[TheMiddleSky]

Apples and oranges, you can't compare energizer with amplifiers, as estat is based on very different physics. I personally think estat all sound bad until you can step up your amp game, but YMMV I suppose if you only listen to a certain kind of music or like your music soft, mellow, definition less, no dynamics, no weight, low resolution, low PRaT, small soundstage, no sub bass. The only area that sounded good to me on estat with even cheap amps is the mid range naturalness and timbre...but music is so much more than that.

For demanding Stax like 009 or X9000 I agree. They are extremely "revealing" in term of translating sound from a set up.

Lambda series, even though still more revealing than Dynamic Driver in general, but still quite ok to be driven by Stax amps (they are not that bad, especially because come with more affordable price).

Personally I much prefer desktop amp for Stax, but really understandable not everyone have time to sit on home to enjoying headphone.

 

[ufospls2]

Listening to bad estat sound will also turn people off and they may decide estat is not for them, period. KG amps are a min when it comes to energizers and you may want to go directly to Blue Hawaii for stax. But it wasn’t until I heard T2 I finally understood what makes estat great.

For someone who is struggling with clearly uncharacteristic sound coming from a D50/L700mk2 - indicating something might be wrong either with the amp, settings, or the headphone itself, saying "buy a $5000-12000USD amp" is so unhelpful and characteristic of the worst parts of the e-stat niche within a niche. KG amps are not a minimum for electrostatics. Are they better? Sure, but especially with the Lambda series, you can go with one of the Stax amps and still have great sound and be a happy camper. The T2 is a great amp, yes, but you don't need one, especially not with the relatively easy to drive and easy going in general L700mk2.

I've owned the HeadAmp BHSE, Eksonic/Kerry T2, KGSSHV Carbon DIY, Mjolnir Carbon CC, Mjolnir SRD-7, but also spent extended time the D50 (which is in question here) as well as the 500T and D10, with the current lambda series.

If @liufegi isn't speaking in hyperbole and he is getting a truly a sound worse than his pixel buds or highly muffled, something is up, and no amount of amping will fix the issue.

 

[Svperstar]

You should budget $5k-12k for the amp

I got my Stax 717 off ebay for $900, its widely considered the best amp Stax ever made. Before I got it I was seriously thinking of driving 5 hours and picking up a KGSSHV for $1,900......I'd say your estimates of how much an estat amp costs are a bit high......

 

[chesebert]

I got my Stax 717 off ebay for $900, its widely considered the best amp Stax ever made. Before I got it I was seriously thinking of driving 5 hours and picking up a KGSSHV for $1,900......I'd say your estimates of how much an estat amp costs are a bit high......

You pay less when you buy used...that's a moot point. Ask someone to build you a KGSSHV and let me know what you are getting quoted at right now.

 

[catscratch]

I think windows 11 clips the output slightly at 100%, so I would back off a few percent below that. Otherwise, you want to do volume control in analog rather than in windows. I would also echo turning off any and all post-processing to see if that's the issue. Foobar is definitely great and it's free, you can install it and try some flacs or something to see if it's your software. You also want to connect it to a variety of other digital sources just to confirm that it's not something on your PC that's causing it.

Other than that... you can see if there's a place nearby where you can audition Stax (gonna be hard to find tbh) and see if you can connect the L700 to another amp and see if that's the cause. It definitely shouldn't sound muffled and dull, though I never heard it with the D50.

And no, you don't need to spend $10k on an amp for the L700, it sounds just fine on something more basic. Though for a 007 or similar hard to drive headphone, you will certainly need a beefy amp.

 

[chesebert]

That’s a fair feedback. I was thinking of large diaphragm stax. But then again we are in the TOTL section of the forum so here we are.

 

[catscratch]

Yeah TOTL prices are rapidly spiraling out of control, and it's kinda ridiculous. Still it's what the market will bear I suppose. But it's not all bad - the KGSSHV from Iceland is still something like $2.7k and should be good enough for the 007, though for some of the more modern, brighter TOTL stuff you probably want something warmer and tubier.

I could have picked a cheaper hobby. But here we are...

 

[Chefguru]

Hello,
I treated myself for this holiday with Stax L700MkII with Stax D50. I am sure I am missing something, but currently my setup sounds worst than my pixel buds. Complete lack of detail, highly muffled sound. And even though it is sounds not good, I can feel speakers are good, but something is just not working correctly in whole chain.
Do You have any suggestions what to check, or what to do change in settings on windows laptop, to try to solve the issue.
I have connected D50 with my laptop via usb cable.

Thanks!

As others have said here, it sounds like either one of the units is defective or the computer is somehow not connecting to the dac correctly.
While it is true that many strong after market amps/dacs exist and are highly recommended for estats, it is not accurate that a pixel bud should beat the l700 on really any functional amp.
That said I have not heard the d50.

 

[SolarCetacean]

@liufegi The D50 has a pair of RCA analog inputs. If you have another DAC or dongle lying around, or if your computer has analog audio outputs (headphone jack or line out), you can try connecting through the analog inputs on the D50. That will bypass the DAC portion and any driver incompatibilities. You may need to buy a pair of RCA interconnect cables or a 3.5mm to RCA adapter (any regular one from Amazon or your local electronics store will do) if you don't have RCA line outs on your gear. If your sound is fixed when using analog in on the D50, then the DAC is busted or there's something wrong with the drivers. If it's still bad, then try to find another amp to demo it on.

 

[evo6889]

I had the same combo (L700mk2 + D50) and i felt doesn't sound right. Are these JR Audio amp better than the D50?

 

[Svperstar]

I had the same combo (L700mk2 + D50) and i felt doesn't sound right. Are these JR Audio amp better than the D50?

The Stax T1S + L500 mk2 combo sounds great. Volume to spare.

 

[catscratch]

I would steer far away from JR audio. You can find some teardowns as well as past customer accounts about them elsewhere if you look. But a used 353x or something similar will work well enough for not much money. A used 717 will be great as long as it has been recapped and reconditioned.