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Unfortunately I have not heard the SR-007, but I agree with you on the rest. I prefer the SR-507 over the HD800, Audeze LCD2, LCD3, Hifiman HE-6, HE-500. Actually I even preferred the well broken-in pair of SR-307 + 323 of the Stax dealer over the HD800.
I really wanted to buy the HD800, for its comfort, engineering, looks, made in EU, etc. But the sound was a bit artificial when compared to the Stax, and I always felt something lacking, and conversely, I was always surprised by how good the Stax were. Too bad the 507 were a bit too big for my head, and are pretty ugly anyway. I didn't have access to exotic amps often quoted with the HD800, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
I spent some time with the HE6 and HE500 too. Not bad at first, but after a while it became irritant that the Hifimans had a slight zingy quality to their sound. I tried to switch the earpads, with good results, e.g. Stax 007 pads improved them considerably, and I read the Audeze pads may improve them even more. However, they still sounded a bit zingy. Removed the pads, and it became clear how they could potentially sound: very, very deep (much deeper than with pads), with a bit of bass boost, and prominently zingy treble. Not bad at all, but the others were more accurate. I could say a similar opinion about the Grados, which have a similar, but even more accentuated sound signature. I hope Hifiman could solve these issues and make a ~500 EUR headphone which is accurate enough.
As for the Audeze, they did sound a bit dark at first, but I got completely accustomed with them in a short while, and they still revealed true music - with some lack of treble, which made me feel older than I am
. I would have been happy with either Audeze, if I didn't hear the Stax 507 with the amp I've got. A lot of instruments (fagots, trumpets, violins, percussion, piano) sounded more natural, more extended and with more resolved body resonance on the SR-507, not mentioning the ambience of the recording (e.g. on Jazz at the Pawnshop, Vol.1.). The SR-507 is similarly open sounding, but "calmer" (could I say darker?) than the HD800, which screamed out every detail on the recording a bit too prominently (I tried both early and recent 16xxx serial number samples).
Unfortunately I could not get to the Fostex TH-900, it would have been nice to try. But since the 507 sounded so much better to me than the other, highly acclaimed headphones, I think the only headphone I would upgrade to would be the Stax SR-009, at several times the price of my current setup. So this SR-507 is good enough for me, and I am surprised by joy every time I listen to it - in the evenings, since otherwise I mainly listen to speakers for more realistic image depth.
Unfortunately I have not heard the SR-007, but I agree with you on the rest. I prefer the SR-507 over the HD800, Audeze LCD2, LCD3, Hifiman HE-6, HE-500. Actually I even preferred the well broken-in pair of SR-307 + 323 of the Stax dealer over the HD800.
I really wanted to buy the HD800, for its comfort, engineering, looks, made in EU, etc. But the sound was a bit artificial when compared to the Stax, and I always felt something lacking, and conversely, I was always surprised by how good the Stax were. Too bad the 507 were a bit too big for my head, and are pretty ugly anyway. I didn't have access to exotic amps often quoted with the HD800, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
I spent some time with the HE6 and HE500 too. Not bad at first, but after a while it became irritant that the Hifimans had a slight zingy quality to their sound. I tried to switch the earpads, with good results, e.g. Stax 007 pads improved them considerably, and I read the Audeze pads may improve them even more. However, they still sounded a bit zingy. Removed the pads, and it became clear how they could potentially sound: very, very deep (much deeper than with pads), with a bit of bass boost, and prominently zingy treble. Not bad at all, but the others were more accurate. I could say a similar opinion about the Grados, which have a similar, but even more accentuated sound signature. I hope Hifiman could solve these issues and make a ~500 EUR headphone which is accurate enough.
As for the Audeze, they did sound a bit dark at first, but I got completely accustomed with them in a short while, and they still revealed true music - with some lack of treble, which made me feel older than I am
. I would have been happy with either Audeze, if I didn't hear the Stax 507 with the amp I've got. A lot of instruments (fagots, trumpets, violins, percussion, piano) sounded more natural, more extended and with more resolved body resonance on the SR-507, not mentioning the ambience of the recording (e.g. on Jazz at the Pawnshop, Vol.1.). The SR-507 is similarly open sounding, but "calmer" (could I say darker?) than the HD800, which screamed out every detail on the recording a bit too prominently (I tried both early and recent 16xxx serial number samples). Unfortunately I could not get to the Fostex TH-900, it would have been nice to try. But since the 507 sounded so much better to me than the other, highly acclaimed headphones, I think the only headphone I would upgrade to would be the Stax SR-009, at several times the price of my current setup. So this SR-507 is good enough for me, and I am surprised by joy every time I listen to it - in the evenings, since otherwise I mainly listen to speakers for more realistic image depth
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My go-to electrostat guy... Question for you, Sir. In your opinion, what amp below $2k would be the best match for the sr-407/507? Is the Woo GES a good value?
