The Stax thread (New) - Page 575

Buying used Stax makes sense. Since they are built to last, and the potential of scoring a nice deal.
Buying new has its pro's as well, so guess you have to pick on your own.

I am sure there are several reasons why Head-Fi'ers sell their SR-007 system. Like:
* To recover some cash.
* Don't like the sound signature (which happens).
* Just want to try something different.
* Downgrade system.
* Going speakers.
* ...

Best wishes!

Exactly. Lets not forget that now I can upgrade and modify my pre-amp!!! Oh boy I get to spend alot more money that I don't have!!! There are lots of expensive things I do with this pre-amp, caps, power cable input, etc. etc. I sometimes think of my pre-amp as an equalizer I feel that it improves my sound greatly the only draw back being a slight loss of detail vs direct connection but then a cable upgrade may imrove this, great huh more money!!

And another thing that has been shown to increase detail in the Stax ssetups are good silver IC's.

Or ALO SXC cryo'd silver plated copper which sounds as crisp and detailed as silver with the weight of copper, but with no echo'y upper mids like Jenna Labs cryo'd copper. It actually has better detail than my pure dead soft silver IC's.

Sherwood
krmathis
Ok thanks. I uderstand that buying used Stax isn't bad.

Not at all. Buying used Stax is a tradition around here

I am a new used-Stax owner and am extremely happy. Both amp and phones are in very good shape, sound great, and the value for the price was very high. In my relatively short period of time around here, I have found that it is very much the norm to own many different headphones, often from the same company, and to rotate and/or try out different equipment by buying and selling used stuff. By doing this, you get to try out a lot of different equipment essentially for the cost of shipping.

Agreed. Been playing around with quite a few ICs and the stax easily shows the differences.

Yeah, not bad at all.
Thats even the way much of us get to try out different 'phones. Buy used (eBay, FS forum, ...), give them a thorough test, then pass on to the next Head-Fi'er.

Don't automatically assume that when it comes to Stax, silver = better. Your cables will depend on the rest of your system. With the O2/717 and the 840c, silver made things unbearably bright and messed up the tone. I had to put in a dark copper IC and even then things were still a bit on the bright side. The 840c is a pretty bright-sounding source, and the O2 will never hide that. But then, when I got the Opus 21, the sound was so dark that it needed a bright-sounding silver IC to balance it out.

Get your rig, listen with whatever cables you have, and then pick cables to tune your system in whatever direction you need it to go.

I'm listening to a little Jack Johnson my O2 Mk2 with GES maxed (Apogee mini DAC pre-amp XLR out > Single Power > RCA loop out to GES), and I have my SR-Lambda plugged into the GES too (normal and pro bias jacks). Both sound great.

Plus I have connected my balanced Denon AH-D2000 (Apogee XLR out > Single Power) and loaner MD5000 (Apogee mini DAC 1/8" line out into Woo WA6 maxed) with all playing the same music at the same time.

The SR-Lambda are at least 90% or more of the O2 Mk2's sound, maybe more. Both beat the Denons in accuracy, transparency and toe tapping fun (the MD5000 have a little boost in the upper mids, and the D2000 are lacking in that same area - the Stax do it just right). I think I like both of these Stax more than the ESP950 too, so I need to go dig those out and listen to some ESP950 more. Next up is the HE60 and SR-Lambda Signature...

Wow. I am convinced the best low budget Stax is the normal bias SR-Lambda, and I wouldn't be surprised if it is better than the current model SR-202 thru SR-404 too. And, I'd be perfectly happy with either Denon if I hadn't heard better.

All silver IC's can't really be grouped together as some are frankly dreadful, bright, edgy and unnatural, while others are warmer then most copper IC's and not the least bit harsh. The quality of the conductors used (which has no bearing on the final price of the cables), their size and insulation material plus the connectors and cable geometry all have a big impact on how the cable "sounds".

Then there seems to be some agreement that silver is not necessarily better. Important because the recommendation "get a good silver cable" sometimes has been used as a kind of mantra. It can easily be understood as a statement that silver is always better, although that may not have been the meaning.

I am currently using copper for SRM-717 and that sounds better than my silver cable, but it may depend more on that this cable is balanced than the material used. I believe that balanced - SE also is important for the Stax amplifiers that have a balanced design. But my experience base is admittedly limited. BTW, the balanced copper cable sounds better than my silver cable also with the tube 007t, even if the unbalanced silver cable is a very good choice in itself here.

Do you have pics of this normal bias lambda?

Not even the most silver-loving audiophile will ever say silver is "always better." There are some God-awful silver cables out there for sure.

However, you take an extemely talented cable designer, give him best copper and best silver and tell him to do his best with both. Guess which one I'm taking?