[Agnostic]

I'm currently really enjoying the Lambdas. I had them hooked up to my vintage Rotel previously which didn't make them sound that good, insufficient bass and too much treble.

I though lets experiment a bit so I hooked them up to my T-amp. They sound much more balanced, still a little bit bright but the bass is great, mids could be a little better especially vocals lack some smoothness. The soundstage, speed and transparency are of course incredible.

Bearing this in mind, could you give me any advice for an amp, or another Stax model to address the points of criticism I mentioned?

 

[Agnostic]

Hey, where is everybody? Are you guys smugling an illegal shipment of Stax earpads across the border or something?

 

[PiccoloNamek]

I've heard two different pairs of real Lambdas, in addition to my pseudo-Lambdas, and I am always surprised when people describe them as "a little bright". If anything, I think they have a rather mellow tonality. A little brighter than an HD650 perhaps, but off of the same stalk overall.

I tend to think of them as being rather bassy, too, but perhaps that's just me.

 

[Agnostic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiccoloNamek /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've heard two different pairs of real Lambdas, in addition to my pseudo-Lambdas, and I am always surprised when people describe them as "a little bright". If anything, I think they have a rather mellow tonality. A little brighter than an HD650 perhaps, but off of the same stalk overall. I tend to think of them as being rather bassy, too, but perhaps that's just me.

I think their sound depends quite a bit on the amp they are connected to. On my Rotel they definitely sound too bright for my taste and lacking somewhat in bass. With the t-amp the bass is quite powerful and I have no complaints in that department, but highs can still be a bit aggressive to my ears and as I said vocals could sound a little smoother, a complaint which I think I have read before regarding the Lambda.

 

[MaloS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agnostic /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think their sound depends quite a bit on the amp they are connected to. On my Rotel they definitely sound too bright for my taste and lacking somewhat in bass. With the t-amp the bass is quite powerful and I have no complaints in that department, but highs can still be a bit aggressive to my ears and as I said vocals could sound a little smoother, a complaint which I think I have read before regarding the Lambda.

I have no experience with non-pro Lambdas, but pro versions (5-pin connector) have all sounded bright to a varying degree - with the later versions being more then just a bit aggressive. May be if you find a warmer tubed amplifier for the job, you may improve your results (especially in the midrange).

 

[d-cee]

The SR-Lambda to me is quite bassy and a bit fuller sounding relative to the SR-Lambda Pro.

Perhaps tubes may be in your future?

 

[Agnostic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by d-cee /img/forum/go_quote.gif The SR-Lambda to me is quite bassy and a bit fuller sounding relative to the SR-Lambda Pro. Perhaps tubes may be in your future?

Thanks, I'll stay away from the Lambda Pro then.

I'm running the signal through my tube pre-amp/headphone amp before it goes through the T-amp and it does sound better like that than directly from the Lyrix USB DAC to the t-amp.
I guess a dedicated Stax tube amp is gonna be quite expensive?

 

[Faust2D]

Use a good class A MOSFET or JFET amp, like Pass Aleph. I tried tube amps and some were really nice with SR-Lambda / SRD-7 especially class A triode/ pentode amps with KT66 or EL34 or even 6C33C tubes.

 

[derekbmn]

Pure class A solidstate designs from Pass is the way to go IMO. Best with a nice tube or hybrid preamp with loads of voltage/gain ahead of it.

This would probably be pretty hard to beat for the price http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f42/fs...-k1000-327095/

 

[Agnostic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by derekbmn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Pure class A solidstate designs from Pass is the way to go IMO. Best with a nice tube or hybrid preamp with loads of voltage/gain ahead of it. This would probably be pretty hard to beat for the price http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f42/fs...-k1000-327095/

Thanks! Can't afford to spend something like that right now. Trip to Japan next week and I want to buy some DSLR camera gear there.

I will keep an eye out for what you and Faust2D suggested though.