[Jon L]

As good as Stax flagships are, we have at least 3 very strong newcomers: Phenomenon, Perun and MrSpeakers Voce to join the company of Stax 007, 009 and SR-Omega or HE-90 and HE-1.

Let's not forget the ES Labs ES-1a stat

ES1a stat by drjlo2, on Flickr

 

[ahmedie]

I finally received mine !! Burn them for 1 hours, my 30 minutes impression they are really good. I use them with phenomenon amplifier. They sound like a super L700/lambda, dreadful close or same as high-end 007/009 performance. If you like how lambda sounds and never liked how omega portrait sound-stage, this headphone is good to try. I agree with zolkis they are a little dry in inner texture, but only when compared to 007/009, they still 2 steps above L700/ or any lambda model regarding smoothness. You hear music from microphone position, rather than the room. Compared to my L300LE, they have wider sound-stage, better detail in all ranges, also much more better bass details/depth/quantity/quality. Lambda bass problem is non-exist in this headphone. The funny thing they still retain that up-mid forwardness of lambda, but are really much more controlled and I am not bothered with, but enough revealing for bad recording. Vocal isolation is astonishing, it reminded me my kef LS50, they are not metallic sounding at all and not as forward but still distinguishable and very center locked. Last weekend I went to local shop, I always go there, and I heard maze empyrean, focal clear, hifiman jade, I also have tried LCD 4, and other high-end multi-thousand headphones/iems. These sound much better than all of them. Bass is very close to planer more than other electrostatic and extend so deep almost bottomless. Only zmf offering sound really good and come close to stax, they also sound more natural, but loses little detail so there is a trade off, I think. Since they have those huge wood cups, they got that wood sound, like slowed down mid and echo bass just a little natrurish. ha. So yes they are worth the price tag, the highlight is good vocals, superb bass, wide-sound stage, intimate image, HD600ish, they are pretty neutral. Shortcoming would be not most dynamic, treble not as smooth as 007/009, little drier(this could be good depending on genre), tune wise treble is not their best strength ye, very good mid tune and bass is superb. Another problem should be fit, since the headband width is fixed so if you have very small head should have problem fitting these, or ask them to make them narrower. They are also huge and look kinda lame lol.

My impression is biased toward new toy syndrome, so I will keep updating after some time.

 

[bidn]

Happy 2020 Year!

Hi,

Last Saturday I received the Perun, wirth the color and patterns on the pictures above.
I have been working on a review, but I don't know when I will be able to finish and post it in the section for reviews.
In the meantime you may like my incomplete draft,
see below.

All the best,
bidn


As far as I know, it is not possible to audition the Perun at a dealer in Western Europe. So I had to rely entirely upon the impressions posted in the Perun thread at Head-Fi, so I want to thank those Head-Fiers who shared here their experience with the Perun, and Artur for making these headphones.


Ordering and payment process

I ordered the Perun around Christmas, by sending an email through the Perun internet site. I was given the opportunity to choose a color at no cost. I had asked for natural wood color, pure-transparent or honey-wax, and I got both. The headphones are actually even much more beautiful in reality than on the pics.

I am not experienced with Paypal seller and customer fees and it was not so clear to me which amount I had to transfer, but in the end the actual total price came to something around € 1300. Shipment was forecast for early February and reception the 2nd half of Feb., it was sent on Feb 5 and took only 10 days to arrive from Russia to my home in the Netherlands.

In conclusion, it was a nice experience, with reliable, fulfilled time and customization promises.



In the following I will often make comparisons, i.a., with the Hifiman Arya which I own and is a third version of the HE-1000 (= HE-1000 v3), with cheaper materials and much lower price then the HE-1000 v1 and v2.


Comfort and build


These headphones are huge yet superl-ight and maybe the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn. While the very comfortable Arya and earlier HE-1000 are super comfortable, the Perun is even much more so and I even feel it much less on my head. I actually almost don't feel it at all, no pressure nor weight, but only a little warmth.

However I don't see any lateral adjustment, so it might not fit on everyone head? (when I was 20 I used to be 1,76 m long). It is possible that people with a large head would feel some lateral pressure, or that people with a small head would loose some of its sub-bass intensity.

On the other hand, it relies mainly on suspension, so this may not be too much an issue.

The big plus is that these are very solidly built, I can't see any weak point or design fault.

Also I love the use of noble, traditional materials: wood, metal (headband), real leather (= durable unlike those stuff in "protein" fake leather which wear off and have to be replaced...) for the earpads and the suspension strap.

One con is that these large leather earpads can feel warmer than those of e.g. the Arya (the side touching the skin being made of soft, fragile fabric).

Re. the negative points Spritzer made on another forum re. Hifiman's electrostatic cables, none of this seem to apply to the Perun, it just looks like a Stax cable. The cable is not detachable but this is usual for electrostatic headphones, the only exceptions I aware of being the DCA Voce and the newest versions of the Stax Lambda series like the L700.



Driveability


I am driving the Perun with a Stax SRM-727II. There may be energisers with a higher SQ (Sound Quality), but at least for that one Stax declares an optimal THD of 0,01%, while for most Stax compatible (I mean the "boutique" ones) energisers SQ measurements are apparently not even available. My DAC is a RME ADI-2 Pro, when I set the DAC XLR output between -30dB and -20dB, I set the volume of the 727II at 9:00 (25%), when listening to loud music like metal. This is already loud for me, but more than that is too loud for me, as I am a low volume listener. If I try to set the XLR output of my DAC at -1 dB, then I have to turn the volume of the 727II down to 0, which is not useable.


The test tracks I use for my personal subjective impressions:
(a slash between two genres meaning a hybrid of these two genres)

(to be completed)


Subjective personal sound comparisons with other electrostatic headphones: 007, 009, 009S, Voce, Shangri-La Jr


Before purchasing the SRM-727II, I tested it extensively with some popular electrostatic headphones at my dealer. I wrote down afterwards my impressions. Also, this was recent enough for me to be able to draw some comparisons when the differences are quite clear. (I auditioned once the L700 with the 727II, but this was one or two years ago).
The DAC used for these other headphones is the Chord Dave, and I had a similar setting for the volume of the 727II.
I will not speak of features, such as soundstage or speed, where all these headphones seem to excel, but rather only of a few features where I see important differences.

"High-Fidelity" (Neutrality)
So far the Perun seems to me to be the most neutral, I haven't noticed any clear flaw.
This is not the case with the others:
- Stax SR-007 MK2: numerous dips in the high mids and the treble = for me the least neutral
- DCA Voce: big dip somewhere in the mids; recessed treble
- Stax SR-009: smaller treble peak; big dip in the treble
- Stax SR-009S: big dip in treble
- Hifiman Shangri Jr: somewhat recessed mids and too elevated treble (but I didn't notice any dip or peak).



Resolution
For super-fast and super-complex music like metal, resolution is sometimes limited by a lack of speed of the headphone drivers. As all headphones seem to be quite fast, I think this may not the case here, but it seems to me that the differences would come mainly from the various abilities of the drivers to produce clean, well controlled frequencies.
To me the Perun is highly resolving, but not among the best.
- SR-007 MK2: for me way too much deficient in resolution and in an unacceptable manner for the year 2020. A cheap Hifiman Sundara costing only € 350 does already a fine job, way much better in resolution than the SR-007 MK2.
- Voce: not being able to do a direct comparison, the difference, based on my memory, is not clear enough. I think that the Perun is more resolving than the Voce, but I can't say for sure.
- SR-009(S) and Shangri-La Jr have a top resolution, clearly better than the Perun.
Yet the resolution of the Perun is closer to the top resolution of the SR-009 and Shangri-La Jr than to the very low resolution of the SR-007 MK2.


Natural character re. "thinness" vs "thickness"; subbass
This is a special issue for some electrostatic headphones which sound to "thin". This is something I can't explain (maybe a feeling that the sound remains too airy, ethereal?), but for example the Stax L700, SR-009(S) sound too "thin" to me; on the other hand I once auditioned a Kennerton Odin driven by a mighty tube amp and it sounded too "thick" to me. Also the sub-bass of the SR-009(S) (and as far as I can remember of the L700) seems too feeble, too unreal.
I don't have these issues with the Perun, SR-007 MK2 and Voce.


Dynamics of drum attacks

I do not mean here the sub-bass impact, i.e. a powerful (high amplitude) and sustained low frequency sound, important for music based on electronic beats, at which the SR-007 MK2 and the Perun may do better than the other electrostatic headphone.
I mean instead drum attacks, which are also high amplitude but super fast, very short, higher frequency sounds. For me a good rendering of drum attacks is essential to render the aggressivity inherent to metal music: without good drum attacks (and a lot of speed) metal feels denatured to me.
None of the electrostatic headphones I have auditioned is very good here.
For me the Perun's dynamics are good, I mean good enough for metal and better than those of the Voce. I am not sure about the difference with Stax headphones, I would need a direct comparison.



Subjective personal sound comparison with some non-electrostatic headphones: Arya, Clear and Utopia, etc.

(to be completed)


General conclusion
Between the Stax SR-007 MK2, with its nicely earthly sound but lacking too much in resolution and the SR-009(S), with its top resolution but too "thin" sound, there has been for a long time an empty room for an electrostatic headphone (a "SR-008") which would take an intermediate position and at the same time improve the neutrality. Stax hasn't filled in this gap but the DCA Voce and the Perun have jumped into it. With its natural, high quality and high fidelity sound, I find the Perun to be very clearly the better of the two and it costs less than half the price of the Voce: it is a bargain! The Perun does not offer the best resolution, but this can't be expected for its price at which is performs very well as an all-rounder. It seems to be a no-brainer choice as a first or single electrostatic headphone in one's headphone collection. That is resolution, though quite high, is not among the highest ones, allows for very long non-fatiguing listening sessions in addition to its top comfort.

 

[Tekunda]

Subjective personal sound comparison with some non-electrostatic headphones: Arya, Clear and Utopia, etc.

(to be completed)

Is there a chance that you might be completing you shoot-outs in the near future? Especially what you think how the Clear compete against the Perun would be great

 

[ahmedie]

Is there a chance that you might be completing you shoot-outs in the near future? Especially what you think how the Clear compete against the Perun would be great

The Live Soud will have significantly bigger sound-stage, like 2x or 3x and every thing will come from far apart, Clear will have smaller image, sharper and maybe more perceived details. also Clear would be a brighter than perun (maybe clear is neutral), focal will have better dynamics and maybe better bass bunch bcz of dynamic driver. Another electrostatic headphone that is extremely close to focal Clear is stax L700, while Live Sound is much warmer and sub-bass is good. There is a compareson in Clear thread between it and L700 which should give you a feeling on how they are different to electrostatic. Clear strength is tune, dynamics, while Perun strength will be sound-stage, grand feeling, warmish.

 

[harris4crna]

The Live Soud will have significantly bigger sound-stage, like 2x or 3x and every thing will come from far apart, Clear will have smaller image, sharper and maybe more perceived details. also Clear would be a brighter than perun (maybe clear is neutral), focal will have better dynamics and maybe better bass bunch bcz of dynamic driver. Another electrostatic headphone that is extremely close to focal Clear is stax L700, while Live Sound is much warmer and sub-bass is good. There is a compareson in Clear thread between it and L700 which should give you a feeling on how they are different to electrostatic. Clear strength is tune, dynamics, while Perun strength will be sound-stage, grand feeling, warmish.

Hi,

Last Saturday I received the Perun, wirth the color and patterns on the pictures above.
I have been working on a review, but I don't know when I will be able to finish and post it in the section for reviews.
In the meantime you may like my incomplete draft,
see below.

All the best,
bidn


As far as I know, it is not possible to audition the Perun at a dealer in Western Europe. So I had to rely entirely upon the impressions posted in the Perun thread at Head-Fi, so I want to thank those Head-Fiers who shared here their experience with the Perun, and Artur for making these headphones.


Ordering and payment process

I ordered the Perun around Christmas, by sending an email through the Perun internet site. I was given the opportunity to choose a color at no cost. I had asked for natural wood color, pure-transparent or honey-wax, and I got both. The headphones are actually even much more beautiful in reality than on the pics.

I am not experienced with Paypal seller and customer fees and it was not so clear to me which amount I had to transfer, but in the end the actual total price came to something around € 1300. Shipment was forecast for early February and reception the 2nd half of Feb., it was sent on Feb 5 and took only 10 days to arrive from Russia to my home in the Netherlands.

In conclusion, it was a nice experience, with reliable, fulfilled time and customization promises.



In the following I will often make comparisons, i.a., with the Hifiman Arya which I own and is a third version of the HE-1000 (= HE-1000 v3), with cheaper materials and much lower price then the HE-1000 v1 and v2.


Comfort and build


These headphones are huge yet superl-ight and maybe the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn. While the very comfortable Arya and earlier HE-1000 are super comfortable, the Perun is even much more so and I even feel it much less on my head. I actually almost don't feel it at all, no pressure nor weight, but only a little warmth.

However I don't see any lateral adjustment, so it might not fit on everyone head? (when I was 20 I used to be 1,76 m long). It is possible that people with a large head would feel some lateral pressure, or that people with a small head would loose some of its sub-bass intensity.

On the other hand, it relies mainly on suspension, so this may not be too much an issue.

The big plus is that these are very solidly built, I can't see any weak point or design fault.

Also I love the use of noble, traditional materials: wood, metal (headband), real leather (= durable unlike those stuff in "protein" fake leather which wear off and have to be replaced...) for the earpads and the suspension strap.

One con is that these large leather earpads can feel warmer than those of e.g. the Arya (the side touching the skin being made of soft, fragile fabric).

Re. the negative points Spritzer made on another forum re. Hifiman's electrostatic cables, none of this seem to apply to the Perun, it just looks like a Stax cable. The cable is not detachable but this is usual for electrostatic headphones, the only exceptions I aware of being the DCA Voce and the newest versions of the Stax Lambda series like the L700.



Driveability


I am driving the Perun with a Stax SRM-727II. There may be energisers with a higher SQ (Sound Quality), but at least for that one Stax declares an optimal THD of 0,01%, while for most Stax compatible (I mean the "boutique" ones) energisers SQ measurements are apparently not even available. My DAC is a RME ADI-2 Pro, when I set the DAC XLR output between -30dB and -20dB, I set the volume of the 727II at 9:00 (25%), when listening to loud music like metal. This is already loud for me, but more than that is too loud for me, as I am a low volume listener. If I try to set the XLR output of my DAC at -1 dB, then I have to turn the volume of the 727II down to 0, which is not useable.


The test tracks I use for my personal subjective impressions:
(a slash between two genres meaning a hybrid of these two genres)

(to be completed)


Subjective personal sound comparisons with other electrostatic headphones: 007, 009, 009S, Voce, Shangri-La Jr


Before purchasing the SRM-727II, I tested it extensively with some popular electrostatic headphones at my dealer. I wrote down afterwards my impressions. Also, this was recent enough for me to be able to draw some comparisons when the differences are quite clear. (I auditioned once the L700 with the 727II, but this was one or two years ago).
The DAC used for these other headphones is the Chord Dave, and I had a similar setting for the volume of the 727II.
I will not speak of features, such as soundstage or speed, where all these headphones seem to excel, but rather only of a few features where I see important differences.

"High-Fidelity" (Neutrality)
So far the Perun seems to me to be the most neutral, I haven't noticed any clear flaw.
This is not the case with the others:
- Stax SR-007 MK2: numerous dips in the high mids and the treble = for me the least neutral
- DCA Voce: big dip somewhere in the mids; recessed treble
- Stax SR-009: smaller treble peak; big dip in the treble
- Stax SR-009S: big dip in treble
- Hifiman Shangri Jr: somewhat recessed mids and too elevated treble (but I didn't notice any dip or peak).



Resolution
For super-fast and super-complex music like metal, resolution is sometimes limited by a lack of speed of the headphone drivers. As all headphones seem to be quite fast, I think this may not the case here, but it seems to me that the differences would come mainly from the various abilities of the drivers to produce clean, well controlled frequencies.
To me the Perun is highly resolving, but not among the best.
- SR-007 MK2: for me way too much deficient in resolution and in an unacceptable manner for the year 2020. A cheap Hifiman Sundara costing only € 350 does already a fine job, way much better in resolution than the SR-007 MK2.
- Voce: not being able to do a direct comparison, the difference, based on my memory, is not clear enough. I think that the Perun is more resolving than the Voce, but I can't say for sure.
- SR-009(S) and Shangri-La Jr have a top resolution, clearly better than the Perun.
Yet the resolution of the Perun is closer to the top resolution of the SR-009 and Shangri-La Jr than to the very low resolution of the SR-007 MK2.


Natural character re. "thinness" vs "thickness"; subbass
This is a special issue for some electrostatic headphones which sound to "thin". This is something I can't explain (maybe a feeling that the sound remains too airy, ethereal?), but for example the Stax L700, SR-009(S) sound too "thin" to me; on the other hand I once auditioned a Kennerton Odin driven by a mighty tube amp and it sounded too "thick" to me. Also the sub-bass of the SR-009(S) (and as far as I can remember of the L700) seems too feeble, too unreal.
I don't have these issues with the Perun, SR-007 MK2 and Voce.


Dynamics of drum attacks

I do not mean here the sub-bass impact, i.e. a powerful (high amplitude) and sustained low frequency sound, important for music based on electronic beats, at which the SR-007 MK2 and the Perun may do better than the other electrostatic headphone.
I mean instead drum attacks, which are also high amplitude but super fast, very short, higher frequency sounds. For me a good rendering of drum attacks is essential to render the aggressivity inherent to metal music: without good drum attacks (and a lot of speed) metal feels denatured to me.
None of the electrostatic headphones I have auditioned is very good here.
For me the Perun's dynamics are good, I mean good enough for metal and better than those of the Voce. I am not sure about the difference with Stax headphones, I would need a direct comparison.



Subjective personal sound comparison with some non-electrostatic headphones: Arya, Clear and Utopia, etc.

(to be completed)


General conclusion
Between the Stax SR-007 MK2, with its nicely earthly sound but lacking too much in resolution and the SR-009(S), with its top resolution but too "thin" sound, there has been for a long time an empty room for an electrostatic headphone (a "SR-008") which would take an intermediate position and at the same time improve the neutrality. Stax hasn't filled in this gap but the DCA Voce and the Perun have jumped into it. With its natural, high quality and high fidelity sound, I find the Perun to be very clearly the better of the two and it costs less than half the price of the Voce: it is a bargain! The Perun does not offer the best resolution, but this can't be expected for its price at which is performs very well as an all-rounder. It seems to be a no-brainer choice as a first or single electrostatic headphone in one's headphone collection. That is resolution, though quite high, is not among the highest ones, allows for very long non-fatiguing listening sessions in addition to its top comfort.

Thank you for taking the time to provide an extensive drafted review of the Perun. Your conclusion is exactly what I am looking for in my current system. I am looking for a electrostat which complements my currently owned 009/BHSE combo. A neutral journeyman headphone which promotes long listening sessions for all genre of music. Like I stated in another forum, the 009 captures 90% what I am looking for in a headphone, but omits the middle ground. I like listening to metal with bass heavy tones (Gojira, Opeth, Mastodon, Deftones ect). Not sure if you are able to answer, but would this HP suit this music genre?

Also, I like the idea the Prerun comes in different finished to include gold. I have this thing about matching gear as you can appreciate in my profile picture.

Thank you once again. I look forward to your finished review of the Perun.

 

[harris4crna]

Exclusive Gold Version.

I really dig this color.

 

[bidn]

Thank you for taking the time to provide an extensive drafted review of the Perun. Your conclusion is exactly what I am looking for in my current system. I am looking for a electrostat which complements my currently owned 009/BHSE combo. A neutral journeyman headphone which promotes long listening sessions for all genre of music. Like I stated in another forum, the 009 captures 90% what I am looking for in a headphone, but omits the middle ground. I like listening to metal with bass heavy tones (Gojira, Opeth, Mastodon, Deftones ect). Not sure if you are able to answer, but would this HP suit this music genre?

Also, I like the idea the Prerun comes in different finished to include gold. I have this thing about matching gear as you can appreciate in my profile picture.

Thank you once again. I look forward to your finished review of the Perun.

Thank you for your nice words!

Over a month and a half, I have come to love the Perun more and more, they have become my second favorite headphone after the Utopia.

I find them to be the best, among those I own, for long listening sessions, they feel very natural sounding while being non-fatiguing, and are the most comfortable, i.e. for me they are those I feel the less, almost as if they were not present, on my head: and at the same time very solid (more than any Hifiman I can think of). This is a unique combination of solidity and top comfort (for me). [edit:] Their pads are so big that I don't feel any pressure so I thought that there was no lateral adjustment, but I was wrong. I hadn't paid attention: the upper metal rods are not rigid and naturally bend when I, take the earcups, moving them outward to widen their distance and fit them on my head.

In a high-fidelity (as opposed to euphonic) perspective I find them suitable for all genres, the best all-rounders I know of.
So I find them suitable for metal, but their dynamics (drum attacks, etc.) do not electrify me as Focal (esp. the Utopia and the Elear) headphones do, or some AKG (K812) also do. My favorite headphone for a high-fidelity listening of metal remains the Utopia, but due to the aggressive nature (esp. those "extreme" subgenres) of metal this is intensive and the Utopia becomes fatiguing for long sessions or makes it difficult to focus on complicated "intellectual" tasks I am doing while listening to these genres of metal... (this is not the case however with quieter subgenres like doom, esp. funeral, or atmospheric...).

On the other hand, as I wrote in my post, there are areas like resolution where the Perun are clearly outperformed by TOTL headphones of some companies (e.g. for resolution : SR-009, Shangri La Jr, Utopia, etc.).

The Perun (incl. blass) feel "fuller" and more natural to me than the SR-009 (too "thin" for me).

Re. my review, I took a pause because I was not satisfied with my comparative tests with non-electrostatic headphones (directly out of my RME ADI-2 Pro: Ic uld not easily switch between the Perun and the non-electrostatic headphones, etc.). I hope to start the tests over again now that I have the HPA4 amp. If I can't find enough time, then in the end I will complete my review on the basis of only my previous tests (I wrote down all my impressions, and also a draft version right afterwards, for the case it would take me too much time to progress).

Hoping this may help you,
and wishing you all to remain healthy,
bidn

 

[seaice]

bidn: I agree with your observations. Just one more note: I think that the latest Perun (Live Sound) needs (much) more power. I have to use much higher volume settings on my KGSSHV Carbon than with my older Perun (grill version) or Stax 009.

 

[vvar10ck]

KGBH rulez!

 

[protoss]

@vvar10ck you got to update your website. Make it more intuitive and easy to understand with specs and more pictures and options etch..

Get your headphones to youtube reviewers like Z reviews, joshua valour and others etch..

Don't be shy

 

[Demograf]

GU72 . Output for electro static and dynamic headphones.

 

[Demograf]

Ml6&4654 Amplifier for different headphones and speakers

 

[ahmedie]

Try this with games, it is amazing both soundstage and dynamically, as gunshot sound very load and real, like real load and immersive. Then after the fight ends, everything is very quiet and you can hear every footstep very clearly but still in a subtle and real way. my L700 has more dynamic sound but smaller soundstage, so I think Perun hit a better balance between just the right amount of dynamism (L700 is much more dynamic through KGSSHV carbon) and having huge soundstage make it easy to distinguish enemy positions. I played call of duty warzone and apex/overwatch with very good results very impressive. I rank L700/Perun much higher than any gaming headset really.

 

[Zoide]

Which do you think would be better for listening to the La La Land soundtrack (one of my favorite albums ever): my current L700 or the Perun?

Assuming they would be driven by my current amp, a SRM-323S. (I really can't afford to spend on something crazy like the KGBH )