[Pirakaphile]

So I dove into the world of Hi-fi a few months back after getting some Grado sr-80i's (arguable, but Iwho cares, I love them) and now, I'm looking into other headphones for my music listening. Beyerdynamic, Stax, Sennheiser, and even Hifiman are on my list, and after looking at bazillions of reviews, I've finally found that Stax SR-207 look like a good intro to electrostatic headphone (earspeaker, whatever) for me. The only problem is, besides the fact that I'm still saving up the $400 for the headphones themselves, the actual wire is another hundred, and the amp is costly as well, ending aroud $800 bucks. I was wondering if there are any other amps that will power the Stax sufficiently, as well as not costing $400. If not, that's okay, and I'll begrudgingly save up for an additional six months for the whole shazam.

Also, I've got about four other questions but I'll ask them later.

Thanks!

 

[billybob_jcv]

This is probably better asked (or already answered) in the Stax thread. As you probably know by now, an electrostatic energizer is very different breed of amp from the typical headphone amp. The high voltage being fed to the Stax earspeakers is much, much different than either a normal headphone amp or a normal speaker amp.

There are other manufacturers of 'stat amps - but from what I have seen, they typically cost as much or MORE than the Stax products. I suspect the cheapest way to get a Stax amp is to buy it used separately from the earspeakers. I think you just need to make sure you get the right bias level.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/676272/the-entry-level-stax-thread
http://www.head-fi.org/t/677809/the-stax-thread-iii