TheGomdoRi
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2010
- Posts
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Quote:
He can wear a dress while he's on Head-Fi. Being a good Samaritan and all that.
What.The. ????
I didn't know I had a twin lolol
Nice display pic man
He can wear a dress while he's on Head-Fi. Being a good Samaritan and all that.
As for its price, and what kind of speaker-driving rig you can get with it: I know you can get a good speaker-driving system for the price of a top-notch SR-009 setup. But I was reviewing what I now consider the best headphone in the world. As for what speakers can do that headphones cannot, I'm certainly well aware. I know that the imaging from headphones (with overwhelmingly most recordings) won't be able to keep up with a good loudspeaker setup. I know that no headphone--no matter the price--will be able to convey the visceral, body-pounding waves of bass that good loudspeakers can. But none of the loudspeaker rigs I've heard--and I've heard some dandies--have been able to match the inner detail from the best headphone rigs I've heard. None. And no headphone has the inner detail that the SR-009 does (in my experience).
I was quite happy with my modest speaker rig...until I was foolish enough to get 009s. Now I'll need to spring for some Harbeths I think, so it can keep up.
As for what speakers can do that headphones cannot, I'm certainly well aware. I know that the imaging from headphones (with overwhelmingly most recordings) won't be able to keep up with a good loudspeaker setup. I know that no headphone--no matter the price--will be able to convey the visceral, body-pounding waves of bass that good loudspeakers can. But none of the loudspeaker rigs I've heard--and I've heard some dandies--have been able to match the inner detail from the best headphone rigs I've heard. None. And no headphone has the inner detail that the SR-009 does (in my experience).
Besides the imaging and visceral impact, speakers have two more characteristics that trump headphones, and that is life-like dimensionality (I'm not sure when you say "imaging" if you also meant this) and more perceived dynamics. A great set of speakers can have multiple individually designed drivers pulling different duties, and because physically there so much more room to design and engineer sound-shaping baffles, driver arrangements, interior structure...etc, there's far more freedom than something that has to fit on your ears and not weigh your head down. When you add up those qualities, they become very compelling.
Obviously, I wouldn't be here if I didn't love headphones, but in the bigger context, I guess it's a bit like how I feel about game console vs. small handheld game devices, a nice car vs. a nice bicycle, a large house vs. a small apartment, or a full meal vs. a snack. One is just bigger, better, and more, while the other, no matter how nice it is, just isn't as satisfying and is only a substitute when the bigger alternative isn't available at the moment. I would never use headphones when I'm allowed to play my speakers at optimal volume. The only time I might is maybe if I'm listening to something that's such an embarrassing guilty pleasure that I don't want anyone to know.
That said, I certainly wouldn't say no to an opportunity to test out the SR-009 against my own rigs, including my Klein + Hummel O 300D's.
Eloquently stated. I prefer my Klipsch reference speakers to the best of my headphones, which cost thousands $$$. These Klipsch reference speakers are no Sonus Fabers or other trophy speakers, but they offer more enjoyment and more realism than any headphone, and I own many of the best. Although I expect to enjoy my SR-009 when it arrives, there's nothing to compare to reference or better quality speakers at optimal volume for precisely the reasons stated by Lunatique. When I retire to a home of my own design, it will be built around a speaker-based system - not headphones.
...A great set of speakers...become very compelling...
...Not considering the cost at all and focusing purely on the sound quality, just how much better would you rate the SR-009 compared to your previous favorite rigs, in terms of increase in sound quality in percentage overall? Is it a 10% increase in overall quality/enjoyment? 15%? 20%?...
I'm not debating loudspeakers versus headphones, in case you weren't clear. I understand the differences, as do most here (I hope).
As I said earlier, I fully understand the advantages of speakers. And as I've said before, over the years, I'd rather listen over a good loudspeaker setup, too, when the opportunity presents itself.
My best friend plays piano very well, usually on a concert grand in his home. I very much enjoy listening to him play, especially in the new room he built for it, the acoustics of that room being quite nice for the piano. I would also rather listen to him play live than recorded over my headphones or loudspeakers.
For those of you for whom it wasn't clear, the Stax SR-009 is a headphone. It is not a room with a loudspeaker-driving system in it. It's a headphone system, the price of which you could buy (or invest in) many other things, including, but certainly not limited to, a loudspeaker system.
I'm asked that question all the time--the percentage-type one. Maybe I'm just a dufus, but I can't quantify it quite like that--not audio anyway.
I'll say this: The SR-009 reveals substantially more detail from my good (or better) recordings than I've heard from any other pair of transducers (loudspeaker or headphone). Specifically, what percentage more? I'm not sure, but I'd peg it somewhere between 0% and substantially-better-than-the-best-of-what-else-I've-got-here-%.
Again, since it seems I wasn't abundantly clear, this thread is about a video in which I briefly reviewed the Stax SR-009 (with the Woo Audio WES), which is a very expensive headphone system, not a loudspeaker system. The SR-009 is more detailed than any other pair of transducers--loudspeaker or headphone--than I've so far heard. In my experience, and in my opinion, it is the best headphone system I've yet heard. However, saying that is not saying that it obviates (or emulates) the key advantages of a very good and well set-up loudspeaker system.
I'm not debating loudspeakers versus headphones, in case it wasn't clear. I understand the differences, as do most here (I hope).
...This discussion is not for the benefit of the already converted or those who are firmly in the other camp, but for the benefit of those who may not have thought about this question seriously, or don't know enough about speakers vs. headphones. Discussing it gives them a helpful point of reference in which to base their own decisions on.
Originally Posted by jude /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'm not debating loudspeakers versus headphones, in case it wasn't clear. I understand the differences, as do most here (I hope).
Originally Posted by jude /img/forum/go_quote.gif
But none of the loudspeaker rigs I've heard--and I've heard some dandies--have been able to match the inner detail from the best headphone rigs I've heard. None. And no headphone has the inner detail that the SR-009 does (in my experience).
As I said earlier, I fully understand the advantages of speakers. And as I've said before, over the years, I'd rather listen over a good loudspeaker setup, too, when the opportunity presents itself.
A great set of speakers can have multiple individually designed drivers pulling different duties, and because physically there so much more room to design and engineer sound-shaping baffles, driver arrangements, interior structure...etc, there's far more freedom than something that has to fit on your ears and not weigh your head down. When you add up those qualities, they become very compelling. That said, I certainly wouldn't say no to an opportunity to test out the SR-009 against my own rigs, including my Klein + Hummel O 300D's.
Originally Posted by arnaud /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Dear Lunatique: I'd say, wait until you hear the 009 before proclaiming that your speaker are so much better. As for your arguing about the multiple drivers, it's a pretty false statement. People don't use multiple drivers for the sake of having more tuning options but simply because they can't achieve proper results with a single driver. Absolutely nothing in multi-driver loudspeakers helps with better sound reproduction:
> Non coincident driver yield severe directivity patterns which are particularly nasty for listening in nearfield
> Multiple drivers force you to use likely passive filter which can have serious impact on the speaker response (both transparency and coherence). Although I assume your monitors are active ones but still the electronic filters prior to the amplification stage do affect the sound negatively.
> Multiple drivers each have their own character and some pairings don't always sound natural because simply you don't have a coherent sound from top to bottom
> Enclosure is just one more set of troubles to deal with (internal acoustic resonances, baffle structural resonance, sound diffraction off the baffle which affect imaging severly)
In my own experience, I am yet to hear a loudspeaker that gives give the same amount of detail in the same natural way and with the least amount of coloration as a Stax system does for a reasonable price (e.g. 10kUSD for a pair of speaker, I still consider very reasonable). With the 009 and the reproduction of the high frequencies in particular, I think there are only very few tweeters out there that can come any close, and I am no giving a price limit here.
As for the usual argumentation about what headphones cannot do and all, well, best is to leave that for another thread because it's not news with the 009. I also don't buy your argument that the price justifies talking about this. For instance, go see the threads with +5kUSD headphone amps, nobody's going there and saying that speaker is the way to go then...
Having said all that, no question that 5kUSD is too much for a headphone!! I bit the bullet and don't regret a thing though but I'd still wish it could have been cheaper, especially for those who can't stretch it that far.
For me personally, even if the SR-009 has mind-blowing detail retrieval beyond any speakers I've ever heard, it is still a compromise in the grand scheme of what "satisfying" audio reproduction is to me. Without the visceral impact, powerful dynamics, and life-like dimensionality we take for granted with speakers, no amount of detail can make up for the missing qualities I would never want to be without when I want to experience sonic bliss.
Man, I so wish we lived close to each other. I'd totally invite you to my studio so we can listen to each other's rig and compare notes. It would be so much fun!