[Rinoue]

It's time to upgrade, did research and narrowed it down to either the SR-007A's or MrSpeaker Ether's, I haven't heard either, nor does the city I live in carry either of them to try out. So I need peoples help on here, which would you choose? and why?

BTW at the moment I am upgrading from Stax SR-404 signature series. Any recommendations would be appreciated, Cheers!

 

[Rinoue]

bump

 

[MattTCG]

Do you already have amp and dac? What is music preferences?

 

[Rinoue]

Yes, I  have an amp and dac, an audio gd compass dac/amp combo, a schiit modi 2 uber dac, and a stax srm-252s driver unit (I understand this driver unit will not cut it for the SR-007A, I will be getting a more powerful one sometime down the road IF I get this instead of the MrSpeaker Ethers.

I listen to pretty much everything except country, but main ones would be Orchestral, Jazz, Pop, Heavy Metal

 

[Music Alchemist]

STAAAAX! (If you prefer your current electrostats over planar magnetic headphones. I honestly liked entry-level electrostats more than the most expensive non-electrostats, but that's just me.)

 

[Rinoue]

I'm so curious about the higher end Stax, but at the same time what I hear about MrSpeakers Ether from people who have heard it seems out of this world amazing, the main part of the Ether that caught my attention is I've heard several people say it's got a Musical quality to it, and of course the other good stuff like clarity, spaciousness, detail etc

 

[Music Alchemist]

  I'm so curious about the higher end Stax, but at the same time what I hear about MrSpeakers Ether from people who have heard it seems out of this world amazing, the main part of the Ether that caught my attention is I've heard several people say it's got a Musical quality to it, and of course the other good stuff like clarity, spaciousness, detail etc

 
I haven't heard either of those particular models, but the most common thing I read about both of them is that they are on the laid-back side instead of being energetic and in your face. I take it you can't audition them in advance?

 

[Rinoue]

Sadly I can't audition either, I've called around to the audio places I know and none of them carry either headphones. Yeah I heard laid back as one of the traits for SR-007A, I haven't heard that for the Ether, but I might be ok with that if true, I may be wrong and if I am someone please tell me, is that laid back = more relaxing, and smoother, yes?

 

[Music Alchemist]

  is that laid back = more relaxing, and smoother, yes?

 
Yeah, pretty much. Less "attack" in the dynamics too. I frequent the headphones for metal thread and practically everyone there who heard the ETHER described it as laid-back, if I'm remembering correctly. However, that doesn't mean they didn't like it; some loved it! Which other planar magnetic headphones have you heard? That would be a good reference point in the context of figuring out whether you generally prefer electrostats or planar magnetics.

 

[Rinoue]

Cool that's good to know!

I've never heard planar magnetics lol, only dynamics and stats, so I'm pretty curious about that too

 

[Music Alchemist]

  Cool that's good to know!

I've never heard planar magnetics lol, only dynamics and stats, so I'm pretty curious about that too

 
Oh. In that case, if I were you, I'd just get the ETHER...because the SR-007 sounds its best from very expensive electrostatic amps, and it would be better to have a more diverse collection of electrostat + planar magnetic instead of two electrostats.

 

[Rinoue]

You have a point there, getting the Ethers will probably save me a bit of money, I wonder if going from stats to planars would be considered a downgrade from the more headphone experienced people here.

 

[Tinkerer]

If you like planar, the SR-007 is like a stat with an old planar signature. It's just slightly dark in the same way, but beats every planar I've ever listened to even through a older stax amp. Never heard the Ether personally though. It's still so new I haven't got around to it. I'd still say grab the stax. Even with something like an SRM-1 powering it, you'll probably still be floored and it scales up with the much fancier amps.

 

[Music Alchemist]

If you like planar, the SR-007 is like a stat with an old planar signature. It's just slightly dark in the same way, but beats every planar I've ever listened to even through a older stax amp. Never heard the Ether personally though. It's still so new I haven't got around to it. I'd still say grab the stax. Even with something like an SRM-1 powering it, you'll probably still be floored and it scales up with the much fancier amps.

 
Yeah, good point. I'm sure it sounds great even from low-end amps.
 
Hey @Rinoue, I've bought electrostatic headphones from this guy. You should listen to him.

 

[Rinoue]

I guess if worst comes to worst, I can always buy either or, and if I don't like it, sell it and get the other to try out. At least that way I can cover all the bases and know what they both sound like.