[Kukuk]

I feel like we need a thread like this, for random thoughts and impressions on headphones that don't really warrant making a thread. While not really meant for full reviews, they'd certainly be welcome here.

I've been using the LCD-2 Classics exclusively for about a week now, and I gotta say their soundstage blows my other headphones out of the water. That, and their master of all trades sound is certainly growing on me. While still not wowed by them, I'm definitely not luke-warm to them like I was before.

That being said, I've hopped over to using some of my other favorites, and it's kinda fun to see what stands out about them when compared to the LCD-2s. My ESP-950s, I'm still just floored by their imaging. Soundstage isn't as big as the LCD-2, but the imaging crushes them in terms of raw tangibility. Everything feels like it's just right there, all around me. And my DT1770s, they strike me as being absurdly fast. They're almost like a damned electrostat.

 

[SHAMuuu]

I'm very sad about losing out on a Sigma still. Also, my SR Lambda was DOA. Not the way I wanted to make a splash into the Stax game.
A SR5 Gold gives me a little comfort off an old JVC Super A amplifier (KING of the 1980 line) , along with TH610 newly acquired, and fantasies of modifying a MDR-F1 to Audio Nirvana somehow mimicking K1000.

And with these mixed emotions, I watch silly reviews like the one posted

And the chuckles are a mix of sadness, confusion, and well I don;t know... HOPEfulness ?!?!? I will one day be satisfied.... hmmmm

 

[Kukuk]

Part of me would like to jump into Stax, but availability seems iffy in the US. That, and you have to buy the energizers separately, right? Plus they're kinda expensive.

Maybe if I actually heard one I'd feel more compelled.

 

[SHAMuuu]

Part of me would like to jump into Stax, but availability seems iffy in the US. That, and you have to buy the energizers separately, right? Plus they're kinda expensive.

Maybe if I actually heard one I'd feel more compelled.

I think they range from like $150 for the electrets w/ energizer, or something like SR-5 w/ Energizer you should be able to get for $150-$250. If you have a vintage amp pushing at least 10W RMS plus, i would think you would be ok.
My basic setup with the Sr5 Gold + energizer was 250, and $100 amp, and $99 earpads (007) (luckily I was able to get this as a valentine's gift ) so, $450 for entry level. I'm sure it could be done for $300 with regular sr5. Maybe closer to $500 if you go SR-X MK III or GAMMA, SR80.

I think with Lambda Normal Bias or Sigma, It would have run a little more near the $500+ with Low Bias Energizers. My Lambda setup was about 400 but didn't work, so i returned them

Pro Bias seems to soar into the $500-1K$ for vintage with amp.

I don't know much about modern stax as the only ones I care for would be like 007, L700.


2170 system seems to be under 1k.

Just a stax noob, but its been an interesting start learning about the energizers connecting to amp, and waiting like 24 hours to charge

Also I like the round sr5 for fit more than the rectangular shaped ones which just fit plain weird.

Emotional roller coaster with vintage.

As for sound... its impressively fast, but lacks sub 60hz bass, and there is treble roll off. They are quite musical and timbral accuracy is impressive, but did not beat my DT48A for vocal accuracy.
Listening to folk, bluegrassy stuff, or classical is enjoyable. Not hip hop , punk rock, edm etc.

 

[Kukuk]

After like a year I decided to dust off my Koss Pro DJ 100s. They sound pretty rad. Bass is quite good, mids are fantastic, and just in general they're well balanced. I actually replaced the pads with the M50x pads some time back, which really helps the comfort. I remember the stock pads were pretty mediocre.

But I find myself not finding many reasons to keep my entry-level and mid-fi phones on hand. My LCD2, ESP-950, and DT1770 have made most of my other headphones redundant. Even my T5p are kinda falling apart, and I feel like I want to pass them on before the disintegrate completely. Okay, they're not that bad, but they definitely need new pads and new cups.

Heck, some of my lesser phones I might just give away.

"I think I might see how much it would cost to replace the pads on my T5p. Couldn't be that mu-"

 

[SonyFan121]

Just a stax noob, but its been an interesting start learning about the energizers connecting to amp, and waiting like 24 hours to charge

Wow...is this something you have to do everytime you want to listen to the Stax?
Hope you don't mind me saying but that seems like a hassle, unless of course it's worth it

 

[SHAMuuu]

Wow...is this something you have to do everytime you want to listen to the Stax?
Hope you don't mind me saying but that seems like a hassle, unless of course it's worth it

On initial setup yes, to fully charge them up. They worked after like 4-6 hours clearly, and perfectly after a full day charge.

Now if i want to listen to them, i charge them 3 hours. Mind you this is a non piggy backed (from wall outlet) energizer and just plugs into a vintage amp.

As for worth it? Well to me yes in a way to learn about them. In another way for most people, that would be pure madness. They also discharge if you push on them, as the air pressure makes the driver touch the walls to discharge. Hairs cause some burps and farts and pops too. Very strange stuff.

I would imagine the newer stuff would not present these problems as they are not energizers but full amplifiers, and from what I gather charge in minutes, and full potential in an hour or two. Though some people claim they have been burning in their stax for 30 years.

I fell asleep with mine a few times, and they didn't break. I wonder how many people have fallen asleep with a vintage electrostatic on, waiting for the bass, and treble to perfect itself as the stators gain full charge. Let's just say i woke up with a freshly recharged brain, and freshly charged "earspeakas" , and had an epiphany.

 

[Kukuk]

That's wild. I didn't realize they needed time to charge up. My ESP-950s don't take an external amp or time to power up, so I assumed that's how Stax worked.

 

[SHAMuuu]

That's wild. I didn't realize they needed time to charge up. My ESP-950s don't take an external amp or time to power up, so I assumed that's how Stax worked.

From what I gather the Koss box is an amplifier. It says energizer on it, but if it works straight off the bat like that, it must be an amplifier. I was looking into one myself, as I've always thought the Koss looked cool. And I always wanted the A250 as well.Stax have amplifiers now, so they don't need seperate power amplifier as it is built in.

Again keep in mind the two I got are from 70s and 80s. The Lambda didn't even charge up after 30-40 hours, that was a long and sad wait.
Sr5 Gold charged in about 4-6, and perfectly after one day.

They are on my head now. I had them off for a day, and well they sound ok now after an hour as they must have held some of the charge from days past.

So in a sense, i just turn on my amplifier (2 channel receiver) which powers the energizer, and the headphones work right away, but they get better with a bit of charging.

 

[SonyFan121]

On initial setup yes, to fully charge them up. They worked after like 4-6 hours clearly, and perfectly after a full day charge.

Now if i want to listen to them, i charge them 3 hours. Mind you this is a non piggy backed (from wall outlet) energizer and just plugs into a vintage amp.

As for worth it? Well to me yes in a way to learn about them. In another way for most people, that would be pure madness. They also discharge if you push on them, as the air pressure makes the driver touch the walls to discharge. Hairs cause some burps and farts and pops too. Very strange stuff.

I would imagine the newer stuff would not present these problems as they are not energizers but full amplifiers, and from what I gather charge in minutes, and full potential in an hour or two. Though some people claim they have been burning in their stax for 30 years.

I fell asleep with mine a few times, and they didn't break. I wonder how many people have fallen asleep with a vintage electrostatic on, waiting for the bass, and treble to perfect itself as the stators gain full charge. Let's just say i woke up with a freshly recharged brain, and freshly charged "earspeakas" , and had an epiphany.

That is so cool.

 

[Kukuk]

It's awful that I want a pair of Sony MDR-Z1R just because of how the driver looks.

I'd really like just to hear them some day.

 

[kman1211]

It's awful that I want a pair of Sony MDR-Z1R just because of how the driver looks.

I'd really like just to hear them some day.

Honestly it’s a very pretty driver. I actually quite liked the Z1R when I heard it. While tuned in a different way that is controversial to some. I personally found it a really good headphone and one of the best closed-backs out there, honestly I want one myself. I personally felt mixed about the Z7 and I dislike the 1A and the MA900. To me it felt like the aluminum coated driver and the 70mm driver technology finally sounded really good with the Z1R. Sony is really hit or miss with me, but honestly when they do it right, it’s a real treat.

How do you feel the CD900ST compares to the DT 1770? I‘ve never had the chance to hear the CD900ST. I quite liked the DT 1770 when I owned it, but later tried the DT 1990 and Amiron Home. The Amiron being my favorite of the Tesla 2.0 Beyers. They are definitely very fast drivers.

 

[SonyFan121]

It's awful that I want a pair of Sony MDR-Z1R just because of how the driver looks.

I'd really like just to hear them some day.

I'm really looking forward to owning an MDR Z1R. I will need to act fast though because I heard that they may no longer be in production. I'm not expecting the MDR Z1R to be miles better than my MDR7510, in fact I expect the MDR Z1R to have a similar sound signature to my MDR7510, but the main area of improvement i'm expecting with the MDR Z1R over the MDR7510 is bigger soundstage and more depth in bass frequencies (not that the MDR7510 is lacking in soundstage, depth or bass), and perhaps the treble of the MDR Z1R will be a bit less bright. I gotta say i'm so glad I discovered the MDR7510, the technical capabilities of it's drivers is a marvel. I think it's all because of the material the driver diaphragm is made of; PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)(I wonder if the MDR Z1R's drivers are made of the same material, that would be interesting!). The MDR7510 has a high dynamic range and as far as I can tell, absolutely no distortion whatsoever. I know there will be some $1,000 - $2,000 Summit-Fi headphones that would struggle to compete with the technical performance of my MDR7510. I'm thrilled with it.

 

[kman1211]

I'm really looking forward to owning an MDR Z1R. I will need to act fast though because I heard that they may no longer be in production. I'm not expecting the MDR Z1R to be miles better than my MDR7510, in fact I expect the MDR Z1R to have a similar sound signature to my MDR7510, but the main area of improvement i'm expecting with the MDR Z1R over the MDR7510 is bigger soundstage and more depth in bass frequencies (not that the MDR7510 is lacking in soundstage, depth or bass), and perhaps the treble of the MDR Z1R will be a bit less bright. I gotta say i'm so glad I discovered the MDR7510, the technical capabilities of it's drivers is a marvel. I think it's all because of the material the driver diaphragm is made of; PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate)(I wonder if the MDR Z1R's drivers are made of the same material, that would be interesting!). The MDR7510 has a high dynamic range and as far as I can tell, absolutely no distortion whatsoever. I know there will be some $1,000 - $2,000 Summit-Fi headphones that would struggle to compete with the technical performance of my MDR7510. I'm thrilled with it.

The Z1R is aluminum-coated liquid crystal polymer with a magnesium dome. What matters just as much as the driver material and membrane shape/tolerance is the voice-coil and magnet structure. There is numerous other things as well that's more subtle.

 

[SonyFan121]

The Z1R is aluminum-coated liquid crystal polymer with a magnesium dome. What matters just as much as the driver material and membrane shape/tolerance is the voice-coil and magnet structure. There is numerous other things as well that's more subtle.

Ah I see. Thanks for clarifying this. I know that the magnet structure, membrane and obviously the voice coil matters just as much as the driver material. Sometimes it's the small things that many other companies don't think of, that make the biggest differences. My experience with Sony so far is that they go the extra mile with all their products ( TV's too), and went the extra mile with the MDR7510 headphones, making sure the drivers where perfectly optimized.