True. But I like getting as close to what's on the recording as possible. Pop never sounded bad to me on 'stats. (Then again, I have no unrealistic expectations of poorly-mastered pop sounding as good as an orchestral performance. I also love raw extreme metal on 'stats. hehe)
He mentioned that he wants to buy new so he's able to return them.
They drive them just fine. All of my comments about STAX are based on driving them with STAX's entry-level amps. I know people who actually prefer entry-level electrostatic amps over ones that cost thousands, at least for driving Lambdas.
Planar magnetics have very linear bass that generally measures as a straight line. When I said on the dark side of neutral, I meant the upper frequencies are less prominent than neutral.
There aren't many US dealers, and the ones that exist are often out of stock, so yeah, that could be an issue. But here's one trustworthy dealer:
https://www.headamp.com/product-category/headphones/electrostatic-headphones
https://www.headamp.com/product-category/amplifiers/electrostatic-amplifiers
As for Canadian dealers, you could look into that.
Music preferences don't tell me how you want the music to sound. Are you after accuracy or do you, for example, want something more forgiving? As I've stated, I don't think STAX is lacking in any area as far as accuracy goes. But if you want something more forgiving that covers up more flaws in recordings, the LCD-2F could be more down your alley. (The LCD-X is better, but you can't buy it new within your budget.) I really think Audeze is a horrible value compared to STAX, though. They're heavy as heck too.
You can learn about driving headphones here:
http://apexhifi.com/specs.html