[Ashirgo]

There are many Stax lovers and some haters, and as I have read, there are very different opinions about their sound signature. People are more accustomed to hear about their advantages, though

On the other hand, could Stax experts summarize flaws of aforementioned units?

Anyone ready to give his opinion?

Regards, Ash

 

[Sinsen]

My ears rub against the rough foam... it hurts

 

[Ashirgo]

Welcome to my thread, the first courageous!

To add something, I found my SR-303 not as comfortable as (for example) some Sennheisers; all the time I have to adjust their position. Or maybe a shape of my head is flawed?

Ash

 

[nickchen]

Dry and uninvolving. Mids sometimes sound distant. Kickbass abilities below midfi level. Ridiculous looks.

Otherwise, great piece of gear.

 

[dvse]

A search for SR-404 in the Stax thread in the High-end forum will take you a long way. If you see any interesting posts, do a further forum wide search for the posts by the same user.

 

[Ashirgo]

Well, it is a very immersive journey and I had one or two. But yet summary is a summary.

Ash

 

[dvse]

Briefly, they accentuate flaws present in many recordings and source components, making it quite difficult to build an enjoyable system. I also prefer the presentation of Lambda Signature.

 

[majkel]

SR-404 is something slightly different than O2 which is slightly different from O2 MkII, etc. For the SR-202 and SR-303 I don't care. It's no big deal to built better sounding dynamic headphone setup. The SR-404's are the ones that after short listening I prefered to the SR-007 MkII system, using the SRM-727A amplifier for the SR-404's. Lower, smaller Stax amps don't impress me sonically as they don't compete with good-to-best dynamic headphone amplifiers.

 

[krmathis]

/me love the SR-404.
Its far from a perfect pair of headphones. But neither are any of the comparable headphones out there (priced $350-400).

 

[Gradofan2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif /me love the SR-404. Its by far a perfect pair of headphones. But neither are any of the comparable headphones out there (priced $350-400).

I think you meant to say... "the SR-404s are NOT a perfect pair of headphones..."

 

[Gradofan2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ashirgo /img/forum/go_quote.gif There are many Stax lovers and some haters, and as I have read, there are very different opinions about their sound signature. People are more accustomed to hear about their advantages, though From the other side, could the Stax experts summarize flaws of aforementioned units? Anyone ready to give a brief opinion? Regards, Ash

Yes... "inquiring minds want to know"... just what are their weaknesses?

But... "don't hold your breath."

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gradofan2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think you meant to say... "the SR-404s are NOT a perfect pair of headphones..."

Ahaa...
Now I see how I failed to express my meaning. Corrected to "Its far from a perfect pair of headphones.", which is what I intended to write.

 

[Ashirgo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gradofan2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes... "inquiring minds want to know"... just what are their weaknesses? But... "don't hold your breath."

Well, that is good, I see an innuendo that there is little to say about their weaknesses. To my mind, every headphone can take an advantage of such an impossibility (to say sth bad about them).

I am looking for an unbiased (not mine) opinion, you see, so here I will ask: do you (everyone) think which modern Stax unit is the best for monitoring? (with an exception of 4070 )

Ash

 

[Leporello]

SR-303: they can occasionally sound mid-rangey, in a "cupped hands" sort of way (I think it was kwkarth who pointed this out a long time ago). They could use a bit more of the highest treble. But nothing is perfect, I believe.


Regards,

L.

 

[Gradofan2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ashirgo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, that is good, I see an innuendo that there is little to say about their weaknesses. To my mind, every headphone can take an advantage of such an impossibility (to say sth bad about them). I am looking for an unbiased (not mine) opinion, you see, so here I will ask: do you (everyone) think which modern Stax unit is the best for monitoring? (with an exception of 4070 ) Ash

I have no clue - never heard them.

But... as you... I am curious.

Though... I want to know the objective differences between those you mention, as well as the criticisms relative to the good dynamic phones.

However... I've seen very few, if any, critical comments by the "Stax Fan Club," except in occasionally comparing one Stax to another, though even those are pretty tame. There's relatively few critical comments compared to good dynamic phones with matching set ups.

Just a huge bias - maybe justified... maybe not - I'm not sure you'll ever know, without "just jumping in."

You're more likely to get objective criticisms from those that have had them and sold them to retain their dynamic phones, or those who have a Stax set up in addition to their collection of dynamic phones, than from those who have only Stax set ups - "believers" are not often objective.

I assume you've seen these:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/stax/stax.html

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/stax2/stax.html

http://www.onhifi.com/product/sennheiser_hd600.htm

http://www.onhifi.com/product/stax_srs4040.htm

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/ampli...4_2719crx.aspx

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/sta...60/index4.html

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f13/re...ystem-ii-9211/