That title is putting it mildly. I am astonished at how incredibly wonderful these SR-404's sound. I am listening right now to my favorite Gary Burton CD, "Berklee All Stars," one of my reference pieces. The vibes sound simply perfect. I'm tempted to say they are as mellifluous as my own acoustic concert M75 Musser. The drums are impeccably detailed. Each drum/cymbal has its own space in the music and I can literally hear every ping of the drumstick on Billy's ride cymbal. Similarly, each instrument appears to enjoy a separate layer in the soundstage which I can focus on individually or lean back and take in the entire ensemble. The headstage/soundstage is phenomenal. This is FUN!
The frequency spectrum is unreal. At the bottom, the bass is extended, deep/full, impactful, tight, and articulate. It is also powerful and perfectly balanced, at least on this recording. Billy Campbell's kick drum is nicely punctuated and gives me that "felt" sensation like I was standing in the studio. The brass instruments are, to my taste, at the ideal timbre. They sound realistic, not too bright and not too warm. This may be the closest I've heard yet to neutral and linear.
The only challenge I have at the moment is hooking up stuff. I have this Yamaha bookshelf system that I really like. The receiver doesn't appear to have a main out connection that I could use to go into the input of the STAX SR-313. The CD player plugs into the back of the receiver with RCA connectors, so I finally just unhooked them and went straight into STAX input. That works, of course, but I'd really like to be able to listen to FM, CD's, etc., using either the headphone jack on the receiver (with my Senn's) or the STAX. I am clueless how to achieve that flexibility and maybe it's not even possible with this gear. Any ideas?
The other very minor concern is that, since I'm connecting straight into the STAX from the CDP (no preamp at all), I have the volume knob on the SR-313 at the 6 level and, candidly, I could take it a tad louder, but I'm afraid to raise it since I recall warnings not to go beyond 4-5! I don't feel that it's too loud. I keep taking off the headphones, periodically, to see if my ears are ringing and, thankfully, they are not. I can say, at this volume level, the music is enveloping and compelling.
Now this report is after the first 30 minutes or so! I'm about to declare that I have found sonic Nirvana. I can find no weaknesses at all so far. I haven't even experienced my first STAX fart and I've tried wiggling around to cause it to happen.
I expect to have more to report as I experience other music genre (e.g. classical), but I'll leave the analysis for a bit and return to revelling in this jazz sextet.
Thanks to all of you who helped me move in this direction. This sound is absolutely what I have been seeking and, until now, I've only come close. These headphones are the bomb!
KenB
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