinp6301]

Originally Posted by n_maher

Jay is of course correct, she's an angel. I say that, now, as she's been asleep pretty well for the last hour and a half allowing me to have a little fun.

I haven't had a chance to try the SRD yet, but it's now perched atop the beta22 ready to be wired up. Maybe tomorrow...

heh when I was waiting for the pics to load I thought it was going to be about your baby

[catscratch]

Right. I'm getting tired of the non-existant deep bass on the O2 MkII, so I think I'm off to plug some bass ports this weekend. I'll let all know how it turns out, (and how much the driver replacement costs).

[n_maher]

Well, the L/pros certainly have their strengths. I can see anyone who's a midrange freak simply loving them, and their detail retrieval and presentation is also excellent. Granted, these are initial impressions which are based on limited listening. I hope to both try them with the SRD7 soon as well as move part of the setup into my upstairs rig or bring a proper source downstairs to play around with.

[The Monkey]

Nice condition Nate. Where'd you get it?

[spritzer]

Originally Posted by catscratch

Right. I'm getting tired of the non-existant deep bass on the O2 MkII, so I think I'm off to plug some bass ports this weekend. I'll let all know how it turns out, (and how much the driver replacement costs).

Just be very careful where you point the screwdriver and all driver damage is very unlikely. You could also choose not remove the earpad base plate and just plug port from there. This is untested but should work just fine.

Speaking off blu-tack mods I've been torture testing the SR-Ω/SR-007 hybrid and the bass is still a bit loose but I'm not sure if the seal is broken somewhere or that the chassis just can't handle the SR-007 drivers. If I apply some pressure to the housing barrel the bass gets clearer so it might be time for some Dynamat... The SR-Ω housing is just a shell unlike the massive slabs of aluminum in the SR-007 so that has to have an effect.

Originally Posted by n_maher

Well, the L/pros certainly have their strengths. I can see anyone who's a midrange freak simply loving them, and their detail retrieval and presentation is also excellent. Granted, these are initial impressions which are based on limited listening. I hope to both try them with the SRD7 soon as well as move part of the setup into my upstairs rig or bring a proper source downstairs to play around with.

So you haven't noticed the midrange recess yet...

[n_maher]

Originally Posted by The Monkey

Nice condition Nate. Where'd you get it?

The SRM and L/pro were the ones listed on Audiogon with the $5750 asking price. I correctly guessed that it was a typo and ended up getting them for $575. Considering that the amps have been selling for that much I feel like I got a good deal. And I now have serious motivation to get the Koss adapter built so that some side by side comparisons can be done.

[spritzer]

Some pictures of the SR-Ω drivers.





Here they are hooked up to an amp and playing some random test tracks. The electrical tape on the side serves two functions a) holds the assembly together and b) allows me to hold the drivers while powered up. I didn't notice any channel imbalance so I guess something outside of the drivers was the source.



Now I have a spare set of SR-Ω drivers sealed in an airtight box if anything should ever go wrong with my set.

[Voltron]

Hey Spritzer, my ED-1 pics are crap so I am going to send it to Justin so that he can take some pics and he claims he will trace out the circuit for you uber-geeks. At the risk of embarrassing myself, however, here are some lame pics with a lens that was ill-suited to the task:

[spritzer]

Thanks for the pics and now I can bother Justin for a schematic. Those EQ adjustment pots could be fun to mess with....

[EdipisReks]

what does the ED-1 do?

[spritzer]

Originally Posted by EdipisReks

what does the ED-1 do?

It acts as a diffuse field processor to alter the "perspective" of the headphones. It was a derivative of the binaural research that Stax was heavily into in the 80's and there are 3 versions of adapter boxes and one amp, ED-1, ED-1 Signature, ED-5 and the SRM-Monitor amp. I can't stand the effect but a more modern approach could be something to strive for.

[EdipisReks]

ah, ok. cool.

[Voltron]

Yay! Stax for Nate in 2008! Yay!

[hirsch]

Originally Posted by EdipisReks

what does the ED-1 do?

It really screws up the sound of electrostatic headphones. I was really interested in one until I actually heard it. That cured me quickly.

[n_maher]

Originally Posted by Voltron

Yay! Stax for Nate in 2008! Yay!

Yeah, I probably need to revise my motto: no more Stax in '08.

[spritzer]

Originally Posted by hirsch

It really screws up the sound of electrostatic headphones. I was really interested in one until I actually heard it. That cured me quickly.

Same for me. I am interested in some variable filter though if it can be built cheaply into amps.

[catscratch]

Maybe OT, but man, trying to talk sense into head-fi these days is like trying to beat sense into a wall.

I give up.

[deepak]

Originally Posted by catscratch

Maybe OT, but man, trying to talk sense into head-fi these days is like trying to beat sense into a wall.

I give up.

I pretty much stopped posting other than small comments here and there in the Stax thread.

[spritzer]

Originally Posted by catscratch

Maybe OT, but man, trying to talk sense into head-fi these days is like trying to beat sense into a wall.

I give up.

Ditto. HF is pretty much dead to me.

[JBLoudG20]

Originally Posted by spritzer

Ditto. HF is pretty much dead to me.

I consider this a great thing: that Head-Case has the people, and the collective knowledge, to give us the option of just not visiting HF anymore.

Viva la Head-Case.