The problem is not simply a matter of making a good design, but making a design with high-power parts that are available in quantity and wont be discontinued. Either that or Stax would have to buy an effective lifetime supply of them. 
 
The other problem is, it would be voiced likely to sound best with the 009s and there are many people who think that the KGSS or BHSE with the original 007 is the only good sound and anything else is rubbish.

currawong said:

  The problem is not simply a matter of making a good design, but making a design with high-power parts that are available in quantity and wont be discontinued. Either that or Stax would have to buy an effective lifetime supply of them.
 
The other problem is, it would be voiced likely to sound best with the 009s and there are many people who think that the KGSS or BHSE with the original 007 is the only good sound and anything else is rubbish.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I don't agree with your assessment. There are many people who don't like the SR-009's with any amp. But there are far more people who like the SR-009 with any amp as well. The majority that like the 007 seem to prefer the KG designed amps, whether they're Stax Mafia or not.

currawong said:

  The problem is not simply a matter of making a good design, but making a design with high-power parts that are available in quantity and wont be discontinued. Either that or Stax would have to buy an effective lifetime supply of them. 
 
The other problem is, it would be voiced likely to sound best with the 009s and there are many people who think that the KGSS or BHSE with the original 007 is the only good sound and anything else is rubbish.

Click to expand...

 

golfnutz said:

  Sorry, I don't agree with your assessment. There are many people who don't like the SR-009's with any amp. But there are far more people who like the SR-009 with any amp as well. The majority that like the 007 seem to prefer the KG designed amps, whether they're Stax Mafia or not.
 

Click to expand...

 
 
Stax SR-Omega (original 007) (a very organic headphone) with a very transparent amplifier as BHSE or KGSS.
 
or
 
Stax SR-009 (a very transparent headphone) with a more organic amplifier as Electra or combo RKV-Wee or LL2 or possibly 727 (without its local CR on the output stage).
 
Choose ...   

Golfnutz: We're more in agreement than you think. I probably should have put it that Stax voice their amps to sound what they think is best with their current headphones and vice versa. It is in the review. I certainly don't disagree that some people dislike the 009s regardless.  

golfnutz said:

  Sorry, I don't agree with your assessment. There are many people who don't like the SR-009's with any amp. But there are far more people who like the SR-009 with any amp as well. The majority that like the 007 seem to prefer the KG designed amps, whether they're Stax Mafia or not.

Click to expand...

I did like the 007 Mk1 but prefer the 009 by a wide margin. 
Preferably with the KGSSHV.

nice interview cannot wait for offical 009 amps..

I'm on about the Psvane EL34PH's again, but since using them with my BHSE driving my 009's, I'm not really bothered about listening to any other headphone combo, I do have the LCD-XC's which I use with my GS-Xmk2, but I'm only wanting to listen to that combo while I wait for the BHSE to warm up, which I like to warm up for around an hour.

I'm jonesing for some more info on the new stax statement headphone amp they allude to in the interview.
Is there any more info or rumors to keep us interested?

No much news unfortunately. Last time (last fall) I talked to Sasaki-san (sales director), the project was on hold, apparently because they were not satisfied with the performance increase relative to the price jump from current offerings.

Practically speaking, it also seems they've put this project on the backburner in favour of a rehaul at the other end if the spectrum, e.g. the new portable dac/amp revealed at last ces show.

As such, my bet is that we'll see these portable products being introduced at the spring headphone festival here. Earliest for the high end amp would then be fall this year, more like next year unless a headphone revision comes first...

Overall, I am thus not too confident anymore this product will see the light any time soon... The mafia said all along it'd be painful, seems like so.

     
Hi Arnaud,
 
It is very damage that Stax who produces also good headphones, for all scholarships, are unable to manufacture amplifiers better than their current top of the line.
 
Because, let's face it, as many their amplifiers work wonderfully with the Lambda series headphones ,as  this isn't the panacea to power the Omega headphones, more demanding in power (especially the SR-007 mk1/mk2); the result of the SRM-727 with the SR-007 mk2 is frankly mediocre for cleanliness and the dynamics of the bass; It's better with 009 provided they do not push to a volume too loud this headphone. 

There is better as amplifiers; damage that Stax, which ought to be reinforced in the success of the 009, leaves the place to other amplifier manufacturers, to honour, at its fair value, its flagship. I hope that a burst of pride on the part of Stax will correct the situation.

Yes well most of the high end amplifiers (SRM T2 excepting) are made by boutique manufacturers with low loverhards and no shareholders or DIY.
 
Once you add these factors in plus dealers margin, distribution and marketing etc., the costs and price of any amplifier ramps up very quickly and can become unacceptable.
Perhaps they should reach out to one of the boutique designers to help them come up with a suitable product at a reasonable cost?
We all know the SR-007 needs a really top end amp but IMO the Stax amps do a respectable job in relation to their price powering everything else. Yes we all know they can be improved upon but at what cost X2, X3, X4? We soon get into the law of diminishing returns as with all audio. 
 
Quote:

eric65 said:

       
Hi Arnaud,
 
It is very damage that Stax who produces also good headphones, for all scholarships, are unable to manufacture amplifiers better than their current top of the line.
 
Because, let's face it, as many their amplifiers work wonderfully with the Lambda series headphones ,as  this isn't the panacea to power the Omega headphones, more demanding in power (especially the SR-007 mk1/mk2); the result of the SRM-727 with the SR-007 mk2 is frankly mediocre for cleanliness and the dynamics of the bass; It's better with 009 provided they do not push to a volume too loud this headphone. 

There is better as amplifiers; damage that Stax, which ought to be reinforced in the success of the 009, leaves the place to other amplifier manufacturers, to honour, at its fair value, its flagship. I hope that a burst of pride on the part of Stax will correct the situation.

Click to expand...

arnaud said:

No much news unfortunately. Last time (last fall) I talked to Sasaki-san (sales director), the project was on hold, apparently because they were not satisfied with the performance increase relative to the price jump from current offerings.

Practically speaking, it also seems they've put this project on the backburner in favour of a rehaul at the other end if the spectrum, e.g. the new portable dac/amp revealed at last ces show.

As such, my bet is that we'll see these portable products being introduced at the spring headphone festival here. Earliest for the high end amp would then be fall this year, more like next year unless a headphone revision comes first...

Overall, I am thus not too confident anymore this product will see the light any time soon... The mafia said all along it'd be painful, seems like so.

Click to expand...

Disappointing news but not unexpected I suppose.
Thanks for the update Arnaud, I'm sure we'll see some fun new stuff at some point.

Rumors about an Orpheus 2 system...maybe a kick in the butt for Stax to de-freeze amp's development 
 
Ali

WOW- I didn't know our visit, tour and interviews had created so much more interest on headfi. Thanks for the great responses and interest. I am continuing my travels and have attended many more audio shows including Axpona 2014, Capital Audiofest 2014 and soon to cover the New York Audio Show 2014. Additionally, I have been granted an International Press Credential which should enable me to get into other related musical events such as concerts etc. Also, I have been writing album reviews, mostly using the ECM record label as my source. I have also been writing some brief articles for The Audiophile Club of Athens or ACA.org.  I will be in Australia this December 2014 and am currently looking for a headphone/audiophile project to keep me busy on my trip there. I will be mostly in Sydney. If any of you Headfiers know of any interesting projects I might be able to report on, let me know. I usually only spend one day, while on vacation, doing this kind of thing.

eric65 said:

       
Hi Arnaud,
 
It is very damage that Stax who produces also good headphones, for all scholarships, are unable to manufacture amplifiers better than their current top of the line.
 
Because, let's face it, as many their amplifiers work wonderfully with the Lambda series headphones ,as  this isn't the panacea to power the Omega headphones, more demanding in power (especially the SR-007 mk1/mk2); the result of the SRM-727 with the SR-007 mk2 is frankly mediocre for cleanliness and the dynamics of the bass; It's better with 009 provided they do not push to a volume too loud this headphone. 

There is better as amplifiers; damage that Stax, which ought to be reinforced in the success of the 009, leaves the place to other amplifier manufacturers, to honour, at its fair value, its flagship. I hope that a burst of pride on the part of Stax will correct the situation.

Click to expand...

Besides the economic reasons poined by others, one has to remember direct drive high voltage amplifiers have to conform to certain rules by the governing bodies regarding safety.  This is no joke - an amp really well designed to impeccably drive electrostatics, particularly in the treble, unfortunately doubles as an electr(ostat)ic
chair. Above so-and-so-much current an amp can spit out under worse conditions, it is banned - at least within EU. And that does have a perfectly understandable reason - unless you want to play "russian roulette" or have developed the notion of leaving this world while experiencing "the ultimate transient".
 
I do not know the exact limitation imposed by the EU - but it is way less than it would be required to really properly power the electrostatics. Stax certainly DO know the rules - and they build perhaps up to just slightly below in order to remain legit. They certainly can not afford being sued by the widow of the electrostatic-late sheik or anyone else - can they ?  
I have built my DIY amp decades ago - dwarfing anything ever seen to power the headphones by others by (almost) an order of magnitude - and certain to give the EU engineers an instant heart attack upon merely seeing the voltage/current figures. It does sound better, MUCH better - but ultimately I went with SRM1MK2/Lambda Pro, accepting the limitations, since *somehow* the plan is to roam this Earth for a while longer...
 
Please take this caution "do not try this at home" seriously - I did have one lucky escape to be able to tell about it - and am not exactly eager to repeat it. It happened more than two decades ago.
 
Yet...