[Zoide]

I still think the L300 is better than the HE500 in technical prowess. I should have gone for that,

What did you end up getting? What don't you like as much as you would with the L300?

Thanks

 

[kvn864]

I would like to get L700 and pair it with srm 252s, at least for the time being .. wonder how that combo would sound

 

[Petyot]

I would like to get L700 and pair it with srm 252s, at least for the time being .. wonder how that combo would sound

Sounds very good... I have the SRM252s and a SRM-006t with the L700. The SRM-252s offers (in my opinion) 95% of the SRM-006t's sound

 

[kvn864]

Exactly what I wanted to hear .. I figured it would be the case actually.

 

[makne]

Got a taste of the e-stat world today, a 3-hour demo session with L300, L700 and SR-009, using Elear as a reference (it's my current headphone).
I'm set with my Hugo+Elear for now, but I've decided I want to join the stax club eventually. The effortless speed and treble just blew me away.

I really enjoyed the L700's soundstage, but there was some coloration in the mids that I didn't appreciate, some tube-like warmth I guess. That was out of the SRM-007T2.
I enjoyed the L300 a lot because of it's tonality, which I preferred over the L700. More neutral and natural to me. But the L300 had a far more compressed soundstage. That was out of the SRM-252S.

I'd really like to get both the L300's tonality and L700's soundstage. If I get the L700 with a SS-amp, can I get rid of the mids coloration and keep the soundstage? If so, is there a huge difference between the SRM-252 and SRM-353?

 

[mulveling]

L700 w/ SS can get a tad bright with some amps, but the midrange and bass will clean up very nicely. Really, what you want is to snag a L700 and a nice KGST build on the used market. Or even better yet: a 450V KGSShv (the warm one), Or a Grounded Grid (near ultimate-fi), or a Carbon if you can manage a touch of brightness.

Your first shock was hearing a decent Stax headphone for the 1st time, vs. dynamics/planars. Your 2nd shock will be hearing Stax with a Kevin Gilmore designed amp.

 

[makne]

L700 w/ SS can get a tad bright with some amps, but the midrange and bass will clean up very nicely. Really, what you want is to snag a L700 and a nice KGST build on the used market. Or even better yet: a 450V KGSShv (the warm one), Or a Grounded Grid (near ultimate-fi), or a Carbon if you can manage a touch of brightness.

Your first shock was hearing a decent Stax headphone for the 1st time, vs. dynamics/planars. Your 2nd shock will be hearing Stax with a Kevin Gilmore designed amp.

Will have to be a stax amp unfortunately, as anything else is almost impossible to find in Norway.
Do you mean that the L700 is brighter than the L300, around the same or what? I never had a problem with the L300 on the small SS-amp.

 

[Rossliew]

L700 w/ SS can get a tad bright with some amps, but the midrange and bass will clean up very nicely. Really, what you want is to snag a L700 and a nice KGST build on the used market. Or even better yet: a 450V KGSShv (the warm one), Or a Grounded Grid (near ultimate-fi), or a Carbon if you can manage a touch of brightness.

Your first shock was hearing a decent Stax headphone for the 1st time, vs. dynamics/planars. Your 2nd shock will be hearing Stax with a Kevin Gilmore designed amp.

I have the L300 with SRS-252s - lovely combo and i could live with this. Great synergy, touch of warmth yet not lacking in details and bass punch. I also have a Carbon which is truly neutral and the L300 can sound less full-bodied but with good matching of cables and sources, the L300 will shine. No brightness here and it sounds awesome! I would say the Carbon is versatile and susceptible to tuning via cables and sources (instead of tubes/caps/fuses). Been rolling Dacs and cables till i found my sweet spot and am now listening with an analog front end which is a really sweet sounding combo to me.

 

[Rossliew]

Will have to be a stax amp unfortunately, as anything else is almost impossible to find in Norway.
Do you mean that the L700 is brighter than the L300, around the same or what? I never had a problem with the L300 on the small SS-amp.

You could visit mjolnir-audio.com if you want a KG amp that's prebuilt but it'll be costly. Or wait for some used units to pop up on the trade forums.

 

[makne]

I have the L300 with SRS-252s - lovely combo and i could live with this. Great synergy, touch of warmth yet not lacking in details and bass punch. I also have a Carbon which is truly neutral and the L300 can sound less full-bodied but with good matching of cables and sources, the L300 will shine. No brightness here and it sounds awesome! I would say the Carbon is versatile and susceptible to tuning via cables and sources (instead of tubes/caps/fuses). Been rolling Dacs and cables till i found my sweet spot and am now listening with an analog front end which is a really sweet sounding combo to me.

I really liked that combo aswell, loved the tonality and so incredibly detailed for the price. Still, the lack of soundstage width and depth (height) made it overall less enjoyable than my Elear for me. That's why I wonder if I could get the same tonality from the L700 if paired with the 252 or 353 amp. And if there's enough difference to cash out for 353 over 252.

 

[makne]

You could visit mjolnir-audio.com if you want a KG amp that's prebuilt but it'll be costly. Or wait for some used units to pop up on the trade forums.

Problem is I live in Norway, and buying used internationally is kind of a hassle. I'd rather just stick to the current stax line-up, which I can get domestically. At least in the first round
When you say that the L700 can get bright with the 252 or 353, do you mean brighter than the L300? Because I never really had a problem with the L300 on the 252.

 

[Rossliew]

Problem is I live in Norway, and buying used internationally is kind of a hassle. I'd rather just stick to the current stax line-up, which I can get domestically. At least in the first round
When you say that the L700 can get bright with the 252 or 353, do you mean brighter than the L300? Because I never really had a problem with the L300 on the 252.

Why would it be a hassle may I ask?

I have not heard a L700 so can't comment but a lot of impressions say it could be treble tilted but if your source is up to it then it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[makne]

Why would it be a hassle may I ask?

I have not heard a L700 so can't comment but a lot of impressions say it could be treble tilted but if your source is up to it then it shouldn't be a problem.

International shipping + import taxes. Hard to deal with a potential scam. Long delivery times.
Also don't really know how the used market works out there. Ebay? In Norway we have like one single site for 2nd-hand buying/selling.

 

[Rossliew]

I would believe the buyers and sellers on this site are pretty genuine and you have the trade reputation to bank on. Yes duties and taxes are expensive but the lower price of the used item should make it worthwhile. Perhaps the seller can help declare a lower value to make it more affordable ?

 

[makne]

I would believe the buyers and sellers on this site are pretty genuine and you have the trade reputation to bank on. Yes duties and taxes are expensive but the lower price of the used item should make it worthwhile. Perhaps the seller can help declare a lower value to make it more affordable ?

yeah, I'll look into it. I guess marking the package as a gift would let me avoid the VAT. Won't be in the near future I think though, I'm pretty set with my Hugo + Elear for now.