Beagle
His body's not a canvas, and he wasn't raised by apes.
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- Jun 29, 2001
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Sennheiser HD650 vs. Stax 2020 Basic System: a comparison
I recently did a fairly thorough comparison between these two topnotch headphones. The HD650 was run out of an X-CAN V3 and the Stax was plugged into it's own SRM212 amplifier.
My only previous experience with Stax was when I owned the SR40 electret headset that I purchased around 1980. I used these for about 10 years before the cord eventually frayed down. Afterwhich, I discovered the Grado SR60 and moved up from there. I enjoyed the SR40 for it's clarity and detail and evenness of sound.
I have owned the Sennheiser HD580, 600 and 650. There are obvious improvements as you go from the former to the latter, but there is a Sennheiser sound that is shared with the three, which is refined as you go up.
I purchased the HD650 in April and it got a good amount of listening time over the last couple of months, sharing main duties with the Grado RS-2.
During the local Head-Fi meet in 2003, I got to listen to the 2020 and was quite impressed, although I knew I'd probably never be able to afford them ($1100 CDN retail). But the memory of their sound always stayed with me and I got curious and asked to borrow them from a local high end audio dealer.
I will just simply give my overall views on the HD650 and those of the Grado RS-2 and then compare my views on the sound of the Stax against the sound of the HD650.
The HD650 is a very smooth, full sounding headphone. When compared against it's siblings (580,600), it has a full midrange and bass, and a clean, smoothed over top. It sounds good with a large variety of music. The RS-2 (w/ flat pads) has an immediacy in the midrange, rich bottom end and clear treble presentation, although somewhat rolled off at the extreme top. I found the RS-2 a bit more exciting and upfront than the HD650. I enjoyed listening to music with both headphones. They presented two different points of view on headphone sound.
The Stax 2020 Basic System, in the confines of my home and my music, takes headphone listening way beyond anything I'd previously experienced. Upon first listening, they sounded shy in the bass and flat in the dynamics department. Of course, all first impressions are what your brain is comparing to your previous headphone expectations and experience.
As I listened more and more, I realized that the Stax 2020 Basic System was telling it like it is/was. Bright recordings sounded bright, dull ones dull, bass heavy was bass heavy. It stood back and simply let the music into your ears. In comparison, the Sennheiser and Grado seemed to inflict their own specific character and colorations onto whatever music they were playing. It was like the Stax had a much larger space to put everything in perspective the way it should be, while the HD650 and RS-2 were in a more "confined" area sonically, and had to compensate by pushing the sound together in a bit of a ball. Again, this is only in comparison the to openness and detailing that the Stax provided. I think this is due to the large rectangular shaped electrostatic drivers which disperse the sound over a larger area around the ears. The Stax has the remarkable quality of being transparent, not only in the midrange and treble, but in the bottom end where most headphones fail miserably. You can hear the tone, and the stop/start of the notes in the lower register. The Senns and the Grado seem to "fill out" the bass and upper midrange area on most recordings. And the treble seems to extend forever, giving a natural tone and shimmer to bells, percussion, cymbals etc. No veiling with these babies! The HD650 has a very detailed treble but lacks the Stax openness and treble shimmer and dynamics. A bit bland and muffled. What's also great is that you don't have to turn them up to make the music exciting and valid.
The Stax is also fairly light and very comfortable, with the snug yet light fit on the head and around the ears.
Complaints?
Well, the construction (for a $1100CDN headphone) appears pretty flimsy and cheap. They tend to creak as you adjust them on your head. It's like you have $600 drivers and 50 cent housing. But they sound great so this is just quibbling unnecessarily. Also,if played at fairly high volumes, the Stax could sound a wee bit quacky in the upper mids, probably attributable to the plastic construction. But as I mentioned above, you really don't need to crank these to enjoy the music.
So I got my headphone epiphany and am going to go for The Stax 2020 Basic System.
I recently did a fairly thorough comparison between these two topnotch headphones. The HD650 was run out of an X-CAN V3 and the Stax was plugged into it's own SRM212 amplifier.
My only previous experience with Stax was when I owned the SR40 electret headset that I purchased around 1980. I used these for about 10 years before the cord eventually frayed down. Afterwhich, I discovered the Grado SR60 and moved up from there. I enjoyed the SR40 for it's clarity and detail and evenness of sound.
I have owned the Sennheiser HD580, 600 and 650. There are obvious improvements as you go from the former to the latter, but there is a Sennheiser sound that is shared with the three, which is refined as you go up.
I purchased the HD650 in April and it got a good amount of listening time over the last couple of months, sharing main duties with the Grado RS-2.
During the local Head-Fi meet in 2003, I got to listen to the 2020 and was quite impressed, although I knew I'd probably never be able to afford them ($1100 CDN retail). But the memory of their sound always stayed with me and I got curious and asked to borrow them from a local high end audio dealer.
I will just simply give my overall views on the HD650 and those of the Grado RS-2 and then compare my views on the sound of the Stax against the sound of the HD650.
The HD650 is a very smooth, full sounding headphone. When compared against it's siblings (580,600), it has a full midrange and bass, and a clean, smoothed over top. It sounds good with a large variety of music. The RS-2 (w/ flat pads) has an immediacy in the midrange, rich bottom end and clear treble presentation, although somewhat rolled off at the extreme top. I found the RS-2 a bit more exciting and upfront than the HD650. I enjoyed listening to music with both headphones. They presented two different points of view on headphone sound.
The Stax 2020 Basic System, in the confines of my home and my music, takes headphone listening way beyond anything I'd previously experienced. Upon first listening, they sounded shy in the bass and flat in the dynamics department. Of course, all first impressions are what your brain is comparing to your previous headphone expectations and experience.
As I listened more and more, I realized that the Stax 2020 Basic System was telling it like it is/was. Bright recordings sounded bright, dull ones dull, bass heavy was bass heavy. It stood back and simply let the music into your ears. In comparison, the Sennheiser and Grado seemed to inflict their own specific character and colorations onto whatever music they were playing. It was like the Stax had a much larger space to put everything in perspective the way it should be, while the HD650 and RS-2 were in a more "confined" area sonically, and had to compensate by pushing the sound together in a bit of a ball. Again, this is only in comparison the to openness and detailing that the Stax provided. I think this is due to the large rectangular shaped electrostatic drivers which disperse the sound over a larger area around the ears. The Stax has the remarkable quality of being transparent, not only in the midrange and treble, but in the bottom end where most headphones fail miserably. You can hear the tone, and the stop/start of the notes in the lower register. The Senns and the Grado seem to "fill out" the bass and upper midrange area on most recordings. And the treble seems to extend forever, giving a natural tone and shimmer to bells, percussion, cymbals etc. No veiling with these babies! The HD650 has a very detailed treble but lacks the Stax openness and treble shimmer and dynamics. A bit bland and muffled. What's also great is that you don't have to turn them up to make the music exciting and valid.
The Stax is also fairly light and very comfortable, with the snug yet light fit on the head and around the ears.
Complaints?
Well, the construction (for a $1100CDN headphone) appears pretty flimsy and cheap. They tend to creak as you adjust them on your head. It's like you have $600 drivers and 50 cent housing. But they sound great so this is just quibbling unnecessarily. Also,if played at fairly high volumes, the Stax could sound a wee bit quacky in the upper mids, probably attributable to the plastic construction. But as I mentioned above, you really don't need to crank these to enjoy the music.
So I got my headphone epiphany and am going to go for The Stax 2020 Basic System.
