[BenF]

Remarkably similar.

I would say that L300 appears to be the more linear one by quite a margin

 

[themusiccat]

Did you get a chance to compare the LE to the L700?

 

[nishan99]

Can anyone look at their power plug of the 252s and see if it requires 100v or 110v ?
some websites say it's 100v some say 110v, I couldn't find the official webpage of the product.

 

[catscratch]

It depends on whether or not it's a US market or Japanese market version. US ones are 110V and Japanese ones are 100V. Do NOT plug a Japanese-voltage version into a US main without a step-down transformer, you will, over time, destroy the amp.

 

[raband]

Or 240v here in the civilised world.

 

[nazrin313]

My 252s is 100v but its working fine on 240v with Mjolnir Audio's modified PSU.

 

[Revolution1]

I, too, would very much like to hear comparisons to HD800

The Stax SRS-3100 kit (the source was Astell & Kern's KANN) is significantly inferior to the HDV820 + HD800 (PC+foobar) in resolution, detail, and virtual scene size.

 

[themusiccat]

The Stax SRS-3100 kit (the source was Astell & Kern's KANN) is significantly inferior to the HDV820 + HD800 (PC+foobar) in resolution, detail, and virtual scene size.

I forgot to post on this, but I did end up demoing an HD800 for a couple weeks last month, and ended up sending it back. While I was impressed by the imaging and soundstage I felt that it was pretty overdone. I think the L300 is a great option for those who came away from the HD800 feeling that it was too diffuse and artificial.

At this price point I think the matter of technicalities is far less important than preference. I much prefer the more holographic imaging of the L300 to the HD800's artificially widened and somewhat blurred imaging. I also found that I much prefer a punchy and forward headphone in almost all cases. Regardless, I will give a daily reminder to hold off purchasing any of these headphones without a chance to demo them first. I know it's hard to find a pair of Stax but they're really something you have to try first.

 

[trumpet19019]

I've heard that hd800 set up too. It does have a very wide soundstage, but imo it's wrong. I listened to Mahler symphony 3. On HD 800 soundstage is very wide but instruments seem to be on one plane.

With l300 the soundstage seems about half as wide but the instruments are in the right place. And the distance of the different instruments is more apparent .

 

[Revolution1]

On HD 800 soundstage is very wide but instruments seem to be on one plane.

The issues of normal scene and holographic images for HD800 are solved by source and amplification.

 

[tigon_ridge]

So I was watching a movie. I didn't turn on the volume very high, but an unexpected lightning strike (in the movie) suddenly exploded and scared the living daylights out of me. It was pretty damn loud, and the transient was very fast and sharp. The L300 is really impressive. Must have very good dynamic range beside the snappiness.

 

[Jettsom]

Just got the SRS-3100 kit and I’m literally mesmerized by the sound quality. Never heard so much details in a song before! I listened today to my favorite album of all time that I know in and out since 25 years and I heard small details that I never new were there! Now I need to sell all my previous gear, they are irrelevant now (Hifiman Ananda, DT-1990: Audio-GD 1-amp). Will probably upgrade to a better amp for my stax. The 252s is at its limit I believe on my setup.

 

[Mach3]

Just got the SRS-3100 kit and I’m literally mesmerized by the sound quality. Never heard so much details in a song before! I listened today to my favorite album of all time that I know in and out since 25 years and I heard small details that I never new were there! Now I need to sell all my previous gear, they are irrelevant now (Hifiman Ananda, DT-1990: Audio-GD 1-amp). Will probably upgrade to a better amp for my stax. The 252s is at its limit I believe on my setup.

If you're a bit handy with a soldering iron. You can mod the 252s to a decent level as the lambda aren't that power hungry. Because it doesn't really scales like the SR-007 or SR-009. I actually prefer my modded 252s over my SRM-353X. Slightly more warmer.

 

[Jettsom]

If you're a bit handy with a soldering iron. You can mod the 252s to a decent level as the lambda aren't that power hungry. Because it doesn't really scales like the SR-007 or SR-009. I actually prefer my modded 252s over my SRM-353X. Slightly more warmer.

Can you tell me more about this mod? I considered the 353x as my next option. Do running it balanced makes a huge difference vs the 252s?

 

[Mach3]

Search HF for 252mod. I haven't tried running the 353X in balance. I will get back to you on that one over the weekend.