STAX SR 009 - AMAZING
Oct 4, 2011 at 3:18 PM Post #31 of 46


Quote:
purrin said:
Just a few scattered comments here and there on the boards and in PM. I'm waiting until after the meet where I get to hear it on the BHSE and a new prototype amp that someone's building. I've already measured the 009. The results are excellent - the most linear FR and possibly the best CSD compared to all other headphones I've measured yet.
 
Subjectively, it sounds a little bit bumped in the middle to upper midrange and tails off a bit in lowest octaves or two, but overall very smooth. Smooth in that I don't hear any abrupt changes in FR which makes it very "speaker" like since 95% of headphones usually have some nasty resonance nodes. Very fast in the treble, similar to O2 in clarity of fast percussion work. Overall slam is great.
 
There are some shortcomings with overall dynamics, lower bass slam, bass extension (which I already mentioned), and even ultimate low level information retrieval. I still think the BA + <insert TOTL dynamic> sounds more "involving" and "musical" (for whatever those two vague terms really mean), but I want reserve final judgement until I hear this thing properly powered. One person I trust says a DIY T2 does justice for it. But that is out of the question for me.
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Thanks, I look forward to a comprehensive, subjective review.  The one thing I always admired about Stax was the transparency from the mids up, having owned some in the '70s.  I reckon they'll never have low bass.
frown.gif

 
 
 
Oct 17, 2011 at 1:38 AM Post #33 of 46
aross,  I appreciate your review and understood exactly what you were telling us.  I sure hope you won't let the constipated few that are so unhappy with themselves and their life situation that they must attempt to bring others down into the abysmal morass that they live in.  I still have a pair of Stax that I've had since the '80s and am not surprised to hear that they are still gifting us with a superior product.  I'd love to have your setup.
 
Oct 17, 2011 at 2:50 AM Post #34 of 46
You might as well post your review over in the "High End Audio forum" they shouldn't bash your review as much as what they do here, the influx of new Head-Fier have somewhat degraded the quailty of post over in the normal forum. Seriously people, SR-009 is really that amazing, it makes all the normal reviews on it seems like paid reviewers by STAXs. :rolleyes:

Well, until you get to compare price/performance ratio that is, if there is such a thing in high-end audio...

 
Oct 17, 2011 at 6:42 PM Post #35 of 46


Quote:
ack-fin said:
aross,  I appreciate your review and understood exactly what you were telling us.  I sure hope you won't let the constipated few that are so unhappy with themselves and their life situation that they must attempt to bring others down into the abysmal morass that they live in.  I still have a pair of Stax that I've had since the '80s and am not surprised to hear that they are still gifting us with a superior product.  I'd love to have your setup.
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stax has made some very good products over the years, i still love my old ones. between that and the esp9's i have they've pretty much ruined most / some of my portable listening <kidding. i like the enthusiasm shown in your post, enjoy.
 
 
 
Sep 29, 2016 at 5:29 AM Post #42 of 46
I owned the SR-009 for two years, until I got a bad channel imbalance, and STAX USA would not repair my "bought in Japan" headphones.
 
Went back to the Stax Lambda Nova Signature' with SRM-T1S driver amp (RCA clear top tubes), and got rid of the drawbacks.
 
i. e. "bright" highs without expensive "very picky" driver amps!  "Unrealistic" too large, sonic images.
 
The LNS Stax have better 3D imaging, than the SR-009 (after warm up)!
 
Smoother, and more realistic highs, that are not "overly detailed"!
 
They were designed for the Stax founder.
 
Could not be happier, and I do not miss the SR-009's!
 
YMMV!
 
Sep 30, 2016 at 8:06 AM Post #43 of 46
I have had two listening sessions with these gems now. My first impression was at High End in Munich and only for a short period of time which made me not appreciating them as much as I should have. As i was listening a fair amount to the SRL 700 in Munich I did prefer them at first glance for being more lively and encouraging.
 
Now last weekend at CanJam in Essen, which was seriously an amazing event, I did get my first extensive listening session with the 009s paired with a STAX tube amp and feeding from my Astell&Kern Ak100. At the beginning they took some getting used to because I feel like they sound very different from other flagship models. But once you get into it they just hit you and they hit you hard. What struck me most was the naural feeling. Drums, guitars they just felt like real instruments comparing to others phones where they sometimes feel unnatural. Furthermore there somehow seemed to be more layers in soundstage to these headphones, as they seem to have their own way of placing instruments and voices in space which I hadnt heard before and did enjoy quite well.
What amazed me most was the 009 capacity to handle really all types of music pretty well, from heavy metal ( sometimes not the best recordings =) ) to classics and back to house. With its unique way of layering music and its natural feeling about it plus an added dynamics which not many other phones can match the 009s had me smiling all the way I was listening to them.
So all in all they were by far the best listen at CanJam and I did have a listen to the new Utopia aswell.
 
The only problem now is that Stax has me wanting something which has a pretty high price tag. Also I'm wondering if they lose their spell once you can listen to them every day. Maybe you guys can tell me about your experiences.
 
Cheers!
 
Nov 24, 2016 at 1:18 PM Post #44 of 46
toaste3r said:
   I did have a listen to the new Utopia as well.
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I just placed an order for the Utopia to compare with both the 007MK2/009. I'm very interested/curious to hear/compare the Utopia from all of the rave reviews I've read. I'm posting this while listening to Bob James & Earl Klugh "Cool" Cd with the 009 and saying to myself, are these even possible to out perform? Might be on or close to the same SQ level but just a different flavor. I'll soon hear for myself.
 
Nov 24, 2016 at 1:24 PM Post #45 of 46
I owned the SR-009 for two years, until I got a bad channel imbalance, and STAX USA would not repair my "bought in Japan" headphones.
 
donc55 >>> STAX USA should have bent over backwards to help you out.
 
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