Stax SR-001 Appreciation Thread

[edstrelow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sniks7 Call me strange (Hello Strange), but one of the reasons why the 001 system may sound musical is the treble roll-off. A treble roll-off and the lovely electrostatic midband (I have a couple of pairs of electrostatic speakers with this characteristic) would help this slightly, making the sound more musical at the cost of being analytical. BTW, use the 2500mw/h rechargables. They last ages (longer that I can be bothered to measure so far - 7/8 hours?)

I tend to agree about the benefits of treble roll-off. Recorded music is often too bright. Some of this is because the microphones are generally much closer to the performers than a listener would be. There is a natural high frequency roll-off with distance which is thus lost. Accordingly, many/most recordings will sound too bright compared to the real thing when heard through flat phones.

Of course, in addition, many recordings, especially rock/pop pump up the treble and/or use very bright mics to give a sort of breathy, tizzy sound which plays back well through a ghetto blaster but sounds crappy through a flat phone.

Even some classical recordings do this. The BBC puts out a lot of good recordings, to go with their magazine, but some are excessively bright.

All it all, the treble roll-off is something you can live with and may even prefer.

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver As it should be grounded... yeah, why not?

Indeed! It worked and my SR-001 is now hum-free even when hooked to a
AC adaptor! Hurrah!

But should I now worry about keeping these
baby stax clean as I suppose earwax can enter them earspeakers by way of
those peculiarly shaped ear tubes. Or is my worrying quite unwarranted?

 

[BluePhone]

Since the ear tubes don't actually enter the ear canal, but merely rest on the outside of the canal, there should be little danger of ear wax entering the tubes.

 

[fierce_freak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by edstrelow Incidentally the SR003, although designed for high bias, runs just about as well from a low bias amp.

Can anyone else confirm this?

 

[Masolino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BluePhone Since the ear tubes don't actually enter the ear canal, but merely rest on the outside of the canal, there should be little danger of ear wax entering the tubes.

Whew! You are right.

Also it seems so far I have only found occasional bits of ear wax on the silicon pads.

 

[c001m4n]

I finally got my SR-001 MkII

!!! W00T
How do I ground it when everything is plastic?

It is a lot better than IEMs, very comfortable to use. I like how it adjusts the pressure. The sound is great, I am comparing it to a HD650 right now.
Will post more later.

 

[ferraro25]

I swore I was done with buying headphones when I realized that my KSC-35s were (and still are) my favorite headphones. I thought, "Screw the more expensive headphones, they can't possibly be worth it when compared to the KSC-35s..." But I still have been looking into getting electrostatics, due to what I think they would give me that no dynamic (under a certain price point, at least) could possibly achieve (INCREDIBLE instrument seperation [I WANT THIS, no more muddiness, ugh], amazing transparency to the source material, and neutrality [not that I care about neutrality given that my fav cans are the KSC-35s, hehe]). But the cost of the cheapest system I was willing to look into, the 3030, was over $700... Plus, I like (improper change of tense, doh) rock music, which electrostats are not known to be all that great at.

Now, here I learn about this less-than-$300 portable system that not only has those electrostat qualities, but is also reportedly good at a wide range of music. Damnit, too good to pass up. As soon as I can afford it, I am buying from Audiocubes. Hopefully the SR-001 system will make me HATE my other headphones, like the KSC-35s have (to a small extent) before it.

Anyway, what about impact? I enjoy impact, but would be willing to forgo impact if I get: 1. effortless instrument seperation (none of the cans I have are good at that; damn muddiness... yes, I know my current amp is holding my expensive cans back - I'm not interested in investing more in those cans), even in the most complex passages - with the only things holding seperation back being my source, the recording, the sr-001's amp, and my ears; and 2. a sense of "reality" from the music (I used to confuse brightness with "realism"; not so much anymore - although, lack of treble definitely destroys sense of reality for me, so maybe treble does = "reality" on a certain level), which is a nebulous (sp) requirement, but I imagine "transparency" = "closeness to reality" if the recording is well-done.

Too bad I won't be able to afford these for at least 4 or so more months.

Oh well, more time to get other people's impressions before I make the purchase. I'm giddy right now.

 

[Masolino]

X

 

[c001m4n]

ferraro25 I was listening it in bed just now. The bass impact is definitely there, I wasn't listening to any rock music though (was listening to Norah Jones) but I am sure the impact is plentiful for rock music. There were no muddiness with the headphones at all (I have experienced major muddiness with a pair of e2c I tried). I was able to easily identify the location of each instrument and voice. Of course I have to listen to it more to tell you more about it.

Without the headband the bass impact is reduced.

 

[catscratch]

They won't give you the tactile bass impact that a good dynamic headphone will, but the bass is quite prominent in the overall tonal balance and is very clear and resolved. So, these will not seem lacking in bass at all once you get over their lack of tactile feedback.

Instrument separation will be miles beyong the KSC-35's, and beyond a lot of full-size dynamic headphones in the $200 bracket. These phones have a sense of air and space around each instrument that even full-size Lambdas are hard pressed to manage. And, they achieve it all without any treble harshness or strident tone.

In terms of realism - there are better phones out there for that. The tonal balance is too warm and the treble is too rolled-off. They lack sparkle, and everything takes on a diffuse, ethereal tone that is quite lovely with some music but doesn't do all that well with instruments where tone is key i.e. piano, brass, woodwinds, etc... Voices, especially female voices, are absolutely wonderful though, if not as real as they could be, since the ethereal quality plays into the music quite well there.

As far as dynamics go - don't confuse lack of dynamics with lack of tactile feedback. There's a ton of dynamic range here (I mean it literally, as in the pure decibel difference between loud and quiet sounds on the recording) but the peaks in orchestral music lack that ultimate punch, both because of the lack of tactile bass and the lack of treble sparkle. Dynamic range improves a lot when you use the AC adapter on the 001, and the 003 with a good amp will have enough dynamic range for just about anything, but it will not give you that impact and sheer adrenaline rush that you get with live orchestral music during those massive crescendos.

The system is great for rock. Really, really great. It has the speed you need to resolve pretty much everything, but it is also very warm, and brightness and sibilance, two cornerstones of modern rock production, are kept in check. In fact, I prefer the SR-001 for rock over everything else I have, even the ES2, which is simply too revealing of brightness or sibilance to make it enjoyable with a lot of the more poorly produced recordings.

These things are silky smooth, lightning quick, warm but transparent, and very seductive. Not real, not entirely accurate, and definitely not without obvious sonic faults. But, for $249, you have no right to complain.

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch articulated wisdom

catscratch, I noticed that when I hooked the SRS-005A up to my SACDP, admittedly with my Isenberg IC, all the issues with rolled off highs seemed to be gone. I saw the STAX material where they point out that they remade it to be better suited for high-res sources. Apparently they did a great job. Of course this is not the 001 and not the kind of scenario the 001 would normally be found in, but I think it illustrates the incredibly pickiness of the small Staxen in regard to source. What you *can* do on the less illuminated sources is EQ. I tried the iTunes treble booster just for kicks, and it shows that the 003 has zero problems with the high end, although, and this is the interesting part, it does sound better if you just leave it as it is.

I am really facing a problem. I become less & less motivated to use my dynamic equipment. Instead, I want the 001 for portable, despite the battery-time issue. Does anyone actually use them outside? Not on the bus/train, outside. Exactly how much trouble could one expect? It is not that I would have a portable rig beyond good & evil already. Curse this place! Please, somebody tell me that it is a nutcase idea to use the 001 outside in northern Germany with its unpredictable humidity conditions and that I should rather upgrade the DAC on the deskrig. Please!

 

[Oliver :)]

Oh, another thing: With the 005A I feel very little need for any kind of crossfeed. With any of my dynamic phones I cannot be without it, so this is not insignificant. I know a lot of head-fiers experience this effect as they move to higher end equipment. But is it in the phones, or is it in the amp. Or more clearly, can I expect the same effect with the 001?

 

[catscratch]

You can use the 001 outside, but it's not perfect for it. Sizewize, the system will not be any less practical than any other amped portable system. But, you'll have cable noise to deal with, together with an annoying distortion every time a wind blows past the back of the drivers. There are also source matching issues. As you pointed out, the 003 phone is made for high-resolution sources, and when you connect the 001 to a mediocre mp3 player, you quickly hear the truth of it. You need a MicroDAC-level source to make the 001 sing, though the MicroDAC itself isn't ideal because of a smallish soundstage with this combo.

In terms of a rolled-off treble: you can lessen it with IC's and using an AC adapter with the 001, but it will never fully go away. The amp is probably at fault, but since I haven't heard the 003 yet, I can't say for sure.

I've tried using EQ, but haven't had much success, mainly due to the subpar quality of any EQ that I can get my hands on.

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by catscratch You need a MicroDAC-level source to make the 001 sing, though the MicroDAC itself isn't ideal because of a smallish soundstage with this combo.

Argh, I wanted to get me the Micro for my desk... although I am still talking only about the 005A, maybe we should open a separate thread for that.

 

[immtbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oliver . ...Does anyone actually use them outside? Not on the bus/train, outside. Exactly how much trouble could one expect? It is not that I would have a portable rig beyond good & evil already. Curse this place! Please, somebody tell me that it is a nutcase idea to use the 001 outside in northern Germany with its unpredictable humidity conditions and that I should rather upgrade the DAC on the deskrig. Please!

As Catscratch said, wind noise is a problem. I have taken the 001's to the park across the street from my house and on a windy day I had to walk back home to get an IEM to continue my listening session.
On another note, just like other stats, these puppies sound better when they are warmed up. I use my AC adapter for an hour before I'm going to listen, and then I switch to battery power for critical listening. I tried them on a plane today (of course my seat was right next to the engine) and they were worthless. Now in the hotel room I can enjoy them for what they're worth.

This is how I feel they can be best explained. This model offers the ability to get an electrostatic sound accompanied by portables on the road without lugging around a 17 lb. amp. You cannot compare them to a pair of Lambdas or O2's and it is a totally different animal than a portable dynamic rig.

The fact that you can have 500+ volts vibrating 2 stators with a membrane in between, that will fit in a belly bag for under $300 is something that should be truly appreciated. But it is not a perfect substitute for a good home setup.
IMHO.
As far as the earwax question is concerned, as with all headphones, good hygiene and clean ears, will always enhance our listening pleasures. There is a large orifice between the o-rings and the mechanics, and should not cause any damage to the 001 headphones the way it affects ER4P's or E4C's