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The Headcase Stax thread


thrice

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Edit: beat me to it

Thanks anyway ;).

So, finally, I did not cover the port but did flatten the spring. I can't say I am hearing a day and night difference though?! We'll see in the long run. I hear dramatic changes in the bass firmness when rotating the pads around though (with the seem between 1PM and 3PM for instance, a range where the seal is proper if feels).

Oh, and did anybody mention the pads a pain to put back? ... Well, to be fait though, this whole disassembly / reassembly was way easier than I expected.

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Well the port should always be there, it was there on the Mk1 as well:

img1744dl8.th.jpg

The little resin piece to the left plugs the port. On the SR-007A's I've owned there was this black cover of the cable entry but it creates an airway to the outside instead of sealing it completely. Here is the first set I got:

img1601of6.th.jpg

This appears to be sealed on the new Mk2's as both sets I heard were 100% stock. Clark had one and the other was in the Woo room.

If somebody wants to try the port mod, then it looks like this:

img1600mt1.th.jpg

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So I'm confused, does the little resin piece which blocks the port on the Mk1 fit on the Mk2? Are there any other differences in the driver? If one were to take the port plug and the spring from the Mk1, wouldn't it essentially make it a Mk1 (different pads aside)?

Is there any way to buy Mk1 parts? I'm assuming the answer is no.

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The resin piece won't fit in a Mk2 and even if it did, where would you get one? The Mk2 cable entry is different from the Mk1 and a welcome improvement in my book.

The drivers look the same but they don't sound the same. The Mk2 is just a tad more forward even when fitted with all Mk1 parts but I still haven't been crazy enough to swap the drivers between the two different frames.

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Yeah that's what I figured but when I emailed Koss customer service they said they don't have it, so whoever emailed me back doesn't know what s/he's talking about.

Maybe you can help with pad identification?

Did the pads look like this?

PRO4AAT_1.jpg?OpenElement

Or like this?

4907034101160.jpg

Or something else? TIA.

Looks like either would do.

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Nicely put. And I'm glad you're enjoying them. I look forward to your O2 impressions.

Thank you.

I have now had a couple of listening sessions with the O2 Mk1's. I am driving them with an SRM-Mk11 while Justin gestates me a BHSE.

Very classy, very regal headphone but I feel the amp is letting them down. At present, the amp really shines with my Lambdas.

I'm quite glad in a way - headphones are a bit like women. The faster you fall in love with them, the faster you fall out of love and the things that first attracted you are the things that first irritate you.

I'll wait patiently for my BH. In the meantime, I am very satisfied with the Lambda / SRM1 Mk 11 combo.

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  • 2 weeks later...

guys, i keep reading about the price for c32 here or @HF and all the scattered info over the internet. all im getting is the speculation that the price is $4-6k. and it's still @prototype stage. my questions are:

1. is the price an indication directly from stax or just pure speculation ?

2. when will be the final product to be released in japan ? and the rest of the world ?

thanks

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The volume went down 8db in one of my SR-007 mk2 drivers (SZ3 serial), so i opened them up and cable looked connected. I did find a large piece of hair. Now it seems better. Maybe jiggling the cable did it or could a hair do that?

The port is definitely still open on this, the latest model.

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The price is from Stax and there is no other info available on it in terms of when it will be released etc.

The volume went down 8db in one of my SR-007 mk2 drivers (SZ3 serial), so i opened them up and cable looked connected. I did find a large piece of hair. Now it seems better. Maybe jiggling the cable did it or could a hair do that?

The port is definitely still open on this, the latest model.

The hair could short out the driver so that could be it. You are a fully fledged DIY'er now so break out that DMM and measure continuity from the plug to the terminals on the drivers. ;) The one closest to the ear is +, the one in the middle is the bias and the back is -

So it is still open. Very odd... Do the phones fart if you press down on the earpieces while they are on your head?

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I just wanted to chime in and say just how bloody awesome the SR-1 is. :) This headphone is at least 45 years old (probably a few years older than that even though it isn't the first version) yet after sitting for at least a year untouched the drivers came up to song is a few seconds and with no channel imbalance.

The sound is nothing short of stunning with ample bass and treble. The sound field isn't as expansive as with the modern Stax sets but this can still embarrass quite a few modern dynamics.

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I just wanted to chime in and say just how bloody awesome the SR-1 is. :) This headphone is at least 45 years old (probably a few years older than that even though it isn't the first version) yet after sitting for at least a year untouched the drivers came up to song is a few seconds and with no channel imbalance.

The sound is nothing short of stunning with ample bass and treble. The sound field isn't as expansive as with the modern Stax sets but this can still embarrass quite a few modern dynamics.

There's a lot of old Stax still out there. I've got a cheap pair of sr-40's that sound just fine. That's what got me going on the Stax sound.

Comfort isn't so great, but 35 year old ear cushions certainly don't help. I was in a lot better shape 35 years ago myself.

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I just wanted to chime in and say just how bloody awesome the SR-1 is. :) This headphone is at least 45 years old (probably a few years older than that even though it isn't the first version) yet after sitting for at least a year untouched the drivers came up to song is a few seconds and with no channel imbalance.

The sound is nothing short of stunning with ample bass and treble. The sound field isn't as expansive as with the modern Stax sets but this can still embarrass quite a few modern dynamics.

I'm still amazed by my SR-5 gold edition and SR-Lambda, although not nearly as old as the SR-1 I liked them more than my previous Grado RS-1. I haven't heard any Stax older than the SR-3 which I once bought from you (1968?), but I wasn't as impressed with them as I am with my SR-5 gold and SR-Lambda. But it's humbling to think how good Stax phones were back when I was a teenager in the 70's and still listening to Koss Pro4AA headphones. If I had had my SR-Lambda back then it would have been a revelation.

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Turns out they are even better with SR-007 earpads. The brown pads also match perfectly with the tan plastic... :)

Is it easy to install the SR-007 earpads on the SR-1 ~ SR-5 chassis?

Maybe I can put new pads on my SR-007 and use the old SR-007 pads with my SR-5 gold. It'll probably look very ugly, but at least the comfort should be improved.

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