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The Headcase Stax thread


thrice

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10 hours ago, kugino said:

so birgir, the recoating will not work at all? i've had them for 7 months and nothing has changed...any chance they will fix themselves in the 8th month...or the 12th month? i'll give it a go with the whack attack as well...thanks.

Well you could recoat but it is not a simple thing to do.  Well the actual process is simple but it has ramifications.  First off, opening the drivers will introduce them to dust and squealing.  Second you need to coat both drivers and getting right isn't so easy.  You might end up with constant static hissing or massive charge issues. 

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Hemisam, was your defective pair purchased recently?  It is really disconcerting that the channel mismatch problem has not been solved.

My understanding is most defects have been in the 009.  It will be interesting to see if the L700 has a similar failure rate, given it is essentially the same driver as the 009.

 

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6 minutes ago, Tompoodie said:

Hemisam, was your defective pair recent?  It is really disconcerting that the channel mismatch problem has not been solved.

My understanding is most defects have been in the 009.  It will be interesting to see if the L700 has a similar failure rate, given it essentially the same driver as the 009.

 

It was within the last year, Tom.  They were working fine for a few weeks and then one of the channels clearly weakened and had a bit of static.  I tried popping the outside firmly as Birgir suggested and it worked for a short while and then the issue returned.  Sent them back to Japan, at my cost, and they were exchanged for a new pair eventually.  Unfortunate really given the market they target (i.e. relatively high level headphone audio).

Zero issues with my second pair and I must say I do enjoy the heck out of them out of the KGST (fed by an Ygg DAC).  Very fine sound IMO and a signature that's more to my liking...I don't do bright very well.  Comfortable as well.

HS

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I hope this one works out.  From what I have gathered from the experience of others, if you make it without a problem the first couple hundred hours our so with now problem, they will probably be trouble free for the long haul.

The Ygg is amazing.  Heard it at CanJam here in SoCal last year, and will hear it again in a couple weeks.

I am receiving the Bimby Multibit next week and can hardly wait.  I listen through 207s and a 323 amp.

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Thank you for the clarification, Spitzer.  


FYI, I acted on your comment a few weeks ago about the level of distortion in my SET triode amp I use for a non-Stax pair of cans.

I had the manufacturer modify it by adding feedback.  Distortion will be about .5%, still more than that of 207s, but much better.

 

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Hey guys, I'm Özgür from Turkey.

It's my first post, i read the rules but still I hope i'm not doing anything wrong. Because as i understand you all (nearly) have diy experiences and have really good g(ears).

Anyway, recently i was thinking bout buying an end game Stats amplifier, but i lost all of my savings cuz of some stupid job. Then i went to small upgrades for my SR-207 and SRM-252s. I made a friend make a 12v 2A linear power supply for my SR-252s and bought a pair of EP-507 for SR-207. They became like different system now. I think they amuse me for a while. I'm learning from this community. Thank you all.

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  • 2 weeks later...
1 hour ago, Sherwood said:

Welcome to Head-Case, Ozgur, I hope you enjoy it here.

Thanks Sir. I'm only reading now, cuz as my title says I'm a newbie. I read first 30 page so far. :)

Anyway i have a question, most probably asked before but here i go:

Does using 100V Stax amps with stepdown transformers (I live in Turkey, so we use 220V) (churi ones or any other good one) degrade sound quality?

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On 3/1/2016 at 9:07 AM, HemiSam said:

It was within the last year, Tom.  They were working fine for a few weeks and then one of the channels clearly weakened and had a bit of static.  I tried popping the outside firmly as Birgir suggested and it worked for a short while and then the issue returned.  Sent them back to Japan, at my cost, and they were exchanged for a new pair eventually.  Unfortunate really given the market they target (i.e. relatively high level headphone audio).

Zero issues with my second pair and I must say I do enjoy the heck out of them out of the KGST (fed by an Ygg DAC).  Very fine sound IMO and a signature that's more to my liking...I don't do bright very well.  Comfortable as well.

HS

i've discussed my 007A imbalance with sam a few times since he was in the same boat. unlike sam, i was not able to send mine in for repair/exchange as i bought mine second-hand, pretty much brand new, but used nonetheless. when the imbalance first came up last august, i tried to put it in a bag w/dessicants for about a week. nothing changed. i hit the crap out of the left side to see if it would "fix" itself. nothing. i opened it up to see if the connections were all intact. no problems there.  so, i stuffed them back into the ziplock w/the dessicants for the last few months.

just took them out, fired up the KGST, and fuck me - they're fixed! WTF? i know spritzer and purk have told me that they often correct themselves (somehow)...but fuck, i'm pretty stoked right now, listening to these bad boys out of geoff's kick-ass construction. anyway, i hope it's not too good to be true and hopefully won't shit themselves again...but just an update. thanks those of you who have been following my whinings and not just telling me to fuck off. appreciate it.

 

UPDATE: and...imbalance is back. at least i know shoving it in a bag for three months can fix it...haha. oh well...it was good while it lasted.

Edited by kugino
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Someone find me a set of broken 009's and I can figure out what the fuck is going on with the newer Stax.  No way I'm going to rip open my sets..  :)

This has to be an issue with the new PEEK diaphragm material though.  Properly heat-treated and high tension mylar as Stax have used is very stable indeed.  They could also have changed the coating materials as PEEK has very different properties compared to mylar. 

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You think the new 007a -s are made with this PEEk diaphragm too and we should start to fear ? :unsure: I was glad in the morning because I thought I heard so details in the Bartók Concerto (Ozawa SACD) as only in a real concert so I started to think about to relisten my all old symphonic recordings. Too long term plan ? :)

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I am pretty sure the Stax god (or maybe just plain Audio god!), wherever he is, is mad at me :(

I sold my 727ii recently and the buyer states it is not powering on.  He sends me the video of what's going on and it is pretty clear that the power switch is simply not staying depressed (detent to the on position) but rather the plunger just makes contact then slowly slides out.

When it gets back, I suppose some de-oxit is probably all it needs?

Edited by Mr.Sneis
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On 3/11/2016 at 1:37 PM, kugino said:

i've discussed my 007A imbalance with sam a few times since he was in the same boat. unlike sam, i was not able to send mine in for repair/exchange as i bought mine second-hand, pretty much brand new, but used nonetheless. when the imbalance first came up last august, i tried to put it in a bag w/dessicants for about a week. nothing changed. i hit the crap out of the left side to see if it would "fix" itself. nothing. i opened it up to see if the connections were all intact. no problems there.  so, i stuffed them back into the ziplock w/the dessicants for the last few months.

just took them out, fired up the KGST, and fuck me - they're fixed! WTF? i know spritzer and purk have told me that they often correct themselves (somehow)...but fuck, i'm pretty stoked right now, listening to these bad boys out of geoff's kick-ass construction. anyway, i hope it's not too good to be true and hopefully won't shit themselves again...but just an update. thanks those of you who have been following my whinings and not just telling me to fuck off. appreciate it.

 

UPDATE: and...imbalance is back. at least i know shoving it in a bag for three months can fix it...haha. oh well...it was good while it lasted.

Did you check for electrical continuity of the cable connections? Any problems like this I have had were cable issues.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Anyone here had a channel imbalance on your 009s? I just experienced a big drop on the left side, then it seems to be gradually coming back up. I wonder if I was live with static (crap shirts from China). I posted on the other place but since thought I will get more knowledge on here. Any advice would be great, before I jump out of the apartment window and end it all....

If this issue is static, maybe I need to discharge myself (static not something brown and horrid) first with a wire attached to my metal desk?

So now total ban on the Christmas balloons on the ceiling trick.

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