[Carl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lloyd297 Why not just replace the inferior components with better ones?

Building something from the ground up exactly how you want it is more fun, basically.

 

[Tachikoma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by D555 The SRD7 Pro does not use electolytic types -- it has ERO MKP film types throughout. Paul

So... is it safe to assume that my SRD-7SB mk2 also uses the same ERO MKP film types? Will they degrade over a timespan of say, 10-20 years?

 

[seacard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by derekbmn Have you been leaving them plugged in ? Try leaving them plugged in with the amp on for a few day's. I think you may be pretty suprised at the change's that will take place.

I left them plugged in and turned on for 4 days straight. I'm going to try them with the ES-1 and see how much change that makes.

 

[JayGee]

Seacard,
I've listened to the 4040 and I've had the 3030 at home for an extended loan so I'm very familiar with the sound of both units. I agree with your description of the basic sound completely. I tried all kinds of tweaking and leaving the stuff on all the time and there are small changes that will happen with this experimentation but the basic sound of these 'phones will remain.

Everyone hears in a different way. I think some people lack hearing sensitivity to the upper octaves. I don't, and it sounds like you do not either.
My friend who owns the 3030 system uses it with a Naim CDX2 CD player, and I can't listen to this combo for more than a few minutes without getting a headache, but he likes it because of the detail. The CDX2 sounds very strange to me even through speakers although I generally like Naim stuff.

I read the glowing reviews of the Stax and I wanted very much to like them. Reviewers describe them in glowing terms, but to me they lack any sense of being organic...ie sounding like real instruments and voices. The listening experience to me was hyped and unnatural.

I think your ears need something better and more natural than the Stax headphones. I'm using Sen 650s which to me have the best overall balance of resolution and listenability. BTW the Stax detail is more to the fore because of the balance but I did not find them to resolve much more info than the Senn 650, even with a solid state amp.

Trust your ears here........

Jaygee

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seacard As you guys may have seen, I reviewed in another thread (see "Conclusions...") my favorite dynamic headphones after going through them over the last year. I was really excited about moving on to electrostats, especially given that I listen mainly to classical music and jazz. I decided to start middle of line - Stax 4040a. Having spent about a week with them, I'm a little disappointed. They're certainly detailed, but I think much of the detail is attributed to their thinness, not their inherent ability to be detailed. In fact, I don't find them particularly more detailed than HD650s or K701s, and less detailed than the Qualia or the SA5000. I'm not sure if I just don't like these headphones, don't like electrostats, or if the amp is the problem. But right now, they sound thin, underpowered, bright, etc. Male vocals sound sharp, losing much of the resonance and timbre that they carried with my favorite dynamic setups. Brass music is a little high-pitched as well. It's not sibilant, but it's not as enjoyable. So far, there are about 7 or 8 dynamic headphones that I like better than these. I will keep giving them a chance for another 2 weeks, but unless there is some significant improvement these are going back. I guess I should have listened to Tyll when he told me that dynamics are the better way to go. If anybody has some good advice for me, I would really appreciate it.

The Koss ESP/950 has a better sonic balance to it than the Stax 404. Funny, but the Stax cans even from way back in the early 80's have had the same frequency response anomalies. I find it unforgivable in a can that is supposed to be of that caliber.

The ESP/950 has a very pleasing & neutral sound but so far I have not been able to get it to have anywhere near the midrange depth of soundstage, space between instruments, holographic imaging that the AKG-K701s have. A better amp may do that for the 950s, but I haven't tried that yet.

Bottom line, the even though the ESP/950 in theory has better top end and therefore better resolution for air, micro-dynamics, etc, the 701 dynamic through the right amp is still a more resolving can to listen to. I can hear the better top end in the 950, but that doesn't end up translating into a more realistic listening experience.
I still think the 950 amp (E/90) needs work.

 

[Leporello]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seacard Having spent about a week with them, I'm a little disappointed. They're certainly detailed, but I think much of the detail is attributed to their thinness, not their inherent ability to be detailed.

It is possible that they are not your cup of tea at all. But my suggestion is: give them more time than just a week. My 3030 system certainly has its faults: it may sound "etched" and upper-midrangey at times, OTOH most of the time it is a neutral and effortless performer. Funny thing, I used to think they sound thin, but not anymore. Perhaps it is the burn-in phenomenon or my ears/brain getting used to their sound signature. Sometimes I find the bass almost too warm to be entirely believable.

Having previously owned the HD600s, I had the habit of listening to the Stax way too loud (to get the bass slam!). Just do not make the same mistake. The Stax sound may be a bit of an acquired taste, but so far - to my ears - the pros have outweighed the cons. Of all the phones I have owned, the Stax are perhaps the most addictive.


Regards,

L.

 

[Lloyd297]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwkarth The Koss ESP/950 has a better sonic balance to it than the Stax 404. Funny, but the Stax cans even from way back in the early 80's have had the same frequency response anomalies. I find it unforgivable in a can that is supposed to be of that caliber.

But people keep on denying it! When I wrote the same thing months back people questioned my judgement.....

 

[TheSloth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lloyd297 But people keep on denying it! When I wrote the same thing months back people questioned my judgement.....

And mine. It's really not fashionable here to criticise the lambda frequency response. But the persistence of that very particular upper midrange to me seems to be by design.

 

[earjam]

after receiving my 404s and a great deal of tweaking i found that this peak in the treble in the 2-4k band was responsible for almost all of the bad things people say about this headphone. I use foobar 2000 and back the treble down with its built in equalizer in the 2-4k zone and this seems to restore most of the sonic goodness these phones are capable of. The 313 amp that came with these phones while capable of very loud volume has a grittiness in the upper treble that is obvious when it is replaced with a better amp.
the mcalister amp i am currently using has none of the etchiness in the treble even though it is more resolving of treble detail. it has better more powerful bass too. The mcalister is not capable of as loud of volume as the 313 though as it will distort if driven too hard.
It is amazing to me that most of the differences between headphone is based on the variation in frequency response and yet no one is willing to tune their headphones to their best performance level with the application of a little equalization.

 

[amartignano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwkarth The Koss ESP/950 has a better sonic balance to it than the Stax 404. Funny, but the Stax cans even from way back in the early 80's have had the same frequency response anomalies. I find it unforgivable in a can that is supposed to be of that caliber. The ESP/950 has a very pleasing & neutral sound but so far I have not been able to get it to have anywhere near the midrange depth of soundstage, space between instruments, holographic imaging that the AKG-K701s have. A better amp may do that for the 950s, but I haven't tried that yet. Bottom line, the even though the ESP/950 in theory has better top end and therefore better resolution for air, micro-dynamics, etc, the 701 dynamic through the right amp is still a more resolving can to listen to. I can hear the better top end in the 950, but that doesn't end up translating into a more realistic listening experience. I still think the 950 amp (E/90) needs work.

My experience is similar with another not-Stax electrostat, my Sennheiser HE60/HEV70 system.
I think that (at least on my setup) the Senns sound better than my previous Stax system (I had the Lambda Nova Signature with SRM-3 amp, more or less the today SRS3030 system). Not so thin as the Stax, and more dynamic, more slam and body, more "realistic", retaining the beautiful quickness and detail typical of electrostatic headphones.
Precisely, I really enjoied my Stax system because of many things (detail, balance), but I preferred a lot the HE60, which have also better soundstage imho (but I know that SRM-3 was not really the best amp for the Lambda).

 

[TheSloth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by earjam after receiving my 404s and a great deal of tweaking i found that this peak in the treble in the 2-4k band was responsible for almost all of the bad things people say about this headphone

That's correct. Though, by ear, I found peaks in the 1k region that hit specific notes in the normal range of the flute for example, making particular notes suddenly blast out of proportion in the most irritating way. Without that, it's clearly and excellent headphone.

 

[amartignano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwkarth The Koss ESP/950 has a better sonic balance to it than the Stax 404. ...

A question for you, kwkarth: how the Koss ESP/950 does the bass? Has it more body than Stax 404, or similar body to a good dynamic headphone? Is it deep?

I ask this because it seems to me that the ESP/950 is one of the most underrated and most interesting headphone around.

Thanx!

Andrew

 

[Carl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amartignano A question for you, kwkarth: how the Koss ESP/950 does the bass? Has it more body than Stax 404, or similar body to a good dynamic headphone? Is it deep? I ask this because it seems to me that the ESP/950 is one of the most underrated and most interesting headphone around. Thanx! Andrew

I bet that if they didn't look so cheap and plasticy Koss would sell a whole bunch more of them.

 

[amartignano]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl I bet that if they didn't look so cheap and plasticy Koss would sell a whole bunch more of them.

Ok, but there's no more plasticky/cheapy looking headphones than Stax 202/303/404...

but they sell a lot...

I think that Koss needs to convince itself that it belongs to the top cans, and so make some commercial trick/visibility to improve their "prestige" among today's headfiers.

 

[Snake]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSloth And mine. It's really not fashionable here to criticise the lambda frequency response. But the persistence of that very particular upper midrange to me seems to be by design.

It depends upon your entire system synergy. The Stax Lambda series was designed, and became a "benchmark", during the analog era. The record / turntable combination has a different overall spectral balance than almost all CD player systems - that being much more reserved in the midrange.

If your system emphasizes the midrange, or conversely does not de-emphasize midrange in the same manner that a pure analog system did back in the hayday of the turntable your system will appear...unbalanced.

Stax are not for everyone, nor are they for every system. I warn people who wish to go into the electrostatic realm these issues. The Lambda series was popular during a time when warmth - the reduction of high frequency response - was much more common than the emphasis of same. In a pure analog system Lambdas absolutely shine. If your system has a more..."digital" nature, with that flat (as compared to analog) high frequency response curve, it is all too easy for an electrostat system to go way too "hot". This is not just a failure of Stax, for the Sennheiser HE90 at the meet [seemed] to show the same predilection.

System synergy is much more important with Stax than simply getting "flat" response. The system must work as a whole to create musicality through the final reproduction component of the chain - the Stax earspeakers - and not simply put together as a combination of (what appears to be) extremely high quality components with no attention to how they work as a whole.