[kiertijai]

Here is the some of the impression that has been written by Omonemo, he agreed Stax SR-009 is an excellent
headphones and may be the best headphone now.
This is my comment too after comparing SR009, SR Omega, SR O2mkI, SR O2mkII
 
Thanks Omonemo for your always excellent review,
I think the SR009 is an excellent headphone but an excellent headphone is not the perfect phone for all. The reason that I mentioned this because it is also depends on several factors for the user to consider not only the price but also their setup, their listening behaviour, the genre of music, the song that you like and the mood while you are playing.
I have tried to compare the SR009, SR Omega, O2mkI, O2mkII and sometimes with the HE90. All the stax's used the modified 727t which is almost equal to Woo system. I use the Stealth indra for interconnect and stage III concept Chimaera for digital cable. SR 009 is a smooth souunding headphone with mellow mid and a little bid forwarding, the treble
are extended high but for some listener it may seem overbright although that does not affect me 
 
During the past 6 week I have been trying to compare the staxes which include SR Omega, SR 009, SR O2 mkI, SR O2 mkII
and Stax 507 (Stax 4070 will be coming). I will share my feeling with the other like R10 bass heavy and bass light, qualia and Grado later as a listener not a critical analyser when my new Balancing Act.arrive next week. I still prefer SR Omega than the SR009, while the SR009 is better than the O2 mkI and clearly over O2 mkII. The overall tone of SR009 is brighter than the other 3 : SR 009, SR Omega, O2mkII, O2mkI in that order. The treble are highly extended and of good quality for SR009 and SR Omega but for some music the SR009 may be overbright for some people but the SR Omega will have less effect. The O2mkI will have no problem as well as the O2mkII. Those who love a little bit forwarding mid will prefer the SR009 , it will make the music more fun and mellow sounding while the SR Omega is a little bit more laid back.
The forwarding nature mid of the SR009 will be clearly shown comparing to the O2mkI and also for the O2mkII. So I think for the mid range, those who love the sound nature of O2mkI or LCD2 will not like the Sr009 that much. I think I also prefer the SR Omega here. The soundstage is wider with SR omega > SR009 > O2mkI and O2mkII. The details of both four are excellent. I prefer the bass of SR009 because it is dynamic with adequate impact while the O2mkI has more impact and quantity, the bass of the SR Omega is also deep as SR009 . However in comparing to the HE90 the HE90 will have the deepest bass with details in the bass while the other 4 Stax's cannot match. The mid and high oif the HE90 is one of the highest quality that goes along with the R10 and Qualia.
In summary, SR009 is an excellent headphone, but the price may be the limiting factor and minor problems about the channel imbalance and noises are of some concern but it seems that Stax have solved that. For those who love the sound of O2mkI or LCD2 you may not need to change if you have limited fund . However if you want the best , SR009 have yet to beat the HE90, R10, Qualia although not a big margin to be declared the new King. Another generation of SR009 may be able to do that. Please also try the phones with your setup which one you like the most 
 

I also think that SR 009 is a very good phone but its little forwarding nature and more clarity and detail which is good will be too fatiguing for someone to listen for a long time. So think before you spend more. Thai politics will still be unstable although it may not effect Thai economy much because we have been living in those situations for the past 5 years. Greece economy has collapsed and will drag France, Spain , Portuland, Ireland and Italy down a lot too. Q3 economy of US is not getting better and need more money to inject into the system but may not help much. Some friends in the bank and economic sector informed that US dollars may weaken to 28+ baht again while the price of the commodity will be high and the inflation may go up again.  

 
 

 

[jaycalgary]

I wonder if the 009 ever even had a chance to be top dog on here as far as the reviews on here goes. From even before the 009 came out and when anticipation was building the threads were tuning into how good the HE90 is.

 

[OmoNemo]

 

 
 
Thank you kiertijai for referring my impression on SR-009 from Thai Audiophile Forum, IMO setting up audio preferences has many factors and many ways goes to make it sounds right for one purpose and one purpose only, our very own musically pleasure. For my daily basis using computer as source serves my need quite well for its convenience which I could enjoy the sounds of music during working hours including for relaxing afterward, so I prefers warm and mellow characterized system, after awhile on computer's audio journey I found myself ended up with iMac+Weiss DAC202+WooAUdio WES and STAX O2 MkI. O2 MkI is one of the best cans I ever have and still love it for some genres along with an O2 Mk2.5(the newest version of the series) also working just fine for me, but after I had audition kiertijai's HE-90 no doubts why many claimed the cans the best headphone ever made, wish I have one but its only just a dream to me.
 
As soon as I knew that STAX will release their new Flagship I place my order with the local distributor hopes these new Cans would come close to the great HE-90 sonically, after long while of waiting time I finally got it, lucky me my SR-009 working just fine no channel imbalance or any problems whatsoever.
 
With my own audio preferences after spending more than 100 hours with the cans I came out with my impression SR-009 is one of the most neutral cans I ever auditions. What impressed me the most during my session was the sound of the Drums, SR-009 represent the sound of the drums as I heard in lives performances, fast, fills with impact also the low freq resonant so you could feel the vibrations, all these impressed me everytime the drums sprung up on each tracks played.
 
At first I worried that the cans might be overbright from its character mentioned on the past impressions but never found it's sterile with my old school Woo's WES, IMHO SR-009 synergies to tube driver unit over solid-state many of my friends who has audition SR-009 agreed with me on this, STAX's Driver unit itself as SRM-007t II drove the cans pretty good as well, the powerful tube driver as BHSE would drive it to the full potentials(not sure with this pairing SR-009 would be overbright or not) I presumed.
 
 

 
 
Heres my conclusion, WIth its high price before place an order  audition is highly needed,  recommends local meet or STAX's distributor for audition.
 
I thought I got what Jude would felt during his audition on SR-009+Woo WES, I agreed with him in many aspects, to me SR-009 are neutral, transparent, fun to listen cans, when pairs with Woo's amp the sound out of SR-009 is just right in almost every kind of genres of music, many cans as HE-90 including SR-007(O2) would do a better job in many genre over SR-009 as well but during my listening session SR-009 is not only draw me closer to music, it made me "feels" the music more than I ever had with others, so.. IMHO SR-009 is the best (still in production) statics cans ever made.
 
Thank you for reading this far.
 
 

 

[El_Doug]

considering how bad the HE90 is, especially for the price, the 009 will have AMPLE opportunity to be "top dog"  
 
Quote:

I wonder if the 009 ever even had a chance to be top dog on here as far as the reviews on here goes. From even before the 009 came out and when anticipation was building the threads were tuning into how good the HE90 is.

 

 

[purk]

OmoNemo,
 
What a great read as well as great photographs!  

 

[kiertijai]

 I agreed with him in many aspects, to me SR-009 are neutral, transparent, fun to listen cans, when pairs with Woo's amp the sound out of SR-009 is just right in almost every kind of genres of music, many cans as HE-90 including SR-007(O2) would do a better job in many genre over SR-009 as well but during my listening session SR-009 is not only draw me closer to music, it made me "feels" the music more than I ever had with others, so.. IMHO SR-009 is the best (still in production) statics cans ever made. 
 
Thanks for your excellent review , Omonemo
I hope that when more SR009 arrives in US   we can here different views
and we can choose what is best for ourself including the set up and the other things

 

[livewire]

Quote:

OmoNemo,
 
What a great read as well as great photographs!  

 
Nice review!
 

 

[Dr No]

Quote:

considering how bad the HE90 is, especially for the price, the 009 will have AMPLE opportunity to be "top dog"  
 


 

+1
Although I have not heard the 009, the HE 90 has some serious problems. It has a wonderful midrange and overall tone, but the treble is its weakest point with a lot of sibilance. The bass is also weak compared to the 007.

 
 

 

[purk]

Quote:

+1
Although I have not heard the 009, the HE 90 has some serious problems. It has a wonderful midrange and overall tone, but the treble is its weakest point with a lot of sibilance. The bass is also weak compared to the 007.

 
 

 
I didn't find the HE90 to have any sibilance maybe b/c I'm using a tube output CD player.  What setup did you hear the HE90 out of?  Also, 90% of the highend cans out there will have weaker bass than the SR007.  Having a beautiful tone and better clarity are more important to my ears.   To each his own, of course.   

 

[googleli]

A Stax T1 is up for sale locally (in Hong Kong) - is it worth getting and replacing my SRM727ii?

 

[n3rdling]

It's basically the same thing

 

[livewire]

Quote:

A Stax T1 is up for sale locally (in Hong Kong) - is it worth getting and replacing my SRM727ii?

 Absolutely not. Just google and compare the specs. T1=old and underpowered.

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

A Stax T1 is up for sale locally (in Hong Kong) - is it worth getting and replacing my SRM727ii?

No, that would be a significant step down. You already have the best amp that Stax makes, just have someone with a basic understanding of electronics and soldering perform the Spritzer mod, and you're set. Or buy a WES.
 

 

[n3rdling]

Err what the hell was I thinking.  I thought you said 007t, sorry.  I'd definitely keep the 727 over getting the T1 unless you're only listening to Lambdas.

 

[AudioCats]

any news on the channel-imbalance issue? Has it been taken care of?