Hi everyone. Need some advice. I have a pair of Sony ECR500 Electro Static phones ( in mint condition) that I bought back in the late seventies. I only used them once or twice when I had my Sony TAF-6B( 100 watt/ channel. I now only have a Technics SU- Z55 that is only rated at 30watt/ per channel. My question is will this amplifier be sufficient to run these phones? Is it even worth trying because I know that Electro Statics do require a substantial amount of power to operate efficiently. I also realise that after all these years the phones themselves may not be like they were when I first bought them.
From what I know of electret headphones is that they lose the permanent charge of the diaphragm over time. That means the phones are becoming more inefficient and the frequency characteristic changes. Therefore you have to put more and more watts into it to get a reasonable sound output. Moreover, most of the time the charge loss is uneven so the balance of the sound gets to the left of right. In the end these headphones are not really usable anymore. I used two Stax (also electret) headphones which exhibited these effects. The more expensive Stax headphones are electrostatic, they are biased with a high voltage charge on the diaphragm coming from the step-up transformer and I think the effect of charge loss are not so drastic as with an electret, but the diaphragm will lose the power to keep these charges, just like electrostatic loudspeakers. These Sony are electret from what I read on the net.
So, just test the Sony headphones with your amplifier. Maybe you have the luck that this Sony is in good shape and then the 30 Wpc should be enough. This type of headphones are really very high quality and I always have enjoyed the sound of my Staxes!
Thanks for reply. Yes I shall connect up and give them a try. Funnily I remember looking at some Stax back in the day but decided on the Sonys. Enjoy your Staxes.
