S.E.X.y STAX

[Kitchener]

Cheers!

I'm deliberating selling of my dear IRONCLAD (Brass Shithouse) to finance a S.E.X.
(Usually people sell sex to buy crack, but I don't have the stamina for that...hardy har har)


A short while ago I got a Stax set that immediately replaced my office setup; Crack+HD6XX.
So I took the Crack home and devoted it to bedside listening.
But at home I also have my dingy, vintage Norwegian Tandberg stereo system (Huldra 10, TL1210, for those who are interested).
The radio/amp needs some love and might not ever be properly functional again so I figured maybe I could replace it with a SEX amp.


Then I also remember reading that some people have had great success running Stax headpho...sorry, Earspeakers from the SEX via the Stax energizer.


This way I could get both tubey, vintage sounds from my speakers and orgasmic Stax detail from the same amp!
Win-win, right?




But I'm having a hard time finding any posts about STAX+SEX pairings here.
The big one is five years old and about someone modding a SEX to drive Stax headph...EARSPEAKERS directly.


So do any of you fine gents have any anecdotes from pairing the SEX with a Stax energizer?
-and what Ohm setting do you use for that?
-is there a single Ohm setting that would allow me to use not only speakers and Stax headp...you know, but also some orthodynamics like Hifimans?




Thanks for reading! 




One more thing!
Is it okay to ask here on the forum for help with determinig a fair price for my Crack?
If so, read the linked post up top for mod details and let me know 

[Paul Birkeland]

I would recommend the direct drive approach you've mentioned.  Not having to use the energizer will be a major advantage.

[Kitchener]

Oh, interesting.
Is there an inherent drawback with the energiser itself or is because the SEX is ill suited for the energiser?

I wonder if it is possible to have both a normal headphone jack and a STAX output or if I have to choose one over the other?

[Kitchener]

Okay, this thread I so easily disregarded has some great info in it:
Link

OP johnsonad initially had this to say of his SEX modded for Stax headphones:
"The S.E.X. sounds great and better than any Stax amp in my audio memory.  Now back to listening "

He even answered my question of wether it is possible to have all three outputs in the same SEX or not:
"I'm only using it for the Stax and speakers and the moment but you would need only to wire the standard headphone jack in that comes with the S.E.X. kit and you could drive all three. There is very little room on the top plate so you need to be creative "

User tdogzthmn had this to say of his experience with the SEX and the SRD-7 energiser:
"I have been able to try my SR-507 on both my Stereomour and SEX amp using the SRD-7 and find that the SEX does a better job of driving the STAX headphones.  I believe the CS4 boards I added did take the level of performance up a notch.  Really makes for a killer listening experience that tops any headphones I have owned or heard in the past."

Lot's of great info in the thread.

I'd love to hear from anyone else who's had any experience pairing Stax with the SEX! 

[Paul Birkeland]

 Stax headphones work best with an amp made for electrostatic headphones.  The energizer provides a high voltage bias supply from the amp output.  This high voltage bias supply already exists in the SEX.  The energizer also steps up the low voltage/high current output of a speaker amp to a high voltage/low current signal for the headphones; the high voltage/low current output is already available inside the SEX amp.

An analogy I would use is say you have a power outlet in your home that's 20 feet from an appliance you'd like to plug in.  You could:

1.  Use an AC extension cord (SEX amp)

or

2.  Plug in a 220:12V transformer at the wall, run some heavy gauge cable across the room carrying 12V AC, then put a transformer at your appliance to step that 12V back up to 220V.  (SEX amp into energizer)

[Kitchener]

Oookay, so are you saying the SEX could power Stax headphones by only putting a Stax socket in there?
-or that the process is relatively simple?

I've been bothering johnsonad about his SEX customised for Stax, and it got expensive....fast!

[Paul Birkeland]

You'll want to do what Aaron did.  Yes, the additional parts are expensive, but so are electrostatic headphones!

[Kitchener]

Copying that build would cost well over $700 on top of the SEX.
And I’d still need a set of headphones.
On top of that, the modifications would make the SEX exclusively a Stax amp.

You can easily get a set of Stax headphones and an energiser for $5-600.
This way you can power normal speakers, regular headphones and Stax headphones.

Since I’m planning on using the SEX for all those three, I’m going for the energiser.

My SRM-313 and Lambda pros are easily the best headphone and amp set I’ve ever heard.
I’m guessing the SEX won’t sound any worse through an energiser.