My first post. I've listened seriously mostly through my modified Stax Lambda Novas for the last decade or two. I went to T.H.E. Show in NYC to hear the 009s that Jack Woo was displaying with his electronics, and walked away with a pair. Now I've got them home, and am way impressed with how good they really are, esp. with my analog front end and even through my SRM-T1. At T.H.E. Show I was impressed by how low they were in coloration compared to virtually all the systems with loudspeakers. At home, with the a familiar system and recordings, I am continuously amazed at the level of detail that just pour out of them. With Solti's Beethoven's 6th recorded by Wilkie I feel like the maestro has given me his position, consistent with the likely positioning of the Decca tree. I hear players playing together, not sections. Inner lines are just there, I do not have to go digging for them. Just wonderful.
At T.H.E. Show I had some favorite CDs, but they are not the same as my LPs. Also, the gap in time between hearing the 009s there and at home was too long to allow comparisons. I believe in my heart that Woo's electronics would be a huge step up. He had two models of the WES on display, and the the upgrades that stood between them were manifestly effective. So now, I need to decide, between a WES, BHSE, or LL. Its great that Tom Martin has reviewd the first two, as referenced above. I know I am in the "camp [that] will value the SR-009 for its amazing clarity and ability to retrieve low-level details, and we predict members of that camp might gravitate toward the Woo WES precisely because it, too, maximizes these same sonic attributes." However, it would appeal to me "to step beyond the transparency and detail of the SR-009 with an amp that offers analog-like qualities of musical integrity and dynamism. In other word, they will seek out an amp that lets them enjoy both 'the forest and the trees' musically speaking. The Blue Hawaii SE could be the ideal amp for those listeners", sort of. I like hearing what is recorded as it is without trying to make it something that it is not. If the "musical integrity and dynamism" that are on the recording are just more apparent, I would like that. However, that these apparently trade off for "transparency and detail" has me worried.
So I would like to hear perspectives from other discerning listeners who have had opportunities to hear the 009s with two of the wonderful amps available to drive them. And, I would love to have an opportunity to hear such a comparison, myself.