Sep 24, 2013 at 8:44 PM Post #466 of 3,353
  Speaking of wub wubs and sparkles, some guy came to audition my SRM-T1 the other day with normal bias Lambdas and said he was missing the slam/impact.
 
 
confused_face(1).gif

 
The NB Lambda's don't have much slam and impact so I'd agree with him there. Should've told him if he wanted to slam or impact get some Beatz by Dr Dre 
biggrin.gif
 
 
Sep 24, 2013 at 9:00 PM Post #467 of 3,353
If you want shouty mids, get an SR-5, more forward mids than the Lambda with the rest of the spectrum a notch down in quality or so.  
I strongly disagree with the comment of how a regular Lambda package being ahead of the HD800's sound, I've owned enough and both multiple times to say this is not true. A well powered HD800 is better than the entire Lambda frame earspeakers with a few equal or tradeoffs compared to the LNS which is my reference Lambda for baseline comparisons. Ask spritzer on his impressions of his L2 powered HD800.
 
Yeah extra $400 worth of extra clamping force onto your noggin'. If there is one thing I like Stax to bring back is the first Lambda frame headband designs, so comfortable with zilch clamping force.

 
I'm not sure I want 'em "shouty"; that "beater" Lambda of mine probably already qualifies with the midrange hump. What I like about a real, well-cared-for SR-Lambda compared to that set is that it's more even throughout the spectrum, yet this does not detract from the vocals. I'm not sure it's all that easy to explain, but this is something the SR-202 and HE-400 failed at.
 
Also, I was under the impression that spritzer preferred even Lambda-frame Stax to every dynamic driver headphone ever made, HD800 included. There is the possibility that I may have been looking at old posts and/or putting the wrong name to those old posts. Still, the important part you mentioned is "well powered", which I suppose makes the HD800 like the Omega-series sets in that respect...my question is what kind of amp would be an ideal match for the HD800 in the first place. The Stax situation is much simpler simply because there aren't that many amps to choose from; they're either compatible or they're not.
 
I don't like the higher clamping force with the Nova/numerical arc much, either; it turned out that my "beater" Lambda was actually much looser than usual, but my "quality" SR-Lambda manages to have just enough clamp to keep it on my head solidly WITHOUT being irritating about it.
 
Speaking of wub wubs and sparkles, some guy came to audition my SRM-T1 the other day with normal bias Lambdas and said he was missing the slam/impact.
 
confused_face(1).gif

 
Eh, I think they have plenty of slam and impact already. Not HE-400 level, but it's way more than the AD700.
 
I'm not a basshead, and I most certainly don't want my headphones giving me a concussion when I'm trying to pinpoint people to shoot in the face in the middle of a firefight and there are explosions going off everywhere.
 
Besides, if that's what people are looking for, I don't think ANY headphone can deliver that with authority. For that matter, I haven't even found many full-size subwoofers that can extend down to 20 Hz and reproduce that well. Controlled sub-bass must be difficult, and I don't know what people like Hans Zimmer are thinking if they use parts of the audio spectrum that only a very small minority of audio equipment will ever be able to reach. (Overtones? Wanting people to upgrade to audiophile-quality stuff to make the most out of their soundtracks?)
 
Sep 24, 2013 at 9:18 PM Post #468 of 3,353
  Also, I was under the impression that spritzer preferred even Lambda-frame Stax to every dynamic driver headphone ever made, HD800 included. There is the possibility that I may have been looking at old posts and/or putting the wrong name to those old posts. Still, the important part you mentioned is "well powered", which I suppose makes the HD800 like the Omega-series sets in that respect...my question is what kind of amp would be an ideal match for the HD800 in the first place. The Stax situation is much simpler simply because there aren't that many amps to choose from; they're either compatible or they're not.
 
His impressions have since changed as that was a very old post back from few years ago, same thing happened when he heard the LCD2's at Canjam in 10 and was the best headphone to him at the time, those expectational bias has since worn off and he likes the HD800's but dislikes the LCD2's which are still not bad. Which goes to say meet impressions don't mean schiit.
 
Yeah therein lies the problem with the HD800, well powered is going to translate to time, effort and lots of $$$ to get it sounding on par with some of the good electrostats heck when I compared my Omega I's off a T1S to my HD800 off a class A hybrid tube design I was playing around with, they are very similar sounding, the HD800's is a finicky bitch and the sound level performance wasn't far off. 
 
With less expensive Lambda frame earspeakers I'd say you get 80% of the HD800's sound which is powered off a mediocre mid range amp so really not that bad at all. 
 
I don't like the higher clamping force with the Nova/numerical arc much, either; it turned out that my "beater" Lambda was actually much looser than usual, but my "quality" SR-Lambda manages to have just enough clamp to keep it on my head solidly WITHOUT being irritating about it.
 
Indeed +1.
 
Eh, I think they have plenty of slam and impact already. Not HE-400 level, but it's way more than the AD700.
 
AD700's have no bass. 

Updated response.
 
Sep 24, 2013 at 9:29 PM Post #469 of 3,353
The SR-Lambda (NB) is particularly standout because of its midrange reproduction, in my experience. It's definitely a vocal lovers'


Thanks for the info Nameless. This would be my first Stax, so I've mostly been looking at the current production models and so don't know a whole lot about vintage Stax.

But the all black finish is so worth an extra $400!  


Haha, I can't lie, that is part of the reason I might go for a 507 as opposed to a 407 :) But, more importantly, I have a small head and might actually need that extra clamp. Plus the fact that I could get them for ~750 on PriceJapan or Amazon makes it a lot more tempting :)
 
Sep 24, 2013 at 10:43 PM Post #470 of 3,353
Someday, Head-Fi as a whole needs to get together and find owners of at least one of every Lambda frame produced, put them all together in a room, and not let them leave until we know which one is best.
 
Sep 24, 2013 at 10:49 PM Post #471 of 3,353
  Someday, Head-Fi as a whole needs to get together and find owners of at least one of every Lambda frame produced, put them all together in a room, and not let them leave until we know which one is best.

That would be so much fun.  and educational.  
 
Sep 25, 2013 at 12:42 AM Post #476 of 3,353
  Which two are those mechgamer?

 
That would be mine and Miceblue's headphones. My SR-202s with leather pads from the SR-507 on the left and Mice's 207s with the stock pleather on the right.
 
Sep 25, 2013 at 12:45 AM Post #478 of 3,353
when you say + leather pads it means that the cans were already replaced with those pads right. Those didn't come stock on the old 202?

 
Correct. I bought the leather 507 pads from Amazon Japan for 5000 yen (~$50 USD) earlier this year.
 
Sep 25, 2013 at 1:11 AM Post #479 of 3,353
The SR-202 + leather sounds warmer, smoother, and airier than the stock SR-207 to me. The stock SR-207 sounds a bit shoutier at times and the treble has a peak that makes it a bit crunchier-sounding.



Sub bass with the stock SR-207 is definitely lacking compared to the SR-202 + leather. I also got a much larger sense of space in this track. The treble sounds pretty crunchy with the SR-207.

 

* all with the SRM-252S, and I forgot to use the step-down transformer. XD
 
Sep 25, 2013 at 1:37 AM Post #480 of 3,353

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top