Jump to content

The Headcase Stax thread


thrice

Recommended Posts

Wow, what a week. I had the chance to listen to one of the best speaker systems in the world at a rather well-known mastering lab, and let's just say that it gave me a nice perspective into what a system that measures perfectly flat in an acoustically-tuned environment sounds like. And, well... it sounds rather like the O2 Mk1 in a lot of ways.

It wasn't very bright. I always thought that most headphones bumped up the highs significantly and this was confirmation of that. This system's treble was completely free of spikes, peaks, and any irregularities, and it was able to render cymbals and other treble-heavy instruments in perfect clarity and in perfect balance with relation to everything else, but there was no glare, grain, brightness, sharpness, pretty much no articafts whatsoever.

The midrange wasn't overly forward but wasn't recessed either. Rather, it allowed instruments to come to the foreground when they needed to, and let things stay in the background when that was appropriate. Its tonality was what I always thought "accurate but a tad warmish" but now I'll just call that accurate, and leave it at that. It was basically spot-on what I hear from a well-driven O2 Mk1.

The bass presentation was interesting, and once again shared a lot of similarities with the O2. It could be downright massive and commanding, and it could be quiet and tuneful, all depending on the material. Still, this was no wimpy SR-404 bass. It was full, detailed, punchy, and powerful. Robust. Not, it has to be said, as detailed as the O2 Mk1, but then again the speakers were dynamic.

Soundstage wasn't enormous but it was absolutely holographic. The imaging precision was incredible and it was as airy and three-dimensional as anything I've ever heard. Once again, very much like the O2 Mk1.

The one area where the O2 was ahead was speed, but then again it's an electrostat. But on the whole, that system was the O2, but bigger, and with a lot more tactile impact, and perhaps more detail but then again I was listening to a high-rez digital rip of "Dark Side of the Moon" that was ripped straight off the analog master, and I don't have anything of that caliber at home. It also shared that same sense of incredibly fluid transparency with the O2. I always thought the O2 was slightly more fluid than necessary and this was its only coloration, but now I think that this is simply accurate and nearly everything else is too dry.

If anything, this is confirmation that I'm on the right track in my system.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aren't groove tubes just rebranded something else?

They're made at the Reflektor factory in Saratov.

SED tubes are/were made at the former Svetlana collective in St Petersburg.

There were a number of major tube making collectives in Russia at the end of the communist era, most of which are gone now. Of the ones that survived, Ulyanov and Ryazan are the two other major ones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Normal bias SR-Lambda showed up today. Very much midbass heavy, but thats probably due to the missing damping layer. I sure dont remember them sounding like this when I last heard them. I would currently rank my my Stax as SR-404>Lambda Pro>Lambda. ESP/950 is the best of the lot though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Colin that has to be a function of the amp... but the 950 is still likely the best of the lot from what I have heard. The real issue is the 404 v Lambda - jesus I hate the 404, almost as bad as the he.12b...

BTW, everyone, I powered up the Poor Man's Stat amp psu tonight, and a rock solid 350v... not bad for a $70 set of parts. The whole thing will come in at under $300.

Pics when it happens - oops, Spritzer has seen them, but keeping it all in house for now.

Partial success on Saturday powering up parts of the 'other' stat amp... we'd be finished if we could get some shunt reg boards... in the meanwhile, Marc is hacking up a Twisted Pear digital psu to get it down to 15v from 18v.

And, damnit, even a caveman, cromagnon or australeopithicus would be able to build a Poor Man's - stuffing boards literally took me < 10 hours. Then, 20 hours of casework later, and I'm about 70% done.

Next crucial tests Wednesday - testing heaters and ccs, then seeing how stable she is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Catscratch, thats pretty awesome. Not everyone can appreciate and understand their gear well. Looks like you're on the right track to enjoying your gear alot.

What speakers did you listen too by the way?

I think they were ATC, but not sure which ones. In any case, the signal path was completely custom-built, as was the room. Don't ask me for details since I'm not an electrical engineer and they probably wouldn't be too happy if I gave out too many details anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Normal bias SR-Lambda showed up today. Very much midbass heavy, but thats probably due to the missing damping layer. I sure dont remember them sounding like this when I last heard them. I would currently rank my my Stax as SR-404>Lambda Pro>Lambda. ESP/950 is the best of the lot though.

That's what you get when the damping layer is removed. I'll have to check but I could have some mineral wool I pulled from a Lambda. Just PM me if you need some and I'll check.

Will there be surface mount soldering to do on the poor man stat amp?

No SMD soldering needed

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BTW, everyone, I powered up the Poor Man's Stat amp psu tonight, and a rock solid 350v... not bad for a $70 set of parts. The whole thing will come in at under $300.
WANT!

And, damnit, even a caveman, cromagnon or australeopithicus would be able to build a Poor Man's - stuffing boards literally took me < 10 hours. Then, 20 hours of casework later, and I'm about 70% done.
So I'll only blow it up 3 times?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

try to stick that resistor we were playing with on the end of it for a while and see how it goes...

I used 2 15k 50w resistors, and they got stinking hot... the other was 4k 25w.

Nate, you'll be able to do this walking on water and pulling skiiers... dead simple.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is a picture of the Egmonts guts. The problem I'm having is with the PSU (the old KGSS design) which I had already and was the only thing that fit the chassis. While the - side of the supply is fine the + side has a lot of AC on it (some 800v :eek:) which I can't figure out what's causing. Kevin has offered to take a look at a PCB to see if they are the cause or that he can mimic what I'm experiencing.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

All you people get to DIY and build amps, and solder, and poke around inside amps, and talk about resistors, and order parts from Mouser, and criticize Mikhail's work.

And we don't even have thumbs, or even hands. All we can do is listen to music. With one of Mikhail's amps, which might blow up and start spewing wallwarts at any moment.

*cry*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm with you currently on the crying bit, O2 MKII's + no amp = sad panda.

You're no panda! You're not even Team Animal Avatar like Monkey and me! :mad:

I think there are some who would say O2Mk2 + no amp = no problem. :P

I was chilling out listening to the ES-1 last night, and suddenly I pictured the chassis splitting open in half and wallwarts come flying out. With Mikhail's disembodied head hovering over it laughing maniacally, and Justin's and Craig's heads to the left and right shaking their heads and rolling their eyes.

Too much imagination, or maybe a bit too much beer perhaps?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Damn, you do nice work...

Thanks. I could have done a much better layout if I hadn't set this up as a recession amp, made only from parts I could buy locally or I had at hand. I'm really going to regret those carbon pots soon... :palm:

Still it has a lot of bling with silver and gold plated cables. :D

All you people get to DIY and build amps, and solder, and poke around inside amps, and talk about resistors, and order parts from Mouser, and criticize Mikhail's work.

And we don't even have thumbs, or even hands. All we can do is listen to music. With one of Mikhail's amps, which might blow up and start spewing wallwarts at any moment.

*cry*

It isn't easy to work on these amp contraptions with my god-like hands. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.