[visualguy]

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It may be too forward or too bright and a little bit on a warm side.   the sould stage is better as you mentioned , detailed and accurate but do we need that for
 

How can it be both too bright and too warm? Sounds like an oxymoron to me. I get the impression that you're looking hard for problems that aren't there...
 
 

 

[OmoNemo]

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Well, like I said my WES is not the best amp out there, but I don't think it's any muddier with O2 than my old maxed GES.  I do admit the mid-bass is sometimes a little bloated or prominent with O2 Mk1, and it doesn't have the sheer speed of the BHSE with the O2.  It's a better match with the HE-60, and at RMAF 2010 with my PS Audio PWD as source Iron_Dreamer told me that was the best he's heard the HE-60 sound.  I personally wish the bass was a little stronger for my HE-60, although it's more than enough with the O2.  My WES imparts a rich, warm and full sound, with a nice delicacy, detail and transparency to the treble.    If the SR-009 is indeed brighter than the SR-007, then my WES might actually be a good match for it.
 
Maybe there is something different about my pre-production WES?  Steve Guttenberg loved it too, if that means anything.  I believe that mine was the demo amp Woo sent him to review for Stereophile.  Some of the issue could be tubes - I really want to find my box of winged-C EL34 that I got from Deepak so I can try them out and see how they do.  I have NOS Tung Sol 5U4G rectifiers (I need another one for my WA6) and NOS RCA 6SL7 tubes, but I'm not so sure about these Shugang 50 year Treasure 6CA7 tubes that I have read a couple of complaints about.
 
 
 

 
 
I have had auditions the Woo GES maxxed with good NOS tubes along with some statics amps such as Rudistor Coriolan and Egmont Classic while ago before placed order on WES, I have to agreed with HeadphoneAddict that WES is not the bad amp, quite good actually comparing to many amps both Statics and Dynamics with many good cans, many thanks to my friends for an opportunities, hopefully one day I would compare the amp with the great BHSE.
 
The good things about tube amp is you can do some tubes rolling for "your" best sonically matching, sonically satisfaction and to fix the weakness likes the bass bloated on some O2s(MkII in particular). I'm quite like the sounds of it with Mullards ECC35 and telefunken EL34. For my system WES has more than enough power to drives an O2s with great dynamic for Rocks Jazz and Classical overtures and never found these amp sounds slow nor muddy, even use it with Chinese Shuguang Treasure 6CA7 Tubes its still sounds good, with its rich full and mellow sound character so I think WES would synergy with my upcoming SR-009, will give you an impression as soon as I gets it.
 
WES is not the best amp as HeadphoneAddict mentioned I agreed but IMO I love this amp, so does many of my friends here in Thailand on our meeting.

 

[visualguy]

 
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Damn damn damn damn damn, looks like I'm stuck with the measly O2's then, feels so mid-fi now =(, I guess I'll find out in a couple of months when I head to Japan.
Oh well, the O2's are still an absolute ripper of a headphone I suppose......
 

The SR-007 are great; just not as good as the SR-009. You're missing the much more impressive soundstage of the SR-009, and some extra clarity and detail resolution. Definitely worth the upgrade in my opinion, particularly if you listen to acoustic music, vocals, not to mention orchestral music where the SR-009 are particularly strong when compared to the SR-007.
 

 

[kiertijai]

How can it be both too bright and too warm? Sounds like an oxymoron to me. I get the impression that you're looking hard for problems that aren't there...
 
Yes anybody can be an oxymoron from what you said. however we have treble, midrange and bass and I dont' think the overbright treble will interfere much with the midrange quality or at least by much.  You have to use your ear not your response curve  Nobody here is a chill and we dont find fault for the almost perfect headphone. Somebody may call this offensive or a more polite way as slip of tongue which you should always be careful not to do that but most of us are professional and we don't mind such careless and inconsiderate comment.
  I don't know how much experience do you have listening all kind of music,  I am not too but if you have listened to some chinese music because their singing with very high treble and sweet voice that can be over bright treble for some people. However when you change the music to another kind, in my opinion I felt a warmer more lush smoooth and fuller midrange with very good soundstare than the SR Omega or HE90 but not to the level o2MKi  . that is when I call warmer (relativel .  Please do understand this because we don't listen to the same kind of musi all the time and in one song you may find different presentation too..   At first I also thought O2mkI dark midrange , bass is not too good but I changed my mind completely when I listened to Thomas Sanderling Symphyony 6.  Their bass is very good, big quantity  impact,dynamic  with  huge soundstaage and much more detail . the Prat is also first class.  The bass extension may not be   as much as some other suggested, but as I told you before when I listen music, I listen for the joy of music itself, not to analyze the   music,    O2 mkI  had  that kind of lush midrange soundstage, bass is more enough for me with the O2 mkI    , the accuracy and imaging is first class too.  Your experience will lead you there but try to understand more (behind the line messages) of the comments  I am more confident that one day your will get  there because at least you have a critial mind and not afraid to ask or comments in this way of expression.  I still didn't talk about the SR009 now but I would like to emphasize that the O2mkI is also so good with this genre of music

 

[El_Doug]

Warm does not necessarily imply dark.  Sure, warm sounding amps/sources are typically dark, since their warmth is a result of rolled-off highs.  Transducers' warmth, however, is not necessarily due to rolloff, and an accentuated midrange combined with piercing peaks at key high frequencies is a not-uncommon combination
 
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How can it be both too bright and too warm? Sounds like an oxymoron to me.

 

 

[Currawong]

I had just gotten around to comparing the LCD-2s, volume-matched, and the damn left driver flaked out. Before that, going to the 009s, Norah Jones seemed so much more clear and separate from the instruments whereas not so much with my LCD-2 rig. Now they have gone back to Tokyo I'll have to wait until they can be replaced before I can figure out how much of that is the result of the different frequency response. I still feel, regardless, their ability with acoustic music is unholy good.

While I agree with arnaud too, I think keirtijai is right about music selection. My system is "tuned" bright for the LCD-2s, which can be a bit much with the 009s.

 

[kiertijai]

Dear Currawong,
   already heard the bad news on the channel imbalance in your pair , turning up the volume makes more distortion
   Is it any use that we spend time discussing how good the SR009 is when the basic defect on QC hasn't been solved and
it may become a much bigger problem later.  Also the way they correct the channel imbalance may change the SQ.  I think we need
to go slow on the auditioning of the SR009 and much more discussion  for what has gone wrong with the 009,  What should we do , in my case
my pair is still OK but who knows what will happen next .the number before and after me already have the problems   It is like a dejavu on ultrasone ED10  when
they first came out everybody got excited and after a while  it died down almost completely and the price plummeted all the way down.  Should I return my pair , or have
my pair replaced or leave it that way until the problem comes along.  The warranty is only one year which is very short.

 

[Arnaldo]

There's absolutely no comparison whatsoever between the technical issues with Stax and Ultrasone headphones. With the Ed 10, it was simply a limited manufacturing glitch of the earpads resulting in a few defective sets, sold mostly in the US. And while there are certainly a few deals (I got a decent one myself), the Ed 10's MSRP is still the same. With the SR-009, it's a design flaw, in other words, it's back to the drawing board, which in turn, may (or not) require a change in the sound signature to be truly corrected.
 
Quote:

Dear Currawong,
   already heard the bad news on the channel imbalance in your pair , turning up the volume makes more distortion
   Is it any use that we spend time discussing how good the SR009 is when the basic defect on QC hasn't been solved and it may become a much bigger problem later.  Also the way they correct the channel imbalance may change the SQ. [...] It is like a dejavu on ultrasone ED10  when they first came out everybody got excited and after a while  it died down almost completely and the price plummeted all the way down [...]

 

 

[arnaud]

 
Quote:

There's absolutely no comparison whatsoever between the technical issues with Stax and Ultrasone headphones. With the Ed 10, it was simply a limited manufacturing glitch of the earpads resulting in a few defective sets, sold mostly in the US. And while there are certainly a few deals (I got a decent one myself), the Ed 10's MSRP is still the same. With the SR-009, it's a design flaw, in other words, it's back to the drawing board, which in turn, may (or not) require a change in the sound signature to be truly corrected.

Arnaldo, isn't a bit pretentious to state clearly that Stax is facing a "design flaw and going back to the drawing board"? Have you actually talked to Stax and got this info from them? Do you really expect one could actually go back to the drawing board while at the same time assume to be able to resume shipping within 60 days? From their official message, they have some Q/A issue and have been working on additional test involving shaking table. All the rest is speculation, it would be better to state your position as such unless you have some factual news to report here...
 
What I agree with you about is that there is indeed about nothing in common between the 009 and Ed 10, apart from the year and location of launch... The Edition 10, faulty pad or correct one are being rejected by the vast majority because they basically sound off, even to some Ultrasone hardcore fans ears. 
 

 

[Currawong]

Considering that the ED10, with its 2% of distortion measures worse than headphones at 1/10th the price, I'd say that they are fatally flawed.  Then compare Ultrasone's to Stax, which have sold the O2 for a decade with nothing besting their abilities until now, I'd say you need to find a new argument. 

 

[Arnaldo]

I've owned Staxes in the past, but gave up on them because of continuous mechanical problems, even after sending them multiple times for service repairs. Either way, what goes around comes around...

 
 
Quote (from another thread):

I feel sorry for the people who shelled out money for these.

 
Quote:

[...] Then compare Ultrasone's to Stax, which have sold the O2 for a decade with nothing besting their abilities until now, I'd say you need to find a new argument. 

 

 

[Arnaldo]

Unfortunately, and I really mean that, it's not really "a bit pretentious" to state that the problem with the SR-009 is obviously a design flaw. One just has to read through the Stax SR-009 Channel Imbalance Trouble / Driver Problem? thread to ascertain its veracity. But you're right in that my language could have been more carefully chosen in terms of legalese or simply to be more respectful to current owners.
 
OTOH hand, "isn't a bit pretentious" to state that the Ed 10" are being rejected by the vast majority"? Are there poll numbers to validate this assumption or is it simply based on the opinions of a very vocal group here? Either way, back to the SR-009...
 
Quote:

Arnaldo, isn't a bit pretentious to state clearly that Stax is facing a "design flaw and going back to the drawing board"? Have you actually talked to Stax and got this info from them? Do you really expect one could actually go back to the drawing board while at the same time assume to be able to resume shipping within 60 days? From their official message, they have some Q/A issue and have been working on additional test involving shaking table. All the rest is speculation, it would be better to state your position as such unless you have some factual news to report here...
 
What I agree with you about is that there is indeed about nothing in common between the 009 and Ed 10, apart from the year and location of launch... The Edition 10, faulty pad or correct one are being rejected by the vast majority because they basically sound off, even to some Ultrasone hardcore fans ears. 
 

 
 

 

[arnaud]

Actually, you are using Edstrelow's wording so to be exact, you should have said "Stax is currently revising the design and solving the problem". It's not quite the same meaning.
 
As for the respect to current owners, do not worry about me at least, this is not preventing me from enjoying my 009 as we speak .
 
Finally, in re. to Ed 10, well, there is indeed a very very vocal minority, but they're not the ones preaching against it...
 
Quote:

Unfortunately, and I really mean that, it's not really "a bit pretentious" to state that the problem with the SR-009 is obviously a design flaw. One just has to read through the Stax SR-009 Channel Imbalance Trouble / Driver Problem? thread to ascertain its veracity. But you right in that my language could have been more carefully chosen in terms of legalese or simply to be more respectful to current owners.
 
OTOH hand, isn't it a "bit pretentious" to state that the Ed 10 "are being rejected by the vast majority"? Are there poll numbers to validate this assumption or is it simply based on the opinions of a very vocal group here? Either way, back to the SR-009...
 

 
 

 

 

[n3rdling]

The Ed10 is a clear failure.  There are pairs on the used forums at very reduced prices that are just sitting there, the distortion numbers speak for themselves, and a guy who gives out pretty much only positive reviews bashed it in his review.

 

[Amarphael]

Quote:

Warm does not necessarily imply dark.  Sure, warm sounding amps/sources are typically dark, since their warmth is a result of rolled-off highs.  Transducers' warmth, however, is not necessarily due to rolloff, and an accentuated midrange combined with piercing peaks at key high frequencies is a not-uncommon combination
 

Yeah, e.g Grado RS-1 and HD650.