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The Headcase Stax thread


thrice

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Anyway here is the schematic for the Talent BD dac, minus the the PSU.

From what I've seen and been given info with, CN06 is the PSU connector to the external unit. Any idea on the exact voltage and current inputs? I was told it uses +/- 5 and 12v regulated power supplies. The K01 relay on my pcb indicates it operates on 5vdc, but the circuit mentions it as a 12vdc unit? Therefore maybe a higher supply to it i.e. 15v or so is needed?

Stax DAC-Talent_BD sch.pdf

Edited by DefQon
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Round two of my DIY 'stats.  Again using SR-X driver shells but now with my own bias rings (laser cut aluminum) and 1.4um film.  This is more of a test bed for different glue and coating ideas but I have to say it sounds bloody awesome. :) 

DSC_0001.thumb.jpg.1c9a8b557db7f850e1b184344648bce3.jpg

I haven't received a large shipment of custom earpads so these are just using what I had sitting here.  Alternating between some cheapo Fostex TH900 clones off ebay and A-T leather units.  The sound changes a bit with the different earpads but not by a great deal.  I did try some old SR-007 pads and I didn't like them at all.  The thin, non-angled, A-T pads are excellent with this setup.  The sound is very lively, energetic and punchy.  I'm also narrowing down on the kind of soundstage I like, small but very precise.  Now the small drivers will never beat the larger ones in terms of bass output but the super stretched 1.4um film is pretty impressive here.  I don't find them bass anemic at all even though they clearly roll of earlier than the 007's. 

Next steps are more tests and I'm finishing up some new driver designs.  Not the cheapest option but I'm going to try to make as many prototypes as I can so I can test back and forth easily.  Guess I'll need some more storage space for the headphones then...  ;D 

In other news, I was looking for some earpads earlier and came across the Mr. Speakers Electrostatic pads.... now what the fuck are they smoking?  Huge internal area for an electrostatic?  This is the same amateur hour as King Sound.  :rolleyes:

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EP234BL can be considered a 1:1 replacement in terms of shape and thickness for a SR-Lambda NB?

Original pads are still usable but not in perfect conditions, I would like to replace them but I'm afraid the new pads will change the headphone sound, so I'm unsure...

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50 minutes ago, mypasswordis said:

No, but it's the closest thing you can easily buy. Don't get the leather 507 ones, they are even thinner and I hear the L300 pads are even thinner than that

LX00 pads are way too different to be used.

I think I will stay with the original one for the moment, thanks!

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Here are some photos of another headband I've done for my 009's, which is very similar to the other one I did sometime ago, but on this new one I sprayed the band matte black, whereas the other I covered with carbon fibre wrapping.

Now I've still got that other headband, but I'm keeping it as spare, not that I expect anything to happen to this new headband because it's very strong.

 

P.S. I've also started putting my 009's on this different stand.

 

 

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Hello,

The previous owner of my SR-007 Mk2 headphones has had wrongly adjusted bias supply of a DIY KGSS for a short period of time (couple of days) and the diaphragms have arced several times (by loud pops) - based on his words. Is it possible to check the condition of the diaphragms from the outside without disassembling the drivers?

Thank you

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1 hour ago, velinski said:

Hello,

The previous owner of my SR-007 Mk2 headphones has had wrongly adjusted bias supply of a DIY KGSS for a short period of time (couple of days) and the diaphragms have arced several times (by loud pops) - based on his words. Is it possible to check the condition of the diaphragms from the outside without disassembling the drivers?

Thank you

Unfortunately, it's impossible to check the diaphragm without opening up the housing and disassembling the driver. 

Edited by chinsettawong
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On 5/25/2017 at 6:57 AM, velinski said:

Hello,

The previous owner of my SR-007 Mk2 headphones has had wrongly adjusted bias supply of a DIY KGSS for a short period of time (couple of days) and the diaphragms have arced several times (by loud pops) - based on his words. Is it possible to check the condition of the diaphragms from the outside without disassembling the drivers?

Thank you

How did he know it arced ? Wouldn't it burn the diaphragm ? Loud pop could be Stax Farts ?

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I tried several Schiit amps, both at home and at shows, and most had something unpleasant going on. Most run crazy hot to the touch (not at all surprised the Jotunheim cooked itself), some have awfully scratchy and noisy volume controls, and some have appalling noise floors (with the Valhalla I heard with an HD800, the hiss drowned out the music). I've always been surprised that they come so highly recommended.

But the DACs always seemed pretty decent. What's objectionable about the Yggy? (I don't have one, so not defending it. Just curious.)

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I agree in on the amps.  The Mjolnir 1 was bassy and lack depth cues.  The Yggy has proven to be a very strong contender.  It sounds noticeably better than M51, Oppo HA-1 & 105, and all of my modified SACD players that I have on hand.  For hi-rez PCMs playback, it surpassed the new Matrix X-Sabre Pro but loose out on a native DSD playback on the Matrix DAC.  

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3 hours ago, gepardcv said:

I tried several Schiit amps, both at home and at shows, and most had something unpleasant going on. Most run crazy hot to the touch (not at all surprised the Jotunheim cooked itself), some have awfully scratchy and noisy volume controls, and some have appalling noise floors (with the Valhalla I heard with an HD800, the hiss drowned out the music). I've always been surprised that they come so highly recommended.

But the DACs always seemed pretty decent. What's objectionable about the Yggy? (I don't have one, so not defending it. Just curious.)

And why all the amp models? How about one done right and works? I guess that doesn't drive the upgrade business model well though...

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magni, magni2, magni2uber, jotunheim,liquid carbon, and the new headroom amplifier. None of these things have heatsinks of any kind on the output transistors and thermal stability is questionable, and then they overheat, and long term reliability is non-existant. there is a reason why you are supposed to put the thermal compensation diodes as close as possible to the output devices. Same problem with the singlepower squarewave but a bit more dramatic.

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