The Omegas? I had a good session with yours at CanJam and agree they are very, very fine. Not off the KGSS though.

Question answered about the O2s waking up with better amplification. Toe, "Our Next Movement", Japanese drum extravaganza. 707t = flop, flap, fail. WES = boom, bam, booyah!

No going back.

Now try an amp with a CCS loaded output stage... The biggest improvement is indeed with drums and the like where the abundant current delivery really comes into its own.

It's not going back.

FIFY

Not sure how I feel about the listening that will occur this weekend. Let the anguish ensue I suppose.

A BH isn't that expensive to DIY...

My Lambda Pro has a serious channel imbalance when it is freshly connected to an amplifier. The right channel then "fills" gradually up within cca 30 - 40 seconds. As long as it remains plugged in, I perceive no problems and the channel balance is perfect. I read somewhere that this is a sign that the death of an electrostatic headphone is not far away. Could you advse?

Could be that the transducer is on its last legs but it could also be caused by an intermittent connection on the bias line to that driver.

A BH isn't that expensive to DIY...

really... what is the total parts cost?

Depends on how cheap you want to go and what version of the design you want to use.

Depends on how cheap you want to go and what version of the design you want to use.

I'd say at least a grand, plan on more, if it comes in less consider yourself very lucky. I know I have more than that in mine and had head starts that no one else could count on.

1-1.3K$ with basic parts would be my guess as well. Basic 4-gang pot and a single transformer plus what ever chassis one can cook up.

Could be that the transducer is on its last legs but it could also be caused by an intermittent connection on the bias line to that driver.

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I lean towards the former as once the stator is properly charged, which takes cca 1 minute, the headphone behaves exemplary, without any fluctuations that might be caused by an intermittent connection. Is there any chance to verify the connection without having to remove the pad? If the transducer really starts to die, how long the process might be? Is there any reasonable possibility to replace it?

The headphone is essentially a capacitor so it holds charge and there are also capacitors in the bias circuit. Once it gets going, an intermittent connection won't really be noticeable as long as it isn't really intermittent. Usually the surefire way to know if a 'stat driver is about to die is permanent channel imbalance (it never is balanced no matter how long you wait for the charge to build on the stators).

How long have you had the Lambda Pro for and have you been using it a lot recently?

Truth be told, I've never seen a Lambda driver fail. Break open, sure, but never just die on me. Even if the driver gets only sporadic "doses" of bias then they could play perfectly fine. The best way to test this would be to open them up (no need to remove the pads, just lift up the 4 corners to reveal the screws) but you could also try to bend the cable next to the earpiece and see if it makes a difference.

The headphone is essentially a capacitor so it holds charge and there are also capacitors in the bias circuit. Once it gets going, an intermittent connection won't really be noticeable as long as it isn't really intermittent. Usually the surefire way to know if a 'stat driver is about to die is permanent channel imbalance (it never is balanced no matter how long you wait for the charge to build on the stators).

How long have you had the Lambda Pro for and have you been using it a lot recently?

I bought it recently and have been using it sporadically. It is quite possible that it had not been used before for quite a long time. I want to leave it connected to an amp for some 24 hours to chrage properly. Does it have any sense?

Leaving it to charge does help. An effect which we call the electret effect is quite common on lambdas which is caused by a parasitic charge of the opposing polarity sitting on the diaphragm and impeding its movements. The best way to get rid of this is to let the phones stay connected and playing until the bias supply has overcome it.

Yup, that's what I'm thinking too. I've never heard of Lambda drivers dying on their own. I hadn't used my SR-Lambda for half a year and it took a little bit of time for the stators to charge fully, for some reason, and it was perfectly fine after that. I'd say you need no longer than a full day or two of plugging into bias, or in my case, playing music a couple hours at a time for a few days. Anyway, I doubt your Lambda Pro is borked.

SR Omega arrived earlier today, loving them

SR Omega arrived earlier today, loving them

SR Omega arrived earlier today, loving them

If I'm ever lucky enough to come across a pair at the price you paid for them, I might have to sell my HD-800s. I foresee you neglecting the rest of your collection for a while now you have them.

Leaving it to charge does help. An effect which we call the electret effect is quite common on lambdas which is caused by a parasitic charge of the opposing polarity sitting on the diaphragm and impeding its movements. The best way to get rid of this is to let the phones stay connected and playing until the bias supply has overcome it.

I left the earspeaker charge for some 20 hours (playing), then tried to unplug and, after several minutes, replug. Prolonged charging brought no change - channel imbalance at the beginning, gradually balancing up in cca 1 minute. As soon as the channels are balanced, the sound is impeccable. I just hope Birgir was not right in his first assessment (transducer on its last legs) and will live with it. Thanks for your assistance.

O ye wise men of Staxen, any thoughts on what a fair price might be for a used SRM-007t in decent nick? For verily, having three stat amps at one time is probably overkill even by the standards of this place.

You'd probably be able to get more for it on audiogon or ebay. They sell for cheaper on hc/hf, likely because they're viewed as basically a T1.

900$ would be a good ballpark figure and 3 amps is certainly not overkill.

O ye wise men of Staxen, any thoughts on what a fair price might be for a used SRM-007t in decent nick? For verily, having three stat amps at one time is probably overkill even by the standards of this place.

My advice is like n3rdling's, namely to whore the thing out on Audiogon or ebay.