The Stax president made a comment of keeping classic designs but updating them for the times. And I think the X9000 is very much a headphone of the times, in the way that the Omega was a product of its time. In the past few years, it seems like "technical" tunings have dominated the high-end...

I thought headphones were minimum-phase devices?

I must say with somewhat heavy heart that my interest in the Wandla has notably declined since I received my Erco Gen 2. The Erco 2 uses the same HQ Apodizing filter that the Wandla does, has a similar I/V conversion stage, and uses the same DSP stack with I think the same format support over...

I had written previously about how I didn't like the Ferrum Erco with the X9000, that it was too forward and it caused the soundstage to lose its depth and flatten out. I finally got my Erco upgraded to the Erco Gen 2 and that upgrade fixed those issues. There is still some forwardness to the...

LTA webpage says $3600.

How loudly did you turn up the volume to hear that high? I've heard of people going above 20K, but they had to crank the volume up to get there. Beyond age, I think listening volume will play a sizable role in how bad that peak will sound. I generally listen at lower levels, where the main...

Was listening to the Erco 2 with the Sony MDR-Z1R. The Z1R also wasn't the best on the Erco 1, at least with the Shunyata cable. I liked the Erco well enough with the Z1R, but once I added the cable, the treble peak in the Z1R became unbearable. For example, on Adele's "Rolling in the Deep", the...

Maybe not in formal published reviews, but in discussions both online and in person I've met a number of people who have disliked all of those headphones you listed. I met a guy who owned the Susvara and sold it because he found that it "sucked the enjoyment out of everything". I've read a...

I don't think the Erco 2 will fix all hashiness. Some hashiness comes with the headphone's tuning. In particular, my experience is that Harman-tuned upper mids and treble result in a hashy sound regardless of DAC or amp. The Erco 2 will only remove any hash that comes from the upper treble. So...

To me, that's what gives me pause about these headphones. Consider me unfair, cynical, or both, but I don't trust a product until I see one not-glowing review. Until then, it's just the latest hype train. I don't need a negative review, just one that goes "this is nice, but..." A review that...

Received the fixed Erco 2 on Saturday. Fast 2-day turnaround with the distributor (I sent it back out on Thursday), so props to them on that. Listened to it yesterday and my impressions are positive. My listening chain was the Erco 2 acting as a DAC with XLR line output feeding a CCS-modded...

Was settling in for listening when I noticed that Elise was there with me. Watching...

Was yours upgraded from Gen 1, or did you get a Gen 2 from the get-go? Mine was the Gen 1 being upgraded to the Gen 2, so I can see more opportunity for mistakes since it involves partial disassembly and replacing of components. Apparently the distributor was upgrading a batch of 40 Ercos and...

After some fits and starts, I should be receiving my Ferrum Erco Gen 2 tomorrow. I had actually received it on Thursday, but shortly after I got it, the Ferrum distributor called me and said that they had made a mistake when upgrading my unit. Some bolt wasn't installed which would be bad for...

Tung-Sol GTBs are also what Stax uses in the SRM-700T. And even Spritzer thought that amp sounded good after he did the CCS mod on it. I've been thinking of doing the 6SN7 mod and adjusting the CCSes for higher output current and thus getting something like the 700T on the cheap, but I haven't...

I use RCA Clear Top 6CG7s in my 006tS. Not cheap, but I read reviews that they were better than the stock 006t tubes. I didn't really notice much of a difference, but that was over a year ago when I wasn't as good at picking out sound changes, and I haven't switched back to the stock tubes for...

Sooo, I got my Erco Gen 2 back today. I shipped it out on Monday and on Wednesday the distributor overnighted it back to me. I think the Gen 2 sounds better. Now of course, it's not an A/B test so I'm only comparing from memory, but it sounded more defined and clearer in the upper treble. I'm...

Good luck on the house hunt! I'm also looking for a house with my wife and it's a tough game to play. But I'm waiting to get the house all settled in before I continue upgrading my audio gear. My view is that it's going to be a pain to move those things, and we'll probably move within a few...

The description for the Enhanced editions is quite amusing. Apparently they were tuned with more bass for foreign markets. They're a limited-edition release in Japan (brochure).

The Novem was released in mid-2020, before the X9000 was ever announced (Sept 2021), so it couldn't have been developed specifically for X9K. It must have been a happy coincidence that the sound of the Novem worked well with the it. But might as well advertise the synergy if it exists.

Ummmm... The Shangri-La was always $50,000, ever since its release in 2017. And that price is for the system. The headphones can be purchased alone for $18K MSRP, and supposedly $14K street price. The $8000 one is the Shangri-La Jr system (headphone plus amp). The prices of both haven't changed...

6.3mm TRS headphone cables are technically already balanced; the so-called "balanced" headphone cables are more like using bridged outputs, not balanced in the same sense as balanced interconnects. The benefits of common-mode noise rejection in balanced interconnects don't exist in headphone...

I've also heard that the Z1R is going to be discontinued in the US. When I visited a dealer in November last year, the guy there had heard that the last shipment of Z1Rs to the US had been delivered and no more would come. But after I heard that, I saw that a few shops in the US showed them in...

I should be starting the upgrade soon. I contacted my dealer and he contacted the US distributor and the distributor finally got back to me after over 3 weeks of silence. I'll send out my unit for the upgrade next week. I see that Audio46 finally has 2 units of the Gen 2 in stock now, so...

I've heard two Grado headphones, the 325x and the Hemp. I liked the 325x - it had a punchy and energetic sound and sounded really good on a power metal track. The Hemp did not do well on that same track, and I didn't like the sound on a second demo either. It sounded muddy and congested to me...