The Stax thread (New) - Page 661

on the subject of custom stax etc. Has anyone every tried alternative pads on an sr40 electret or can you suggest possible available pads that might fit? I like mine but they hurt my ears after a while so long sessions are impossible. I link the idea of a bigger more comfortable pad on them similar to headphone addicts.

I'm not a huge bass fan at all, so have no desire for giant thundering bass. But to my ear, planars generally sound a bit weaker in bass but are way stronger in imaging, soundstage, attack compared to dynamics. I quite like the Stax sound and have loved ribbon speakers for many years!

However, I thought that from a purely technical standpoint, planars can react more quickly because of being thin, low mass diaphragms, but cannot displace as much air because they are more fragile and more tightly attached. Dynamic drivers have more mass and a more compliant attachment and therefore can displace more air, which is what bass requires, but then cannot react as quickly. Certainly, good designers make accommodations to minimize technical limitations, but those are the inherent strengths and weakness of dynamic vs planar, aren't they? That is why full range planar speakers have to be made 7 feet tall, isn't it?

There's lots of people here with a ton more technical knowledge than I have; I'd love to hear from them!

This is why we need more items like the k340 - only better implemented.

Maybe an extended Lambda Frame (outward) with an oblong orthodynamic driver in the side portion. Since Stax amplification is inherently balanced, it would be nice if there could be some black magic with transformers with some additional box so that you could still use Stax amps and loose the quality like you do with those tiny transformers if you did it internally.

Or John, you could get one of those "Butt Kickers" - doesn't really produce audio, but it is somewhat satisfying when listening to headphones.

Random thoughts.

You want a better 2 driver headphone than the K340? It's called the TakeT H2.

Compromises... Compromises...

The O2 may be one of the best phones and with the best bass but it has its problems and is a far cry from real live music.

For one the etch (from the planar nature?).

Bass is accurate but anemic.
Body is lacking and
instruments are Micky mouse midjets.

The polite highs still overpower the lacking lows on classical music.
And on non classical concerts (where the speakers being used are dynamic) the presentation is just lifeless.

There is plenty of room for research and improvement on headphones and no amp in the world is going to ever fix the problems of estat speakers or phones.

Just my opinion for whatever is worth.

Stacey,

Thanks for the Butt Kicker idea - LOL! I'm good with the compromises involved and really don't need bass on my butt! But that really makes my day!

I'm just sayin' - isn't it generally accepted that as awesome as Stax are for what they do so well, planars have technical limitations with regard to the amount of air they can move ... so bass is typically not a strong point for them. That was my understanding ... ?

But really thanks for the k340 - I was unaware of these, but they sound like my beloved broken Apogee Centaurs, a hybrid planar/dynamic!

Make sure that you have a really strong amp for them. Notoriously hard to drive.

I basically am feeling the same way, but cannot bring myself to use such strong language about the O2s, and I still need some time to "mind burn-in" with them. So Kintsaki, have you heard em with the Blue Hawaii?
Unfortunately, my 2 new tweaks (Synergistic Research alpha sterling cables and a pair of noise harvesters) showed up while the O2s are away, so it'll be harder to evaluate them since I already installed the cables and don't feel like re-re-cabling my system. I can easily unplug the harvesters to compare.
I dug out my old Lamdas, and sorry this is so horribly unscientific, but for now, with the new cables AND the harvesters, my old Lamdas are sounding much smoother and a little less bright, definitely improved. (I gave them a listen before the cables & noise harvesters showed, and they sounded really grainy, almost pixilized, and thin, after having the Omegas) I can only hope to have such noticeable improvements when the O2/717 gets back. I don't even feel up to listening to phones right now, so I'll try testing some more later.
I also wanted to say beatiful phones to HP Addict! How do you like them?

I spent some time today with O2 Mk1 and Mk2 (and all the other stats) with Woo GES and KGBH and I would not describe the O2 as you have. I was very pleased at how well my Woo GES stood up to the KGBH, with just a very slight decrease in bass output and very slightly softer attack, but otherwise just as enjoyable everywhere else.

Listening to all the stats at the Colorado head-fi meet have spoiled me for my dynamics, and I now know I am a stat person through and through. I just can't seem to get the enjoyment out of my Edition 9 as much anymore. However, there is an exception - my favorite dynamic coming out of the meet today is the K1000 which sounds great balanced from my Single Power as well as naamanf's Beta 22.

I'm probably going to end up selling my orthodynamics as well - all my stats are just better to me, even with listening to several modded/dampened orthos.

I'll catch up with you in few weeks about Stax supremacy, Larry. Mr. Willett and Co. might have something to say about all that.

Cool, the K1k is an exceptional can and well worth keeping along with the 'stats. I still like my orthos a lot though so I'll be keeping mine

I just have too many headphones to listen to them all, and I might even sell the O2 Mk1 which are very close to my ear-pad modded O2 Mk2 except for slightly more laid back mids and an extra 5-10Hz of low bass extension.

me too, waaaay too many.

Indeed!
Just look at which cans I have scaled down to... K1000 and SR-007BL

what are orthodynamics?