[Geezer Rock 001]

Hey congrats for finding such great on your system, and thanks for dealing with my questions as I'm still trying to grasp it. So if I got it right, you're saying your favorite is the L300 with L500 pads, but that applies only to your L300 regular edition, but for the L300 Limited Edition you prefer it with the SoCas/ZMF pads - so the latter is what you'd recommend for my L300 LE, right? If so, I'm also quite curious to see what the SoCas/ZMF looks like when it fits on the L300's if you have a photo. Thanks again

All of my comparisons were on L300 s. No limited editions were involved. VRacer-111 is the person who compared the L300 and L300LE.

I posted a thread in this section about the SoCas adapters that has some pictures. If you want more, let me know.

 

[tigon_ridge]

I don't mean to ruin the party, but I wonder if I should take a photo of the arch of my L300. It broke in two places a while back, and then I frankensteined the thing back together. I thought it would be funny to share, but not sure. These things sound so great. I just wish Stax had made them a bit more robust.

 

[DecentLevi]

I have L300 Limited and they are amazing, after you EQ them a little. I *highly* encourage you to use EQ to tweak the sound to your liking instead of changing amps. Much much easier and cheaper way.

I for one am a believer in amps. Quite a great many times I have noticed differences on amps that are far reaching and do greatly more than any EQ'ing alone can do, things like soundstage, detail, instrument separation and dynamics and more can be improved; granted that mostly applied to standard headphone amps, but even for the recent comparison I did with the Stax SRM-1 MK2 vs. that Jade 2 Energizer, I heard immediate differences such as larger soundstage and realism; something EQ does not do. For changing the frequency response, earpads can help there also. Looking forward to the response from Vracer on energizers.

 

[VRacer-111]

Very interesting options I never considered! So you're saying Mjolnir Audio makes electrostat transformers like an energizer but you still need another amp to power it, and the result (can be) better than from any single energizer. To avoid too much bulk I may shy away from this idea, unless perhaps Mjolnir Audio may have a decent transformer that may be driven well enough with an efficient amp? I have a custom SET transformer-coupled tube headphone amp on the way from Glenn Studios (similar to his GEL3N amp) and it also has an 8-ohm output to drive efficient bookshelf speakers, so ideally I would run that into the e-stat transformer, and I would also be able to flavor the sound with tubes. I'm not sure on the amount of watts this puts out but would it have to have a certain minimum to sound great with deep impactful, punchy bass and potential volume amount, or is the something that can either be customized on order of their e-stat transformers, or is otherwize dependent on the model I buy?

I would need to use standard RCA interconnects though.

What I'm saying is for my preferences (strong low end presence, punchy sound with a full body) the e-stat transformer + stereo amp with my L300 Limiteds sounds best to me.

Mjolnir has two transformer units to choose from: the modded SRD-7 and now custom Lundalh e-stat transformer which controls the e-stats but require an amp to actually power them. Transformers are basically the electrostat control unit, where the amp is what actually powers it and mostly gives the particular flavor of sound to it. Not sure what kind of minimum wattage is actually needed for the transformer units, but from what I seem to remember for the STAX SRD-7, at least a 20 watt or so amp is recommend. My NAD C275BEE is 150 Watt continous/250 Watt dynamic @ 0.008 % THD rated, with over 123dB SNR and +/- 0.1dB frequency response from 20Hz to 20kHz and was 'free' being repurposed from my HT system.

Mjolnir Audio does have lots of options though, in various price ranges, for powering E-stats:

https://mjolnir-audio.com/products/

RCA connections are what I use with my E-stat rig as the NAD C275BEE only has the RCA inputs.

 

[DecentLevi]

@VRacer-111 yup I'm with you there on that same mission for strong low end presence, punchy and (fairly) full body so when time / funds permit I'll likely also be going a similar route with the Mjolnir transformer units to get the best sound out of the L300 Limiteds with an external amp. I see this method as a sort of 'transparent adapter' to essentially allow for amp rolling to find the best pairing with the L300, via the transformer. IIRC, my incoming headphone tube amp will be on the lower end of your recommended wattage range (maybe even closer to just 20 watts). So to get a better idea of amping requirements or other questions / customizations would you recommend I just contact the manufacturer directly from that link, or better yet is there any thread for it on a forum like Head-Fi?

Oh and which pads did you prefer on your L300?

 

[DecentLevi]

All of my comparisons were on L300 s. No limited editions were involved. VRacer-111 is the person who compared the L300 and L300LE.

I posted a thread in this section about the SoCas adapters that has some pictures. If you want more, let me know.

Hi again, so you only have the L300 standard right? And since your preference for the L500 pads + blu tack mod is with the standard L300, it makes me wonder if those would be too dark for the L300 LE; considering from what I've read the LE version is darker than the original L300, and that even with the original you still had to EQ out some of the bass... but I though I also remember reading something about the L300 LE version already having the L500 pads - or it could have been the L700 pads.

Oh and I found your thread here for the ZMF pads with Socas adapters. Any more words on the sonic difference between this and the L500 pads? Thanks!

 

[DecentLevi]

I don't mean to ruin the party, but I wonder if I should take a photo of the arch of my L300. It broke in two places a while back, and then I frankensteined the thing back together. I thought it would be funny to share, but not sure. These things sound so great. I just wish Stax had made them a bit more robust.

Sure post a photo of your broken headband yokes, Maybe we will have some suggestions for it.

 

[VRacer-111]

@VRacer-111 yup I'm with you there on that same mission for strong low end presence, punchy and (fairly) full body so when time / funds permit I'll likely also be going a similar route with the Mjolnir transformer units to get the best sound out of the L300 Limiteds with an external amp. I see this method as a sort of 'transparent adapter' to essentially allow for amp rolling to find the best pairing with the L300, via the transformer. IIRC, my incoming headphone tube amp will be on the lower end of your recommended wattage range (maybe even closer to just 20 watts). So to get a better idea of amping requirements or other questions / customizations would you recommend I just contact the manufacturer directly from that link, or better yet is there any thread for it on a forum like Head-Fi?

Oh and which pads did you prefer on your L300?

Yeah, just send email to Birgir (Spritzer) at the address shown in the link I gave and he'll get back with you on any questions.

As for what pads I like on the L300, that would be the L500's... stock pads are way too thin for me

 

[Geezer Rock 001]

Hi again, so you only have the L300 standard right? And since your preference for the L500 pads + blu tack mod is with the standard L300, it makes me wonder if those would be too dark for the L300 LE; considering from what I've read the LE version is darker than the original L300, and that even with the original you still had to EQ out some of the bass... but I though I also remember reading something about the L300 LE version already having the L500 pads - or it could have been the L700 pads.

Oh and I found your thread here for the ZMF pads with Socas adapters. Any more words on the sonic difference between this and the L500 pads? Thanks!

Yes mine is the standard L300. Actually two. One with 500/blue tack mod and another one that I rotated Koss pleather pads on L300 pad frames and the SoCas/ZMF pads on it. Much deeper bass extension. The SoCas was good but the 500/blu was best.

I much prefer the 500/blu. I cannot say for certain that the drivers were equal between to two different L300 s but the 500/blu was a better listen for me.

But... The version of SoCas adapter that I used was not the one that they offer to improve the bass response.

From what I have read and experienced, VRacer-111 should be your go to guy for pad recommendations on the L series Stax. imo he knows his stuff!

 

[DecentLevi]

Photos courtesy of @Geezer Rock 001

These were from your thread for ZMF pads on SoCas adapter (apologies if you don't want these posted here, let me know and I can remove it). I hate to judge the sound by appearance - Granted it's thicker but it also seems to lose some of that extra open space internally vs. the stock pads, and that has me wondering it it may cause the soundstage to be smaller or somehow less than optimal? And I'm not sure I can get used to the odd look.

I'm more interested in the L500 pads. I like how you said it adds more more bass / impact, but I'm curious is the only difference that it's a little thicker (maybe 1/2 inch?), or is it a different material? Moreover can anyone recommend a good source for a pair? I looked on the usual places like eBay and HifiShark but couldn't find any for sale. Thanks!

 

[Geezer Rock 001]

Photos courtesy of @Geezer Rock 001

These were from your thread for ZMF pads on SoCas adapter (apologies if you don't want these posted here, let me know and I can remove it). I hate to judge the sound by appearance - Granted it's thicker but it also seems to lose some of that extra open space internally vs. the stock pads, and that has me wondering it it may cause the soundstage to be smaller or somehow less than optimal? And I'm not sure I can get used to the odd look.

I'm more interested in the L500 pads. I like how you said it adds more more bass / impact, but I'm curious is the only difference that it's a little thicker (maybe 1/2 inch?), or is it a different material? Moreover can anyone recommend a good source for a pair? I looked on the usual places like eBay and HifiShark but couldn't find any for sale. Thanks!

Being new to the Stax platform and seeing how poorly the L300 pads had flattened with age, I was a little skeptical about shelling out $100 for the L500 pads.

The ZMF pads did not seem to block any of the driver surface and diminish their performance. The ZMF pads compress quite a bit to conform to your head.

To me the benefit of the SoCas adapters is that they allow you to try many of the replacement pads that are out there to find the sound and the fit that works best for you.

 

[DecentLevi]

I've found the L500 earpads are available on Staxaudio.com. But it only says it's the Stax EP L500 MK2 earpad, only compatible with SR-L500 and SR-L700 MK2. Does someone know is this also works on the L300 Limited Edition? And is there a cheaper option anywhere? Also I was curious is this the same material as the stock L300 earpads, just a little thicker? Thanks...

 

[tigon_ridge]

Sure post a photo of your broken headband yokes, Maybe we will have some suggestions for it.

The thing is already fixed. It just doesn't look good. Then again, nobody buys a L300 for its bling factor. Stax skimped a little bit too much on material for the weight savings on these headphones.

 

[Meanstreak242]

I've found the L500 earpads are available on Staxaudio.com. But it only says it's the Stax EP L500 MK2 earpad, only compatible with SR-L500 and SR-L700 MK2. Does someone know is this also works on the L300 Limited Edition? And is there a cheaper option anywhere? Also I was curious is this the same material as the stock L300 earpads, just a little thicker? Thanks...

Most likely. I've not tried the l500 pads, but I bought l700 pads for my l300 limiteds and they fit on with no problem. (They were a little stiff at first, I found I had to put a little more pressure on the sides but once they slipped they fit perfectly.) If the l500 pads say they work on the l700 mk2, they should work on the l300 limited.

 

[DecentLevi]

Can @VRacer-111 or someone confirm if the above mentioned L500 pads would be likely to fit on the L300 LE? And is there any more affordable source? And is it the same material as L300 LE pads only a little thicker? Thanks...