[KR...]

After almost a decade, my Stax 404 finally died. Infamous left ear issue that is common with these.
 
So I need a replacement, I do not want electrostatic headphones this time.
 
Any good recommendations? 
 
I listen to mostly hard rock/metal and classical. A few other styles of music as well, but mostly that.
 
I already have a source and amp. I just need a nice pair of phones.
 
I don't want to spend more than $1000. Rather spend closer to half that price. The 404 were about $450, so that would be the target price give a or take $50.
 
Thanks in advance!

 

[Beyakusenn]

I used to own the 404. Wonderful musical headphones! Now I own an SR-407 with an SRM-3, which I preferred to the SRM-006t. The driver in this newer model has a proper separate housing, so I think STAX addressed those issues. The new SR-L500 looks even better and seems to share a bit of DNA with the flagship.
 
Old headphones aside, I think that for $500 new (or less), there is very little competition for the Lambda series as far as sound goes. taking long term comfort into consideration (not an issue for me, but for some it is), these are the headphones I would consider listening to:
- Sennheiser HD6XX from Massdrop (basically a HD650 that's painted blue or just $200)
- Beyerdynamic Amiron (or a second hand T1).
- HiFiMan He-400i (or second hand HE-560)
 
In my opinion, none of the headphones I mentioned above is as good as the SR-404 with sound quality. Not even the second hand options. It is however a personal opinion and your experience might be different.
 
If I were go up to $1000, I would certainly take the Focal Elear and the MrSpeakers ÆON into consideration. Perhaps a second hand HiFiMan Edition X.

 

[KR...]

Thank you for the reply.
 
Gave some things to think about.