[Whitigir]

I know, you are right. BUT I can't help giving what I have learnt (IMO) to the community. I mean, what would you do if you saw some guy walking into a train? Better sound is out there (much better). I hate that T8000 amp, it is a tweaked up old design I have been told, nothing new,I heard it at Can-Jam and it is underwhelming.
They could have done much better, so IMO Stax don't deserve the sales of it, head-amp do, or the DIY KG amps do. I would say ask around some more (quick) before it is too late.....

I think you may have over done it. The way I see...

Well, train is a potentials for deathly consequences, unlike hobbies. Hobbies is where people have to learn as they are always motivated, actually I don’t think anything else can bring a human to be such :self motivated, eager, courage, and will” as much as a hobbies. To people who really are into a specific hobbies, providing advices without them asking is a bit of an “offensive” act. However, it really is upon an individual to receive it.

Me, personally, I would encourage people to try it, and try them all, if they can afford to do so. Every own journey is uniquely received by each independent. Yes, human are 99% alike, but the last 1% is what truly pull us a part, and as we grown older, the more journeys, circumstances, situations....etc...that we go down, it added into our own and make us a truly unique single individual. So, in the way I see it, as a human, you need and want to learn as much as you can, experience it personally as much as you can, collect the experiences, and make it your own. In the end of the day, you are you and me is me, eventhough we are human.

Anyways, for this instant, I see that and even if I foresee that he may go ahead and reach into buying KG amps, or he may be satisfied with T8000. It should be uniquely decided by his own, and his personally experiences. It is just the same as not every true love story will end up into marriage and have kids, eventhough that is the general way that it goes

 

[Whitigir]

Now the good news is that I can finally pull the trigger on 009S. If anyone in the US who wants full supports and best customer services for Stax, i recommend you to contact Jason the owner of the source AV. He is very friendly as I would put it : Music is to your ears and Jason is to your pockets ! and stress free customer services. He can responds quickly through PM as well @TSAVJason

*disclaimer* I am not affiliated with TSAV, I am simply just a very satisfied customer who would want to spread honest feedbacks and recommendations around . Cheers!

 

[buzzlulu]

Can a 353x do justice to a 009 (and 009S) as a stopgap until one upgrades to a KG amp?

 

[Rhamnetin]

Can a 353x do justice to a 009 (and 009S) as a stopgap until one upgrades to a KG amp?

Can't say for sure but I used the SR-007A (which is said to be harder to drive than the SR-009/SR-009S) with a KGSS (in the same league as the 353x) and while it definitely wasn't as good as a BHSE, it was enough to make for a pleasant listening experience with better transparency than any non-electrostatic headphone system. I would go for it if I were you. Deal with the 353x until you can splurge on a KGSSHV Carbon.

 

[buzzlulu]

I am already running the 353XLE with my L300LE so it is here in house.
It appears that the 353 is held in high esteem - well relatively considering current Stax amps are not held in high esteem? Close enough to the 727 so as to not make a noticeable difference on something like a 009?

 

[SeaWo|f]

I wouldn't over think it too much if your ultimate plan is to save for a KG amp. The direction you are going is the one that makes sense. Get the 009s first. I think you will get more enjoyment that way than the other.. Getting the amp first and sticking with the l300 until you could get the 009s.

I guess you could wait and do both at the same time, but the 4500 you already have for the 009s isn't doing anything for you tucked away. If it's in the form of the 009s you are getting increased listening pleasure. And when you do get a totl amp you will get another introduction to your new cans.

 

[Whitigir]

I am like a dog waiting for it favorite Bone! I am totally ready! Toss me....! My bones!

I am contradicting myself! 1/2 want it as soon as possible, and 1/2 don’t want to, because I will have to wait for another 6 years for SR-010 (next model). However, I decided to show support

 

[astrostar59]

Nice system Whitigir. And enjoy your incoming 009s. What do you use for your transport? I think your profile is out of date?

 

[Whitigir]

Nice system Whitigir. And enjoy your incoming 009s. What do you use for your transport? I think your profile is out of date?

Thanks! I am going crazy for Stax

My transport is LPS and Dedicated PC I7-8700, that is built around I2S output with passive cooling (0 fans anywhere ) and independent power input for I2S bridge (Pinkfaun+OXCO). NVME for storage and windows 10-64 bits, running J-River. It boots into Windows OS in 15 seconds...LoL!

 

[astrostar59]

Whitiger, looks like a very nice server build there. Have you compared Roon as a player v JRiver? How much did it cost to build your server (if I may ask). Did you build it yourself? How hot does the heatsinks get?

I am hovering over having a go myself at some point. I am not convinced the Aurender N100 I had at home on demo beat my Mac Mini, it just had a slightly different signature. The current build of Roon beats Audirvana+ by some margin, so I wonder of the Aurender app is still as good as it was 12 months ago. I haven't tried jRiver.

 

[Whitigir]

Whitiger, looks like a very nice server build there. Have you compared Roon as a player v JRiver? How much did it cost to build your server (if I may ask). Did you build it yourself? How hot does the heatsinks get?

I am hovering over having a go myself at some point. I am not convinced the Aurender N100 I had at home on demo beat my Mac Mini, it just had a slightly different signature. The current build of Roon beats Audirvana+ by some margin, so I wonder of the Aurender app is still as good as it was 12 months ago. I haven't tried jRiver.

I actually don’t use Roon as Jriver can do too many things already, and yes DIY, the LPS is from HD-Plex. The heat sink barely get to 45C and the CPU hottest is at 50C, normally is at 43C just listening to music. Also slightly overclocked . This build cost around $3,300. I can put in another top tier USB output, but ATM, I don’t have any craving for it yet as I am waiting for 009S now

 

[astrostar59]

Whitigir, I would test Roon current build, it is really special on SQ plus it is a fabulous interface. In my tests it beat Audirvana+ V3, PureMusic and Amarra squarely. A+ was the best on my Mac before that, and Roon really gets rid of the last vestiges of 'digital' sound, is is a creamy and smooth as silk with great detail and dynamics, perfect I would say, and there isn't many audio stuff I can say that about! It comes as no surprise Roon sounds good (finally), they have big budget and more developer staff on with it than the likes of Audirvana for example. Also the DSP in Roon, is used carefully and subtly is also very good, near to lossless if you have only one curve and watch clipping (going over 0dB level.

Note I am not using HQ Player or using any up sampling etc, playing resident straight through.

Sorry, now back to the OP and 009s.....

 

[gilency]

I am in Tokyo currently. Could not audition the 009S. Fujiyama avic doesn’t have them!
Neither does Yodobashi.

 

[AnakChan]

I am in Tokyo currently. Could not audition the 009S. Fujiyama avic doesn’t have them!
Neither does Yodobashi.

Yodobashi in Akihabara did have it last week 9-Jun: https://twitter.com/STAX1938/status/1005268517283758081
This weekend 16-Jun it's in Yodobashi's Umeda store in Osaka: https://twitter.com/STAX1938/status/1007053172504854528

 

[gilency]

I went to yodobashi in akihabara. I guess they ran out. I ended up ordering from Justin since it comes with warranty for the us. (head amp)