[mapstec]

Folks,

I need your help!

I have recently started my journey into head-fi and now I am at a crossroads of sorts:

I bought an amp or three and a headphone or 5, and now I think I know what I am looking for...

The last phone I got is a K340 and to me sounds very good, I love the way that it gives the instruments room to breathe and to perform.

I want more of that!

Now, the very best speakers I ever heard were a pair of Electrostats and I am wondering if a 'stat only headphone is the way to go....

Looking at e**y both in Europe as well as the US shows that Stax prices used by now seem to be out of control, i.e. way to high for me to spend on twenty year old equipment that comes without any kind of warranty.

Looking at the STAX SRS-2050A entry combo and the price when imported via PriceJapan they seem to be a steal.

They are including with a dedicated amp 1.5x the price of say a K701 (that I still would need to buy in the US...).

So I wonder:
- go on with the K340 and update the amp or
- sell the amp and the K340 again and get the Stax combo

According to the survey in the other thread more people like the Stax then the K340.
So please help me with your input.

Thanks in advance

 

[HFat]

There's a third possibility:
Get the Stax, decide you prefer the AKG and sell the Stax to me. I was thinking about buying a 2050 from pricejapan myself... so, if you get one first, you wouldn't be taking a very big financial risk.

Alternatively, we could import two systems and save on fees.

 

[kpeezy]

OR a third option is that you get the Stax, decide you prefer the AKG, and then sell the Stax to ME!

Well.. I guess that lets you know that there are buyers for it if you decide you want the K340's

 

[onyu]

Well, first decent headphone I got was a Stax after I asked for advice here on head-fi.
It was Stax vs Beyer dt-880 + amp.
I really enjoy my Stax

Anyway, go Stax, they are uglier

 

[mapstec]

ok,

looks like I get to option 4:
import a few set off entry level Stax, sell them at a profit and go for the even better ones...

 

[HFat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpeezy /img/forum/go_quote.gif OR a third option is that you get the Stax, decide you prefer the AKG, and then sell the Stax to ME!

You don't live in Switzerland now, do you?

 

[kpeezy]

I guess not

I guess since they would be so new there wouldn't be much of a price drop

Damn..

 

[Duggeh]

I bought a Stax 2020 (the model before the 2050).

I haven't looked back. Electrostatics and their brethren are the one true path. You'll toss the K340 out on the heap to rot away in a lonely and sad desolation until the charge in its electret dies out forever.


And once you've got that 2050, the next stop is the Omega 2. Lord of headphones.

 

[Faust2D]

Sell the K340 and the amp and get the Stax

 

[dmcs414]

This question may be better for the Stax thread, but I was wondering how the 2050A combo is regarded compared to the other Stax combos. How does it stack up against the other current-model combos like the 3050A and the 4040A? Also are the 202, 303 and 404 earspeakers considered better, worse or equal to the SR Lambda Nova series?

Like the OP, I'd really like to get myself some Staxes to try out but am wondering if I should opt for the entry-level 2050A combo or save up for one of the more expensive ones, or perhaps try to get an older model Stax combo from the FS forums here or audiogon or somesuch.

 

[spritzer]

The amps and the phones get better when you move up the range but it's a judgment call whether your system will reflect those changes or if you should sink the extra cash in a better source or cables. Stax is ruthlessly revealing and will tell you the good and the bad.

The current series and the Nova are mostly different rather then better. All the different Lambda models are basically a different take on the same subject as Stax has been trying out new materials and techniques over the years something that usually founds it way into the Lambda range after it had been used in the flagship. The new range uses techniques that were used in the SR-007, the Nova borrowed from the SR-Ω, the Signature was designed with the Sigma Pro and the original SR-Lambda uses the a lot of parts from the SR-Sigma which predates it by 2 years. The only odd one out is the Lambda Pro but that's because of the outside influence that prompted its design.

 

[mapstec]

I have underestimated the love for Stax

So far no one has advised me to stay with my current setup...

Let's see if a few more AKG lovers wake up...

and btw I live in Switzerland

 

[Faust2D]

Or there will be a lot of people who will tell you to stay with K340, since it's a great headphone, if you get the right version and if/or you modify them and you get a killer amp for them. In the end K340 might sound very very good, but you will spend lots of time and money on it, in my case it was simpler just to go with Stax, since it sounded much better right out of the box.

 

[kg21]

electrostats is definitely not a bad way to go (can be the best way to go), it just depends on your preference. I think the k340s are one of the best headphones ever made, I consider a modified one with a decent setup to be atleast a class or two above the 2050a you are looking at (that's just imo), but there are a lot of options for electrostats like the 303, 404, older lambdas, sigmas, etc. that are worthy of respect. Btw the fact that you like the k340s with your ibasso d1 means you would probably love them with a better amp. The k340s require ALOT of current, though it doesn't have to be ridiculously expensive there's some good bang for the buck ones if you search, I especially liked them with tubes.

 

[facelvega]

mapstec, as others have mentioned, you can try the Stax with relatively little risk, as you won't lose too much of the price if you decide to resell. I think it's a very good idea to try out an electrostat now that you've heard so much else, and the 2050 is a good starting point.