[dave650]

Sod it. Went straight for the comparisons.


first impressions....

507  better mids

507 more grip on the music

507  a bit louder?


I'll try and put a sig. driver on the 507.....

oh man them pins just slide out real nice on both sets. The SR507s pins are steel.


My T1 is now feeding the Signatures and the 507s at the same time, and I have a Signature driver on my left and a 507 driver on my right


507 louder! Id have to cut the right ear a little to balance the volume.


Did that and now I have a sort of balance, I say sort of because the differences in the drivers are pretty obvious. Its obvious there is a difference I mean.  The 507 has a great mid, beating the Sigs, the sigs sound softer and scoopy.

I was listening to the first record I could find, Gun's 'n' Roses, but now I'll put on my mono White Album so both channels are the same.

Its probably one of the best side threes in pop history until George comes along and spoils it at the end.

Them 507s are definitely louder, and keep sounding louder quite a way through the turn.

Thats all I can be sure of right now, but Im thinking the 507s are a little wider, and Im enjoying its mids a little more than the Sigs

The bass guitar on Helter Skelter is a little more pronounced in the Sigs, its like the sigs just have less mids full stop. And the bass has a bit more of a hole to sit in. Or something.

But like stats the bass guitar is wonderfully defined in both.

Now a ladys voice.....

B52s Roam 12" single

Oh yeeeeeh these 507s are great cans for pop, way more pronounced mids, the voices are way more present. The voices in the verses (the intro vocals are very processed and would sound good on a broken gramophone)

I just had the sigs on for 30 seconds....the poor things are getting beaten right now by the 507s on this song.

Im hearing more hihat, when i really pump it i believe the Sigs cymbals are suffering just a fraction, while the 507s just serve em up lovely and they stay up there.   nothing like dynamics, these cans.

The 507s sound much more alive sounding than the Sigs, just copped the saxaphone solo in The Logical Song on the 7s, amazing clarity, I can hear it ripping.
The Sigs are mellower and certainly quieter.


Just a few jumbled thoughts in my first hour.

The 507s are really quite a bit better built, much more forward, better highs, mids, and probably the same bass. Dunno yet.

I like the 507s better but I should hope so, I spend $600 more on them.

 

[dave650]

lol Im not much of a review guy, I'll post more as I listen more though.
Definitley the 507s are winning so far

 

[edstrelow]

Thanks for the review.  This is just what we need.
 
Let me raise an issue about comparing new and old phones based on my own experience of getting a LNS about a year ago. (Actually I thought I had bought a Lambda Signature but that's another story. ) )))   )))))))))) Essentially I wonder if some of what you are hearing may be due to differences in the condition of the back foam of the LNS.
 
The back foam of my LNS was seriously deteriorated when I bought them,  One side  had nothing at all and  on the other side, the foam disintegrated to touch when I tied to replace it.
 
So I bought new foam backing and voila the sound was now very different.  Very much more midy. Frankly I didn't like this sound and ended up removing the foam and ended up with a sound more like what I had when I first got the LNS. The LNS without foam is definitely less middy but also has a somewhat wider soundstage.
 
I don't know what Stax is doing with its back foam now.  I assume that the 507 uses some.  My experience suggests that you can create large sonic differences just by using or not using foam or I suspect by using different types of backing.  (In fact I seem to recall that Spritzer reported some experiments on this in another  forum.)

 

[tigermilk]

FYI, when I was in Tokyo a couple of weeks ago I listened to the 507s (and 007, 202, 303, and 404 - I also own a 404 and 003).  Difference wasn't enough to "upgrade".  They all sounded different, but different does not mean better.  You really just have to sit down and listen to each if you are looking at the 507s as an upgrade to the 202/303/404 generation.

 

[dave650]

The foam on my Sigs seems to  be in perfect condition, might have to check it out. I'll crank up the hifi later on and see if I can do a better comparison to last night, I only got an hour in before sleeping. 
 

 

[spacemanspliff]

Based on your picture, you seem rather displeased? Maybe try a new picture with the 507s and a bit more friendly? Kind of scary atm. lol
 
Glad you like the 507. Nice to hear Stax is making a better product.

 

[dave650]

haha I tried to upload anew pic the other night and my net froze up! I'll try again soon.
these brand new 507s are flogging the older Nova Signature, and sadly even the SR5s I have are beating them.
The Sigs have really laid back mids and are just generally quieter than both the other cans.
But they sound great for violin music and natural, classical music.
maybe thats what I should keep them for.
If I go broke, it will be the signatures that go.
To me, the 507s sound (not look) more like a better version of the SR5, with far superior bass but kinda samey mids and a great grip on the music.
I like hearing hihats that are low in the mix, but up full bore.
Like...um...heavy music with two guitars all overdriven, they swallow up the cymbals at volume on dynamic cans, but on the SR5s and the 507s its all still there, and is a fantastic lovely clean sound. The sort of sound that you dont realise its so loud until ya rip em off your head and theres that beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee noise. So I wont be listening up loud too often! I just swapped over to a lower output cart too, 200 uv, just so it isnt too loud.
I love electrostats!

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

The foam on my Sigs seems to  be in perfect condition, might have to check it out. I'll crank up the hifi later on and see if I can do a better comparison to last night, I only got an hour in before sleeping. 
 

The foam on one side of my LNS seemed fine but when I opened it up and touched it it crumbled to dust.  It seemed that it had no effect on the sound however, newly purchased foam did.  As I said, in the end I preferred no foam.  But it does give the LNS somewhat of a gap in the middle frequencies.. 

 

[dave650]

Yeh, I don't want to touch the foam in mine, last guy to own them replaced the pads, but would've mentioned the foam if he'd replaced that too.
i'm thinking about selling on the Sigs, with the 507s around I'll hardly use them.

 

[arjuna93]

lol Im not much of a review guy, I'll post more as I listen more though.
Definitley the 507s are winning so far

It was actually quite helpful, thanks.