[Anaxilus]

Quote:

The SR-009 goes well with Stax own amplifiers as the SRM-323s....
 
Ideally, I would like to do some double-blind trials using esoteric amps like BHSE in order to verify whether these are (so much) better than Stax' own amplifiers.

 
No they don't.  009 sounds like ass on the 323.  You can sit around for someone to DBT it for you w/ the BHSE or try to find a way to go listen for yourself.  Unless you trust other people more than yourself.  I'd like to see you DBT a 009 on the 323 versus a Beyer DT440 to verify whether the 009 is (so much/$4500) better.  

 

[Arnaldo]

I've been pairing the SR-009 with a SRM-727II for a few weeks now. Suffice to say that I was not that impressed at first, with a somewhat flat perspective and lack of detail, specially in the background. But after about 30 hours or so, the sound suddenly opened up to an almost unbelievable level, specially with high-rez classical SACDs. Both foreground and background are now extremely detailed, while soundstaging is as vast as possible but still quite precise.
 
I've read somewhere that electrostatic phones don't require burn in, so I'm assuming it has do to with the SRM-727II. Regardless, I'm now a very happy camper with this all Stax combo, although I'd still like to A/B it with some other setups as well, mostly the BHSE and the Liquid-Lightning.
 
Quote:

The SR-009 goes well with Stax own amplifiers as the SRM-323s & SRM-727II. Ideally, I would like to do some double-blind trials using esoteric amps like BHSE in order to verify whether these are (so much) better than Stax' own amplifiers.

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

Please advise Spritzer , what wrong with these 2 set up A and B ?
 
Thank you

 
First off something I've written on Hf so many times I can't count, volume level and power output have nothing in common.  Volume level is just gain which is the easy bit, current is the hard bit.  In setup A you have the lower than normal gain of the BHSE plus the super low output of the Neko which means the volume has to be pushed to the max.  The amplifier isn't running at max or even close to it as any headphone faced with the full fury of a BHSE with a high enough input will not be long for this world. 
 
As for the BHSE being bright, it isn't but the SR-009 is.  If the BHSE really was bright then phones such as the Lambda Signature and HE60 would be unbearable on it but they aren't.  It would also sound vastly different to all the other Blue Hawaii variants and the SRM-T2.  This isn't the case and the Neko also has a reputation as a darkish source so where does the blame sit?  I know the Stax community at large is not happy with the 009 and it's widely considered a lemon, same as the SR-007Mk2 and the SR-404 in the 90's.  The engineering puts all other headphones to shame but they really should have stuck with the older diaphragm material. 
 
As for the WA5+WEE, I've heard that and it's scraping the bottom of the barrel. 

 

[El_Doug]

Guess that depends on how you define the "Stax community" - though I will always bow to your technical knowledge on the matter of electrostatic headphones and their associated amps, so far 90% of the "009s are too bright" comments are coming from you  
 
Quote:

I know the Stax community at large is not happy with the 009 and it's widely considered a lemon, same as the SR-007Mk2 and the SR-404 in the 90's.  The engineering puts all other headphones to shame but they really should have stuck with the older diaphragm material. 

 

[rudi0504]

Dear Spritzer

Thank you for your explanation , for me Also the first time heard BHSE .
I try to find better amp for Sr 009 than my set up .

After I heard BHSE , I do not more interest to buy BHSE for an upgrade .

Now I still waiting to the chance to hear the WES and LL

Cheers

 

[Elysian]

The BHSE does more for the SR007 than the SR009 based on my impressions. If the SR009 is your main headphone, try demoing a LL.

 

[rudi0504]

The BHSE does more for the SR007 than the SR009 based on my impressions. If the SR009 is your main headphone, try demoing a LL.

Thank you for your explanation , I have Stax Sr 007 mk2 Z series as well

 

[David1961]

I have the BHSE + 009's, and for a short time I got to hear IanG's LL + 007's. We tried both headphones on both amps and to my ears I preferred the 009's driven by the BHSE over the 007's. However the 009's were and are a little bright but had better detail and transparency over the 007's. I've learnt that the longer the BHSE is on power the better it sounds and when we tried both headphones with it, the power was only on for a short time. Before Ian has sold his 007's I might ask him if I could try it with my BHSE for a couple days, then I could listen to them after the BHSE had been on power for a few hours.

 

[Pettnolf]

Personally I am 100% happy with my maxed out GES with the SR-009.
 
However initially I was a bit underwhelmed by it's performance due to a bit overpowering and slightly flabby bass. This was quickly cured by swapping out the 12BZ7 no-name driver tubes that the GES came with and instead swapping in a matched quad of reissue "mullard" 12AX7. The bass-issue was solved with these tubes but the overall sound appeared a little brittle and thin. Better but not 100% satisfactory. Then I tried a matched quad of NOS matsu****a slanted getter aka "japanese mullards". Huge improvement over the re-issue "mullards"! Much rounder and well-defined mid-range. A smidgeon bright maybe. Next I tried a perfectly matched quad raytheon made for baldwin NOS tubes 62's long black plates.
 
Audio nirvana! Perfect tubes for me. My search for suitable 12AX7 tubes were over.
 
 
As an extra bonus the 12AX7 seems to run colder than the 12BZ7. The gain seems to be lower too though, the maximum comfortable listening spot with the 12BZ7 were at about 10 o'clock and with 12AX7 at around 11 o'clock with the volume knob.
 
 
For the power tubes 6S4 I first tried a quad of NOS NIB general electrics tubes instead of the stock no-name tubes. A clear improvement over stock but not as markedly as 12AX7 tube change. Pitch-black backdrop, zero noise compared to a slight hum with the stock 6S4 and slightly better soundstage and dynamics. I tried a matched quad of westinghouse NOS 6S4 tubes afterwards. I could not discern any difference between these two tubes. Both sounded very good so I settled with the westinghouse due to aesthetic reasons. Prettier glow and markings
 
 
 
Overall I am very happy with my set-up right now. I am loving the small size of the GES and its looks. I most likely won't change anything within the next 5 years at least. Zero listening fatigue, I can listen and enjoy music for at least 10-16 hours a day which I have also done on several days after completing my headphone rig. Everyone that has listened to my rig has been floored. Even my fiancée who thought I was crazy for spending so much on a pair of headphones thought it was all worth it after she had a listen 

 

[kevin gilmore]

I did not know that jack was putting 12bz7 in there.
My opinion, bad idea. Circuit was designed for 12ax7.

 

[forbigger]

rudi - did your friend listen side by side with your setup and BHSE ? I believe not. You SIMPLY CANNOT judge which system is better simply by using your memory. Also I believe you listen to the BHSE on meet condition and this is FAR FROM IDEAL. You shouldnt judge a system simply by just using memory.
 
I had a chance to listen exactly the same system as yours and sorry to say that its a entirely different league to the system you mentioned (which happened to be my system).
 
I guess its about your perceived hearing and mine......
 
Now that I know you, I already understand your taste. As long as the rig have a huge soundstage (albeit its artificial or not), bright (you call that detailed in your dictionary but I called it bright) then its your dream rig. Regardless whether it sounded dry, piercing and fatiguing which I heard your beloved Eximus (which you always heralded as the best thing since sliced bread). Any other DAC even maybe DCS or MBL system will not be able to compete with your Eximus. Until the day come that some company release a even bigger soundstage, even more "detailed" then Eximus will be your altar of highest end bang for buck DAC.
 
Here you are Rudi. I said it.

 

[spritzer]

12AX7's are always acceptable as replacements for the 12BZ7 but it's not the other way around. 
 
Nice to hear from the owner of the BHSE system too.  The whole problem with this stuff is the assumption that the 009 is in any way better than the old Omegas just because it is double the price.  They are in some ways an improved SR-Omega but miss the point entirely in other areas.  They are more open than the 007Mk1 but for me that's where the positive aspects stop. 
Quote:

Guess that depends on how you define the "Stax community" - though I will always bow to your technical knowledge on the matter of electrostatic headphones and their associated amps, so far 90% of the "009s are too bright" comments are coming from you  
 

 
By Stax community I certainly didn't mean HF or even the Mafia but rather the dealers and distributors worldwide.  People are far from happy but many of them are used to Stax heading in the wrong direction every few years so here's hoping the SR-011 will be good and not like the 007Mk2.5 which is far worse than the Mk2.  As for me, well I've called them bright from day one but sadly I'm far from being alone in thinking that.  Just read the recent meet impressions from Australia and reports from people trying to like them with amps with excessive top end roll off or some other top end issues. 
 
An amp like the BHSE makes even the SR-1 shine let alone the Lambdas, SR-Omega, HE60, Sigmas etc. but the SR-009 comes along and they sound far from pleasing?  Then I plug them into the TOTL Stax amp from 1972 with it's massive output capacitance and a circuit so simple a child could figure it out and they sound ok.  Rolled off and not nearly as detailed as the 007Mk1 but the top end glare is gone.  I'm going to say headphones are at fault here and the super simple SRA-10S just glossed over the issues. 

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Until the day come that some company release a even bigger soundstage, even more "detailed" then Eximus will be your altar of highest end bang for buck DAC.

 
Since when was the DP-1 a paragon of soundstage and detail?  The day you speak of has already come and gone.
 
As for the 009 on the BH.  I don't think it's so much a problem of the 009 being bright but sounding thin and lacking proper bass response on the BH.  009 doesn't have this problem on the DIY T2 for example.  

 

[rudi0504]

rudi - did your friend listen side by side with your setup and BHSE ? I believe not. You SIMPLY CANNOT judge which system is better simply by using your memory. Also I believe you listen to the BHSE on meet condition and this is FAR FROM IDEAL. You shouldnt judge a system simply by just using memory.

I had a chance to listen exactly the same system as yours and sorry to say that its a entirely different league to the system you mentioned (which happened to be my system).

I guess its about your perceived hearing and mine......

Now that I know you, I already understand your taste. As long as the rig have a huge soundstage (albeit its artificial or not), bright (you call that detailed in your dictionary but I called it bright) then its your dream rig. Regardless whether it sounded dry, piercing and fatiguing which I heard your beloved Eximus (which you always heralded as the best thing since sliced bread). Any other DAC even maybe DCS or MBL system will not be able to compete with your Eximus. Until the day come that some company release a even bigger soundstage, even more "detailed" then Eximus will be your altar of highest end bang for buck DAC.

Here you are Rudi. I said it.

"I agree with you, it's about your perceived hearing and mine. And that's why forum like this exists. It's all about expressing opinion based on our hearing"

If you want more experience , I can take you to my friend house in Pluit , he has the most transparency system I had ever heard to date

Although I have not ever heard MBL and DCS system , I have already heard Vitus Cd Player costing $ 45 000 Usd .
I have heard speaker costing $ 200.000 Usd
I have heard power amp costing $ 150.000 Usd
That is the system I want to share with you , so you can have more experience in high end world

 

[Pettnolf]

Quote:

I did not know that jack was putting 12bz7 in there.
My opinion, bad idea. Circuit was designed for 12ax7.

 
Judging from what I heard swapping between 12bz7 and 12ax7 I am very much inclined to agree.