Chris J
Headphoneus Supremus
Yeah, I was listening to the STAX setup again during the wee hours of the morning with no noise around me and I couldn't hear any ham sounds. Strange.
Were the hogs and pigs asleep?
Yeah, I was listening to the STAX setup again during the wee hours of the morning with no noise around me and I couldn't hear any ham sounds. Strange.
Wow, this thread only started a few months ago and it already has 51 pages? I got through the first 5 or 10 or so and couldn't resist any longer. I've just ordered an SRS-2170 to be imported from Japan from a seller on Amazon (I work for Amazon, so I generally buy from/through them when I can) for $640 including expedited shipping. Should arrive Friday or next week, if the shipping estimates are to be believed.
*cue me feeling like an idiot if the other 40 pages of posts have all kinds of horror stories about importing from Japan, or how the 2170 is crap, or whatever* Hopefully not.
I'll be upgrading from HD-595s at home, and MB-Quart 400s (aka German Maestro GMP 400 from before the sale of the MB-Quart brand happened) at work. The Stax will probably live at work (where I do most of my listening). I've built my own headphone amps for my dynamics. I'll post my impressions when I have my new phones-- sorry, earspeakers, and have given them a chance to break in.
Is there a way to consolidate things like "Here's a link to the best mods to the SRM-252S" so that I don't have to go searching through 51 pages of posts (and counting) to find what general consensus is?
207 or the 2170 package is far from crap it's going to be a night and day step up from the 598 and MB Quart 400. You'd only find the Stax disappointing if you like gobs of subwoofer alike bass.
I like clean, clear, detailed bass, not muddy thumpy phase-distorted bass. Let's put it this way: What threw me over the edge into buying the 2170s is when I noticed that the amp was DC coupled. I've designed and built a number of headphone amps in my time, and one of my pet peeves is the bass phase distortion caused by DC blocking caps, so I design my amps without them whenever I can. This means dual rail supplies, good clean solid grounds, carefully matched components in places, etc. A bit more complexity, but SO worth it.
My listening rig at work (what I'm listening to right now, actually!) is what I call "DC from DAC to Diaphram." If you put a DC value out that DAC, the phones would move and stay there. I _DON'T_ do this, but I could. There is no bass roll off, no phase distortion, no peaks, nothing. It is the cleanest and clearest bass I've ever heard and I LOVE it. My current favorite album to show it off is the "Audiophile Mix" of Nine Inch Nails' "Hesitation Marks." There is some AMAZINGLY detailed bass in that album that gets COMPLETELY lost through all but the largest coupling caps. (And don't get me started about what dynamic range compression does to those lovely baselines...)
The 207s claim a lower frequency response of 7Hz. I assume this is -3db, though I've never seen it specifically stated. If it is really that flat through 20Hz, I'm REALLY looking forward to delivery. :-D
So, on the subject of "New to Electrostatics," what music/albums do you all recommend as a way to really show off the benefits of cans like these? Many of my friends are anxious to listen to what all the hoopla is about and I want to make sure I demo them correctly.
My fear is that I primarily listen to rock, metal, electronic, and some sound-track, which are generally not recorded with critical listening in mind. There are some exceptions to this obviously, but as a generality it's true. I'd love to hear what y'all's Go-Tos are for demoing the benefits of Electrostats to non-critical listeners.
Nice taste in music there! Hesitation Marks is a very good example of a record with so many layers of sound, it's awesome. I listened to "While I am still here" the other day with my Lambda Signatures on the modified T-1, and it was just great.