Does anyone know of a source for Stax 5 pin sockets? I am currently bored in possession of LTSpice and pondering a project for my SR30 electrets...
My best bet is :Mjolnir-Audio – Home of all things electrostatic
going directly to the heart of the Stax mafia.
Be aware that the probias connector is not the right one for an electret headphone (if you are using Stax standard for your amp), it uses its own standard so it can not be connected to a probias or standard bias AMP what risk destroying the electret Headphone why electret need no bias but generate its own.
Voltage wise you can not use the "standard" or pro level of output voltage (nonpro connector) as far as I remember so try find a schematic for the original SRD4 adaptor I can however remember wrong here.
Don Spritzer will know for sure what can be used connector wise to drive the SR30:
You can find him at the headfi forum.
cetoole have commented here:
The Headcase Stax thread - Page 219 - Headphones - www.Head-Case.org
"SRD4 has no bias supply, so unless you add one, it can just run the electrets"
Page 219 in the tread on my screen
You can find spitzer here High-end Audio Forum | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
or here :The Stax Thread III | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
going directly to the heart of the Stax mafia.
Be aware that the probias connector is not the right one for an electret headphone (if you are using Stax standard for your amp), it uses its own standard so it can not be connected to a probias or standard bias AMP what risk destroying the electret Headphone why electret need no bias but generate its own.
Voltage wise you can not use the "standard" or pro level of output voltage (nonpro connector) as far as I remember so try find a schematic for the original SRD4 adaptor I can however remember wrong here.
Don Spritzer will know for sure what can be used connector wise to drive the SR30:
You can find him at the headfi forum.
cetoole have commented here:
The Headcase Stax thread - Page 219 - Headphones - www.Head-Case.org
"SRD4 has no bias supply, so unless you add one, it can just run the electrets"
Page 219 in the tread on my screen
You can find spitzer here High-end Audio Forum | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
or here :The Stax Thread III | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
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Btw why dont you look at the SR-5 standard level bias headphone instead.
It offers much better sound than the electrets (they tended to be a bit thin compared to the real thing)
Heard them both back in time and still have the "oldstax" SRD-6/SR-5 combination that can make nearly every source sound very good.
So I bought them (from new), they even sounded better (in my ears) than the gammas and up at that time if you like something "musical".
So if you drive them from a nice class A amp you will have a very good sounding combination (with a good punch in the bass !!), not so analytical as the gammas or higher but so musical sounding that you have to hear them to believe that.
OldStax at it best that can be bought relatively cheap even today.
And guys like spitzer can (mostly) repair the phones and adaptor.
BTW dont fire them up the bias circuit tends to die or be weak on that adaptor or you risk to burn the membranes.
Send them to spitzer (if you are not able to repair the bias circuit your self, beware the diodes are special in some way as far as I remember double way zeners, so quite eksotic)
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The point is that I already have the SR30 (and SRD4) along with a parts bin that can be used. Mine definitely uses the 5 pin connector but with no connection to the bias pin, so a DIY amp would only have to provide a signal at the right level.
The SRD4 is pretty much a pair of step up transformers in a box.
The SRD4 is pretty much a pair of step up transformers in a box.
Ok Still suggest you consider to sell sell the SR30 (and SRD4) and get the SR-5 with some driver box (SRD-6 and better) you wont regret that. (the trafo drivers is not that bad, you wont get so much more using an Transistor or tube AMP in my experince (if you drive the box with a good class A AMP there is severel Pass constructions to be found here). (and I have like 3 Stax headphones both standard bias and some new stax lamdas and the STAX SRM-007t tube AMP (that is not that good cause of a failure in the construction), so i mostly use The SRM252 (old version) with the old version SR202 (where you must make a little "basreflex" tube to get bass), even owning a SR507 that i dont like why they are not so musical.
But do contact Spitzer at his compagny in Island, he can sure confirm if my suggestion is good or provide you with the right connector.
Amplifiers for electrostatic headphones – Mjolnir-Audio
But expect a steep price for the connector, spitzer is the only source of quality connectors for Stax headphone drivers I know.
But you could be lucky if he have some Stax electrostat connectors laying around doing nothing usefull that he will part from for a resonally price.
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You can also print out the socket body and buy the sockets from Ebay. Here is a link to the Stax female socket for 3d printing that I've designed and made public years ago:https://www.tinkercad.com/things/7pGkeN939L6
The socket pins are something like these: TUBE SOCKET PIN FEET for KT88 EL34 6550 GZ34 274B Tube Socket Valve Base DIY x10 | eBay
The socket pins are something like these: TUBE SOCKET PIN FEET for KT88 EL34 6550 GZ34 274B Tube Socket Valve Base DIY x10 | eBay
I have some rectangular (smallest possible) teflon sockets with the nice tube socket pins and a separate back mounted PCB not blocking mounting screws and allowing for easy parallel connection. PM if interested.
If you are happy with print vs CNC and plastic vs teflon, then go with that connector. For me there is simply no comparison between both, this is of course if you strive for the best.
Please elaborate: are you talking about sound quality? mechanical strength? durability? all of the above?
I bought a couple of these and they are fabulous. I don't have 3D printed ones to compare, of course, but these are very very solid 🙂. The nice gold-plated sockets hold the headphone plug very tightly - just the thing if you intend to keep the cable plugged in (which is my use case).
Best Regards
Jens
Given you (I) can 3d print in Polypropylene, PEEK or PEKK, or polycarbonate (very likely delrin too) these days and the shape is rather simple; I would not sweat the differences anymore. even glass loaded or kevlar is doable.
https://www.matterhackers.com/store/c/browse-by-filament-material/polypropylene-3d-printer-filament
https://www.matterhackers.com/store/l/3dxtech-thermax-peek-05kg-175mm/sk/MQKH3YHL
https://www.matterhackers.com/store/c/3d-printer-filament/3dxtech-filament
PP glass loaded https://www.matterhackers.com/store...er-3d-printer-filament-285mm-07kg/sk/MHFJ6ASK
PEI 1010 (same as FR4 used as PCB substrate IIRC) https://www.matterhackers.com/store/l/3dxtech-thermax-pei-1010-blend-3d-filament-175mm/sk/MK8913AK
https://www.matterhackers.com/store/c/browse-by-filament-material/polypropylene-3d-printer-filament
https://www.matterhackers.com/store/l/3dxtech-thermax-peek-05kg-175mm/sk/MQKH3YHL
https://www.matterhackers.com/store/c/3d-printer-filament/3dxtech-filament
PP glass loaded https://www.matterhackers.com/store...er-3d-printer-filament-285mm-07kg/sk/MHFJ6ASK
PEI 1010 (same as FR4 used as PCB substrate IIRC) https://www.matterhackers.com/store/l/3dxtech-thermax-pei-1010-blend-3d-filament-175mm/sk/MK8913AK
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Sure, depending on your requirements you may like it or not, useful for sure (as a direct cable connection would be as well) but never as good as CNC out of massive piece of teflon. Different requirements, different solutions.
Same as there are cases machined out of a solid piece of aluminium, others are made out of just sprayed metal sheets.
Oh I agree, CNC solid PTFE is sexy and i'm not taking away from that. If I had CNC and a lump of PTFE, thats what I would do. It would certainly take less time!! 3D printing is painfully slow, if you want a good end result and its simply not possible to go too fast with these materials. Your rendition is a very good one that isnt available from any other source. However If someone—such as myself, anyone else with a printer, or access to a print farm—while it would not quite match the surface quality (without some sort of post processing), I would certainly not sweat any possible difference electrically; as it would simply not exist.
Thanks for the 3D model. Do you happen to know the dimensions of the pins? That ebay link no longer works...
The eBay link to these socket pins does not work anymore. Any pointers for suitable pins?