[wualta]

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Originally Posted by gordie I am so glad someone thinks I am young, with it, and au-go-go (even if I don't know what au-go-go means).

The first US discotheques in the early '60s had "go-go girls" wearing white boots dancing the Frug and Watusi in elevated cages (see the Austin Powers movies). And very bad sound. It was French, it was chic, it was tres, tres hip. The French term for "go-go-escent" or "thing having to do with go-go style" was au go-go or sometimes a gogo.


Firesign Theatre adopted the term as a clunky Wonder Bread / Establishment vision of hipness, which it quickly became. Disco, anglicized, got its revenge with the Bee Gees in the mid-'70s, and that's why your parents are so freaky. Most of them weren't lucky enough to own Stax headphones and thus find a way out of the great cycle of vogue and mode. But that's a topic for the Psychosocial Acoustics forum.


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[Lloyd297]

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Originally Posted by wualta To me they both sound like developments of one basic idea; the Lambda sounds like there's a 3 buried inside it. To put it another way, they both sound Staxish to me. Do they sound different? Of course they do. Will one sound better on one recording and the other sound better on the next? Predictably. If someone asked me which to buy if they could only afford one and the price was the same? I'd say buy the Lambda and don't look back-- it will do more tricks. If they could afford both? Get [I both and don't look back. That 20% became very important to me because I found binaural recordings took on another layer of plausibility with the bass added in, and the attention paid to opening the sound up to the atmosphere added what had been lacking in the 3 (and weirdly present in the ECR-500), the ability to play binaural recordings with rip-the-'phones-off-and-stare-wildly realism. Do I wish the Lambda diaphragm was better damped, like the 3's diaphragm? You bet. Would I be willing to sacrifice the openness of the Lambdas to get this? Never. I'd make the diaphragms twice as big if I had to and go back to the 1-micron skins of the old Lambda Signature and deal with the "etch" somehow[/i]

Well, I agree that both phones probably sound more like each other than pretty well any dynamic on the market but within this broad similarity they offer virtually complementary strengths and weaknesses. Where one excels the other is relatively weak and vice versa......In other words, everybody needs both.

I guess my priorities are slightly different to you. I'm an "accuracy" man and like to feel I'm being presented with a reasonable facsimile of the original, especially in the verisimilitude of the instrumental timbres, rhythmic fidelity, and feeling of "you are there" liveness. In these aspects, the X-III almost always convinces me in a way the 404 rarely approaches. However, I can certainly understand somebody preferring the 404/Lambda's greater FR, sense of an acoustic, and overall sumptuousness. However, the X-III is so far ahead in many respects IMO I really think all headphone addicts should hear them to see just what is possible and what has never been surpassed in its particular strengths to this day.

One thing: I'm not convinced the spatial presentation of the Lambda's is real; it sounds to me as if an inbuilt acoustic is present with all music. There's a cavernous effect at all times.

 

[wualta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lloyd297 Well, I agree that both phones probably sound more like each other than pretty well any dynamic on the market but within this broad similarity they offer virtually complementary strengths and weaknesses. Where one excels the other is relatively weak and vice versa......In other words, everybody needs both.

Amen, preach it, agreed.

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I guess my priorities are slightly different to you.

Not really. We're listening to different things.

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I'm an "accuracy" man...

I was hoping the earlier Mitutoyo comment had been a strong enough hint about myself. I couldn't afford Brown & Sharpe at the time..


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...and like to feel I'm being presented with a reasonable facsimile of the original...

[nods head vehemently] Precisely. And a binaural recording, especially if made using one's own ears/head, is a very good, albeit subjective, test of spatial accuracy.


Quote:

One thing: I'm not convinced the spatial presentation of the Lambda's is real; it sounds to me as if an inbuilt acoustic is present with all music. There's a cavernous effect at all times.

Here we disagree. A spatially accurate headphone will sound different. The Mk 3 sounds closed in, and much of the out-of-head localization ability necessary to hear a binaural recording the way it was intended/recorded is lost. However, the tradeoff is exactly as you said-- if you want to hear what's on a tape or a record or hear the characteristic of a mic or even a mic preamp in a close-up way, the Mk 3 is your tool. I hope someday to have the chance to at least listen to a Mk 3 Pro.

I should point out that I've never heard a 404. They could be doing funny postmodern things. In fact, I haven't heard a single product of the New Stax. Yet.


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[Lloyd297]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta I should point out that I've never heard a 404. They could be doing funny postmodern things. In fact, I haven't heard a single product of the New Stax. Yet.

To be honest, it's pretty well a Lambda Pro as far as I can see. If memory serves, the old model might even be better in some ways (range of tone-colour?) but spatially they're pretty similar. I still think there's a "concert hall" resonance with the entire Lambda range; there's always this echo-effect, even with close-miked and dryly recorded material.

 

[johnmatrix]

I just replaced my pos Kenwood with a panasonic digital amp and wow! The highs have come out to play. I take back my statement about the highs being recessed. On the first track of Eric Clapton's "Unplugged", there is a triangle part I have never heard before and sounds like it is way up there in the treble. Overall the presentation is more spacious and much brighter. Even with my denon 2900, a warm source, nothing really takes over the sound. The amp lets the player shine. Now I wonder what an dedicated amp like the EA-1 sounds like , lol.

 

[wualta]

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Originally Posted by johnmatrix I just replaced my pos Kenwood with a panasonic digital amp and wow! The highs have come out to play. I take back my statement about the highs being recessed.

[mock groaning] Oh, rub it in, why doncha! I'm still trying to wing one of these as they fly over. People just want way too much for 'em. This is the digital amp in the Panasonic receiver, right? the SA-XR55?

 

[Carl]

For the rare stax hunters, there's an SR-X mk2 on ebay right now. A bit too pricy, though, IMO.

 

[smeggy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta [mock groaning] Oh, rub it in, why doncha! I'm still trying to wing one of these as they fly over. People just want way too much for 'em. This is the digital amp in the Panasonic receiver, right? the SA-XR55?

I have the SA-XR25 myself, pretty nice little reciever and cheap as muck.

 

[BluePhone]

Speaking of unuasual Staxen, how many of you have ever seen the "High Definition Moving Coil Earspeaker - Aperio Alpha Pro"?
I could not really say when I bought it. Just happen to run into it today while clearing out some stuff.

 

[Carl]

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Originally Posted by BluePhone Speaking of unuasual Staxen, how many of you have ever seen the "High Definition Moving Coil Earspeaker - Aperio Alpha Pro"? I could not really say when I bought it. Just happen to run into it today while clearing out some stuff.

Ahh yes, Stax's dynamic headphones. If my memory serves they were bellow even the electrets in Stax's line-up.

Here's the unofficial Stax site's listing.

 

[johnmatrix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wualta [mock groaning] Oh, rub it in, why doncha! I'm still trying to wing one of these as they fly over. People just want way too much for 'em. This is the digital amp in the Panasonic receiver, right? the SA-XR55?

Yeah it's the 55. A newer model the 57 is coming out with hdmi 1.2 to enable direct digital amplification of DSD and DVD-A. As for some more impressions, the amp has made me rediscover my speakers. It really makes them sing. The soundstage and FR are both expanded. The high part in Unplugged can be heard through them as well. They can't hold a candle to the detail or sense of space from the stax, but still I am enjoying the amp. Happy huntin'.

 

[Lloyd297]

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnmatrix I just replaced my pos Kenwood with a panasonic digital amp and wow! The highs have come out to play. I take back my statement about the highs being recessed. On the first track of Eric Clapton's "Unplugged", there is a triangle part I have never heard before and sounds like it is way up there in the treble. Overall the presentation is more spacious and much brighter. Even with my denon 2900, a warm source, nothing really takes over the sound. The amp lets the player shine. Now I wonder what an dedicated amp like the EA-1 sounds like , lol.

The X-III's just keep on getting better and better with equipment upgrades. With cheap amps they sound bland and soft but they really come alive with stuff like Krell.........

 

[ESL-1]

Glad to read all the SRX feedback. Back in the mid/late 70's SRX-mk3's turned me into a headphone addict. They are still amazing in their overall capabilities and well worth grabbing if a pair comes your way. I currently use mine with an SRM-1 amp with good interconnects (AQ Viper) and a Theta Digital transport and DAC. It is an interesting comparison to try it against my Lambda's and SR-5's (which I recently purchased). They have always been a transducer that is very critical of it's source material. You often end up looking for especially "good" sounding stuff to play on them. Enjoy.

 

[Tachikoma]

Which SR-5 do you own? The white one or black one?

*would be extra interested to hear a comparison if its a black one*

 

[edstrelow]

I had the SRXMKIII several years ago and sold them to a friend. He still has them apparently with the adapter box not working. I asked about getting them back, but no response.

I don't have such a fond memory of them but they would be nice to add to the headphone harem.

http://www5.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ght=polygamist