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Delightful Stax SR-84s (SR-80s and the SRD-4 box)

thedelihaus

thedelihaus

Nocturnal transmissions
Picked up some Stax SR-84s (SR-80s and the SRD-4 box) recently, but just hooked them up last night.

What a delightful set of headphones!

Crisp, clear, bass is deep enough to satisfy and remains tight, taut.

I cannot honestly say if they will stay or not- I'm not fond of needing to run the SRD-4 off an amp's speaker connections- but these are a pretty pleasant set of 'phones.



The SRD-4 box: what other Stax 'phones will run off these?



For those who are not familiar with Stax, these specific models are electret, not electrostatic.
 
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Sorry deli, I can't answer your question. I have long lusted after a pair of Stax. Instead i focused on the legendary AKG K-240 Sextet.

How 'bout some pics?
 
Nice find, Paul! Not sure of the entire list, but the SRD-4 will also run SR-40 earspeakers (picked up a SR-40/SRD-4 combo at the last Frankenfest, and it sounds terrific). Not a whole lot of info on the electret Stax models out there, for some reason; maybe not as awesome as the legendary electrostatic models, but still great-sounding 'phones. :thmbsp:
-Adam

PS: I've also discovered the wonders of Sextetts as of late. Excellent 'phones. :music:
 
Adam, while not as glorious as true electrostatics, the electrets are pretty respectable!

I recall those SR-40s- they were JimW's, correct?

The Sextetts- I've had mine for quite a bit now. A very pleasant set of 'phones indeed.
 
The SR-40s belonged to a friend of Jamal (Bostown), not sure what his AK username is. Got 'em for a fairly decent price. Not as awesome as Jon's Lambdas, but still very nice sounding.

The Sextetts are great. Picked mine up at a hamfest last year for $5. One of my best headphone finds ever, that's for sure. :music:
-Adam
 
First, Deli, stand tall: your electret 'phones are indeed "true" electrostatics. The bias is applied differently in an electret, but the reason they don't sound as good as the "real" electrostats is that they were expressly entry-level and built to a price which was a fraction of Stax's "real"-stat prices. But electrets and electrostats operate on the identical principle.

You can use your SR-80 in one of Stax's "true"-electrostat adapters (eg, the SRD-7 transformer box) or fancy dedicated direct-drive amps-- then you can find out how good they really are.

But since the SRD-4 is just two stepup transformers in a box with no bias circuitry, it'll only drive the Stax electret models: SR-40, SR-30 (called the SR-60 outside the US), SR-80 and SR-50 (the rare closed-back version). They all use the same driver element with two exceptions: the SR-30 and SR-80 came in "Professional" versions. These had thinner, lighter diaphragms, but though they play louder, they don't sound as good out of the box.

The only disappointing aspect of the Stax electrets, which are very capable and can take tons of bass and treble boost without breaking a sweat, is the present-day price. Anything with "Stax" on it tends to go for a whole lot, no matter what it is. So people end up paying way too much for the electret models and then they wonder why they don't sound better.
 
My Stax SR-X Mark 3

I have 2 Stax SR-X Mark 3 with drivers. Don't really have a need for them. What do you guys think the best way to sell them is?

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wualta said:
First, Deli, stand tall: your electret 'phones are indeed "true" electrostatics. The bias is applied differently in an electret, but the reason they don't sound as good as the "real" electrostats is that they were expressly entry-level and built to a price which was a fraction of Stax's "real"-stat prices. But electrets and electrostats operate on the identical principle.

You can use your SR-80 in one of Stax's "true"-electrostat adapters (eg, the SRD-7 transformer box) or fancy dedicated direct-drive amps-- then you can find out how good they really are.

But since the SRD-4 is just two stepup transformers in a box with no bias circuitry, it'll only drive the Stax electret models: SR-40, SR-30 (called the SR-60 outside the US), SR-80 and SR-50 (the rare closed-back version). They all use the same driver element with two exceptions: the SR-30 and SR-80 came in "Professional" versions. These had thinner, lighter diaphragms, but though they play louder, they don't sound as good out of the box.

The only disappointing aspect of the Stax electrets, which are very capable and can take tons of bass and treble boost without breaking a sweat, is the present-day price. Anything with "Stax" on it tends to go for a whole lot, no matter what it is. So people end up paying way too much for the electret models and then they wonder why they don't sound better.
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Thanks for the great info!
 
Courage22 said:
I have 2 Stax SR-X Mark 3 with drivers. Don't really have a need for them. What do you guys think the best way to sell them is?

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I don't have a clue- but there's a section to ask for valuation- post the model number in the header and what you want to know, valuation wise, and they'll answer you there.

Forum guidelines request any question of value gets posted there.:thmbsp:
 
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