The Stax I thread

I got the T1 for 500$ Pretty good price i think.

Yeah the guy who sold me the L300 LTD also had a L700mk2, he said was was comparing the 2 and could detect that the L300 was more warmer than the L700, which for me is great since i heard the L700 had a lot of treble and not a lot of bass. hopefully the L300 will have that bass and wont be too sharp with the treble. I'm not treble sensitive but i dont like treble thats too harsh or fatiguing. Warm headphones can get on my nerves if they are too dark. Hopefully the L300 will be to my liking.

 

Stax heads, what is the most normal sounding stax? that is to say which suffers least from a lack of decay and weightlessness? which sounds the most like the Quad ESL 57?

 

For me, SR-Lambda normal bias still has the most natural FR out there, speed is fast but not too fast, very slightly bright, but with more weight and smoothness to the sound than other Lambdas. My friend has an ESL 57, haven't heard those yet, but we share the same opinion about the Lambda. Simply sounds natural and apart from the lack of bass definition and texture, I don't find any significant drawbacks.
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/cuy1hb/stax_srlambda_impressions/
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/da43ae/threeway_shootout_lambda_edition/
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/iz0zk0/stax_srlambda_impressions_and_comparisons/

I see other people ranking these lower, so YMMV but some copies are 40+ year-old headphones at this point, so there are going to be copy variations. I have four pairs now, one ranks above all else and a few drawbacks they mention don't apply to that.

However, if you are looking for a sound that is fuller, heavier, less like an electrostatic, the SR-007 Mk1 might be more to your liking (again, not all pairs sound the same, unfortunately). I feel like piano is something that is reproduced much better with the Omegas than Lambdas and there is a big difference in how the bass is being rendered.
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/eqoytw/stax_sr007_long_term_impressionsranty_review/

The problem with the Omegas is they are power hogs and won't do as well with Stax amps as Lambdas do, so far I actually prefer the SR-Lambda over the SR-007 or SR-Omega. I will get a proper amp eventually (I am just as curious about how the Lambda reacts to that, I know somebody using a DIY T2 to drive the NB Lambda...)
But after adding that to the equation, there is a 5-10x price difference here, which is hard to ignore and at the point, might as well upgrade the source, gets quite crazy... So maybe the first question is how much you are planning to spend.

 

thanks, Lambda NB is the answer I received from others as well.

at a Head-fi meet in 2016, I got to hear the Stax 009 and 007mk1. amps in attendance were the KGSSHV Carbon, Cavalli eXStata and SRM-T1. I hated both and liked the Sennheiser HE60 a lot more, although that was also very colored in its frequency response. the 009 made sounds, not music. the 007 was better but had a huge dip in the presence region and bloated bass (this pair was stock).

years later a friend sold me a pair of SR3 and SR5s with the SRA-12S amp. these were much better and actually listenable for me, though still not really normal sounding in their transient response they had a flatter midrange and vintage charm.

I would like a pair of estat phones as flavor cans, just like the ESL57 are flavor speakers since they can't play rock or modern recordings. I guess I will seek out a Lambda NB

 

While piano sounds unimpressive on the Lambda, voices, guitars, wind instruments, etc. all sound awesome, simply brings out emotions like nothing else.

The other one you might want to try is the Lambda Signature [measurements here]
A lot of people say this is the best Lambda, if it matched the description of being better than the NB I would have certainly kept a pair, it sounded musical but also too bright to me, but YMMV as always, there is [one on ebay] right now with a broken headband, should be an easy fix.

Yeah, the HE90 is my favourite, I haven't heard the HE60 unfortunately, missed too many times, but I was always sceptical regarding the lack of deep bass and general brightness. One thing that the HE90 did fantastically well is dynamics (even out of the HEV90) and I read the same about the HE60.
The Staxes seem to crave for more power to provide more dynamics.

I also agree about the SR-009. Although I don't think I have heard an optimised system, the SR-Omega sounds like a fixed version of that, I found it interesting that the differences seemed to mirror the [measurements here]. But still, there seems to be something I perceive as a midzone dip with the Omega I and Omega II that I don't hear with the SR-Lambda. Just for fun, I tried plugging the Omega to the normal bias output and of course the bass disappears, but the midrange is brought out a bit more.
It's almost like the slightly inferior frequency extension of the normal bias helps to bring out that midrange more, just like what people say about the ESL57 vs ESL63.

 

Stax Lambda Nova or Signature. Not the later Lambda's (1999 and up), not the Sigmas or Omegas.

I've owned all these, my Quad 57s are charging a few feet away as I type.

 

I don't have nearly as much experience as the other Stax heads, but I'm not surprised to see the Lambda normal bias come up as the most 'normal'.

[dad joke] It's right there in the name [/dad joke]

They are warmer than cold heaphones, and colder than warm headphones. They are brighter than dark headphones, and darker than bright headphones. They have the classic Stax air about them, but don't sound overly ethereal or wispy. They can punch you in the back of the eyeballs if the music truly asks for it, or they can just tickle your ears gently if things are more relaxed.

There are a lot of subtleties within these very broad constraints that others describe much better than I can, and I don't necessarily like the term netural, but the overall impression is something pretty close to straight down the middle.

Just keep in mind that these are 40+ year old phones. When i bought my pair, they were scratchy as all hell, and if it weren't for being able to secure NOS drivers through a stroke of pure luck, I would have had to toss them. Pads are uber expensive and parts are rare. Replacement cables will only be Pro bias, and most amps only have pro bias sockets.

 

Haven't heard them myself, but perhaps the Nectar Hive (if you don't mind going outside of Stax). My own experience is that lower tension = less weightlessness.

Alternatively, a vintage round stat like the SR-X or SR-5, but you'll need a normal bias output.

 

The Lambda Pro is my last acquisition, so I've been studying the sound quite a bit. Not sure if everyone would find it forgiving, it has more treble energy, so it is a bit better at lower volumes.
Pretty much a NB Lambda on steroids, listening to it sounds like everything has been turned up to 11, it's lively. More speed, more extension, more dynamics but yes it still has some smoothness left from its predecessor. Electronic music like Depeche Mode sounds great on it.
I think the bass might be the best I've heard in a Lambda and I don't see this mentioned a lot, still not much texture but great control, depth and extension (not boomy, like the later undamped Lambdas). This is a very old post from 2006 from the other forum:
"I wuv my Lambda Pros.

Me too. The Lambda Pro is absolutely amazing through ES1. It's going head-to-head with HE90, and not giving much, if any, ground (Yeah, HE90 does lots of things better, but not 20x better, which was my price ratio). I used to own the SR-404, but found it boring. IMO the Lambda Pro is a far better headphone. I've compared the Lambda Pro to the Omega II twice, on very different occasions and systems. The OII is smoother, with slightly more detailing. However, the OII can stay smooth, even when the music isn't. The Lambda Pro has the best dynamics and impact I've heard in an electrostatic headphone so far."

This is one headphone I would love to hear from a Carbon one day, as I feel it is more difficult to drive compared to the normal bias version, but it has the potential to be a bass monster.
Switching back to the normal bias feels like everything has been dialled back again, settling down to a calmer, more dignified style, with the full mids.

 

> https://www.headamp.com/products/stax-sr-x9000

Call me curious. Almost as expensive as an old SR-Omega, but new and available. Far less expensive than the Orpheus 2 and might sound even better. This comparison alone tells it's for crazy people .

Sound-wise it has to go against the Libratum v3 and v5. Muppetface, you were the reason I bought the Libratum v2 (upgraded to v5 internals since then, and I bought another v3 for its phenomenal bass). There was no looking back since, only a few mods . When they die, I might get a used SR-X9000.

From Stax I have kept only the Gamma Pro, FWIW (after owning the 009, 007 Mk1 early, 007 Mk2 and hearing the SR-Omega).

 

I'm also curious... I still enjoy 009 with the Bricasti M3 and my Mjolnir Tube amp but the bass response could be a bit better. So I'm certainly curious to hear how much of an improvement these ought to be. I imagine if I step up to a BHSE I'd get better bass but honestly the price of this headphone is a bit less than THAT amp so it might be a better overall purchase now as I continue to save up for BHSE again

 

Quite a good price considering that it is Omega reborn and should be an improvement over the 009S. Not even going to mention that Chifiman charges 8k for "Shangri-La...Junior" (cough, cough).

Lovely color scheme and looks, I hope Stax didn't mess up the voicing too much.

 

I don't contribute much / enough to this forum so I hope the following brief listening impressions on the x9000 will compensate a bit ;-)

This is a report from another forum but I figured some may have missed it. I listened to the x9000 (and compared with 009) when driven by T-8000 amp with AD2-RMA source itself fed by macbook usb when I joined an unveiling event at one of large headphone stores here in Tokyo.

It was nice as, after maybe 2 years lapse, I could have a conversation with sales director of Stax Japan. He gave me some interesting pieces of information:

1) The x9000 pre-orders are overwhelming, they're now booked until the end of the year and pretty much any new order will slip into 2022 delivery

2) The x9000 is pretty much handmade like the 009/S so there's only so many they can ship in a batch

3) Some parts are getting hard to source, no a problem for the x9000 phones but they may have troubles shipping amps in 2022 (for instance there's apparently global shortage of nylon connectors used to connect boards together through wire ribbons)

4) The earpads supplier for the 009/S and x9000 was indeed changed after Japanese company historically making pads for Stax went out of business (retirement). He was saying that from 1000 pads received for the x9000, they returned 800 back to the manufacturer as it did not meet their (high) quality standard... I always thought the earpad is key part of estat (and any headphone in general), this seems to confirm it (the x9000 pads today looked gorgeous btw)

As for the sound, please take the following for what it's worth, e.g. not much. I did have my own CD and I did compare to 009 but am not so familiar with the T-8000 amp + the 009 pads of recent generation aren't same as my original pair so I bet the 009 actually sound different:
- To be honest, in the first track I played (Avishai Cohen Trio - Eleven Wifes), I could not even tell the difference between 009 and x9000 right of the bat
- Well, the x9000 sounded warmer (more bass, less treble) but it was about it, I could not sense a difference in resolution, headstage, detail retrieval etc

However, after going over different tunes (Charlie Byrd - Jitterbug waltz, Miles Davis - Will'0 The Wisp, some more obscure French and Brazilian music), I started to hear recurring patterns which sum up to the following:

1) Just like other models, the fit is pretty critical to get the bass tight on x9000 (I have a smallish head, I was using the headpad at minimum size setting and had to pay attention to the headphone sitting). Wrong fit and the bass goes loose (litterally boomy).

2) The x9000 is clearly voiced differently from 009. It's much warmer sounding (more bass, less mid/highs)

3) As a result of this, the x9000 needs about 1 click more than 009 to sound as loud (I was at 12PM on the T8000, it certainly felt we're driving this amp to its very limits...). Forget about using the x9000 on anything less than T-8000, I'd go ahead and just get a carbon for this headphone, I expect this is the best fit from amps out there now given the headphones voicing.

4) In terms of imaging, you clearly jump back a few rows when switching from 009 to x9000. 009 feels rather front row, x9000 actually feels more "right" (to me) in that regard

5) Possibly, the x9000 keeps it better together on the forte (but, to be honest, I really felt the T-8000 was underpowered for these phones, the bass actually sounded tighter on 009 and it reminded me of 009/SRM-727 issues when pushing the volume...)

6) At very least, the 009 sounds a bit shouty in comparison but at the same time more exciting out of T-8000 (as if the T-8000 is actually a pretty good pairing to the 009 but we're back to the drawing board for the x9000...)

7) I could understand what Stax technical director meant by the x9000 sound more like "earspeaker" than all other models: you feel the transuder blasting an in away from your ears with 009, not so with the x9000

8) While the 009 puts emphasis on sss sounds (borderline shouty/sibilant), the x9000 has no such emphasis. As a result of this, the voices actually sounded more natural out of the x9000 but more exciting if a bit artificial out of 009

9) Overall the 009 feels snappier to the point it's almost overdoing the attacks, the x9000 sounds more melow (to the point I feel it needs a strong amp to keep it alive / dynamic sounding)

10) The more time I spent with the x9000, the more I got to like its presentation, seems to me this is a textbook example of a headphone that won't wow you at first but win your heart in the long run...

Still way too rich for my blood though, I won't be selling my beloved speaker rig to move back to headphones this time around .

For those with a budget and in search of instant gratification, I'd place my order very soon or else give up on this until sometime next spring.

cheers,
arnaud

 

So it's a lot like a 007.