I'm thinking I'd like to track down some vintage electrostatic headphones to rebuild. I'd like to have a list of high quality phones to put on my Ebay shopping list. What I'd like to achieve is something approaching Stax quality on the cheap. Anybody got a list you can offer, or other advice? Thanks.
Lafayette, Realistic, Magnavox, Marantz and a few others were all made by Stax but are not electrically compatible with any Stax gear nor do they share the same connector wiring. Sound quality is also not nearly up to the Stax standard which is why the Stax name never appears anywhere.
Micro-Seiki/Inifinity sets pop up occasionally and while not built by Stax, they had a hand in the design. The electrostatic models will need new diaphragms as the old ones deteriorate with age.
Koss made the ESP6, ESP7, ESP9 and ESP10 (I've seen pics of an ESP8 but never owned one) which range from being very uncomfortable to being torture devices and never sound quite up to snuff. The ESP10 is good once you hook it up to a direct drive amp and do some structural mods to the earcups. They also all need to be refurbished now and the ESP9 is a true PITA to work on given how it was built. The ESP950 is technically a vintage set since it has been made for 20 years now so if you can find one of those cheap, jump on it.
Jecklin Floats are good but most need major refurbishing done at this point. Very expensive too.
Micro-Seiki/Inifinity sets pop up occasionally and while not built by Stax, they had a hand in the design. The electrostatic models will need new diaphragms as the old ones deteriorate with age.
Koss made the ESP6, ESP7, ESP9 and ESP10 (I've seen pics of an ESP8 but never owned one) which range from being very uncomfortable to being torture devices and never sound quite up to snuff. The ESP10 is good once you hook it up to a direct drive amp and do some structural mods to the earcups. They also all need to be refurbished now and the ESP9 is a true PITA to work on given how it was built. The ESP950 is technically a vintage set since it has been made for 20 years now so if you can find one of those cheap, jump on it.
Jecklin Floats are good but most need major refurbishing done at this point. Very expensive too.
Hi Canthecanguru
why not using EQ to make a StaxLaPRo sound like a Sennheiser Orpheus ???
I have also the Stax Signature , sound like **** compared to the StaxLaPro , but I ask myself if it can be EQ`d to the sound of my SLP`s?
I never read anythink about equalisation of headphones , ignorant conservatism?
just thinKing ...
EQ has its place but I can't say I'm a fan based on what I've heard out of the Stax ED boxes. I do value neutrality over everything else and since I was always aware of the EQ effect it just ended up annoying me in the long term. That said a fully balanced in-line Stax EQ unit is one of the projects Dr. Gilmore and I are working on these days so it might change my mind.
As for changing a Lambda into a HE90, I really don't think it is desirable as that is one messed up headphone IMHO.
There are also factors which are hard to apply EQ for such as how the chassis interacts with the drivers and how the volume level adds to that effect. Then we have to factor in how linear the amp is into the given load and again volume level is a factor as there are only a handful of amps out there where the load presented by the headphones isn't a factor.
As for changing a Lambda into a HE90, I really don't think it is desirable as that is one messed up headphone IMHO.
There are also factors which are hard to apply EQ for such as how the chassis interacts with the drivers and how the volume level adds to that effect. Then we have to factor in how linear the amp is into the given load and again volume level is a factor as there are only a handful of amps out there where the load presented by the headphones isn't a factor.
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