[whatdidyoulearnabout]

My first set of STAX have arrived! L700 mk2s. I'm beyond excited to give them a listen. The packaging and build is really rather lovely. Very retro chic.
Picking up a barely-used D50 tomorrow about an hour's drive away. I got a good deal so as long as it's all in working order, I'll be very happy.

I also bought a wooden headphone stand made of cherry and hornbeam to show them off. Made in and shipped from Ukraine. But that'll take a couple weeks to arrive.

Nice. I actually have been using that setup for 2-3 years now.

Using it so much, in fact, that I actually came to head-fi to complain that my L700 MK2s' plastic headband snapped, and to try to brainstorm about how to get Stax to pay for a replacement ($200 it looks like, out of pocket).

 

[kael13]

How did it snap? Were there signs of wear and tear on it before it broke?
I gave them a thorough listen to for a few days and have been really enjoying them. I had it in my head that they would sound a little unnatural with the huge amounts of airiness and detail, from what I remembered from my time demoing them years ago. Instead, they sound rather similar to some triple driver IEMs I own that use electrets for the treble. There’s plenty of bass still and they’re just a really compelling listen.

Unfortunately the weather has been too warm for headphones so they haven’t had much use.

 

[whatdidyoulearnabout]

How did it snap?

Like this (ignore the plants in the background; the plant lights were the brightest and best way to show this):

Were there signs of wear and tear on it before it broke?

No warning signs; I just pulled the cups apart per usual to place them on my head one day, and… crack. I was not storing them in any unusual way, just on a regular stand (no tension on the headband arc while at rest).

I’m getting more angry with Stax, as they completely ignored the implication that 2 years’ use isn’t a reasonable amount of wear for this to happen, and simply suggested I pay $220 for the replacement assembly (which, includes more than the headband, which I don’t even need). Given its durability, that piece of plastic could not be more than say 70 cents to manufacture. Quite the profit margin.

 

[whatdidyoulearnabout]

Update: I'm gonna try to use the SR-009 headband arc, which they do sell separately for some reason, and for $90 which is more reasonably-priced. I had a hex screwdriver so disassembled the cup from the broken arc, and from eyeballing the screw socket, I think the lambda cups should fit.

I'm less confident about the leather strap part, but again, eyeballing it seems to indicate it will.

 

[yapp]

Update: I'm gonna try to use the SR-009 headband arc, which they do sell separately for some reason, and for $90 which is more reasonably-priced. I had a hex screwdriver so disassembled the cup from the broken arc, and from eyeballing the screw socket, I think the lambda cups should fit.

I'm less confident about the leather strap part, but again, eyeballing it seems to indicate it will.

Any update on this? Did it fit?

 

[whatdidyoulearnabout]

Any update on this? Did it fit?

The SR-009 band just came a few days ago, as it was apparently backordered a month.

I haven’t gotten a chance to actually install it yet, but I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t fit. The only difference, on eyeballing it right next to the original, is that it has “SR-009” printed in small letters on the top of the headband.

In parallel, I also had the SR-sigma band 3D-printed as I found STLs for it online. It’s more of a project than I thought (I also needed to print other parts as that band isn’t even close to compatible with the odd fittings on the L700; the other parts did arrive, but I’ll ignore them until this SR-009 band breaks, which should be in about 2 years if it matches the longevity of the previous one).

 

[whatdidyoulearnabout]

Update 2: @yapp's post inspired me to install the new band today. It went flawlessly — just like the original, I believe. It wasn't too hard, I just* needed a small regular Phillips-head screwdriver.

*I actually slightly shot myself in the foot by removing the hex screw at the very bottom of the yoke, which was completely unnecessary, and a bit tedious to put back on. For anyone trying to replicate this, it's not easy to do this by accident as the hex screw required a special screwdriver that I had for other reasons (replacing the SSD in my old macbook).

 

[gordon0986]

Impressions:
This is going to be a review both the SRM-D50 and my new Stax SR-007A.

The design of the SRM-D50 and its packaging all looks really nice. The assembly leaves a little to be desired though. There are a few cosmetic issues with my unit.
The whole box runs pretty hot, maybe around 125 F. I'm not sure how hot is normal for Stax amps.

I just got a pair of Stax SR-007A headphones. This is my first time listening to them with my own music.
I've heard Stax headphones before and I've always liked the transparency of the upper-end models.
I was expecting to hear very transparent headphones with little bass impact.

I was wrong.

The transparency wasn't much better than that of TOTL dynamic headphones, but still, I'm comparing this to headphones as, if not more expensive like the LCD-4 and Utopia.
I think part of this is because they sound more close/intimate than the models I've heard in the past. It might be due to the shape of the drivers?
What was really strange to me is that not only did they have impactful bass, but it went deep as well.
They sound very smooth and musical while retaining some electrostatic speed, allowing me to hear all the glitches in poorly recorded music. Yay.

I just recently sold my LCD-4 and was surprised how much these sound like it. They're like the LCD-4 but more comfortable with clearer midrange, but have less sub-bass impact, and less smooth treble.
The SR-007A should appeal to almost everyone. It has a sound very similar to dynamics.

The SRM-D50 seems to drive them well, being one of the higher output 400V units. I get good volume around 40-50% on the volume dial. From what I've read, my impressions of my SR-007A are in-line or more favorable, which leads me to believe that I'm not under-driving them.

Overall, ignoring the cosmetic issues with my amp, this amp seems to drive the SR-007A well and I really like the appearance and form factor of it.

How would this drive The nectar hive x! Was thinking getting this our the topping EH5 amplifier but the all in one is tempting since the only other thing I can pair the EH with is the the hifiman ef 400

 

[gordon0986]

Impressions:
This is going to be a review both the SRM-D50 and my new Stax SR-007A.

The design of the SRM-D50 and its packaging all looks really nice. The assembly leaves a little to be desired though. There are a few cosmetic issues with my unit.
The whole box runs pretty hot, maybe around 125 F. I'm not sure how hot is normal for Stax amps.

I just got a pair of Stax SR-007A headphones. This is my first time listening to them with my own music.
I've heard Stax headphones before and I've always liked the transparency of the upper-end models.
I was expecting to hear very transparent headphones with little bass impact.

I was wrong.

The transparency wasn't much better than that of TOTL dynamic headphones, but still, I'm comparing this to headphones as, if not more expensive like the LCD-4 and Utopia.
I think part of this is because they sound more close/intimate than the models I've heard in the past. It might be due to the shape of the drivers?
What was really strange to me is that not only did they have impactful bass, but it went deep as well.
They sound very smooth and musical while retaining some electrostatic speed, allowing me to hear all the glitches in poorly recorded music. Yay.

I just recently sold my LCD-4 and was surprised how much these sound like it. They're like the LCD-4 but more comfortable with clearer midrange, but have less sub-bass impact, and less smooth treble.
The SR-007A should appeal to almost everyone. It has a sound very similar to dynamics.

The SRM-D50 seems to drive them well, being one of the higher output 400V units. I get good volume around 40-50% on the volume dial. From what I've read, my impressions of my SR-007A are in-line or more favorable, which leads me to believe that I'm not under-driving them.

Overall, ignoring the cosmetic issues with my amp, this amp seems to drive the SR-007A well and I really like the appearance and form factor of it.

I just ordered the SRM D 50 and Nectar Hive X headphones! I’m really jacked to try them out together

 

[gordon0986]

Nice enough amplifier for 009. Excellent connections to PC. Very hot in summer. Would call it reliable device. Were marginal problems in the beginning of use, but they disappeared itself. Probably some small assembly defects (some poor contacts, useless but nice dancing arrow stacked). Highly recommend D50 if you can afford very hot device on your desk.

I actually use the D50 with the Nectar Hive X’s! But sounds better paired with a solid state amp, I use it as a stack with my Hifiman EF 400 and actually sounds great together as a combo

 

[6PANDEMONIUM6]

My new SRM-D50 is inbound. It should be delivered tomorrow. I'm going to be using it with a set of Audeze CRBNs. The CRBN is supposedly pretty easy to drive as far as e-stats go so it should work well. I'll come back here to give my impressions on the pairing.

 

[6PANDEMONIUM6]

Honestly, I must say that it doesn't drive them very well. At normal listening volumes I'm at 2-3 o'clock on the knob and when a big bass swing hits the D50 clips. It also sounds a bit thin and grainy.