If I find a good deal on a used set of DCA Voce, I'll give them a try. I'm not convinced Dan has a handle on estats yet. But then again, I've never really sampled any of his product, so it may be external influences guiding my decision there...
I think I'm fairly unbiased. The Jade II headphones sound decent, not a lot of bass but resolve fairly well. You won't explode your phones plugging them into the matching amp, but I have to say the amp is pretty under-powered and sound is just "ok". It's sad because the Jade amp is gorgeous-looking. The Jade headphones sound better on a better electrostat amp, and there's not enough power depending on which other brand electrostats you decide to try to make it worth using the Jade amp on anything else. Still if it's your first Electrostrat experience you could find it worth your while. I usually recommend people try the Koss 950 series as a first shot or buy used Lambda's and a transformer box to see if they can get the magic that comes from electrostats.
I think I'm fairly unbiased. The Jade II headphones sound decent, not a lot of bass but resolve fairly well. You won't explode your phones plugging them into the matching amp, but I have to say the amp is pretty under-powered and sound is just "ok". It's sad because the Jade amp is gorgeous-looking. The Jade headphones sound better on a better electrostat amp, and there's not enough power depending on which other brand electrostats you decide to try to make it worth using the Jade amp on anything else. Still if it's your first Electrostrat experience you could find it worth your while. I usually recommend people try the Koss 950 series as a first shot or buy used Lambda's and a transformer box to see if they can get the magic that comes from electrostats.
Well the amp on HIFIMAN's website seems to be about ~$800 to $1000. For that money you could get into a good used Stax amp or halfway to a state of the art KGSShv or one of it's variants. You could also look up a Woo Firefly- they have a variant just for electrostats. The Jade amp isn't horrible, it's just not as good as I had hoped it would be. I tried to run my SR-007's off of them and it was pretty pitiful (these are the hardest estat phones to drive). The phones themselves are a good bit better, though.
Well the amp on HIFIMAN's website seems to be about ~$800 to $1000. For that money you could get into a good used Stax amp or halfway to a state of the art KGSShv or one of it's variants. You could also look up a Woo Firefly- they have a variant just for electrostats. The Jade amp isn't horrible, it's just not as good as I had hoped it would be. I tried to run my SR-007's off of them and it was pretty pitiful (these are the hardest estat phones to drive). The phones themselves are a good bit better, though.
Actually, I bought that KGSSHV mini this week! Since you have the 353X I would order either the Jade phones, or order the whole set from HIFIMAN's store. They give you 30 days to audition and you can return if you don't like it. I would look for good deals on STAX Lambdas, too.
Actually, I bought that KGSSHV mini this week! Since you have the 353X I would order either the Jade phones, or order the whole set from HIFIMAN's store. They give you 30 days to audition and you can return if you don't like it. I would look for good deals on STAX Lambdas, too.
I go back and forth with Estats and STAX. That's why I'm back buying a KGSSHV again. I had gotten down to just 2 estats, the original SR-Lambda and L300 Limited. I've been running them off of SRD-7 transformer box. I saw the ES-1a and they look so much like the original Omega's I decided I had to try them out, but I don't think a transformer box will really work for those. I love the look of the X9000 too, but opinions are pretty mixed about how good they are and I will need to catch one used to try it (I dropped equivalent money on my Susvara which is really excellent, but awfully similar to my HE1000SE's, so I'm debating.) There's another good Estat to look out for, the Nectar Hive. It's homemade out of a guy's garage, but they are gorgeous and sound great for less than $700.
I go back and forth with Estats and STAX. That's why I'm back buying a KGSSHV again. I had gotten down to just 2 estats, the original SR-Lambda and L300 Limited. I've been running them off of SRD-7 transformer box. I saw the ES-1a and they look so much like the original Omega's I decided I had to try them out, but I don't think a transformer box will really work for those. I love the look of the X9000 too, but opinions are pretty mixed about how good they are and I will need to catch one used to try it (I dropped equivalent money on my Susvara which is really excellent, but awfully similar to my HE1000SE's, so I'm debating.) There's another good Estat to look out for, the Nectar Hive. It's homemade out of a guy's garage, but they are gorgeous and sound great for less than $700.
The reason I am struggling is that I find it hard to believe that all of these magical amplifiers make "that much" of a difference.
I'm not disputing that they may deliver a hair more power with a hair lower noise floor, but it's too much of a coincidence that they seem to coincide with pricing.
It has been the same issue with traditional headphones with me.
I have owned the Dave. I have owned the Holo stack. I have owned the dCS stack. I have owned high-end Woo, too.
At the end of the day? I sold them all because I no longer believe it makes a positive difference. My Topping stack performs just as well.
I'm having the same dilemma with electrostatic amplifiers because it seems to be the same issue all over again.
The reason I am struggling is that I find it hard to believe that all of these magical amplifiers make "that much" of a difference.
I'm not disputing that they may deliver a hair more power with a hair lower noise floor, but it's too much of a coincidence that they seem to coincide with pricing.
It has been the same issue with traditional headphones with me.
I have owned the Dave. I have owned the Holo stack. I have owned the dCS stack. I have owned high-end Woo, too.
At the end of the day? I sold them all because I no longer believe it makes a positive difference. My Topping stack performs just as well.
I'm having the same dilemma with electrostatic amplifiers because it seems to be the same issue all over again.
Personally, estats are the one type of headphone where amps made an immediately noticeable difference. I can't tell a difference between a Qudelix, Topping stack, or FiiO, but I could immediately tell a difference between the Stax SRM-D10 and a CCS-modded SRM-006t. And the difference is actually measurable; I posted measurements in the Shangri-La Jr thread (page 32 or 33 I recall) where the SRM-D10 showed a 3.5 dB drop in bass and a larger dip in a section of upper treble on the Jr.
Electrostatics are just very difficult to drive, as they're primarily capacitive loads. And (partially as a result) their impedance swings across the audible range are massive, far larger than any non-electrostatic headphone that I've seen. Bob Katz did measurements of the 007 with the KGSSHV Carbon and that one only went up to an acoustic level of ~110 dB SPL before clipping. Compare that to a Topping being able to drive a normal headphone to 130 dB or more, and electrostatics just have less amp headroom to work with, even on the most powerful designs.
The reason I am struggling is that I find it hard to believe that all of these magical amplifiers make "that much" of a difference.
I'm not disputing that they may deliver a hair more power with a hair lower noise floor, but it's too much of a coincidence that they seem to coincide with pricing.
It has been the same issue with traditional headphones with me.
I have owned the Dave. I have owned the Holo stack. I have owned the dCS stack. I have owned high-end Woo, too.
At the end of the day? I sold them all because I no longer believe it makes a positive difference. My Topping stack performs just as well.
I'm having the same dilemma with electrostatic amplifiers because it seems to be the same issue all over again.
There's so much "magic" bs in this hobby it's ridiculous! I've been up and down the food chain as well. Generally, I'm a "just the measurements" kind of guy. But, while I do believe there is substantial similarity in sound with solid state amps and dacs, I do have to agree there is more reason to expect amplifier difference in estats for the reasons @SolarCetacean gave above.
Estats are so much different than other headphone technology, so I can buy into needing a good voltage swing and power to really control the phones. You have a decent STAX amp already. That was one of two ways I was going to turn. Either get a good STAX amp that last decades, or get a diy-amp where the majority of the cost goes into the parts, and they are built by people with a passion for electrostats.
Did you see this? Jade 2 amp $350 in Classifieds. At that price it might be worth checking out. You could A/B it with your STAX 353x. At that price you could always resell if it didn't do it for you.
Did you see this? Jade 2 amp $350 in Classifieds. At that price it might be worth checking out. You could A/B it with your STAX 353x. At that price you could always resell if it didn't do it for you.
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