The Stax thread (New) - Page 609

I didn't find that much similarity between the 007A and the 404. The upper range peak in the 007A was higher up than the 404, I estimated about 8kHz for the 007A based on the amount of tape hiss I was hearing. The 404 had a deeper bass extension. However with Spritzer's spring mod in place the deep bass seemed pretty equal in the 2 phones and the other lower frequency regions of the 007A seemed more prominent, making the upper frequency peak less prominent. The spring-modded 007A had a sonic signature more like my Sigma/404 but with more deep bass. The 007A has that and better imaging and detail. However, the Sigma/404 has a more open sound due to the forward placing of the drivers.

Hey Spritzer, what, if any, changes happen when you change to new pads on the Lambdas? My pads are in ok shape but kind of hard. The suppleness is mostly gone and I think the seal is not complete all of the time.

So, I just bought the Stax SR-Lambda + SRD7-SB combo from the FS section..looking for the best bang for my buck speaker amp to power them. I dont want to spend too much right now..under 200 bucks if possible, with the holidays and all..just want to be able to enjoy them now..and upgrade down the road. Thanks.

I would recommend either a vintage audio receiver or a new Nuforce Icon 12 watt desktop amp as the best bang for the buck, followed by the Travagans Red which is also a nice small headphone amp with 5 watt speaker out. The Nuforce is better as speaker amp than headphone amp, and the Travagans is better as a headphone amp than a speaker amp, but both will get the job done nicely. You can search for my posts with the words Nuforce and SRD-7 in them for more info. Those should fall in your price range, or for a little more there is the Dared MP5 tube amp. Later, you could get a nicer amp or dedicated stat amp. JonL seems to be very happy driving the SRD transfer boxes with an Almarro A205A Mk2 tube amp.

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll give the Nuforce a look.

Trends Audio TA10.1 works great also I love this little amplifier.

what would you look for in a vintage amp? What falls into the vintage catagory? If it has input for cd, is it still vintage?

There are other people better suited to answer that than me, but I was thinking of something like a late 70's early 80's Onkyo or Marantz, or a Fisher C500. Peeps here seem to dig the old stuff before it all came from China. As for me - I'm fine with the Nuforce for now.

I imagine your current Nakamichi classifies as plenty vintage, Keith

Thanks Spitzer, thats what i needed to know.

I have another theory about O2Mk1 preferrers.

I think the Mk2 sound has some qualities that can be characterized as kind of a typical Grado sound: a more forward midrange, more forward-sounding vocals (which sound "closer" to you) and stronger mid-bass impact.

The PS-1 is an example that has precisely those qualities. Its midrange is more dominant, and mid-bass impact is strong. I think the Mk2 can be described as a Mk1 injected with some PS-1 qualities.

Therefore, I would suspect that Mk1 preferrers don't like the PS-1, and most Grados in general. Maybe with the exception of the HP1000 and GS1000.

A lot of Solid State amps of that era is what gave Solid State it’s bad name. Even a lot of High End Solid State names of that era were not good. That was back when specifications were deemed more important than audible sound quality. That’s when we saw a resurgence of the vacuum tube. I would look at more recent Solid State designs (nineties and up) by names like NAD, Denon, Rotel, Musical Fidelity, Cambridge and Onkyo to name a few. Some of the more recent tube amps from China are going used cheap on Audiogon. A vintage tube amp would also be good. Names like Dynaco, Heathkit, Fisher, Scott, Sherwood to name a few. My favorite old tube amp to drive a SRD is the Dynaco Stereo 35. The integrated amp version is called the SCA-35. 17 watts per channel using the famous EL-84 output tube.

Would you say the mk2 is therefore closer to the HE60 than the mk1?

If so, the mk2 might be just right for me. Comparing the Lambda Signature and the HE60, I like the HE60 better because of its more forward midrange. Voices are so real and involving! However, I really like the bass of the Lambda Signature, but am not so fond of its 'fake' midrange. Thus a mix between the two, combining the strong points of each, would be my ideal headphone.
Have you got any experience with the Lambda Signature? (I see you have a HE60 in your collection.) How does its bass compare to that of the SR-007 (either version)? I should really audition a SR-007 in the near future... I'm so curious whether its bass is not too overwhelming for me in the long run. The things said about the mk2 make me think it suits me better, that's why I'm asking.

Ah, not really.

Suppose the Mk1 is the HD600 and the Mk2 is the HD650.

The HE60 might be the SA5000. Hard to say which is closer to the SA5000. If forced to make a choice, I would probably pick the HD600.

I've never heard a Lambda Signature. However, I noticed that my Airbow SR-SC1 has a Lambda Signature logo on the headband.

I think both the Mk1 and Mk2 have stronger bass than the HE60. Remember that this can vary a bit, though, particularly with amplification and/or tube changes. But overall the Mk2 has strongest bass impact, mostly in the mid-bass region, followed by the Mk1 and then the HE60.

I also think that both the Mk1 and Mk2 have better quality bass than the HE60, with more details and textures. With their superior pinpoint imaging, their bass also seems to be more coherent and less muddled.

Warning!

Spritzer, avert your eyes and don't read this!

And don't puke!