The Stax SR-L500 and SR-L700 Impressions Thread

Oct 16, 2024 at 10:51 AM Post #1,891 of 1,905
I tried, then undid the blutac mod on my L700mk2. It never properly worked for me anyways since I can't get a good seal with the pads in the first place. And the side-effect of the mod was that the midrange got really weird and honky and the treble air was diminished. Undoing the mod made the sound more open and relaxed, and openness is a key attribute for me.
 
Oct 16, 2024 at 11:19 AM Post #1,892 of 1,905
I tried, then undid the blutac mod on my L700mk2. It never properly worked for me anyways since I can't get a good seal with the pads in the first place. And the side-effect of the mod was that the midrange got really weird and honky and the treble air was diminished. Undoing the mod made the sound more open and relaxed, and openness is a key attribute for me.

Sounds like you said it never worked right. No seal = No deal lol. The whole point of it is forming a seal so if you did the blutac mod but there was no seal you didn't actually do the blu tac mod....
 
Oct 16, 2024 at 11:27 AM Post #1,893 of 1,905
Sounds like you said it never worked right. No seal = No deal lol. The whole point of it is forming a seal so if you did the blutac mod but there was no seal you didn't actually do the blu tac mod....
I did the blutac mod properly. I verified that with a measurement rig and saw the flat bass extension because the pads made a good seal there. But on my own head, there's always a small gap behind my ears at the lower back corner of the earpads, so it never had the proper effect in actual listening.
 
Oct 16, 2024 at 12:21 PM Post #1,894 of 1,905
I did the blutac mod properly. I verified that with a measurement rig and saw the flat bass extension because the pads made a good seal there. But on my own head, there's always a small gap behind my ears at the lower back corner of the earpads, so it never had the proper effect in actual listening.

That's why you mod the headband. The modern Lambdas have a dumb design where the yokes, y-forks, whatever you want to call them, aren't big enough and don't allow the top part of the earcup to swivel outwards far enough, and people who are let's say more cranially endowed will have issues getting a good seal. Socas3d yokes are a cheap fix to the problem.

I haven't done any blu-tac shenanigans on Lambdas but from measurements it seems like it does affect the FR in the mids and highs, and without it the FR is a bit smoother. I wouldn't be surprised if fully sealing the driver introduces some issues, but you could always partially seal the driver and leave a bit of a gap. Will be hard to make it equal on both sides though.

As to why people hear estats differently, well they're both more fit dependent than dynamics and are also more amp dependent. Throw that on top of people already hearing differently - and not always agreeing on what good sound is - and you have a real mess.
 
Oct 17, 2024 at 8:19 AM Post #1,895 of 1,905
don't find L300 intimate at all, it has a great soundstage.
Obviously recording dependent…the L300 with the thicker pads does give us a descent, pretty good linear sound-stage, therefore more left to right rather than the "3 blob in the head" reminiscent of the Sennheiser HD600 series, depth and layering could be improved upon to match some dynamic drivers (and higher Stax?) though, so I imagined the L700 might improve on that.
But....
L700 is the warmer one, not L300. L300 kills L700 in terms of resolution.
Resolution and detail are needed to convey staging dimensions, like with the AKG K812/872s for example, so I'm surprised to hear that the L700 would be inferior here, makes me wonder what it actually brings to the table over the L300/L500s?
 
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Oct 18, 2024 at 4:52 AM Post #1,896 of 1,905
Resolution and detail are needed to convey staging dimensions, like with the AKG K812/872s for example, so I'm surprised to hear that the L700 would be inferior here, makes me wonder what it actually brings to the table over the L300/L500s?
I used the L700 with the Yggdrasil and did some tests with the Qutest and the Wandla and never felt it lacked resolution, on the contrary. I've seen noise, distortion and emphasis on certain frequencies to be perceived as higher resolution, but obviously isn't. The frequency response of the L700 is relatively linear and smooth but different people like different things.
 
Oct 18, 2024 at 5:42 AM Post #1,897 of 1,905
I have to wonder if people perceive the L300 to be high in resolution due to lacking depth in all frequencies. Guess you could describe it as thin. I do not know. It's been a long time since I listened.
 
Oct 19, 2024 at 6:21 AM Post #1,898 of 1,905
...
Resolution and detail are needed to convey staging dimensions, like with the AKG K812/872s for example, so I'm surprised to hear that the L700 would be inferior here, makes me wonder what it actually brings to the table over the L300/L500s?
My guess is that people who prefer 007 over 009 may prefer L700 over L300/500.


I have to wonder if people perceive the L300 to be high in resolution due to lacking depth in all frequencies. Guess you could describe it as thin. I do not know. It's been a long time since I listened.
I don't think L300 sounds thin, but it is bass-light.
 
Oct 19, 2024 at 8:20 AM Post #1,899 of 1,905
My guess is that people who prefer 007 over 009 may prefer L700 over L300/500.
Comes with the territory. : )

I don't think L300 sounds thin, but it is bass-light.
So far the L300 sound IMHO rather balanced, no thinness unless one is expecting, or use to using phones with a more prodigious bottom end, then yes they may be perceived as thin sounding.
Overall though the designers have produced, and have been producing I'd assume, a rather "audiophile" true aural presentation over the decades and that are my impressions so far.
As I mentioned over on the L300 thread...
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/stax-sr-l300-impressions-thread.813511/page-80#post-18371943
"Perfect IMHO right down to the kettle drums and timpani, but the clarity and speed is something I've not quite heard prior with any headphone, the tonal balance, stereo spread more than convincing and a treat for the ears all round, could not stop listening."

So while the L300 are giving me a nice performance I was just thinking that the L700 would up the anti, so rather than just upgrading to the pricey MK II headband assembly on the 300 I'd just go for the full monty. (there just happens to be a reasonably priced 700 MK II locally) :slight_smile:

So far there has not been a definitive answer on wither or not the 700 would in fact would be an upgrade..."people who prefer 007 over 009 may prefer L700 over L300/500."
:xf_confused:
 
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Oct 19, 2024 at 9:38 AM Post #1,900 of 1,905
This is an interesting observation, perhaps you are correct. I prefer the L700 & 007 over the rather.
 
Oct 29, 2024 at 4:22 AM Post #1,901 of 1,905
I'm selling my L700 that I haven't being using for a while since I switched to speakers at home. The use case I have now for headphones requires a closed back. I'm considering the DCA E3 (or maybe a DCA Stealth in the used market), for those that heard both the L700 and DCAs how do they compare? Amps are Benchmark HPA4 and Violectric V222.
 
Oct 29, 2024 at 7:11 PM Post #1,902 of 1,905
I'm selling my L700 that I haven't being using for a while since I switched to speakers at home. The use case I have now for headphones requires a closed back. I'm considering the DCA E3 (or maybe a DCA Stealth in the used market), for those that heard both the L700 and DCAs how do they compare? Amps are Benchmark HPA4 and Violectric V222.
I believe you may not get a huge response to your question because you are comparing apples to oranges. Very two different type of headphones.
 
Nov 8, 2024 at 2:51 AM Post #1,904 of 1,905
I believe you may not get a huge response to your question because you are comparing apples to oranges. Very two different type of headphones.
True, but the result is not that different (based on some quick tests). I got the Stealth and both are highly resolving headphones, not sure if the L700 may have the edge with the V222 on the Stealth but with the HPA4 seems about the same. They are both neutral headphones, the L700 has a bit more air as expected from an electrostatic, the sub-bass on the Stealth sounds just right and a bit subdued on the L700, I don't know about the upper mids, on the Stealth sometimes feels that a bit less would be better and on the L700 the opposite but our mini-rooms between the ear, cups and driver are different. The Stealth has an edge in timbre and seems closer to neutral but the main advantage is convenience.
The L700 is great if one can/wants to close the door but a closed back allows to block noises from people chatting around, does not bother other people, and the Stealth almost sounds like an open back. The Stealth is a lot better built, folds into a compact size and is easy to carry to the office, but the portability stops here, this thing requires power. The V222 outputs around 2 W at 23 Ohms, seems enough, and that warm side of neutral ends up being very enjoyable, but the HPA4 (a bit more than 4 W at 23 Ohms) has better control and timbre gets even better. The L700 scales well with amplification so I guess this is a minus for both (or a plus, depending on the perspective).
 
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