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Article: Review | Stax SRS-3100 Electrostatic Headphone System


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Great stuff, George! 

 

I'm not so sure that plastic is a negative.  Back in the '70s, my wife bought me a pair of SRX-IIIs for a birthday present. They were truly spectacular and far ahead of anything I'd heard to that time - and they'd still be quite fine for true high end listening today.  But the real leather pads deteriorated in a few years, as did the foam beneath it. Replacements suffered the same fate, and I'm as far from a profuse perspirer as it gets.  After I replaced them for the third time in about 15 years, a friend offered me a ridiculous amount for them and I accepted it (with my wife's approval, of course). I'm not one to get buyer's or seller's remorse - I think this is the only deal I truly regret having done.

 

But no other headphones have deteriorated like this for me.  I finally replaced the pads on my good old Sony MDRs a few years ago after more than a decade of use.  I've had Sennheisers for many years without needing new pads, and my AKG 701s have remained in beautiful shape since I bought them in May 2012.

 

I have no doubt that these Stax are great - in fact, your review has me itching to check them out. At under a grand, they're great value.  Had I not just bought a new guitar in December, I'd probably get these tonight!  Thanks so much -

 

David

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8 hours ago, gmgraves said:

I didn’t say that plastic was negative, but I did say that it is more fragile, mechanically, than is, say, aluminum or steel.

I wasn’t challenging you, George.  But you do make multiple references to a general perception that products made of plastic are often believed (rightly or wrongly) to be of lesser quality and durability than those made of metal, leather, and other materials for which plastic is substituted, eg “Just because the SR-L300s are made entirely of plastic, one shouldn’t concern oneself with quality issues” and “as with anything plastic, they probably require a bit more care in handling than the two more pricy models”.

 

FWIW, there are easily obtainable and readily usable plastics that far exceed aluminum and steel in strength.  For example, look at hemp plastics, from which Ford built a car in 1941 that was 30% lighter than the same car in steel. The plastic used is 25% stronger (compressive, tensile, and torsional as I recall) than the pressed sheet steel it replaced - the door panels could not be damaged with a sledgehammer.  Here’s a link to more info for those who are interested.

 

Thanks again!

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