[John Buchanan]

Quote:

Humm, but just to check, you're 100% sure about your sources? A quick google returned this (http://www.audiocircuit.com/DIY/Electrostatic-Speakers/Material:Electrostatic-Speaker-Kits/Stax):
 
<<But by the mid Eighties Stax was heavily into digital electronics, releasing its Quattro CD player in [size=9pt]1986[/size]. The Quattro uses a Sanyo Fisher drive system and Stax designed electronics in the digital to analogue conversion process. The 18-bit CD player was followed by the DACs which also use multi (20) bit technology. Takeshi doesn't rate bitstream as highly as some: "We have measured the new Philips one bit chip and we can see that noise levels are greater than with multi bit systems," he said showing me graphs to prove his point.>>
 
There's a bit of difference between taking a DVD drive from a standard player (pretty much a necessity for most makers) and coupling it to your own DAC / analog stage / power supply and the so-called rebadging practice.

Thanks for clearing that up Arnaud.
 

 

[TheAttorney]

 
Quote:

The brightness on the SR-009 is POSITIVE.  It is a brightness of clarity without fatigue.   At this point I cannot even listen to my SR-007.    

Interesting post rsbrsvp. Does the above excerpt mean that you also prefer the SR-009 on poor, over bright, recordings?
 
Some earlier posters said this was the point at which they preferred the SR007.
 
 

 

[rsbrsvp]

On every recording I have heard in the last week- the SR-009 far exceeds sonically the sr-007 to my ears and my kids ears.
 
We cannot listen to the SR-007 any more- an amazing reality considering how much we loved it.  It sounds- muffled in comparison.
 
I am the number one hater of treble peak and brightness out there.  I hate edge, and treble peak.   These phones are clean- NO PAIN- the most beautiful- open, honest sound I ever heard on an electrostat.
 
By  the way, the bass is fantastic- very very impactful.  The detail and soundstage are vastly superior to the SR-007.  The sound is extremely refined.
 
This headphone got everything right without the sacrifices.   The SR-007 is holding back so much in comparison-- These words from one of the biggest and most dedicated fans of the SR-007.
 
 
I was very skeptical before I bought these because I believe people on Head Fi often go with hype and don't listen and think for themselves.
 
I am now convinced.  This is IT, and I am convinced that senior Head-Fiers who listen on their BHSE will agree once they get their hands on this headphone.
 
 
 
 

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

Ed, you've described exactly why I sold my SR-007 Mk1. It seemingly did everything better than the more coloured Sigma/404. Except vocals. Except piano. Except it forgot to rock. I found the Sigma/404 was connected and the 007 sat hidden away. I think the day I heard live piano in a reverberant wooden hall was the day I put the 007s up for sale. The Sigma/404s nailed that sound - the 007s didn't. Naotake Hayashi was a great visionary.   

If the Sigmas weren't so big and fuggly they might have caught on better with audiophiles. However they do have the side advantage over most phones of being cool and not pressing on the ears. 

I don't get the sense that a lot of people on this site attend many live (unamplified) music concerts.  Without that experience as an anchor I think you can go seriously astray in judging high fidelity.  I want phones that make a concert hall recording sound like a concert hall. Minimalist recordings, like some of the Telarcs are a pretty good to check out the accuracy of your set-up.   Many studio recordings are so artificial that you could never know what they were really supposed to sound like, so you don't know if your set-up whether phones or speakers are doing a good job of acting as "straight wire with gain."
 
  By that standard, my 007A is somewhat bright.  I would determine whether or not the 009 is too bright by hearing what it does with minimalist material whether, it seems to give a good aproximation of live sound or whether it seems hyped-up.   The Sigmas are all somewhat recessed in treble, the Sigma/404 having the least of this problem.  However they are very listenable on just about all material.
 
 
 
 

 

[Elysian]

Quote:

On every recording I have heard in the last week- the SR-009 far exceeds sonically the sr-007 to my ears and my kids ears.
 
We cannot listen to the SR-007 any more- an amazing reality considering how much we loved it.  It sounds- muffled in comparison.
 
I am the number one hater of treble peak and brightness out there.  I hate edge, and treble peak.   These phones are clean- NO PAIN- the most beautiful- open, honest sound I ever heard on an electrostat.

Are you doing any EQing, or are you running your SR009s without any significant output manipulation?
 
How would you compare the detail on the SR009 vs. the Lambdas?

 

[livewire]

Quote:

On every recording I have heard in the last week- the SR-009 far exceeds sonically the sr-007 to my ears and my kids ears.
 
We cannot listen to the SR-007 any more- an amazing reality considering how much we loved it.  It sounds- muffled in comparison.
 
I am the number one hater of treble peak and brightness out there.  I hate edge, and treble peak.   These phones are clean- NO PAIN- the most beautiful- open, honest sound I ever heard on an electrostat.
 
By  the way, the bass is fantastic- very very impactful.  The detail and soundstage are vastly superior to the SR-007.  The sound is extremely refined.
 
This headphone got everything right without the sacrifices.   The SR-007 is holding back so much in comparison-- These words from one of the biggest and most dedicated fans of the SR-007.
 
 
I was very skeptical before I bought these because I believe people on Head Fi often go with hype and don't listen and think for themselves.
 
I am now convinced.  This is IT, and I am convinced that senior Head-Fiers who listen on their BHSE will agree once they get their hands on this headphone.
 
 
 
 

WANT!
 

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

On every recording I have heard in the last week- the SR-009 far exceeds sonically the sr-007 to my ears and my kids ears.
 
We cannot listen to the SR-007 any more- an amazing reality considering how much we loved it.  It sounds- muffled in comparison.
 
I am the number one hater of treble peak and brightness out there.  I hate edge, and treble peak.   These phones are clean- NO PAIN- the most beautiful- open, honest sound I ever heard on an electrostat.
 
By  the way, the bass is fantastic- very very impactful.  The detail and soundstage are vastly superior to the SR-007.  The sound is extremely refined.
 
This headphone got everything right without the sacrifices.   The SR-007 is holding back so much in comparison-- These words from one of the biggest and most dedicated fans of the SR-007.
 
 
I was very skeptical before I bought these because I believe people on Head Fi often go with hype and don't listen and think for themselves.
 
I am now convinced.  This is IT, and I am convinced that senior Head-Fiers who listen on their BHSE will agree once they get their hands on this headphone.
 
 
 
 

STOP IT!!!!!   D'=
 
I'm going to pretend I never saw that.

 

[sonance]

I tried doing some searches and reading several pages of this thread - so I apologize if this has been answered recently, but for a newcomer, what are the options for buying an 009 in the U.S.? In the past it's been much cheaper to get Stax gear via PJ, but do U.S. dealers have stock or are they getting stock? Any service issues to be worried about, or is a purchase from PJ safe enough?

 

[n3rdling]

I think Woo Audio sells them

 

[rsbrsvp]

Quote:

Are you doing any EQing, or are you running your SR009s without any significant output manipulation?
 
How would you compare the detail on the SR009 vs. the Lambdas?

MAC Computer using I tunes and Pure Music Software in Bit Perfect (no equalizer used) to Ridge Street Audio USB Alethias to Legato USB to SPDIF Converter to Reimyo DAP-999 DAC to Ridge Street Audio IC's to BHSE to SR-009.   The Lambda question is interesting because some of the Lambdas have incredible detail- but the Lambdas were always missing the Refinement of the SR-007.   The SR-009 detail to my ears is better than the best I heard- because there is a depth and layering of the information going on.  On the surface level, it is equal with the best I ever heard. but unlike the Lambdas, the detail is layered and therefore much more refined.  Also, the SR-009 has much better bass impact, and much much bigger width of stage than the Lambdas.   The key here is the incredible refinement.    I do think Jude hit it on the nail to a large degree when he said this phone is about detail-  but if I may add the word REFINED before the detail- it would I believe give a more accurate picture.

 

[silverlight]

Received the SR-009's this weekend and have been listening to them this evening, they sound fantastic and are a BIG upgrade from the SR-007 mk1's IMO.  The 007's are excellent of course, but I find in my setup the 009's to be better in every way.  I don't have the BHSE yet still waiting for that, so can only comment with the WES.  The 009's don't have the modest darkness of the 007's, have greater precision, clarity, imaging, soundstage and as mentioned above it's a non-fatiguing increase in detail/resolution.  They also sound more balanced top to bottom than the 007's.  Much greater sense of "being there" / suspension of disbelief with the 009's.  Driving them with MacMini to either the Amarra Model 4 DAC or Playback Designs MPS-5 and the WES is the maxxed version with NOS Mullards.  It's been mentioned that the power requirements of the 009 may be less than the 007, so that could be a contributor but the gap is WIDE on this system.  The other headphones I have here comparing to the 009's are the HE-90's, and while I significantly preferred them over the 007 Mk 1 (in this setup, could be different with the BHSE as folks have mentioned before), I have to say I am preferring the balance of the 009's (although the HE90's are really unique and they're a lot of fun to listen to with their soundstage/headstage, emphasis and detail in the upper mids through HF range, and "air" sound which gives the perception of greater space).  Will post further with more comments, but wanted to post a few sentences.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Received the SR-009's this weekend and have been listening to them this evening, they sound fantastic and are a BIG upgrade from the SR-007 mk1's IMO.  The 007's are excellent of course, but I find in my setup the 009's to be better in every way.  I don't have the BHSE yet still waiting for that, so can only comment with the WES.  The 009's don't have the modest darkness of the 007's, have greater precision, clarity, imaging, soundstage and as mentioned above it's a non-fatiguing increase in detail/resolution.  They also sound more balanced top to bottom than the 007's.  Much greater sense of "being there" / suspension of disbelief with the 009's.  Driving them with MacMini to either the Amarra Model 4 DAC or Playback Designs MPS-5 and the WES is the maxxed version with NOS Mullards.  It's been mentioned that the power requirements of the 009 may be less than the 007, so that could be a contributor but the gap is WIDE on this system.  The other headphones I have here comparing to the 009's are the HE-90's, and while I significantly preferred them over the 007 Mk 1 (in this setup, could be different with the BHSE as folks have mentioned before), I have to say I am preferring the balance of the 009's (although the HE90's are really unique and they're a lot of fun to listen to with their soundstage/headstage, emphasis and detail in the upper mids through HF range, and "air" sound which gives the perception of greater space).  Will post further with more comments, but wanted to post a few sentences.

 
This is where it will be tricky comparing them to the 007s, as the 009s have a strong peak at 4k that gives the "forward" and "bright" impression. Being an unusual place for a peak in the FR, I found it somewhat confusing to work out exactly what was going on initially.
 
 

 

[n3rdling]

Which headphone are you talking about, the HE90, SR009, or SR007?

 

[kiertijai]

This is where it will be tricky comparing them to the 007s, as they have a strong peak at 4k that gives the "forward" and "bright" impression. Being an unusual place for a peak in the FR, I found it somewhat confusing to work out exactly what was going on initially.
    Dear Milos,  I also would like to know which one silverlight was talking about the SR009, HE90 or SR007.
    I have had SR009 for more than a month and I listened to the SR009 almost everyday for 2-3 weeks trying to compare with
the SR Omega, SR007 mkI, SR007 mkII   all these staxes driven by modded Stax 727A and HE90 (driven by SRM300 and energizer).
I found that the SR009 is more forwarding and brighter ( more than the SR Omega and HE90) comparing to the SR007.   However after
that I rarely listened to the SR009 I don't know why , may be it  too fatiguing for such clarity , transparency and the same sweet smooth sound.
I now prefer listening via the SR Omega and HE90 which is more moving ,more  laid back and not too bright for me.  
 
    
 

 

[Currawong]

I edited my post. I was talking about the 009s in case it wasn't obvious. I assumed silverlight was also.