After a long period of waiting, I finally recieved the Stax SR009S from Stax in Hong Kong and the KGSSHV Carbon from Sweden.
Very pleased with the presentation of the 009S and the Carbon combo. The bass is definitely more impactful on the Carbon than on my previous auditions of the 009S, and the treble is not peaky at all, albeit beautifully extended and sparkly. In some ways, the 009S off the Carbon reminds me of the Susvaras, but with important differences.
The SR009S certainly has more detail than the Susvara's and you will notice it even on casual listening. It's not a night and day difference, of course, but noticeable.
It is a hair faster, which is no surprise, but coupled with the speed, bass detail, and the bass energy I am getting from the Carbon - I might well prefer the bass presentation of the 009S + Carbon to Susvara + XYZ speaker amp.
W.r.t staging, off the Carbon, the SR009S has a deep stage, but not in the sense that everything sounds distant. There are tracks I played on this where the lead vocals sounded very intimate whilst the background vocals sounded quite a bit deeper. The contrast was rather impressive and memorable.
Overall, I am quite impressed with this combo. For the sake of reference, I own the Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC (my favorite); the RAAL SR1a, and the Hifiman Susvaras (I also own the Stellias and have the LCD5 coming in). The 009S is an impressive laidback listen the way the Susvaras are a laidback listen.
I am yet to A/B the Susvara and the 009S extensively, but there is a possibility,
one of the three following headphones may have to go, once they have all been A/B-ed sufficiently: SR009S, Susvara, LCD-5.
The KGSSHV Carbon was built by Dukei. It sounds lovely and I know Dukei took great pains to pack the amp well before sending it off to me, and there was no ostensible damage to any part of the amp
before shipping.
However, when it arrived, thanks to poor handling by the folks at the warehouse I occasionally use: (1) the feet of the amp were not level
(2) There was a dent to the one side of the heat sinks, and (3) There were nuts and washers that had fallen off inside.
But I want to affirm that this was no fault of Dukei's. He's a terrific builder and the proof is in the sonic pudding. Just sharing my experience today with recieving it and listening to the setup.
All said and done, none of the damage to the amp appears to be major. I had someone come in, take a look at the internals, and attach the low voltage boards back, and everything is working fine. Dukei has been great in keeping in touch.
To end these impressions on a positive note, having heard the SR009S off lesser delta sigma DACs, my Holo Audio May DAC is probably doing its bit to render the presentation more organic and natural-sounding.
For those of you looking for a DAC to pair with your 009/S, the Holo May is likely a top choice.