STAX energiser failure anyone?

Roger, sorry to hear about this.  I haven't personally heard of such a failure but guess it's possible, particularly where great heat is being generated and valves.  I would carefully check the valves as you may have had a failure - IIRC the Kimik mods involve specially selected cryogenically treated valves. Otherwise it sounds like a warranty job, so I would get in touch with the supplying dealer and take it from there.

Roger,

I have the top transistor energiser, not the valve one. It did fail once but it was just the fuse inside the unit. Took the case off and changed the fuse and all OK again. Assume you've excluded this, or maybe the valve unit doesn't have the same "internal" fuse?

Neil

Neil Bennett posted:

Roger,

I have the top transistor energiser, not the valve one. It did fail once but it was just the fuse inside the unit. Took the case off and changed the fuse and all OK again. Assume you've excluded this, or maybe the valve unit doesn't have the same "internal" fuse?

Neil

Thanks Niel, as the unit is only weeks old I haven't touched it... I thought I'd wait until I've spoken with my retailer so as not to 'muddy the waters' if there was any suggestion of invalidating the warranty.

Roger,

Yes that sounds best. Got mine used so no warranty withdrawal to worry about! Which 'phones are you using? I have the 007s but hanker after the 009s!

Hope you get it fixed soon,

Neil

Neil Bennett posted:

Roger,

Yes that sounds best. Got mine used so no warranty withdrawal to worry about! Which 'phones are you using? I have the 007s but hanker after the 009s!

Hope you get it fixed soon,

Neil

I have the 009's - a recent eBay purchase replacing my SR303 / 323 combo that I had for about three years.  I've not heard the 007s but I can vouch for the reputation of the 009s even though the energiser and source cable (Chord Signature) are far from run in.

I've since heard back from my dealer, who says he's ordered a replacement fuse, so he's thinking the same way as you.   

I just hope that doesn't have to come from Japan 

Roger

PS - if you're anywhere near Chester and want to hear the valve equivalent to your 727 with your 007's & my 009's, you're welcome to drop by (after the energiser gets fixed of course).   I was wondering about the 727 energiser myself & would be interested to hear that.

Yes, they should have a fuse in stock hopefully: I think I bought some from Maplins! Although I'm in Herts, I do come to Chester occasionally as I have some friends round there, and as I've bought a lot of gear from Acoustica over the years/have been to their show a couple of times. Will touch base with you if coming up again...

Cheers,

Neil

I hadn't noticed the original (pre-Kimik) fuse is in the box... I've swapped out the Kimik fuse for the original and we're back in business again.   

I wonder what's so special about the Kimik fuse... other than its exceptionally short life span  

Neil Bennett posted:

Yes, they should have a fuse in stock hopefully: I think I bought some from Maplins! Although I'm in Herts, I do come to Chester occasionally as I have some friends round there, and as I've bought a lot of gear from Acoustica over the years/have been to their show a couple of times. Will touch base with you if coming up again...

Cheers,

Neil

I shall look foward to meeting you Neil.   It was at the Acoustica show a couple of yeras ago, and then again this year, that I listened to the  SR009 / SRM007 combination and decided this was something I need to get my hands on !   

My justification for the spend went something like this:

One day, I shall have to move out of my house and into an old fogies home where I shan't be allowed to keep my B&W 802's, so I will need a pair of earphones of equivalent sound quality... and these SR009's seem to fit the bill SQ wise.

Now there will be those amongst us who would advocate that such preparation is way premature, after all, having only just retired, I'm not planning to check into an old folks residence any time soon... to them I would say this: "You just never know what's around the next corner".   I've always been a believer in having a Plan B (as my recent posts on NAS backups will confirm),  and the sooner your Plan B is in place, the sooner you can relax and enjoy what life has to throw at you.  So you can see how the 009/007 combo makes perfect sense 

Roger

Cryo treated?

Richard Dane posted:

Cryo treated?

You could well be right, Richard.  It's a Synergistic Research Quantum Fuse SR20.  They've taken the UK HiFi market by storm, apparently.  Their claim to fame is that the alloy from which they're formed has been zapped with two million volts.  I know Stax electrostatic 'phones employ a high voltage, but I'm not sure it's that high.  I'd have thought that would have the opposite effect of cryo treatment, or maybe one follows the other... a bit like the cold plung pool in a turkish baths. 

I did think of putting the original fuse in the freezer for half an hour before re-installing it, but, to be honest, I was in a hurry to see if this (fuse) was actually the problem, so I didn't, and it was.

If I'm honest, I'm a bit of a cryo-sceptic, just as I used to be a cable-effect sceptic (but that was many years ago now).  I'm reading the rave reviews about these SR20 fuses on the internet, and about which way around to install them... and I'm left wondering...   I wouldn't bet money on being able to hear the change when I reinstalled the original fuse in place of the blown SR20, so I'll be listening carefully when the replacement SR20 arrives

Just a short note for your information. Mark Dolbear of electromod is working on a new version of the Kimik and should be ready by the end of August.

tonyi posted:

Just a short note for your information. Mark Dolbear of electromod is working on a new version of the Kimik and should be ready by the end of August.

Thanks Tonyi, I asked my dealer about this, he said don't expect to hear anything before October.  I wait in trepidation 

cryo -- hmmmm hmmmmmmmmmmmm