[Nomad]

I was wondering if there is any review of this new Stax 007t mk2 (or Stax 007tII, or Stax 007tA depending on country or way to call it).

I've been searching in Head-fi, Google and some other places without success. There are a few comercial places with a bit of (marketing) information but not a single user review or test against the previous 007t.

I know it is more or less the same circuit with slight changes (most of them in order to fight the gray market and new european laws) so the sound should be similar but Stax is claiming an extended range suited for SACD which hopefully means that the 007II will at least cover the extremes the way the 717 does while keeping that rich midrange? I'm just guessing here...

Anyway... anybody knows something about it? Cheers!

 

[Carl]

I've not heard much discussion on the matter either, even amoung the Japanese community, but I'd assume that if there was a meaningful improvement in sound quality there'd have been much more discussion about it. That said, if voltage issues weren't a concern I'd recommend going for the newer units.

Don't expect either the older version, or the new 007tA to out solid state the 717. Personally, if I was given an either/or choice between the two amps, I'd go for the 717.

 

[futuro107]

No any improvement. You could contact STAX Japan.

 

[Nomad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl I've not heard much discussion on the matter either, even amoung the Japanese community, but I'd assume that if there was a meaningful improvement in sound quality there'd have been much more discussion about it. That said, if voltage issues weren't a concern I'd recommend going for the newer units. Don't expect either the older version, or the new 007tA to out solid state the 717. Personally, if I was given an either/or choice between the two amps, I'd go for the 717.

Thanks Carl. As usual one can count on your support in all-thing-Stax. Cheers.

I'm considering a good companion for the SR-Omegas. I'm having a SRM-T1 at the moment but I want more. I must say the SRM-T1 has a very good synergy with them, while the HEV90 was being a bit thin sounding sometimes (although much better on soundstage, airyness and detail, specially with voices). The SRM-T1 has a kind of mid-bass hump that makes the sound of the Omegas fuller. Still I want more detail and better sound, keeping that fuller sound.

That's why I was leaning more for tubes. For Omega2 I would be really happy with SS but it was a bit on the lean side for cans like Omegas, HE60 or 404. For me the smaller the better and although people seems to dislike the 007t with the Omega2 (compared with some other amps) I must say the SR-Omegas are much easier to drive so the 007t2 should be a good amp for these headphones.

My other options are the T2 (hard to find, darth nut saying that it is not that much better than the 007t, having a less warm signature) or one of the new custom amps that are usually a bit on the bulky side and a bit of hassle if they have to go back for tuning due the horrible British customs.

I think I'm toying with the idea of a "mini" setup now. Resolution Audio Opus 21 (with GSNC reference mods) -> Kimber Select KS1130 -> Stax 007II? -> SR-Omega. With some nice power conditioning perhaps.

The amp is the part that is giving me more headaches. If the Stax 007TII is good enough that would be perfect as it would be really convenient for me, but I'm not willing to do much compromises. If it is not really up to the task I'll forget about it.

Another concern I have is that the 007tII (and even the 007t) probably are tuned for the Omega2. The Omega2 doens't need bass, while the SR-Omega could use some. And the SR-Omega has an already quit rich midrange compared with the O2, so perhaps the OO7tII won't be that good.

 

[Nomad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by futuro107 No any improvement. You could contact STAX Japan.

Oh! I wonder if I should get an old 007t instead if that's the case.

Thanks!

 

[Luco]

Come on! How can you resist the Singlepower ES-1? It's said to augment the Omegas big time.

 

[Nomad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luco Come on! How can you resist the Singlepower ES-1? It's said to augment the Omegas big time.

I might end getting it. The SR-Omegas are easier to drive than the O2 and if a smallish one-box solution is still very good then that would be perfect. I have kind of space limitations.

Besides I had hard time dealing with British customs with custom amplifiers from USA in the past. If you later on want to send it back for tuning you are likely to need to pay around 20-33% of the value of it again on the way back if you are not careful. And it is not cheap. And even being careful it is a pain of paperwork. Perhaps I was unlucky but I had similar experiences purchasing gear too. That makes me think twice the order of a custom amp.

I might end doing it after all, though. The ES-1 is really tempting as the T2 is. I must say that although they are reports of Omegas2 improving a lot with the ES-1 over the 007t, the SR-Omegas seem to be far easier to drive (I'm quite happy even with a SRM-T1 and I use to be quite picky) so perhaps the improvement is not that huge. I still expect improvement, though.

Consider the SR-Omega like an HE60 on steroids, but kind of similar sound signature, and the 007t has a very good synergy with it. That's why I was thinking that perhaps a 007t (or 007tII) could be quite good for the SR-Omegas, being even a better fit that for the Omega2s. I guess I won't know until I try...

 

[jaybar]

Hi. I heard the ES-1 at the NYC summer meet this past sunday. It was great.

However, while the O2's sounded the best I have heard, they still retained a good measure of their sonic signature. The ES-1 helped to ameliorate some of the sonic faults of the O2's, but did not eliminate them. The increase in performance, over the 717 amp, while easily audable, was not large enough, in my opinion to warrant the significant price increase of the ES-1 over the 717.

I think that at some point, one hits a brick wall that is inherent in the headphone's design that no amp, I have heard to date can completely correct.

While the ES-1 was a great achievement, it could not fit into my rack. Mikail said that a one box version was possible, but that it would be even deeper and might then still not fit into my rack.

While the ratio of price increase to performance increase is selsom equal in high-end audio (law of diminishing returns), I felt that the ES-1 did not equit itself that favorably over thew 717 to justify a four fold price differenece, particularly if headphone listening is secondary to listening though speakers.

In my opinion, it is an amp for either someone where cost is no object OR who primarily listens to the Omega 2's as their way of reproducing music..

For me who only listen through headphones, less than 10% of the time I listen through my speakers, I will stick with my 717 amp. The importer has recently lowered the price of the 717 (USA) and at its current price, it is quite a good performer.

Jay

 

[Nomad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaybar Hi. I heard the ES-1 at the NYC summer meet this past sunday. It was great. However, while the O2's sounded the best I have heard, they still retained a good measure of their sonic signature. The ES-1 helped to ameliorate some of the sonic faults of the O2's, but did not eliminate them. The increase in performance, over the 717 amp, while easily audable, was not large enough, in my opinion to warrant the significant price increase of the ES-1 over the 717. I think that at some point, one hits a brick wall that is inherent in the headphone's design that no amp, I have heard to date can completely correct. While the ES-1 was a great achievement, it could not fit into my rack. Mikail said that a one box version was possible, but that it would be even deeper and might then still not fit into my rack. While the ratio of price increase to performance increase is selsom equal in high-end audio (law of diminishing returns), I felt that the ES-1 did not equit itself that favorably over thew 717 to justify a four fold price differenece, particularly if headphone listening is secondary to listening though speakers. In my opinion, it is an amp for either someone where cost is no object OR who primarily listens to the Omega 2's as their way of reproducing music.. For me who only listen through headphones, less than 10% of the time I listen through my speakers, I will stick with my 717 amp. The importer has recently lowered the price of the 717 (USA) and at its current price, it is quite a good performer. Jay

Thank you so much for this, Jay. Your feedback is very helpful. Not in order to reafirm my idea of trying the 007tII first (I'm happy to explore another options if it is not suitable), but in order to get direct comparations between the 007t and other amps. Considering that the SR-Omegas have a sound signature similar to the HE60 or 404 (although they are quite better IMHO), comparations between amps with those cans would be even better. The O2 is a different beast harder to drive.

Now if only knew about the new 007tII... I wonder if the lack of reviews is due to the fact that they doesn't seem to be for sale in that many places. It seems like only a few units have been delivered on the first shipments to dealers.

Cheers!

 

[GoRedwings19]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad Thank you so much for this, Jay. Your feedback is very helpful. Not in order to reafirm my idea of trying the 007tII first (I'm happy to explore another options if it is not suitable), but in order to get direct comparations between the 007t and other amps. Considering that the SR-Omegas have a sound signature similar to the HE60 or 404 (although they are quite better IMHO), comparations between amps with those cans would be even better. The O2 is a different beast harder to drive. Now if only knew about the new 007tII... I wonder if the lack of reviews is due to the fact that they doesn't seem to be for sale in that many places. It seems like only a few units have been delivered on the first shipments to dealers. Cheers!

I don;t remember reading any posts on someone here actually owning the 007t2 and actually commentating on its performance.

Maybe one of the reasons is most stax omega 2 owners have tried it with the original 007t and were a)satisfied with the sound they got. b)didn't like it.

Seeming as either sceanrios could be the case they may not be willing to shell out again on the expectation it is more or less the same but with new circuit implentations to circumnavigate the grey market 007t.

 

[jaybar]

It may also be that there si a gap between the units announcement and its availability.

For example the USA distributor is not expecting shipment of a supply of 006tII (or whatever the new one is called) until about the end of July. I would expect the same would be or the new version od the 007t.

Until the units are widely available to allow someone who has an older version to coordinate a comparison with someone who has a newer version, such as at a Meet, we are not likely to hear much.

Moreover, I am not sure there is enough of a change to get much coverage from those parts of the hi-end hifi press that cover headphone developments. Even if there was (assuming they have a unit), we might not see a review for some time.

Jay

 

[J-Pak]

Jay have you ever tried the Omega II out of a regular KGSS? I know 2 members (that either don't post on Headfi, or post very little) that are very happy with this combination. They've told me the combination retains the dark characteristic of the O2, but not as much as the 717.

I've contacted Justin at Headamp.com about having a KGSS built (since there were rumors here that he wasn't building them anymore) and he said the wait time is around 3 weeks, and it is a single box/fairly conventional case size.

 

[jaybar]

J-Pak

Your suggestion is a great one, but it raises several issues that I wonder if you or anyone else have ideas about.

According to Kevin Gilmore, the sonic signatures are very sumilar.

In the 3 meets that I have attended, where I listened to the O2's (I don't have my own pair) nobody had a KGSS.

I am not sure that Headamp is still making the KGSS.

I would like to try one before I plunked down $$$ and I would like to try it for an extended period.

The problem with Justin is he only gives a 2 week trial, assuming he made one and I am not sure the amp would be broken in by then.

I have found the 717/404 to take a LOT longer than originally thought to break in.

The other thing I need is a loop out. One of the attractive things about the SRM 717 si that it has a loop out. I am assuming I could get Justin to include a loop out.

If Justin is no longer building them, I wonder who is and I wonder how much of an audition I could get?

Alternatively I could get a used KGSS and I assume I would more or less break even after selling the 717, but how could I get an audition of a used amp?

Also, I wonder how the KGSS would sound with my 404's, since I may not be able to afford the O2's till the end of the year?

Jay

 

[Carl]

Remember that the 007t is a hybrid design, not a pure tube based one. If you want something tubey to counteract a perception of thinness, then there are always Rudistor and McAlister amps.

With Rudi being in Europe, it might be an idea to pop down to Italy during your next holiday and try them out, if that is possible.

 

[tkam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nomad I think I'm toying with the idea of a "mini" setup now. Resolution Audio Opus 21 (with GSNC reference mods) -> Kimber Select KS1130 -> Stax 007II? -> SR-Omega. With some nice power conditioning perhaps.

I just recieved my Opus 21 back from GNSC with the reference mods last week. It's a truly fantastic source and you really can't go wrong with it.