Yep, Stax EQ quite well in general. They have very low distortion and sound pretty clean. The L700 frankly doesn't sound very good without EQ, but fix its weird FR and it really shines. You're leaving a lot of performance on the table if you don't. The catch is, you have to know how, and...

I haven't heard anything, but I also have no official sources so all I can do is read the same places everybody else does. As far as storage, you don't need to go overboard. The drivers have dust covers and unless they're messed with dust shouldn't get in. Just keep them away from wet hair or...

That's why you mod the headband. The modern Lambdas have a dumb design where the yokes, y-forks, whatever you want to call them, aren't big enough and don't allow the top part of the earcup to swivel outwards far enough, and people who are let's say more cranially endowed will have issues...

Yes, if you EQ them. But that's also true for the Lambdas. These are lighter, way more comfortable, and they have a more laid back sound in the mids with better bass. With some EQ to tame the highs and 1-2k they'll have a warmer sound that's better for casual, laid-back listening. The Lambdas...

Eh, your impressions seem great and don't let anybody else say otherwise. It's always good to have a fresh set of ears on something and you should never feel pressure to hear things the same way as others do, no matter what anybody else says.

The problem with this is, in other domains it's very easy to judge performance and value since you have clear metrics that measure both. In headphones, metrics will only get you so far, a lot of performance is subjective, and as a result value becomes harder to quantify. Also, there are places...

I had a lot of the Focal lineup, Clear OG, Elex, Utopia, and they're all fatiguing. I can listen to them maybe 30 minutes tops then I gotta take them off. With a smoother upstream chain you can get rid of some of the fatigue, and EQ helps a little bit, but if fatigue-free is a priority I'd look...

I have the opposite problem. I have a huge dome and the only way to get the 007 to fit properly is to either take off the suspension strap entirely or replace the elastic with something longer. Otherwise I kinda have to hold them in place and it's mega annoying. If Stax releases a successor...

I wonder why people hear these so differently. I guess that because they're somewhere between supra-aural and circum-aural, they don't engage as much of the pinna and HRTF differences are magnified. That, and every electrostat is highly seal-dependent so things like bass quality and quantity...

What sort of sound are we talking about here? Press the left earcup against your head very gently. Does it make the same sound? If yes, then it's just driver flex, or what's sometimes called the Stax fart, and that's sadly normal. Any estat that has a full seal with your ear is going to make...

I think the earpads are different between the 009 and 009BK. Inexxon.de has measurements of both.

The 007 sounds fine with a stock 007t at lower volumes. But push it higher and the amp goes into distortion pretty quick. The sound gets harsher and brighter the louder you go. With Lambdas and other easier to drive estats, the 007t has a lot more volume to play with. I think the T1s is more...

It's a very different presentation. The 007 is more technically capable than any Lambda and has more solid bass, richer mids, more pinpoint imaging and better resolution at the frequency extremes. At the same time, Lambdas have more openenss and clarity, and a better sense of air. Their upfront...

Well if you want a different sound signature, Lambdas of various sorts do sound a bit different from other estats, they have an excellent sense of openness and clarity and have very upfront mids, but you do trade some bass punch and definition, and their imaging is a bit diffuse. Technically...

I mean, yes and no. What are you trying to get out of it? L700 can sound very good but it can need some tweaking depending on fit. I find it needs a bit of EQ, and I had to replace the yokes on the headband so that it would fit my head properly. But when you dial it in, it sounds very nice...

Yeah it feels more like a full-sized SR-003 soundwise than the SR-X mk3. Much more laid back. I don't know what performance is like with the 270s. I imagine it'd be brighter sounding. All my listening so far has been with the 007t.

A few updates on the X1. I've had channel balance issues. The right channel started fading. But, I discharged the headphones, let them sit for a few weeks, and then powered them up again, and the imbalance was gone. I've been using them daily for about a week now and so far so good. But sadly...

Sorry, but in what universe is 10k GBP considered "consumer?" Last I checked, that's the price of an X9000 with amp, and that's not exactly a consumer level system. If it's for headphones alone, Sennheiser needs to come back to reality. If it's for a full system, that makes more sense, but it...

Stax X1 is good but people have been having channel balance issues. So if you do buy them, buy them from someplace legit with a warranty, not second hand, or you could get stuck with a brick. L700 could be a daily driver if you EQ it. It's a bit bright up top and the mids can be shouty, but...

You have to use a NB amp. Overbiasing the driver by that much risks arcing the driver and burning holes in the diaphragm. Your best bet is to find a 007t or similar amp that has a NB socket that has been reconditioned, recapped and CCS modded. I don't know if there is a way to mod the drivers...

I'm not sure where you're getting "no enthusiasm" from since that's more or less the opposite of the picture I'm seeing online. Yeah this is not a glitzy high-dollar headphone that will make every summit-fi customer weak at the knees, but I'm willing to bet it'll sound quite a bit better than...

Great squiggles and impressions, thanks. Yeah that 1-2k bump is what I've been complaining about and why they have a cold tonality, but if you EQ it down that goes away. Interesting point about the damping, it makes sense they did that. I wonder if I might not prefer a 3-5k dip since most of...

Eh I think the whole price performance thing is mostly a marketing construct. There's a bit of correlation, but not as much as you'd think, and good headphones can be had at most price levels. The idea that things get uniformly better as you move up in price has not held up to my experience...

Yes. Moar squiggles! The pressed-against-the-head measurement is a bit like how I hear them, slightly upturned FR through the mids hence the somewhat cold tonality, smooth FR in general with well-behaved highs, and a bit light in the bass, but it's all there. I'm guessing I get a good seal...

Imbalance issues weren't a thing back in the day, or at least they were rare, and on headphones where the coating started to deteriorate. But starting with the 009, Stax made some changes to their drivers, and that's where they became more frequent out of the box. I certainly wouldn't compare...