[pjc68]

Hi there
Won these on ebay from germany and just waiting for it to arrive here in the uk
It is a sr5 gold (white body) and the srd6sb energiser
Anyone give me info on the sound quality on these, and if they should beat any of my
headphones listed at the bottom of the page
I know theres a stax thread with thousands of posts, but i havent got a year to read it
paddy

 

[NamelessPFG]

I don't know how well they compare against my Lambdas, but I guess I can give you an idea of what to expect from electrostatics:
 
-'Stat fans mention "clear sound" and "effortless delivery" a lot. It might sound like audiophile babble at first, but once you listen for a bit and go back to dynamics, they start sounding...veiled. All of them. And it doesn't sound like the electrostatic drivers struggle to do this in the least, even with rapid-fire notes going off. You tend to notice details more with electrostatics; it's not as if fast dynamics can't reproduce them, based on some A/B tests with the AD700s, but they just don't jump out as much for some reason, as if they're a bit muddied into the rest of the music.
 
-I don't consider the bass anemic at all, but it's not going to give you a head concussion if that's what you're looking for. You'll hear every note delivered very well, but don't expect to feel them as much. You might actually find this quite appealing instead of a detractor, since the sound tends to just flow into your ears instead of being forced in.
 
-Some consider the vintage Lambda-series models to be the ideal starting spot without severe initial wallet shock. Others suggest any Stax model in working order puts you near the high end. Hard to say when I've heard only one so far, and it's not even stock. (Rebuilt drivers with thicker diaphragms.)

 

[pjc68]

Thanks for the reply nameless
I really like my akg headphones and they are not bass monsters, so i should take to the
stax easier than someone who likes heavy bass
If they beat my k501,s then i will be happy
Any other stax people out there who could help, they are in the post office at the moment and
will pick them up tommorrow
paddy

 

[ilikepooters]

how much do they cost roughly with energizer?
 
I was going to save up for some 007's after i've saved up for some LCD-2's, but might give these a blast instead if they're any good.

 

[Thermionic]

 
I have had a pair of SR5s since I bought them new a long time ago. They aren’t the gold version so I can only assume that your pair should be better than mine - and I don’t have any of your existing phones apart from a set of Grado Sr125s. But my vintage Stax phones do sound obviously much better than the SR125s, and my expectation would be that the Stax electrostatics would ‘beat’ all your other cans (provided you have a reasonably good power amp to drive the energiser). Of course this is providing that your idea of ‘beating’ includes good old fashioned hi-fi values such as low distortion, smooth (and wide) frequency response and ‘accuracy’. Of course your phones like mine will be old now and may need a little work to get them working properly. Not an impossible job though - if you are lucky... 

 

[rhythmdevils]

I'd say they'll be about neck and neck with your K501's and direct competitors since they have a very similar sound signature.  I think they will both have advantages over the other and it will come down to what is more important to you.  The 5nb will have the smooth, grain free speed of electrostats while the K501 will have bigger soundstage and maybe a more coherent sound, the 5nb sounded a bit thin and inconsistent in it's FR to me.  Maybe a bit thinner than the K501 but not as flat, and I don't think the midrange sounded as full on the 5nb's.  I think the K501 will exhibit more harshness
 
This is all from memory though.  I had the 5nb Gold AFAIK but the body was black. 

 

[nick n]

When you get them hooked up give them a chance to get going and sort of warm up for at least a few minutes before you judge them. They may need time to get back to full charge, who knows how long they had been off. Be sure to start with low volume when you switch them on, but that's sort of a typical thing to do anyhow.
I have the SR-5 regular whites, but if I ever run across the gold ones ( with black housings ) I'll probably get them right away.  Great score!
I still like them better than everything I have so far with maybe only my custom orthodynamic and the Audio Technica AT-705 's( electret ) coming close in similar qualities. They aren't bass-monsters, but there is enough there for me.
Not much can touch them in clarity and I guess the other term would be speed. I assume your music sources are lossless of art least high bit-rates?
And you can always play around with an equalizer too or try different amps. I love them on my tube amp.
 
Drop in again to tell us what you think when you get em going.
Sorry for blabbing on I'm jealous of those Gold ones. Better diaphragm should = better sound. Wow It's already great