[miziq]

does anyone have stax 2020, can u give some info on it thanx. im planning to pair them with cambridge audio d500 se...

great forum as headwize..thanx

 

[eeyssjr]

Cambridge UK??

The 2020 is a great system for the money. It has above average speed and detail for the price bracket, BUT the bass is alot flabbier than what electrostatics are usually capable of. This can be attributed to the basic energiser. This is a ver simple unit, and when t comes to bass i just dont think it has the voltage swing capabilities.

I would strongly suggest the CLassic system is you can push your budget that far (another £300 in UK over Basic).

The Energiser you get with the CLassic is of much better quality, and it really shows in the sound.

So in Conclusion, the 2020 is great, but doesn't represent the best sound for your pound, which i feel is the Classic. Bye the basic with confiidence, but be aware of the benefits in sound the Classic offers for a modest extra outlay.

 

[miziq]

yep i thought so.... ill go for classic then i guess

btw i ment cambridge audio cd.... www.cambridgeaudio.com

its firm based in UK yes, and this i kind of best bang for the buck and it looks gooooooooooooood...

i was long thinking on hd600 and some amp but i think stax is better solution.....


btw it seems that non tube energizer is better than tube ?


thanx for your kind answer...

 

[eeyssjr]

In my opinion, the STAX Classic System is far superior to HD600 with, lets say, a £400 amp. Although the latter is a great combo (is you match the amp well) the STAX has a more faithful sound. You will realise what your records really sound like - it will be more of a revelation when you first listen to them. The hd600 has a sound "closer" to that you will be used to from a dynamic loudspeaker - beacuse the principle is the same.

However, the bass grunt on the STAX is less than the hd600 - thats just because they are that much more faithful and fast. In actual fact, the stax has the more truthful sound, its just that most people are brought up listeing to dynamc speakers, and hence get used to their bloated bass and other distorted qualities. If you can re-educate the way you listen to bass, eventually the stax will become your all round favourite.

It's just that you may want more grunt initially. I would go for the stax. in fact a Omega 2 system is going to be mine very soon. (i've tried the Classic and its great too)

 

[JohnActon]

I will definitely second Eeyssjr in saying that electrostatics (STAX) and dynamics (Sennheisers) differ in their transference of bass energy to the ear canal. Dynamics seem to punch it right at your eardrums, and in doing so, provide more slam than electrostatics, where the bass seem to wash over the ears in a huge wave.

This may be partially due to the larger diaphragms of the electrostats as compared to the smaller drivers in dynamic cans, but whatever the reason, the difference takes some getting used to.

I would also second his advice to check out the 3030 over the 2020, based on others' opinions.

Of course, if like Eeyssjr, you can eventually save up for the Omega II, that seems to be where the upgrade train stops - they're supposed to be nothing short of amazing.

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by eeyssjr In actual fact, the stax has the more truthful sound, its just that most people are brought up listeing to dynamc speakers, and hence get used to their bloated bass and other distorted qualities. If you can re-educate the way you listen to bass, eventually the stax will become your all round favourite.

Back in the days, I sold Martin-Logan speakers and a whole bunch of other products from several other speaker manufacturers too (Linn, Vandersteen, etc.). Though the Martin-Logan CLS's were beautiful-sounding, they were too bass shy for me (as well as for most of the customers we had coming into the store). It seems to me that today, and even then, in recognition of that, Martin-Logan (and some others) decided to combine electrostatic panels with dynamic drivers, the purpose of the dynamic drivers to provide the low-frequency reproduction.

I've listened quite extensively to other electrostatic loudspeakers, and, yes, they have a magic about them, there's no questioning that. But low-bass reproduction isn't one of them, and still remains the domain of dynamic transducers. Essentially, what I'm saying here is I don't think it accurate to state that dynamic drivers produce inherently bloated bass. For if you want deep bass with electrostats (speakers, not headphones), I have a feeling there'll be dynamic drivers involved. In listening to most of the hybrids, I've found a bit of the disconnect in the crossover from the dynamic drivers to the electrostatic panels, the sense that there are two entirely different forces at work -- I haven't heard Martin-Logan's Prodigy yet, which I've read does a nicer job than models past at producing a more seamless integration.

In buying headphones -- price no object -- I'd likely choose what you're picking: Stax Omega 2's (and I haven't even heard those yet, but would feel it a safe bet based on my experience with their lesser phones). But in buying a speaker system -- price no object -- I'd probably go the dynamic route. What electrostatic speakers have been unable to do so far with electrostatic panels alone -- produce prodigious and accurate amounts of low-mid-bass to deep-deep-bass -- electrostatic headphones are able to accomplish with only one driver. The demands are quite different.

 

[eeyssjr]

Jude, of course comparing loudspeakers and headphones is a dangerous thing. What you say is true of course, you rarely get much bass energy from a 100% electrostatic speaker - this is not their forte.

I think, whien buying a price no object louspeaker i too would go a with a dynamic type - accepting that the bass, although more powerful, will never ultimately be as faithful a an equivalently priced electrostatic. They are at the end of the day nearly always more faithful to the source. Those dynamic cones just have too much mass to lug around.

But do not be fooled into thinking electrostats don't produce low bass - they do, very much so - just not at the spls needed to fill a room with a satisfying punch. Quads go right right down, quite near 20Hz i believe, which is often no worse than a dynamic type.

With headphones, spls tend to go out the window - its not that hard to fill the minute "room" or air volume around your ear with punchy bass - both electrostats ANd dynamics can do that quite easily when the demands for bass are reduced by using headphones.

Martin Logans, not hybrid types, and quads, do, ultimately produce the better quality bass - if following the source signal is the objective.

If you could have an electrostatic panel say 10 times the size of a quad panel, i think you would find most of bass shortcomings you witnessed in electrostatics over dynamics would vanish. The speaker would be able to produce those high bass spls. But the speaker wouldn't be domesticated. (as demostarted by quads founder when he coupled many quads together in a large soncert hall - the result was easy reprocuction of orchestra spls accross the range)

So ultimately, what i am saying is, what you saw in electrostatics is not a function of the electrostatic principle itself, but a limtation of marketing and the customers domestic requirements. Whereas, a dynamic speaker can only be pushed so far - you cant get rid of the voice coil, spider, magnet etc, and at its limit, a electrostatic has much more headroom for performance over it. Where electrostats fail is their directivity - loudspeakers at the end of the day are more of a compromise than headphones, once the listener has accepted that headphones cannot produce a soundstage without binaural recs.

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by eeyssjr If you could have an electrostatic panel say 10 times the size of a quad panel, i think you would find most of bass shortcomings you witnessed in electrostatics over dynamics would vanish.

Talk about price-no-object!

Yes, I understand what you're saying about the fact that the singe-panel electrostats are producing true bass somewhere in there. But the roll-off is just too severe with most (actually, with all I've heard -- Quads and M-L's). But I'm sure what it is producing is quite accurate, only at way low amplitude.

I have a pair of Paradigm Mini Monitors. Very inexpensive. Quite small physically. I'm almost positive that, accepting - 30 dB tolerance, they're reproducing some seriously low bass. But somehow, I'm just not able to appreciate that!

P.S. Congrats in advance on the Omega 2's. You must give us a review when you get them!

 

[miziq]

thanx for kind reply

jes thinking about it , i also consider grado rs-1 and ra-1 but if i count the price its actully more than stax classic and i wonder if ill get what i want....

the problem is that i'm not able to listen to any of them, cos in my country there is no distributor for those marks....

and i got some suggestion that stax classic or the big energizer, is better and more truthfull than 4040 or 7t.

is that a fact cos mybe , mbybe ill stercth for 4040 but i dont think so...

and what are nice cd player - audiphile for up to max 500$ , hehe i know u gonna say nothing like

and yes stax omega is dream but uffffffff its way of my budget,,
mybe in years to come and im not sure im ready to spend that much money on phones...

its like i had 300b single ended amp, el34, tube preams, turntable..etc..

but now i just want nice audhiophile headphons and nice cd to listen to some nice music in peace......

no loud thinggggggggggg, some nice acustic music , natural instruments and voice and some nice ambiental music...

so i think stax gonna be ok....

thanx again for your treads...

yours

miziq

please kindly reply..

 

[eeyssjr]

Stax is Beautiful with Acoustic music. You will fall in love.