[miceblue]

Stax is pretty much the only game in town as far as excellent sounding electrostatic HPs. If MrSpeakers es sounds between an 007 and 009 and priced right, they would sell quite a few.

Well that's good news for you then. Ether ES seems to have the texture and speed of the 009 but with the warm pleasant signature of the 007. It's not quite as resolving and transparent as the 009, but I very much enjoyed it on the LL 2T.

MrSpeakers has repeatedly said it's going to be less than $3k.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Stax is pretty much the only game in town as far as excellent sounding electrostatic HPs. If MrSpeakers es sounds between an 007 and 009 and priced right, they would sell quite a few.

 
Off the top of my head, here's a list of companies who have manufactured electrostatic headphones:
 
HIFIMAN (and former company HE Audio), King Sound, Koss, MrSpeakers, Precide, QUAD, Sennheiser, Shure, Sonoma, STAX
 
There are probably others. This doesn't count electrets and electret/dynamic hybrids either, which would expand the list to even more companies.
 
So which anime do ya like?

 
Most of us document everything on sites like MyAnimeList.
 

Though I admit Stax is crazy good, I've decided to leave estats for now since I just can't seem to let go of my HD800 and instead trying out amps with it.

 
I hope you don't abandon your dream of the 009 entirely!

 

[Tangster]

MrSpeakers has repeatedly said it's going to be less than $3k.

Which probably means £3.8k the way things go with the cross continental mark-up, shipping, taxes and political betting on brexit schiiting on the USD->GBP exchange rate. Stats cost so bloody much in the UK, pretty much the only good thing is at least it's not Australian pricing, but they can ship from singapore/HK/japan pretty hassle free.
 
Probably for the best, need a car more than I need a 3k headphone.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Which probably means £3.8k the way things go with the cross continental mark-up, shipping, taxes and political betting on brexit schiiting on the USD->GBP exchange rate. Stats cost so bloody much in the UK, pretty much the only good thing is at least it's not Australian pricing, but they can ship from singapore/HK/japan pretty hassle free.
 
Probably for the best, need a car more than I need a 3k headphone.

 
Best thing you can do as far as electrostats go is get a used system, especially setting up private deals with owners. You would not believe how little I paid for discontinued stuff that sells for like $1,000 new now.

 

[wuwhere]

Well that's good news for you then. Ether ES seems to have the texture and speed of the 009 but with the warm pleasant signature of the 007. It's not quite as resolving and transparent as the 009, but I very much enjoyed it on the LL 2T.

MrSpeakers has repeatedly said it's going to be less than $3k.

 
Did they say when they will be available? And es amp? Is it biased like the Stax pro?

 

[Tangster]

Yeah, don't have any interest in gear around $1000 retail either. Already got my endgame at that price point. It's the more exotic stuff that people don't really want to part with that would be my next purchase...after a car and a down payment for a house. Adulting is expensive

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Yeah, don't have any interest in gear around $1000 retail either. Already got my endgame at that price point. It's the more exotic stuff that people don't really want to part with that would be my next purchase...after a car and a down payment for a house. Adulting is expensive

 
The thing about electrostats is that they tend to turn the whole price/quality thing on its head. I'm not the only person who thinks entry-level STAX (which can be had for a few hundred dollars used) beats the pants off of any non-electrostat at any price, including headphones that cost many thousands.

 

[wuwhere]

   
The thing about electrostats is that they tend to turn the whole price/quality thing on its head. I'm not the only person who thinks entry-level STAX (which can be had for a few hundred dollars used) beats the pants off of any non-electrostat at any price, including headphones that cost many thousands.

That's quite a statement. I'm sure many here will disagree with you on that. Can you name those headphones? Did you do a comparison with your own system and for how long?

 

[Tangster]

Heard the 007, 009, HE60 and HE90. Kinda makes it difficult to justify buying a low end stat.
 
Also the entry level stax was ok. Decent but the build quality...or lack thereof. I thought the Koss ESP 950 lower end Stax (I preferred the more pronounced low end on the Koss vs the Stax) and the Beyer T1 and HD800 were easily on par with these lower end stats. If I were to get a headphone in that range, I would likely go for a HD800S or Beyer T1 (a headphone I've wanted for a while purely based on it's sound signature).

 

[wuwhere]

I have a HiFiMan HE-6 and believe me my Stax SR-007 does not beat its pants-off.

 

[Muinarc]

I don't think I own any headphones that have pants.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  That's quite a statement. I'm sure many here will disagree with you on that. Can you name those headphones? Did you do a comparison with your own system and for how long?

 
We all have our own preferences. Being a lifelong musician, mine align with the sound of real instruments. STAX are the only headphones I've heard so far that have a certain transparency that, to me, sounds much closer to real life.
 
I have owned around 50 headphones. (See profile.) A few notable ones include the STAX SR-207 & SR-30, Sennheiser HD 650 & HD 700, and HIFIMAN HE400i. I've also spent hours listening to the Abyss AB-1266, HIFIMAN HE6 & HE1000, and Sennheiser HD 800 on very expensive equipment with my own test tracks in most genres. Again, STAX are the only ones that truly impressed me, even when I was using the STAX on my own setup at home with cheap amplification and my laptop's internal DAC!
 
@miceblue has had similar experiences comparing the SR-207 to the aforementioned headphones. It actually has a more neutral frequency response and lower distortion than any of the others, along with a rapid impulse response.
 
I still prefer other headphones for certain things, though, aside from acoustic transparency. For example, I might be in the mood for something with heavy bass impact, which 'stats do not excel in. And I'm certainly not saying that any of these headphones aren't worth buying for plenty of people. I just favor overall realism above all else.
 
...You missed my question about which anime you like. haha

 

[wuwhere]

You're right though, Stax has excellent transparency which I've never heard before. And it can be captivating.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  You're right though, Stax has excellent transparency which I've never heard before. And it can be captivating.

 
I didn't mean it wins in every category or anything. Your 007 (especially with the STAX amp holding it back) probably sounds pretty laid-back compared to the HE6. It's easy for other headphones to have a more spacious soundstage, more dynamic and impactful sound, and so on. But those things, on their own, don't make them sound more realistic to me.

 

[vwinter]

I don't think I own any headphones that have pants.

If only it had been a shirt. To think what might have been...