I had been thinking about trying electrostatic headphones for a while, so when I spotted these on Drops european warehouse closing down sale, i jumped at the chance.
I found them very enjoyable with acoustic jazz - delivering the same levels of detail that I experience with Aeon Flow Closed, but adding a faster response plus a feeling of more air or space around some acoustic instruments.
For sources, I used a Chord Mojo and Hugo2, and both provide the levels of music detail, that the Koss can then well deliver.
I found the split volume control irritating at first, but I got round the problem by setting the controls for a comfortable volume (and never touching them again), and relying on the dac volume controls for fine tuning.
My main irritation is the creaky plastic. I realise that the original Koss were intended to be portable, and the plastic helps to keep everything low weight. However the plastic creaks too much, to feel like a premium piece of kit, and you have the continual fear that sooner or later the plastic will break. I deducted half a mark for this.
I didn't experiment with alternative power supplies, but I will now consider the option.
Overall if you enjoy acoustic jazz, then a simple system using a Chord Mojo, plus the Koss, is going to be hard to beat in terms of value for money.
I found them very enjoyable with acoustic jazz - delivering the same levels of detail that I experience with Aeon Flow Closed, but adding a faster response plus a feeling of more air or space around some acoustic instruments.
For sources, I used a Chord Mojo and Hugo2, and both provide the levels of music detail, that the Koss can then well deliver.
I found the split volume control irritating at first, but I got round the problem by setting the controls for a comfortable volume (and never touching them again), and relying on the dac volume controls for fine tuning.
My main irritation is the creaky plastic. I realise that the original Koss were intended to be portable, and the plastic helps to keep everything low weight. However the plastic creaks too much, to feel like a premium piece of kit, and you have the continual fear that sooner or later the plastic will break. I deducted half a mark for this.
I didn't experiment with alternative power supplies, but I will now consider the option.
Overall if you enjoy acoustic jazz, then a simple system using a Chord Mojo, plus the Koss, is going to be hard to beat in terms of value for money.
It scales very well for much less than other headphones at the same price point through the same equipment. I chose the Mjolnir amp because birgir sells very well made equipment for nothing more than what it cost him in parts and he designed it to pair well with the SR 007. That doesn't mean you can't use a cheaper Stax amp and come away with a very pleasant and competent system. I haven't tested Stax cans or amps yet so I can't vouch for that combo. At $1850 it's not a bargain but you'd be paying a lot more for an L500 or L700 with the same amp.