There was a spout of driver failures for a while but mostly they are just inconsistent. Some are good while others are not so. Perhaps Stax were tinkering with the drivers before the Mk2 was released, who knows...

Hang on.....you were saying that there's a certain batch of sz2 that have a driver failure? What kind of failure you referring to ? Imbalance or any other issues ?

It was written in the old H-F Stax thread that the very first batch of SZ2 Mk2s had a production problems but it was fixed soon afterwards.

Spritzer is talking about the SZ1 Mk1 ones. Most of them simply do not sound as good as the best Mk1 ones.

I've compared an SZ1 and 7xxxx side by side. They sound the same if both have new pads and the same speaker grill material. I sold my 7xxxx before selling the SZ1.

 

I've had three MK1s at one point. Fit and pad age make a huge difference to the sound.

And how did they sound before that?

Interesting theory. If it is true the problem is that these older grilles are not available.

And I still think it is the drivers (manufacturing tolerances, etc) that cause the difference.

They are SZ1's and what was actually wrong was never confirmed. Most were bad enough that they were repaired immediately but some slipped through. Some of them just sound "off", not as smooth as the Mk1 should be and with overblown bass and treble issues.

And how did they sound before that?

Interesting theory. If it is true the problem is that these older grilles are not available.

And I still think it is the drivers (manufacturing tolerances, etc) that cause the difference.

Before the pad change? Well one of them had pads so far shot that it wouldn't create a seal on the bottom part, those ones sounded awful. The grill is just a cloth. You can replace it with any material, removing them completely will make any MK1 sound more open. Just curious have you compared any side by side with the same amp and source? Because those changes will change the way they sound as well.

 

If Shelly reads this maybe she can tell us what the SN on her brown mk1 is... it was a 7xxxx one (maybe it was one made close to the SZ1? It was in very good condition). That is the one I compared my former SZ1 to and they sounded identical. I've also heard the SZ3 and can readily point out the differences so I don't think it's my hearing

Ok I misunderstood at first I thought it is the outer grilles on the sides not the earpad cloth.

 

No unfortunately I did not have a chance to compare side by side.

But I have the Lavry and 717 for quite a while now so that hasn't changed and I heard two with that but not at one time.

 

And yet the few I tried/owned definitely sounded different and I think the pads were not broken, the sealing was good in either pair (but with one pair I was able to achieve a good fit much easier than with the other pair as the headband had more tension but after some trial I managed to make it similar). The best I owned (and now regret selling) was an early 70xxx one (with the less foam insert in the box) and the worst was an SZ1 one.

 

Akwok wrote a few years ago that he owned two SR007 Mk1s at the same time, both with brand new pads and they sounded different as well.

Akwok wrote a few years ago that he owned two SR007 Mk1s at the same time, both with brand new pads and they sounded different as well.

 

I’ve got one of Akwok’s SR007 Mk1s, serial 70060, I hope it was the preferred pair... 

I think this puts them at number 60 on the product line... but I’m not entirely sure how true this is when it come to Stax serial number hierarchy.  

I had two 7xxxxx units at the same time.  I isolated the difference in sound (I think, as pads on one unit were slightly more worn than the other) to the differing grill cloth- one had a thicker, more tightly woven cloth and I noticed it was "darker" and less "open" from the first, the other was truly a great pair though.  Taking off the grill cloth entirely makes for a very interesting open sound but I don't like the lack of protection.  At RD's suggestion I tried substituting legging material for grill cloth and I now have the best balance all around to my ears.  The downside of all this is that changing pads or taking them on/off and taking out the discs that hold the grill cloths on these headphones makes me go into hulk mode with frustration.

 

John, I know the guy who bought Adrian's "preferred" pair, he paid $2100 (if I recall correctly) for them.  "Preferred" status isn't worth the ~$600 difference.

Edited January 25, 201313 yr by Tari

Thanks for the info Tari. 

For me the first models are the best.

I am partial to the really early model...  I think they called it SR-Omega

Yeah, I quite like that one as well.

I have owned two different pairs of Omega 2s but at different times. I didn't like the first pair much so I sold it, but the second pair is the black version and I like them quite a bit. It may be the blackness of the cans or it just may be the BHse and DIY T2 amps that I have now, which are the only amps I have ever heard that make the O2s worth having.

Yeah, I quite like that one as well.

Seriously those headphones spoiled me for good... if only they weren't so damn fragile.

 

I would love to hear their sound recreated with a DIY model.

Seriously those headphones spoiled me for good... if only they weren't so damn fragile.

 

I would love to hear their sound recreated with a DIY model.

 

That won't be too difficult. 

There is nothing in the SR-Omega that is "too" complicated so we could do a far superior DIY version. The cost would be astronomical for a one off but having enough parts machined for 20-30 sets would make it far more reasonable. The tricky stuff would be the mesh stators and the actual driver assembly as the tolerances are staggering. Then drivers would have to be assembled, tested and sorted into pairs with quite probably some reject rate. Not easy but possible...

Do you know how fine the mesh of the stator needs to be?  I wonder just what an advantage there is for using the mesh stator over their later PCB stator version.

 

Wachara C.

Since the mesh screen isn't as flat as the PCB and the alignments of the two stators can't be exact, my guess is that the electrostatic field won't be as homogeneous as that from PCB stators. 

 

But if it's just for a fun factor, then I think it's worth going for it.  I'll see if I can do something here. 

 

Wachara C.

Stax have used mesh stators twice, first in the SR-X Mk1 and then the SR-Omega.  No doubt the plan was to get the drivers as open as is possible with none of the issues one has with holes thick enough for strong stators.  The copper mesh is strong and the resin frame does support it quite well but it will never be quite as flat as the PCB.  The mesh is also very fine. 

 

It would certainly be fun to copy the design. 

dew it Wachara

So... if anyone remembers, I snagged a pair of ECR-800s from YJ, and the headband somehow broke on me.

 

I've gotten them repaired by a very skilled technician, and recabled with a Gamma pro cable. I can now confirm that they will run off Stax amplifiers, on normal bias

 

I've also replaced the connectors on the Sony transformer box with Justin's teflon Stax connectors, so the next test now is to run a Stax headphone off that box.

How much volume are you getting with normal bias? 

folks, some diy guru in my community agreed to build a kgsshv......i'm pretty sure i've seen somewhere in this forum that i can buy the board. Can someone kind enough to point me where to buy or at least the thread ? Thanks