Australian HiFi - March-April 2016_

STAX

The SRS-4170 (pictured) in particular

represents excellent value. The

SRM006tS (above) is a vacuum tube

driver unit, and is a great sounding

device. The driver unit in the new

SRS-5100 package above is solid state.

AND THERE’S MORE...

And now for the really good news.

We still have a limited quality of the

old series left to move on at heavily

discounted prices!

SRS-3170

(SR307 earspeaker/
SRM323s driver unit)

RRP: $2,149
Selling at: $1,569

SRS-4170

(SR407 earspeaker/

SRM006tS driver unit

RRP: $3,147

Selling at: $2,289

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that they do not do very often, and

hopefully by the time you receive this

newsletter we will have the first of these

new releases in stock. The SRS-5100

system will be replacing both of the

existing SRS-3170 and SRS-4170 systems.

This new system consists of the SR-L500

electrostatic earspeaker (pictured left) and

the SRM-353X driver unit (above), and the

combination will sell for $2,999.

I realise that many of our readers

will never get to experience a pair of

Sennheiser Orpheus headphones. But

there is no reason not to drop in and have

a listen to the Stax range. As I have said

before, most Stax owners never intended

to own a pair, but after listening to them...

You have been warned!!

FILM STARS

Electrostatic headphones

operate on a different

principle than conventional

‘dynamic’ or ‘moving coil’

designs. In conventional

headphones there are quite

heavy moving parts – a coil

of wire inside a magnet,

generally glued to a stiff

cone or dome that’s held

in place with a springy

suspension. The weight of

the moving structure makes

it more difficult to re-create

detail in playback.

Electrostatic designs

• pioneered by Stax from
  1959 – work by placing a
  static (non-moving) electric
  charge on a film that floats
  between two perforated
  metal plates. When audio
  voltages are applied across
  the plates, static cling and
  repulsion causes the entire
  film to move by itself. This
  film is so thin, it effectively
  weighs less than the air
  around it, and has none of
  the resonances or energy
  storage which can lead to
  distortion in conventional
  moving coil speakers.
  These factors are some
  of many reasons why Stax
  electrostatic headphones
  sound so much better
  than conventional designs.
  During playback the listener
  is experiencing minimal
  interference or distortion
  from the headphone
  speaker itself, and that in
  turn can bring you that
  much closer to the original
  artist’s performance.