arnaud

User name for that video: MrFumier, in other words Mr Panure. If that's not created to stir shit, what is?!? ;-)

Well, so much drama for just this... Turns out it was the fast blow fuses that were the issue... It's singing again with the 2A slow blow! Dropped xf2s, adjusted offsets, plugged the 009 and ahhhh, good to be back :-). I have the HD800s of a friend here on loan for a week or so, it's very very spacious and layered but I prefer the 009 voicing and bass quality out of the bhse. Who said the stats had no bass ;-). HD800s are definitely an improvement on the HD800 but I think they're still a bit too hot for my ears. Thanks everyone for the help, I still need to get on the 727 mod... arnaud

I was told on head-fi that putting sorbothane in my BHSE would help, should I trust this opinion ? ... Thanks Birgir and all, sorry for the ever noob questions, got some slow blow fuses on the way (2A rating for now) from amazon... Will keep you posted, without smoke and smell if possible. arnaud

Thanks Mr.Sneis for the tips on desoldering, I was not keen on byuing a heat gun type soldering station just for this so the pump and cutter will do I hope ;-). Will probably stop by akihabara today to grab resistors instead of the week time wait to score them online. In regards to the BHSE, initial problem at reception back was with a tiny tiny piece of wire that managed to short the HV line to the tubes I recall. Then, a few months back or so, the IEC block gave up the gost (after a few hundred hours of use) in a bizarre way. One of the poles seemed to have overheated to the point I no longer had continuity from end to end. It was fixed by changing the iec input block (a 5min job) and the doctor advised to visually inspect the socket periodically. I was and am still using hospital grade power cords (standard stuff, not fancy garden hoses) so Justin said it could have been a faultly iec block from the start. Today, another few hundred hours laters (call me neerdy but I use this neat app to log the hours I put into the tubes I roll ;-) and hence total airtime on the bhse...), one of the fuses in the IEC socket keeps blowing up after the delayed relay kicks in. I bought some standard fuses at hardware store of same spec and visual aspect as original ones (i.e. 2A / 250V ) but same thing happens (with main amp connected or without). Justin mentioned I need slow blow fuses but the hardware store did not have 2kinds, just amp ratings and I took highest value justin recommended... I will also search for fuses at akiba today... Otherwise, I popped the hood on both the PS and amp, nothing seems out of place (to me eye though so doesn't mean squat lol). Justin found the brisk of copper in the images I sent him before, I was so impressed since it was so frigging tiny. Cheers, arnaud

Thanks Birgir, these are Vishay Dale / metal film / 1W / 1%... arnaud

This perhaps? https://www.chip1stop.com/web/USA/en/dispDetail.do?partId=VIDL-0052055&mpn=CPF1150K00FEB14

Thanks Birgir, I know this is almost shameful to ask but, I was looking into the zillions of resistor type on this site ( https://www.chip1stop.com ) and I am just lost about what would be fine... Actually, I could probably order some sand it someone needs at the same time... cheers, arnaud

Sorry for the revival from the dead but I am finally contemplating doing the feedback mod to my 727 amp while the bhse is dead (bad luck, second time some shit happens with mine, one of the iec block fuses blows up right after the delayed relay switch since yesterday...). So about the 150k resistors, 1/4W suffices? cheers, arnaud

Bad wording on my part with "polarization" (I did say this was beyond my pay grade ), I meant bias current of the transistors mounted inside the cup...

Beyond my pay grade but they mentioned about it being class A at low frequency but sliding into class AB at high frequency. So the polarization seems continuously adjusted based on actual current draw from the load. From talking to Alex, he mentioned about constant continuous monitoring of current going into the phones and automatic shutdown if there is anything abnormal so that bias adjustment is part of the job I suppose.

I'd surely like to try the phone out of my BHSE, bypassing the internal amplification to see what this transducer is all about. Having talked to Axel Grell about it, it surely convinced me though that it wasn't just a facelifted orpheus. We can't say if it was worth the extra cost of manufacturing but they certainly seem to have spent quite a bit of effort making an electrode and diaphragm system with proper rigidity and self-damping and I don't believe Stax could have dreamed of spending as much money on a phone design. It looks pretty neat also imo. On the other hand, I find the amp with motorized knobs and all extremely gaudy and, having the chief designer say it was to give a sense of "less is more" made me spit my coffee. If, with a 8 DAC chips, an amp and all these motors in there, he think of it as an expression of "less is more", I can't imagine what this thing would contain if it was an "more is more" effort :-).

007t2 I recall. Haven't had the time to check out the new 353x...

could not tell you now, I don't own lamdbas and did not pay much attention (have smallish head / ears so seldom a pbm for me). I might recall though that this was more shallow the omega 2 or sr009. not sure exactly. At the moment, we know the iec connector somehow overheated to the point the block is no longer conductive for the hot pin. The power cord looks intact and it was basic hospital grade cord, not one of those expensive fat snakes that barely can sit in place (not my kind of audio trickery). Justin thinks the iec block might have been defective from the beginning and poor contact eventual made it melt. Am waiting for a replacement input module from Justing and crossing my fingers there's no damage beyond this... arnaud

So, I got a chance to check out the L-700 last week end while at the local audio festival in Tokyo. I did not expect much really (I almost missed the show altogether but made the effort to go even if just to say to various friends). I was proved so wrong... Driven from Stax amp, the SR009 was almost put to shame by the new lambda. Their really listened, the voicing is much improved, full bodied yet very open and extended, bass is clean but present in the right amount. At 1/3 the price of the SR009 and cheaper than SR007, being apparently very easy to drive (it's still a lamdba after all), it's a no brainer. I predict Stax is going to make some noise with this one (haven't tried the L-500). Otherwise, I confirmed with Stax the driver is angled, just a bit (a few degrees) but enough to bring the soundstage a bit in front. I did not spend enough time to be able to even trust my own impressions, but it was enough to get me seriously interested in a proper evaluation / possibly starting to save up. My BHSE is dead atm anyhow so something that sounds better than the 009 through stax amps is a welcome news to me, especially if it's also relatively affordable! Cheers, Arnaud

Don't link to that bloke, he's clueless (only pretending!!). Actually, if you follow the thread a bit (borderline impossible with all the whinning) or just look for pics, you'll find the tuned absorber alright in one of jude's posts. It's stupid simple but I bet this is all that was needed indeed! Cheers, arnaud

Shure it's not Stax but still worth sharing: Shure KSE1500 200V bias and 2000USD just for the earphones. There's a separate portable dac/amp for another 1k. Any publicity is good publicity so I hope Stax will benefit from the hallow effect :). arnaud

L700 housing pictures make it appear like the driver is angled a bit, much less than a sigma but a few mm. Hard to tell for L500, maybe it's just the pictures. L-700 L-500

Of interest: http://www.fujiya-avic.jp/blog/?p=20418

I feel even luckier

So, it appears Justin Wilson knows about his stuff, a little bit... http://www.head-fi.org/t/439657/headamp-blue-hawaii-special-edition/7200#post_11647599 arnaud

I don't know. I heard about a newbie named birgir wilson who was labeled Mother Of Treachery on another site and so pretty much got banned for spelling technical words correctly. Maybe it's the same bloke who's copying kevin carbon.

I don't often link to head-fi but this is a special day: http://www.head-fi.org/t/439657/headamp-blue-hawaii-special-edition/7155#post_11627945 Next stop is getting a proper voltmeter (isn't it?) and starting to go through the stash of XF2 / XF4s I have accumulated while waiting for the amp... cheers, arnaud

The more I read about these pad mods here and there and from the little experience I had making acoustic simulations of stat drivers, the more I get convinced that half the baffle is in the quality / design of the earpads than transducer / housing assembly?! How did you measure the headphone response / how was the compensation curved derived if I may ask? The flat baffle measurement rig I was working on was great to compare different phones together but getting a good seal wasn't easy (which would show as much deviation between trials as your L/R ear old pads) and I certainly would not get a flat curve with the SR009 or Omega 2 like you get here. cheers, arnaud

Interesting development on the latest Omega 2 mkII birgir. You also like the latest 009, maybe your hearing threshold dropped 3dB in the highs recently :-P. Seriously, though, it's great news if Stax is back on track with the voicing of its cans. I am always thinking of the day my mkI will go south and what would happen next... arnaud

Abyss was supposed to have some little offspring this summer but looks like plans got delayed to next year. Hopefully the children look better than the parents .