[number1sixerfan]

FWIW my first time hearing both the Corina and X9000 was on a BHSE and Grand Cayman at the 2023 NYC CanJam and I had the same impression as you and sixerfan on those TOTL amps, the Corina simply isn't a sparkly/airy headphone, it sounds more like a planar imo. X9000 however immediately made an impression on me. It was the only thing I put on my head at the show where I immediately went ooooohhhhhh. It was the one headphone there that I felt was a clear step above all my other headphones. About 3 months later I bought one cause I just couldn't shake that impression it made.

Now I know shows aren't a good testing environment, BUT, HeadAmp did have their own room AND that same sensation of something "special" I got at the show (that I didn't get with Corina) I also get at home with my personal X9000 now, so it's clear I was at least hearing that correctly. I even liked the X9000 over the Shangri-La Sr but I think that was more a personal thing that I liked the presentation better.

Here's some pics of the exact setup I listened to:
https://www.headphonesty.com/2023/03/canjam-nyc-2023/

The x9000 and SGL Sr. both are an absolute treat out of the Grand Cayman, no matter which you prefer. Really cool that you got to hear them both out of it. I would be very interested in hearing the Corina out of it, but it seems like it doesn't change much based on your impressions. Hopefully I get the chance at some point.

 

[gammi]

The x9000 and SGL Sr. both are an absolute treat out of the Grand Cayman, no matter which you prefer. Really cool that you got to hear them both out of it. I would be very interested in hearing the Corina out of it, but it seems like it doesn't change much based on your impressions. Hopefully I get the chance at some point.

HeadAmp will be there again this year. Fly on out and I'll buy ya lunch
Wish I wrote down my listening notes somewhere. Also worth noting it was only 5min of listening. Perhaps on other tracks/more listening Sr would outshine X9000 for me. It was close, unlike Corina which had a clearly different taste.

 

[draytonklammer]

Really "jazzed" to have issues.
My X9000 has developed a channel imbalance, so I suppose it's off to RMA land for me...
Just hoping that maybe it will be a quick turnaround.

 

[VandyMan]

> sparkly/airy headphone

Since the CRBN, I've been thinking about this. The problem with the presentation of most electrostatic headphones is that it is artificial. Not artificial sounding, but artificial in the sense that it often does not represent what was recorded. I've never heard live unamplified music sound ethereal in quite the same way as some electrostatics. Don't get me wrong, I love my SR-009 and I don't think all headphones need to be accurate. Listen to what gives you pleasure. At the same time, often I do want accuracy and I've come to the conclusion that is not represented by ethereal or airy headphones. That is not a slam against the X9000, which I would get if it cost a bit less and had fewer reliability issues, but rather an endorsement of the presentation of the CRBN and Corina.

 

[gammi]

I guess the way I see it is sparkly/airy is what estats do best and if I didn't want that, I wouldn't be looking at Corina or CRBN, I'd be looking at planar or dynamic.
Corina as a "non estat sound" estat simply falls in an odd place imo.

For what it's worth, I've not heard the SR-009 you're using as your basis. But I've gotta say though, regarding estats being artificial, I'm not sure anything gives me more of an I'm there effect when I listen to live albums than the X9000. It must be doing something in a realistic/not artificial way to give that impression. Did a comparison with a friend of mine that's a high level pianist that's played for decades, he listened to the CA-1a and liked it, listened to the Expanse and liked it, listened to the X9000 and loved it, it stayed on his head probably 5x longer than the others. He messaged me a few months after like "I'm still thinking about how I need one of those damn headphones (X9000)"

 

[MrHaelscheir]

I would attribute the "I'm there effect" to its measurable neutrality as coupled with great recordings. As for "sparkly", I suppose that could be attributed to either the mild 6.5 kHz peak and 13 kHz forwardness at least as measured on my head, though I would consider its 15 kHz and up relatively relaxed; the Sennheiser HE-1 for my ears has a similar upper treble profile, though maybe a bit more forward at 12 kHz. Now, I don't know if any of you have heard the HiFiMan Arya or any of the HE1000s, some having an elevated or peaky top octave. Would one ascribe any sense of "etherealness" or "airiness" to those headphones?

Otherwise, for the "I'm there effect", I still need that neutrality to be coupled with proper speaker-like imaging which can be achieved with HRTF measurements and binaural head-tracking software, placing sound sources neatly and clearly in a line between two virtual speakers, only some recordings like https://app.idagio.com/recordings/20489734 managing to have spatial cues imaging sounds beyond the wall in front of me. Given that, I am still curious as to how folks hear imaging between these different estats, as I almost universally hear stock headphone "soundstage" as extending in an arc between the drivers themselves and a few centimeters before or above my eyes and to my forehead, sometimes behind my ears.

As for comparisons to my recent experiences hearing symphonic works live from within the middle of the orchestra level, the main frontier I am chasing is software else improved HRTF measurements that can better implement the virtual speaker crossfeed to more convincingly image sound sources in the distance ahead of me. After that, I believe there are inherent mismatches between the spectral content of certain instruments as captured at the typical recording microphone positions versus the spectral content that reaches the audience, causing what I mainly perceive as differences in spectral or harmonic balance, only a few recordings coming close. Other errors detracting from the desired level of vividness would relate to standard stereo speaker mixing where the sound sources are physically panned left and right by 30 degrees, incurring a certain HRTF (in-ear frequency response), but the mixers' panning tools fail or are unable to account for the HRTF changes the brain expects from those sound sources originating more centrally. And with that, I believe only ambisonic recording, mixing, and binaural reproduction could accurately present all the sounds in a soundfield transparently to the ears.

 

[gammi]

Yeah, regarding the sparkle I think it's possible to have that and have it sound realistic as well since that sparkle is so far out in the high KHz it doesn't mess with the realism in the mids. Also I feel a lot of the air/sparkle comes not from frequency response but literally how open/transparent the headphones are. The X9000 blocks absolutely nothing when I have them on with nothing playing, they are completely transparent as if they are not there and I think this contributes to sounds decaying more like in open air than in a headphone. CA-1a is another that does this for me and that headphone literally has open holes in the earpad, can't get much more open than that.

Also MrHaelscheir, you might have fun playing around with the Steelseries GG app. It's not an audiophile application, in fact it's for gaming, but I've had some good listening sessions playing around with their spatial effects. They have a slider to position your "speakers" and I tend to just shove them all forward and it gives a great effect. I've very much had some out of my head, even beyond the walls experiences with that. Give it a shot, it's free.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

I forget if the relative closeness the X9000's drivers to my ears as well as issues with the pads' fit on my head caused them to technically feel a tad "less" open than my more physically spacious Arya Stealth and Meze Elite. The Meze Elite does have some back volume damping foam behind the grille which introduces some attenuation, whereas the Arya was my first experience of almost wearing empty rings on the sides of my head. I wouldn't be surprised if the HE1000se were yet more open with its having less magnet obstruction, and then you have the Shangri-La Sr. which I have yet to encounter. IIRC, the 2022 Focal Utopia despite having a clear sense of smaller pads and its being less spacious around the ears had a surprising sense of openness to ambient sound all around.

 

[BassicScience]

> sparkly/airy headphone

Since the CRBN, I've been thinking about this. The problem with the presentation of most electrostatic headphones is that it is artificial. Not artificial sounding, but artificial in the sense that it often does not represent what was recorded. I've never heard live unamplified music sound ethereal in quite the same way as some electrostatics. Don't get me wrong, I love my SR-009 and I don't think all headphones need to be accurate. Listen to what gives you pleasure. At the same time, often I do want accuracy and I've come to the conclusion that is not represented by ethereal or airy headphones. That is not a slam against the X9000, which I would get if it cost a bit less and had fewer reliability issues, but rather an endorsement of the presentation of the CRBN and Corina.

"Ethereal" is not an adjective I'd use to describe the X9000, personally. Furthermore, the X9000 is significantly more accurate timbrally than the SR-009S (I've not heard the SR-009 in a very long time). I did a recent comparative audition between the X9000 and Corina (link below), and found the X9000 significantly more realistic in portraying the ringing overtones of a plucked steel-string acoustic guitar, and just in general. (I used to play acoustic guitars, electric bass, and other instruments in various bands, FWIW.) Obviously, everyone's brain processes sonic inputs differently, so there's no absolute truth here.

My review of X9000 vs. Corina

 

[gammi]

"Ethereal" is not an adjective I'd use to describe the X9000, personally. Furthermore, the X9000 is significantly more accurate timbrally than the SR-009S (I've not heard the SR-009 in a very long time). I did a recent comparative audition between the X9000 and Corina (link below), and found the X9000 significantly more realistic in portraying the ringing overtones of a plucked steel-string acoustic guitar, and just in general. (I used to play acoustic guitars, electric bass, and other instruments in various bands, FWIW.) Obviously, everyone's brain processes sonic inputs differently, so there's no absolute truth here.

My review of X9000 vs. Corina

One thing that stood out to me was you mentioned the lack of sustain on the guitar strings that you're used to. I wonder if the decay is much faster on the Corina (and Expanse and Stealth) because of AMTS. The whole idea of that is to cancel out back propagation aka sounds should hit it and decay immediately vs normal headphones where they bounce around in the cup for a bit. Would love to see someone do a CSD on any of the AMTS equipped headphones.

 

[SolarCetacean]

Just got back from the HeadAmp demo session. 2.5 hours of driving each way, with a bit over 3 hours of listening time. HeadAmp kindly provided me with the X9000, Corina, Susvara, and HD800S along with the CFA3 and BHSE and Chord Hugo TT2. I also brought my own Stax SR-L700mk2 for comparison, but I didn't bring along my Shangri-La Jr. I'll write a more in-depth impressions post later, but to me, the X9000 is head and shoulders above the rest of the headphones I demoed. The closest competition would be the Susvara, but the Sus is a bit too close in character to my Shangri-La Jr to add to my collection.

 

[gammi]

I've got a fun game for anyone with an X9000, try listening to them backwards.
I won't say yet what I hear because I don't want to color anyone's impression but I do hear a change that some people may like...

 

[folkguy]

If I had to guess the stage depth is now backwards and perhaps a gap in the seal creates a mid bass bump, other than that I've no idea since I don't own one It's the best built Stax they ever made though, I wonder what they're gonna do next.

 

[oneguy]

I don’t think we’ll see another flagship or special offering until closer to the end of the decade. Some future anniversaries:


2025: Alpha (Gamma) 40th
2027: Sigma 50th
2028: Stax 90th, Omega 35th
2029: Lambda 50th
….
2038: Stax 100th!!!

I’m already starting to save up. Especially for that last one!

 

[karlheinz147]

Has anyone had the chance to listen to the X9000 on both Grand Cayman and Eksonic T2? Wondering how they compare.