[pbui44]

You're probably right about this, I just have to reluctantantly realize it.

Oh, well, deeper down the Stax hole I go. What's that over there? SR-009? Maybe I should just give them a try, can't hurt right? Oh God! My wallet! It's burning, I gotta get rid of it!

You're probably right about this, I just have to reluctantantly realize it.

Oh, well, now down the Sennheiser hole I go. What's that over there? HE-1? Maybe I should just give them a try, can't hurt right? Oh God! My bank account! It's burning, I gotta get rid of it!

 

[natto lover]

The Eikon is really good, have 007s and still miss it. The new HD820 looks promising as well

 

[oneguy]

You're probably right about this, I just have to reluctantantly realize it.

Oh, well, deeper down the Stax hole I go. What's that over there? SR-009? Maybe I should just give them a try, can't hurt right? Oh God! My wallet! It's burning, I gotta get rid of it!

Wait for the 009S to become available and give it a listen. I prefer the L700 to the 007 and 009 but the 009S has me thinking that there is hope for me liking the Omega series after all. The 009S sounded like a less bright version of the 009. I was closer to the 009 in overall sound signature than the 007.

 

[Magol79]

The Eikon is really good, have 007s and still miss it. The new HD820 looks promising as well

Yes, I've heard good things about ZMF, they are just not very common over here in the EU. I'd like to listen to them before buying.

Wait for the 009S to become available and give it a listen. I prefer the L700 to the 007 and 009 but the 009S has me thinking that there is hope for me liking the Omega series after all. The 009S sounded like a less bright version of the 009. I was closer to the 009 in overall sound signature than the 007.

I will get a chance to audition the 009 next weekend, but I'm in no rush to get them just yet. It looks like the 009s won't be available until the Aug/Sep time frame. Gives me time to save up for either model.

 

[VRacer-111]

I do absolutely love my STAX setup (L300 and L300LE 80th driven by Mjolnir Audio SRD-7 transformer and NAD C275BEE amp from a Gustard X20U DAC), and it's unarguably the best setup I have... but I also absolutely love my modded TH-X00s with modded Gustard H10 amp and Audioquest DFR/now JDS Labs EL DAC and that will never change. (Hence my avatar play on combining Fostex and STAX...) Something like a modded TH-X00 is a great compliment to a STAX Lambda setup... you want something that competently goes for a unique emotional experience rather than a technical one, because technically most everything everything falls short of a STAX Lambda. Insane bass presence and overall rich and energetic sound is something a modded TH-X00 has, even over a STAX Lambda.

Even with my STAX setup, I'm still impressed with my TH-X00 setup:

 

[Magol79]

I do absolutely love my STAX setup (L300 and L300LE 80th driven by Mjolnir Audio SRD-7 transformer and NAD C275BEE amp from a Gustard X20U DAC), and it's unarguably the best setup I have... but I also absolutely love my modded TH-X00s with modded Gustard H10 amp and Audioquest DFR/now JDS Labs EL DAC and that will never change. (Hence my avatar play on combining Fostex and STAX...) Something like a modded TH-X00 is a great compliment to a STAX Lambda setup... you want something that competently goes for a unique emotional experience rather than a technical one, because technically most everything everything falls short of a STAX Lambda. Insane bass presence and overall rich and energetic sound is something a modded TH-X00 has, even over a STAX Lambda.

Yes,I've been thinking about getting a decent pair of planars for the work station and just use the Stax setup in the living room. I had the hifiman he-400i before, but they had this strange cavernous sound I didn't like, so I sold them. But "rich and energetic" sounds right up my alley, I want to feel some excitement when I put on my headphones.

 

[VRacer-111]

Why magnetic planar instead of dynamics? Dynamics will give you the best contrast to an electrostatic planar, magnetic planars will force more comparison and just fall short. Fostex TH-X00, ZMF Eikon, Sennheiser HD820, Focal Elear/Clear... all dynamics.

 

[Magol79]

Why magnetic planar instead of dynamics? Dynamics will give you the best contrast to an electrostatic planar, magnetic planars will force more comparison and just fall short. Fostex TH-X00, ZMF Eikon, Sennheiser HD820, Focal Elear/Clear... all dynamics.

I got things mixed up. I thought the TH-X00 were planar, but I was thinking about the t50rp variants. I tried the Elears and HD800S last year. Now I'd like to try the Clears.

 

[Pahani]

I do absolutely love my STAX setup (L300 and L300LE 80th driven by Mjolnir Audio SRD-7 transformer and NAD C275BEE amp from a Gustard X20U DAC), and it's unarguably the best setup I have... but I also absolutely love my modded TH-X00s with modded Gustard H10 amp and Audioquest DFR/now JDS Labs EL DAC and that will never change. (Hence my avatar play on combining Fostex and STAX...) Something like a modded TH-X00 is a great compliment to a STAX Lambda setup... you want something that competently goes for a unique emotional experience rather than a technical one, because technically most everything everything falls short of a STAX Lambda. Insane bass presence and overall rich and energetic sound is something a modded TH-X00 has, even over a STAX Lambda.

Even with my STAX setup, I'm still impressed with my TH-X00 setup:

I have the same Stax / TH-X00 Purpleheart setup as Vracer, and for exactly the reasons he stated more eloquently than I could! He has better Source components feeding his setup than I do though.

Happy you finally took the Stax plunge, and that it's meeting your expectations

 

[franci2105]

I would say the SR-L700 is 10% better in overall sound quality than the SR-L500, but you also need at least an SRM-717 amp to make the L700 sound that much better. Remember that the L700 drivers share the same design array and composition as the SR-009, just in a Lambda-series-ear-cup form.

So if you do a side by side comparison between a L700 and a L500 you can tell and hear some small differences otherwise if you hear the L700 today and one week later the L500 they would seems sounding the same, right?

 

[pbui44]

So if you do a side by side comparison between a L700 and a L500 you can tell and hear some small differences otherwise if you hear the L700 today and one week later the L500 they would seems sounding the same, right?

If you listen to mainly enjoy your music, yes. Even doing just critical listening would just yield a 10% overall sound quality difference between the two. When I was a kid, my brother’s friend introduced me to his brother, who happened to be listening to Lambda Pros. This was the late 80s, so everyone around me was listening to everything synth-related. When I heard classical music with the Lambda Pros, I knew that I was hearing a recording, but one of the clearest recordings I ever heard. It was like listening to speakers, but they were on my head and playing onto my ears. A few years later, my other brother’s friend talked about the new Koss ESP-950s and dreamed about owning them some day. Now my family went through many car audio systems (Alpine, Nakamichi, etc.) and home theater systems (Bose, Definitive, etc.), but personal audio always stuck with me, so hearing the SR-507 a few years ago was a real treat again with clarity that was almost indescribable. When I bought a used set of ESP-950s, I was living that dream my brother’s friend had that one day. It sounded better than the Lambda Pros, but not better than the SR-507. I eventually heard the SR-L700 and it sounded like the best Lambda-series I ever heard, but emotionally it just reminded me of the SR-009. So when I traded my ESP-950 for a SR-L500, I felt those memories all over again. The L700 still sounded better, but that did not matter to me, as that more luscious sound of the L500 projected decades of sound improvements onto my ears, yet still making me feel like it was that day, when my brother’s friend asked me about auditioning the Lambda Pros. I know it sounds like a Storck (Wherther’s) commercial narrative, but that is my evaluation.

 

[franci2105]

If you listen to mainly enjoy your music, yes. Even doing just critical listening would just yield a 10% overall sound quality difference between the two. When I was a kid, my brother’s friend introduced me to his brother, who happened to be listening to Lambda Pros. This was the late 80s, so everyone around me was listening to everything synth-related. When I heard classical music with the Lambda Pros, I knew that I was hearing a recording, but one of the clearest recordings I ever heard. It was like listening to speakers, but they were on my head and playing onto my ears. A few years later, my other brother’s friend talked about the new Koss ESP-950s and dreamed about owning them some day. Now my family went through many car audio systems (Alpine, Nakamichi, etc.) and home theater systems (Bose, Definitive, etc.), but personal audio always stuck with me, so hearing the SR-507 a few years ago was a real treat again with clarity that was almost indescribable. When I bought a used set of ESP-950s, I was living that dream my brother’s friend had that one day. It sounded better than the Lambda Pros, but not better than the SR-507. I eventually heard the SR-L700 and it sounded like the best Lambda-series I ever heard, but emotionally it just reminded me of the SR-009. So when I traded my ESP-950 for a SR-L500, I felt those memories all over again. The L700 still sounded better, but that did not matter to me, as that more luscious sound of the L500 projected decades of sound improvements onto my ears, yet still making me feel like it was that day, when my brother’s friend asked me about auditioning the Lambda Pros. I know it sounds like a Storck (Wherther’s) commercial narrative, but that is my evaluation.

Thanks. I really appreciate you shared your memories, very nice and useful impressions.

 

[pbui44]

Thanks. I really appreciate you shared your memories, very nice and useful impressions.

I am glad you found my impressions useful. Considering how much they are now and their overall scarcity, I did wish that those Lambda Pros were SR-Omegas, but what can you do?

 

[Hi-Fi-Apricity]

Ive been listening to the SR L700 which arrived a few hours ago. These are just early impressions.
Source is coming from an RME ADI-2 DAC with XLR to SRM 353X. Music is mostly FLAC and 320kbps mp3.

Now where to start. This "earspeaker" is the best headphone ive ever owned and I already can tell. The treble has no obvious peaks or dips I can seem to find and its so well extended and has sparkle and shine without ever being fatiguing. Now this is the only headphone to be able to do that for me (that I have personally owned). The mids sound very cohesive with a bit of hype around 1K. Only a tiny itty bit. They are very Japanese sounding phones due to this. Think the Audio Technica AD line if you havent heard any STAX. Really good stuff here, voices are rendered with such ease and every element of the music has its own uncluttered spot in the stage. Unlike every other headphone ive owned this has the best seperation and imaging ive heard. Only thing that even comes close is the SR404. Every instrument is localized and unique nothing ever gets muddled and mixed up. Now for the bass, ala generally an electrostats greatest weakness. The L700 exhibits pretty good impact on most tracks and is more than enough for me. I would say on impact it beats most planars like the HE-560 and the bass seems to extend quite well. There is definitely some rolloff around 50hz but it could also be my hearing as most cans sound like that to me. I do not get the STAX fart so it could also not be sealing well on my head. The transients of course are very fast and its very explosive. To me the SR L700 sounds a lot like an SR009 and a HE90 got combined into one headphone. Its more musical than the 009 and has warmth that is similar to the HE90 and a slightly more laid back treble presentation, yet it retains a lot of the detail and technicalaties of the SR009.

 

[buzzlulu]

Sounds like a similar Stax experience to mine. I am back here after a 15 year absence and went a bit crazy this year and purchased a Utopia and Z1R. I still have my Grado RS1 from back in 2003.

I just jumped on the Stax train last month and took delivery of the L300Limited and 353XBK. The 300 anniversary has much in common with the L700 (supposedly!)
Just like you - WOW
I mainly listen to 2 channel and Stax is revered as god amongst Naim 2 channel users. I can now under stand why.
IMHO my L300L/353XBK at $1700 is just about the best "bargain" out there - when compared to my $4000 Utopia's (no amp included!)

Needless to say I am hooked on the Stax sound. No need to regurgitate my feelings as you pretty well summed things up above.
Now - 009S already ordered for September

There are really magical ear speakers!