The Stax I thread

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by knerian, Mar 28, 2016.

  1. Mayor D

    Mayor D New

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    Same here. Bit weird. They are too rolled off for me but at least don't have the hot scratchy sound of the 202's I had.

    I like the amp with my 404s though.
     
  2. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    Mine were even worse. Shouty upper-mids, and f**k-all bass. However, the middle foam had disintegrated and the pads were knackered. After replacing the pads (complete with newer design fabric mesh middle part), the shout is a lot less problematic, and the bass is vastly improved- sounds noticeably better than work's 404 Sigs (also with newish pads). They're now whole album cans, which they weren't before.

    Still, god damn, peeling all that sticky shit off was not pleasant.
     
  3. 9suns

    9suns [insert unearned title here]

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    https://stax.theshop.jp/

    New products for Stax's 80th anniversary
    - "SR-L300Limited"
    - "SRX-353XBK"

    2018 is going to be an interesting year, for sure :)
     
  4. %20 Oddity

    %20 Oddity Friend

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    I spy five spokes on the driver! Maybe there's some new tech going into that? Because otherwise them being the price of an L500 is... curious, at the very least. Surely it can't be all about brown leather headband and the nameplates
     
  5. JimL

    JimL Tongues KG's hairy starfish for fun

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    There doesn't seem to be anything special about the SRM-353XBK other than the case color, included RCA connector cable and gold badge, unless I missed something. The specs appear identical to the regular 353.
     
  6. Rthomas

    Rthomas Friend

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    Guys,

    Is is advisable to buy a 2015 SR007A used? I'm afraid of very high out of warranty repair costs but the price is £1000 which is half the new price in the UK.

    Does anyone know how much it costs to replace their drivers directly from Stax Japan?

    Also is headinclouds on Headfi a good stax amp builder?
     
  7. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    Back when I was considering buying a KGxxx amp, headinclouds name came up often as being a great builder. I have no personal experience with him other than we may have PM'd once or twice. I think he's also local to you. But you probably already knew that.
     
  8. sorrodje

    sorrodje Carla Bruni's other lover - Friend

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    Definitely not advisable. Let me take the risk for you and give me your contact for this abomination. :D
     
  9. Rthomas

    Rthomas Friend

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    astrostar59 on Headfi.

    He has given me a price of €1200 including shipping to Europe. Headphones seem to be close to mint condition
     
  10. sorrodje

    sorrodje Carla Bruni's other lover - Friend

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    I bought one at the exact same price one year and a half ago and sold it to fund an Utopia. One of the badest move I did in Audio.

    I had issues with this 007 ( kinda boring sound with a dipped low treble + a peak higher I found bothersome) but I didn't have top amplification and there'are a lot of things I like . Headstage is really good, resolution as well. I would be glad to revisit this 007 now . My EQ would help to fix the main issues I heard. Probably not the softness though even if a bit more high mids/low treble would had a bit more bite.
     
  11. Rthomas

    Rthomas Friend

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    In your experience is there significant unit to unit variation among sr007 makes?
     
  12. Kattefjaes

    Kattefjaes Mostly Harmless

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    AIUI, you need a lot of voltage swing and just plain power to wake those bad boys up- maybe a fixed 727 or a KGSSHV would be better?

    (What were you driving it with, anyway?)



    @Rthomas - I saw that ad, I was tempted, but then I started costing up amps to do it justice. A good KGSSHV or BHSE doesn't come cheap. Hell, even if you settled for a 727 or something, if you got a new one, you'd need to void the warranty on it to do the feedback fix.

    Not a decision to be taken lightly unless you know you want it.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2018
  13. shipsupt

    shipsupt Admin

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    Used 007's are reliable, age is not an issue. If that's the headphone you want go for it.

    I know headinclouds personally (I lived in the UK). He's a rock solid builder. If he'll build for you, you'll get a great product.
     
  14. shipsupt

    shipsupt Admin

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    Do some google-search on this and come back to us. There are many many threads about the differences between the 007 versions. There is a difference.

    Search here, head-fi, and head-case. You'll find it easy to find a lot of information on the topic.
     
  15. ogodei

    ogodei MOT: Austin AudioWorks

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    Same thing with the headphone. The listing is the exact same as the standard model with the addition of " STAX 80th anniversary foundation adopted the gold name plate which is the proof of Limited model".
     
  16. ogodei

    ogodei MOT: Austin AudioWorks

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    These days it feels like every new headphone is a $3000 (or more) prototype.

    And given that this is Mr. Speakers version 3 should actually be only 12 months away ;)

    I ordered one anyway :(
     
  17. shipsupt

    shipsupt Admin

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    This is totally "normal" for Japanese manufacturers. Check out some of the anniversary stuff Nikon does... same crazy mark ups. It's collector stuff.
     
  18. sorrodje

    sorrodje Carla Bruni's other lover - Friend

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    I have no idea. I owned only one and heard another (MkI) . Never did any direct comparison.

    SRM-T1.
     
  19. Audiophile

    Audiophile New

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    So did you like Utopia better than the electrostats (007/009)?
     
  20. Ardacer

    Ardacer Friend

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    I figured I'd chip in with my Stax l-700 / SRM-313 combo.

    None of the any other headphones I own(ed) (HD800, LCD2, HD650, HD600, DT770, EL8c, Q701), from Valhalla or O2, side by side, made such an illusion of the ThijsNL streaming hearthstone right next to me.

    It might not be much, but I noticed it's amazingly flat in the spectrum of human voices. That, together with planar wavefront and estat decay etc. might be why, to my ears, it fleshes out voices amazingly. It's not as great for instrumental music, especially in bass, where other headphones come to the same level of "amazing". But for realistic voices, this does it for me. :)
     

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