The Headcase Stax thread

[The Monkey]

Originally Posted by Elephas

There's some discussion of the O2Mk1 versus O2Mk2 (again, isn't everyone tired of it by now? How about some Jade versus O2Mk2? ) over at the HF Stax thread, and someone named some names.

I'll just hide out over here until the dust settles a bit.

That likely was my fault. I just thought that there must be other Mk2 preferrers (I like making up words) out there to at least make for some dialog.

[Hopstretch]

Originally Posted by The Monkey

... other Mk2 preferrers (I like making up words) ...

Hearetics?

[spritzer]

Originally Posted by Hopstretch

Hearetics?

They must all be cleansed with fire!!!

[Sherwood]

Originally Posted by spritzer

They must all be cleansed with fire!!!

There is no Stax inquisition...

[spritzer]

Originally Posted by Sherwood

There is no Stax inquisition...

Of course there isn't... what a silly thing to speculate about... honest...

[Icarium]

Originally Posted by Elephas

I used to own a HeadAmp KGSS with dual 23-step attenuators, and I didn't like the large steps and not being able to dial in the desired volume exactly. Some songs are quite loud, usually not so well-recorded ones, and I felt I didn't have enough range one the volume knobs.

Another good thing is that the steps on these 45-step attenuators match up quite closely with the markings around the knobs.

The only thing that might be nicer is the Joshua Tree 100 stepper but at that point it is so smooth feeling that it feels closer to a pot than a stepped attenuator. Of course that isn't a bad thing

[Asr]

I'm considering buying a quad of extra tubes for rolling in anticipation of my BHSE. What characteristics do I look for - just a matched quad of EL34? A quick eBay search turned up these, any of them will do? Anyone know what will come stock with the BHSE?

Matched Quad of Tungsol EL34 B / 6CA7 tubes Tung sol - eBay (item 310100272607 end time Dec-13-08 08:25:18 PST)
NOS Siemens EL34 Tubes Matched Quad (RFT, Telefunken) - eBay (item 150309740000 end time Nov-19-08 21:28:33 PST)
EL34 EH -NEW Electro Harmonix Guitar AmpTubes 4 pc Quad - eBay (item 280286065168 end time Dec-16-08 00:02:15 PST)

[spritzer]

Any one of these will work and the BHSE will ship with the Mullard reproductions which are supposed to be one of the best new production tubes. I've only tried ones from the first production run and I liked the SED "Winged C" better but that's supposed to have changed now. You don't need a matched quad (only matched pairs) but the quad won't hurt.

I personally wouldn't pay that much for the RFT tubes since they are good but not miles better then the new stuff. The Mullard XF3's are much better let alone the XF2's and XF1's which are the golden standard. If you like big, bloated bass then the GE and Sylvania (Phillips later on) would do it for you but they don't work well with the Omegas.

[The Monkey]

I'm beginning to think that the 007t---->O2 Mk2 combo just isn't doing it for me. I love the amp with my Lambdas. But I'm disappointed with the O2. I've been trying so hard to love the O2 mk2, but the magic doesn't see to be there. I don't know if this is an mk1 v. mk2 thing or the amp or what, but it is frustrating. Compared to my Signatures, the O2 mk2 does not have the same attack, nor does it seem to be as detailed. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it tonight. Regardless, I look forward to trying the O2 mk1 side-by-side at the NYC meet, and I also look forward to trying out some asskicking SS stat amps to see if what the mk2 needs is a swift kick in the pants.

Just when you think you've got the rig all set...

[Voltron]

It's an O2 thing as far as I am concerned. They need more than the 007t or 717/727 can offer to sound even decent. They can sound good on the Woo GES, but not great. They can sound pretty great on the ES-1/2, but not fantastic. And they are probably taken to their greatest level by the KGBH/SE as far as I have heard them. I wonder if a really powerful amp, say my McCormack DNA 500 with massive wattage could power a Stax trafo box and make the O2s come to life a bit. Should have tried it with Gene's Accuphase in Tampa but I just forgot.

[The Monkey]

What do you think about a KGSS?

[Voltron]

I'd put it in the sounds good but doesn't transform them from boring to engaging and/or exciting. Haven't spent lots of time on that though.

[GPH]

I can't talk about the O2Mk2 because I've never heard a pair, but I had the chance at a meet to compare briefly my O2Mk1 out of a SRM-007tII and out of a SRD-7 Pro using Quad II monoblocks. The music on both setups was fed by a shiny Shanling CD player that seemed to be a very decent source.

The SRM-727 sounded way more polite than the SRD-7, making the sound less exciting. The level of details was excellent from what I remember, but I was put off by the unengaging sound. It reminded a bit of the SRM-T1S, in the sense that it sounds good, but doesn't get my foot tapping. Also, the volume of bass it provides isn't satifying enough considering what the O2 are capable of and the treble is too gentle. On the other end, the SRD-7 Pro setup sounded more in-your-face, very lush with slightly uncontrolled bass and rolled-off top end. It doesn't resolve the microdetails in the music which can be good for some genres, but it's well admitted that the transformer boxes are not the last word in term of resolution. The SRD-7 Pro/Mk2 really rocks with a good amp to say the least and I'm very happy with the SRD-7 Mk2/Cambridge 840A that I use right now.

Also, from what I remember, the KGSS DX that I had sounded somewhere in between the SRM-727 and the SRD-7 Pro, taking the best of both worlds and adding a truckload of tight controlled bass and resolving the very little details in the music. It could be argued that its overall presentation is a bit sterile, but I liked it a lot, except for the cost.

[postjack]

Originally Posted by GPH

I can't talk about the O2Mk2 because I've never heard a pair, but I had the chance at a meet to compare briefly my O2Mk1 out of a SRM-007tII and out of a SRD-7 Pro using Quad II monoblocks. The music on both setups was fed by a shiny Shanling CD player that seemed to be a very decent source.

The SRM-727 sounded way more polite than the SRD-7, making the sound less exciting. The level of details was excellent from what I remember, but I was put off by the unengaging sound. It reminded a bit of the SRM-T1S, in the sense that it sounds good, but doesn't get my foot tapping. Also, the volume of bass it provides isn't satifying enough considering what the O2 are capable of and the treble is too gentle. On the other end, the SRD-7 Pro setup sounded more in-your-face, very lush with slightly uncontrolled bass and rolled-off top end. It doesn't resolve the microdetails in the music which can be good for some genres, but it's well admitted that the transformer boxes are not the last word in term of resolution. The SRD-7 Pro/Mk2 really rocks with a good amp to say the least and I'm very happy with the SRD-7 Mk2/Cambridge 840A that I use right now.

Also, from what I remember, the KGSS DX that I had sounded somewhere in between the SRM-727 and the SRD-7 Pro, taking the best of both worlds and adding a truckload of tight controlled bass and resolving the very little details in the music. It could be argued that its overall presentation is a bit sterile, but I liked it a lot, except for the cost.

Do you remember if the Quad monoblocks were Quad Classics, 40s, or 80s?

[GPH]

Originally Posted by postjack

Do you remember if the Quad monoblocks were Quad Classics, 40s, or 80s?

I think they were the original version, they looked very vintage, but I'm not 100% sure. Laurent (larryminator) used them to power his Quad ESL57 which were totally awesome speakers.

[Voltron]

GPH-

I am confused because you mention the 007tII at the beginning of your post but then speak only about the 727. Not sure if it is typographical or if you have heard both in comparison to the KGSS DX and/or SRD-7s. How many watts does the Cambridge put out?

[GPH]

Originally Posted by Voltron

GPH-

I am confused because you mention the 007tII at the beginning of your post but then speak only about the 727. Not sure if it is typographical or if you have heard both in comparison to the KGSS DX and/or SRD-7s. How many watts does the Cambridge put out?

I'm sorry for the confusion, it's a typographical error, I meant SRM-007tII all along. I've never heard the 727, only the 717 and for a very short time.

The Cambridge puts out 120W per channel.

[spritzer]

The 007t has never done much for me with any of the Stax headphones and it cripples the SR-007. Switching to 6S4A output tubes could help but that requires major surgery. Good IC's do help making the combo sound less dark but it's like a band-aid on a bullet wound. A better amp wakes them up and shows what they really can do so I think you should try to audition the BHSE and a SR-007 Mk1 as well.

Transformers are also an option but it doesn't matter how much power to try to use with the Stax boxes, it won't do much good. The transformers are tiny (fit in the palm of you hand) and simply aren't designed for anything close to the load of the SR-007 and thus can't pass the power needed. Even a low wattage output transformer is much larger then the Stax units which are nothing more then reversed output trafos so they can't take a lot of current. A simple solution would be to buy the cheapest Hammond push-pull output trafos and wire them up backwards with a bias supply but this hasn't been tried AFAIK. I've wanted to try this for a long time but shipping dead weight via Fedex over the pond isn't a wise investment...

[padam]

Got my Lambda Nova Signature & T1S yesterday. Unfortunately I arrived at the seller's house late in the evening so I didn't have much time to listen to it but it was wonderful. It seemed to have a better bass and a more relaxed sound compared to listening the SRM-1/MK2 & SR-404 combo a few days ago. Now I just need a decent balanced DAC to complete it but I am out of funds for a while.

[spritzer]

There is no added benefit of using a balanced dac with the T1S unless you really have to. The amp is balanced so you only gain about 3dB worth of volume and not much else. The quality of the dac is much more important then the connection it uses.