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The Headcase Stax thread


thrice

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1 hour ago, SeaWolf said:

So i feel like my newish 007s are developing a channel imbalance. I noticed this by the sound stage shifting slightly from the center to the left. I am assuming this is due to the right channel output being slightly lower.

Any advice?

Replace the tiny wire conneting the driver and the cable with bigger ones and with a more secure solder point.

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5 hours ago, SeaWolf said:

So i feel like my newish 007s are developing a channel imbalance. I noticed this by the sound stage shifting slightly from the center to the left. I am assuming this is due to the right channel output being slightly lower.

Any advice?

Have you tried isolating the problem by wearing your headphones backward to see if the channel imbalance flips ears (stays with the R channel earpod)? 

When mine seem imbalanced, turns out a good ear cleaning does wonders. 

 

 

Edited by Laowei
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9 hours ago, SeaWolf said:

Straight forward enough I suppose, heat plus that driver makes me a bit nervous. What AWG should be used for the connection?

Its hard to find wires that are thicker than the stock ones. And you may want to keep the stock wires after replacement because you need to put them back before you send the 007 back to Japan for service.

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14 minutes ago, spritzer said:

I wouldn't touch the wires to be honest.  It is most likely the new film acting up so the same cure as with the 009's... hit them with a bit of force and see if the imbalance goes away. 

By hitting the headphone imbalance may go away by a chance of 50% . But the imbalance will 100% come back in the next ten days. 

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@spritzer Technique matches pretty well with my technical level of expertise! I am quite good at hitting things. I am out of high voltage wire anyway, so hitting them will be first up. If that doesn't work they are under warranty; I can send them in for repair. Inconvenient but probably the safest route. If they come back and still have the issue then I will reflow the cable side solder joints first and finally if that doesn't work I will replace the wires from the cable to driver. 

 

Thanks for every ones input. 

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7 hours ago, bwck2000 said:

By hitting the headphone imbalance may go away by a chance of 50% . But the imbalance will 100% come back in the next ten days. 

I've fixed two sets of 009' this way and no issues again.  On top of this the dozens and dozens of other units where the owners have reached out to me for help.  It has also worked on 007's for other people so worth a shot. 

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https://www.head-fi.org/threads/ifi-audio-pro-iesl-the-official-thread.852364/page-7#post-14413330

Ahhh nice of ifi to question my knowledge of electronics.  I always feel nice when somebody does that while not addressing any of my major concerns.  :palm:  I guess I have to buy one of these and rip it apart.  ;D 

In other news, I don't like the direction Stax is taking with the made-in-china amps.  They have stopped using Japanese caps and instead are using these gems in the D-50:

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=58678

Might just be my new favorite forum...  So we will go from Stax amps needing nothing for 20-30 years to perhaps a 5 year life before the caps give out?  That's not really a move forward in my book... 

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