Stax Ltd.

Stax Ltd. (有限会社スタックス Yugen-gaisha Sutakkusu) is a Japanese company that makes high-end-audio equipment. Stax is best known for their electrostatic and electret headphones, which they call “earspeakers.” Electrostatic headphones work similarly to electrostatic loudspeakers, but on a smaller scale. In December 2011, Chinese audio equipment company Edifier announced that it had acquired 100% equity in Stax. Stax Ltd. was founded in 1938. Twenty-two years later, in 1960, Stax released their first electrostatic earspeaker, the Stax SR-1. Over the following thirty-six years Stax produced a variety of amplification, earspeaker, tonearm, CD player, DAC, phono cartridge and loudspeaker products. In 1995, fifty-seven years after the company’s foundation, it became insolvent. The company was revived in 1996 as the new STAX company. In December 2011, Chinese loudspeaker manufacturer Edifier announced the acquisition of 100% equity in Stax.