Here's a bit of feel-good stuff for those of us who love the SR-507, reviewed in http://www.soundstagexperience.com, January 2012.
Thus far I’ve focused on the small scale, but the SR-507s could also handle the large scale. Playing densely orchestrated passages or complex studio mixes, I could clearly separate the various threads in the musical fabric, though I never felt I was being forced to do so. When a radical dynamic swing came along -- as it inevitably does in any orchestral recording -- the SR-507s handled it with aplomb. Any component that can convincingly run the gauntlet from a single violin to full orchestral tumult and bombast is just coasting when you ask it to play pop or rock. But have no fear -- I also put the SR-507s through their paces with large quantities of Jimi Hendrix, including the fabulous new Winterland boxed set (8 LPs, 1 CD, Columbia/Legacy), which arrived while I was writing the review, as well as Eric Clapton, classic Santana, and other usual suspects. (Aside from being an orchestral and jazz trombonist, I played electric guitar in a cover band that loves the music of the late 1960s and early ’70s.) The SR-507s drove the way they should, seared the way they should, and generally could wreak musical havoc when asked to. Driven by the GES, they never got overly bright or harsh unless fed the most extremely trashy modern recordings.
With naturally miked recordings, I heard a soundscape that extended from left to right significantly outside my head, and in front of me as well. With closely miked studio recordings, voices ended up inside my head rather than in front of it. The Staxes’ exceptional transparency and detail delivered an astounding sense of depth when the recording contained that information -- such as on the disc of violin concertos by Ole Borneman Bull with soloist Annar Follesø and Ole Kristian Ruud leading the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (SACD/CD/Blu-ray, 2L Records 2L-067-SABD).
Over the past year I’ve heard many of the top-of-the-line headphones that can be driven by normal means: the HiFiMan HE-500, Audeze LCD 2, Sennheiser HD 800, and Ultrasone Edition 8, which range in price from $899 to $1599. These designs sound markedly different from each other, and I found things to like about each. In terms of detail, transparency, and accuracy of transients, the Stax SR-507s ran circles around all of them... But if you value detail, transparency, openness, and timbres and textures just to the warm side of realistic, regardless of volume level or musical complexity, then the combination of Stax SR-507 Lambda Signature headphones and WooAudio GES amplifier is far and away the best I’ve heard. You may be able to do better, but I have a feeling that it will cost you a lot more. If you audition this system, you’d better be prepared to keep it. I’m keeping this one, which makes it a de facto Reviewers’ Choice.
. . . S. Andrea Sundaram
andreas@soundstagenetwork.com
Associated Equipment
Headphone amplifiers -- Grace Design m902, HeadRoom Total BitHead
Headphones/earphones -- Audeze LCD 2, Etymotic Research hf5, HiFiMan HE-500, Sennheiser HD 800, Shure e3c, Ultrasone Pro 2900 and Edition 8
Digital sources -- Ayre Acoustics C-5xeMP universal stereo disc player, Apple iPod (fifth generation)
Computer -- Laptop computer running Windows Vista, Realtek HD audio ALC 272, and foobar2000, via coaxial digital output
Analog source -- Michell Tecnodec turntable with HR power supply, modified Rega RB300 tonearm, Shure V15X cartridge, Trigon Audio Vanguard II phono stage with Volcano power supply
Interconnects -- DH Labs Revelation, QED Silver Spiral, JPS Superconductor
Power conditioning -- Equi=Tech Son of Q
Enjoy. :)
