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The Headcase Stax thread


thrice

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Since I finished cleaning up and making some small mods to my SR-Sigma 404 I though a picture was in order. Considering that this is hands down the most filthy headphone I've ever had the misfortune of buying it did turn out great. I had to resort to some very strong cleaners to get the arc to look that good...

img1724zw4.th.jpg

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Since I finished cleaning up and making some small mods to my SR-Sigma 404 I though a picture was in order. Considering that this is hands down the most filthy headphone I've ever had the misfortune of buying it did turn out great. I had to resort to some very strong cleaners to get the arc to look that good...

img1724zw4.th.jpg

More great work reconstructing an old headphone. You should get a great price for those.

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More great work reconstructing an old headphone. You should get a great price for those.

The parts aren't cheap to make these so they run close to 1000$. Well worth it though IMO as they have many qualities in common with the Omega line and are much more linear then the other Sigma's.

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The parts aren't cheap to make these so they run close to 1000$. Well worth it though IMO as they have many qualities in common with the Omega line and are much more linear then the other Sigma's.

If you sell the resulting SR-Lambda hybrid I am sure you can knock the cost down a bit ;)

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Sure but that's not given. There are quite a few versions of the Sigma and the crimp on connectors are hell to work with.

Hmmmm :doghuh:

What version are there? I know there is the early normal bias one with the round SR-X like cable, the latter normal bias with ribbon cable and Sigma pro. Where there variations of normal bias Sigmas? Do they sound different? There is alway something interesting that you manage to dig up :D

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Hmmmm :doghuh:

What version are there? I know there is the early normal bias one with the round SR-X like cable, the latter normal bias with ribbon cable and Sigma pro. Where there variations of normal bias Sigmas? Do they sound different? There is alway something interesting that you manage to dig up :D

The drivers are identical so I guess they all sound pretty much the same but there was indeed a 1977-1979 version with a round cable. Some of the phones (the two I've seen had a S/N around 5000) had a ribbon cable but instead of a solder connection it had crimp connectors which attached to the drivers. There was also more damping around the driver, basically they stuck some where ever it was possible.

I've never owned a cloth cable Sigma so I'm not sure how the drivers are connected but it should be similar to the SR-X i.e. crimp connectors. That means there are at least 3 versions of the Sigma. Since all of my Sigmas are bought from Japan there might even be some local variations that were specially made for some distributors.

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The drivers are identical so I guess they all sound pretty much the same but there was indeed a 1977-1979 version with a round cable. Some of the phones (the two I've seen had a S/N around 5000) had a ribbon cable but instead of a solder connection it had crimp connectors which attached to the drivers. There was also more damping around the driver, basically they stuck some where ever it was possible.

I've never owned a cloth cable Sigma so I'm not sure how the drivers are connected but it should be similar to the SR-X i.e. crimp connectors. That means there are at least 3 versions of the Sigma. Since all of my Sigmas are bought from Japan there might even be some local variations that were specially made for some distributors.

Ah, OK so there are only three known versions. Cool. :cool:

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I need help from fellow Stax-heads. :confused:

I'm having trouble with my Stax system since last week. For a reason that I don't know yet, the bass became boomy and loose and I get a lot of distortion if I turn the volume a little bit higher than my normal listening volume. Also, percussions are slightly harsher and I get some kind of metallic resonance on some hard-hitting notes. I can still listen to my music and it sounds pretty good at normal volumes, but not as good as what it used to.

Could it be the tubes approaching their end? They still glow and I get the same sound problems with both channels (L/R), so I'm not sure if they're the problem. I ordered a new pair of 6fq7 a couple of days ago just to verify, but I didn't receive them yet.

Could it be the OII themselves? I never heard of anyone with such problem, but I guess it could happen.

I played with the source and cable and this is definitely not where the problem lies. If it's the amp, I'm screwed because I don't know how to repair it and I doubt Stax still services this model.

Anyway, I know it's probably impossible to diagnose a problem just with the information I've given, but if you guys ever had a similar experience, feel free to share...

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This is strange indeed. I assume that you normal listening level is somewhere around 5 or less on the volume dial as T1's don't like to go much higher then that. The 6CG7's begin to distort more but it's nothing as obvious as you have described. Try it with other headphones if you can and try new tubes but other then that it's tough to see what's wrong.

Stax will repair your amp but Yama's does a horrible job so it might be better to ship it back to Japan. For the record Stax will try and fix any of the amps that they have made.

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Why are the blackgates sticking out like that? Is it to show them off or because of the space constrains? :P

They won't fit in the standard KGSS case so that's one reason and it's also a good idea to keep electrolytics cool so that they will last longer. Some of the KGSS amps did have internal Black Gates but they used a larger chassis.

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Ok I've come here to learn more about STAX but it is like 105 pages :(. BTW nice rig slwiser. I guess I'll start reading slowly but to start things off, just wondering what is the difference between SR-007 and SR-007A

SQ wise?

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Ok I've come here to learn more about STAX but it is like 105 pages :(. BTW nice rig slwiser. I guess I'll start reading slowly but to start things off, just wondering what is the difference between SR-007 and SR-007A

SQ wise?

Are you kidding? This question has been answered so many times already. Do an in thread search :palm:

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Ok I've come here to learn more about STAX but it is like 105 pages :(. BTW nice rig slwiser. I guess I'll start reading slowly but to start things off, just wondering what is the difference between SR-007 and SR-007A

SQ wise?

That info is actually not very easy to find. I tried some searching a while ago and a lot of it is scattered in small pieces and buried in various places.

The SR-007 and SR-007A (or SR-007 Mk2) do sound different. Some people prefer the O2Mk1, some prefer the O2A or O2Mk2. The number of people who have heard both is still not very large, though. Different systems and different amps also affect the sound.

I prefer the O2Mk2. But the difference with the O2Mk1 isn't very large. They sound very similar, and are a closer-sounding pair than most any other set of two headphones.

The O2Mk2 has a more forward-sounding midrange, more bass quantity, a bit better imaging and a larger headstage. I find the O2Mk2 to be more engaging and involving, and its larger headstage to be a very welcome improvement. I've always thought the O2Mk1's headstage to be small. Even so, the O2Mk2's headstage is still not very large compared to the HE90, R10, Qualia, K701, etc. By headstage, I'm talking about the distinction between headstage and soundstage as defined by darth nut in his long ago review of the O2.

Some of the differences could be due to the different earpads. The O2Mk2 also has a port.

Others can tell you more about their construction differences. SQ-wise I think both headphones are excellent and owning either one should basically be equally satisfying to most people.

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