[FullBright1]

Its always a good day when your new electrostatic Stax headphones, shipped from Japan, arrive on a Sunday morning.
I had expected them on Monday, but, they came a day early. (im not complaining).
Thank you DHL, and thank you [SKY Japan Shop] for getting them to me, free shipping included, in only 4 days.
Life is good.....

Ok.
Ive been strapped into them for a while now and just wanted to give you my opinion of them, just in case you have considered or will consider in the future, owning them.

Music ive played through them prior to writing this mini review.

Elvor
Kandace Springs
Tom Chaplin
Omnia
Sarah Jarosz
Phil Keaggy
Yanni
Alice Sara Ott
Adele
Joe Bonamassa
Jeff Lynne (ELO)
Trojka
Backstreet Boyz
VOK
RadioHead
Bireli Lagrene
Maroon 5
Vulfpeck
Gary Numan
Schiller
Chet Baker
Pink Floyd
Yasmine Hamdan

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The Good :

The Stax 's innate ability to resolve and impart all the musical details and thereby involve you deep within it.
The Stax's ability to translate music accurately.

Treble : Faultless

Midrange : Dynamic, generous, & clarifying. ... In no way, shape, or form, reserved or delicate.

Bass : Detailed, solid, and nicely extended.

Overall Tonality : Immaculate, impactful, enormously transparent & balanced...... but with an obvious vow toward the midrange, yet, without even a hit of midrange bloat.

Soundstage : Enjoyable, accurate, and the instrument separation is "Planar Like" if you added steroids.

When listening carefully, there is a certain 3D feeling of immersion within the sound, yet at the same time its very direct, very upfront, and very very dynamic.

The Bad : Not much. I will say that if your Gear's line out is sending a lot of signal, then you might run into a situation where you find there is a slight channel imbalance coming out of the Stax amp until you turn it up. And for me, that was too much Vol. (coming straight out of my OPPO) so, i then changed my Sig-chain so that my Monolith THX AAA is my imput into the Stax amp. Once i did this, i was able to adjust the Vol on the Stax amp to about 9am which made it perfectly balanced between my ears.
So that is your "heads up" if you buy this unit and have a powerful line out signal running into the Stax amp.
You might have to work around it. I did.

The Stax Amp and Wall-wart both get quite warm, but not hot.

The literature is mostly in Japenese with just enough of it in English to get you by. (As long as you read English).

Build Quality is decent. Its not going to impress you or annoy you, certainly not at this price regarding the sound you are getting for your money.

Comfort is a 6.8 ... The pads are decent, the clamp is slightly snug, the headphones are light, but, they are not going to feel as comfy to you, as you would like. There are upgraded pads you can buy, = mods you can do, but im ok with them as they are knowing they are just a tad uncomfortable.
Some headsphones are worth a bit of discomfort, especially if they sound like these. Also, any mod is going to alter their sound, and i would not want to change the sound of these... not at all.
They are brilliant.....

For the price, i can't think of anything that can equal their sound quality.
As a matter of fact, IMO, there is nothing that can quite equal their sound quality even@$2000 USD.
This is my opinion. If you buy them, you will have your opinion.
In that case, i hope we agree.
I think they are great.


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[FullBright1]

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[Jodet]

I've given up on anything that isn't Stax.

 

[FullBright1]

I've given up on anything that isn't Stax.

As i was reviewing these L-300s, a few reviewers implied that once you go Stax, you never go back. ....
Someone also said that listening to a good set of ElectroStatic earspeakers can ruin you regarding all other sets of headphones, including expensive Planers.
I would certainly say that if someone is never satisfied with their headphones no matter how much they spend, then a Stax Electrostatic model could quite possibly be their answer.
And they've been making them since 1938.
Its not just the quality of the sound that is so intense, but the openness of the sound is unmatched by other headphones, that ive ever heard.
Amazing gear.

 

[Tsukuyomi]

Random question, but how is the fit with your ears? i've heard that the 3100 have the smallest pads out of the lineup and that the stax L700 have the best pads from the lineup (excluding the 009 and 007mk2 line).
I've heard people complaining that their ears touch the elextrostatic wall inside the cups. or pintches the plastic around the rim. have you experienced this? also do you wear glasses? how do they feel with glasses on?

 

[FullBright1]

Random question, but how is the fit with your ears? i've heard that the 3100 have the smallest pads out of the lineup and that the stax L700 have the best pads from the lineup (excluding the 009 and 007mk2 line).
I've heard people complaining that their ears touch the elextrostatic wall inside the cups. or pintches the plastic around the rim. have you experienced this? also do you wear glasses? how do they feel with glasses on?

Yes, as i stated in my review, these are not comfortable.
They are not painful, but they are not fun to wear.
I would say that the electrostatic wall is going to touch the majority of ears.
Here is the pad mod that resolves all comfort issues, but, like any mod, its going to change the sound of the gear.

https://socas3d.com/products/socas-padmid-for-stax-l300-l500-l700