[arnaud]

Ahh, not all hope is lost, such subtle yet convincing contribution there catscratch

 

[DivineCurrent]

I'm not driving the HD650 to anywhere near its full potential at the moment, so it's hard for me to say how the HD650 will compare vs the L700 when equivalent-quality components are thrown at both. I have heard the HD650 in a number of quality rigs before, and have had a few over the years, but it has been a long time and I don't want to jump to conclusions from memory. FWIW I like the tonality of the HD650 more, and the wonderfully smooth way its mids transition to the highs, and the great way in which its highs are extended yet never harsh, are things the HD650 does better, to my ears, than any other headphone. But at the same time, I don't think its resolution will ever rival the L700 no matter what I throw at it, not to mention higher-end 'stats like the 007.

Right now, I like my little electrostat rig quite a lot (717 --> Neko D100 --> L700). It is musical, and it does most of the things a real high-end rig is supposed to do without breaking the bank. There is a threshold past which a system starts to disappear and leave just the music behind, and on many days, though not on all, I think this rig is past that threshold. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. The FR, while neutral enough, does have a little bump in the upper mids and lower highs and a subtle roll-off in the deep bass. Also, if I were to descend into audiophool babblygook for a second here, I'd say that the L700 has a fairly sharp and incisive attack, and that the leading edges of sounds have a kind of crispness to them. That heightens its sense of dynamism, but also gives it a slight hardness to its mids at higher volumes, and can make it a bit fatiguing in the long term if you like your decibels. Is that the work of the FR bump in the upper mids? Who knows, but it's there.

Nevertheless, these complaints are minor. On the whole, warmly recorded material sounds warm, cold material sounds cold, dry recordings sound dry, and anything open and lush sounds, well, exactly like that. Lush and very open. And I continue to be surprised by just how much bass these drivers can put out. They don't add anything to the music, but if the bass is there, they will give it to you.

The L700 is a thoroughly competent and highly enjoyable high-end headphone. The SR-404 always felt like a compromise, something to tide you over until you get to the big boys, but the L700 is something I could probably end on in its own right. Also, the 717 drives the L700 much better than it does the 007A. Comparing the two on the 717 the L700 simply sounds more open, more clear, more alive. The 007A does show where the L700's FR deviates from neutrality, but aside from that, I'd take the L700. Now, when you throw more power at the 007, it opens up and starts resolving properly, but given that I'm going from memory here, I'll have to wait until I get my BH fixed, and then report back how the two will fare (my money's on the 007). I don't have a 009, but if it's any brighter than the L700, frankly, I'm not interested.

That's about where I am at the moment. If it sounds like I'm damning with faint praise, well, you have to understand the kind of cynical, crotchety curmudgeon you're dealing with here. You should hear me go off about most other headphones. Or better yet, you shouldn't.

Thank you very much for the comparison. I am considering the L500 or L700, and I have the HD650 right now. You said there is some sub-bass rolloff in the L700? How is the bass extension compared to the HD650s? I see that most graphs indicate good bass extension all the way to 20 Hz for most Stax models, and of course the HD650 rolls off quite a bit below 40 Hz

 

[Ali-Pacha]

The L700 are quite special as they don't fart, meaning they don't seal.
 
I've listened to them more extensively yesterday (SRM-353x, Bimby), and here's my interpretation on Stax's take :
- Lambdas cups used to be not deep enough, with ears touching the inside grill / cloth / foam because of this lack of depth
- The seal was very dependent on your head's geometry, as well as your hairs...my bald head is perfect for old Lambdas, but I assume there are lots of dispersion about how pads are sealing to listener's head
- so Stax did something legit for SR-Lx00 : deeper cups, to avoid dispersion from one listener to another, and it improves the so-so soundstage of Lambdas (diffuse and airy, but pretty narrow)
- they also made up another decision, no seal, as in SR-007mk2. It means roll-off in the low bass, but more lively behaviour in low-mids, which IMO lowers the need of serious amping
- OTH, technicalities benefit (strongly) from 009-like stators
 
So L700 are a nice shot. Quite simpler than 009, easy-going and more lively on the first listening, and not that amp-dependent. I think that's what Stax was looking for.

Ali

 

[pbui44]

Thank you very much for the comparison. I am considering the L500 or L700, and I have the HD650 right now. You said there is some sub-bass rolloff in the L700? How is the bass extension compared to the HD650s? I see that most graphs indicate good bass extension all the way to 20 Hz for most Stax models, and of course the HD650 rolls off quite a bit below 40 Hz

If you like the bass impact of the HD650, you are better off getting the Stax L500 than the L700. The L700 are clearer than the L500, but at a cost with the bass. Quality is the same, but impact is lacking. Let's put it this way, the L700 is slightly clearer than the SR007 mk1 and mk2 in mids and treble, but has less bass impact than both, as the L700 driver is based off of the SR009, which really needs an amp more powerful than a Stax amp and is at least $1.5k. Of course, the L700 soundstage is not better than the SR007 series.

For me, the L500 is a substantial improvement over the SR-507 overall, just slap some SR-507 earpads on the L500, which is real lambskin leather.

 

[sandiway]

Where the ear pads sit is critical to my L700's bass. Obviously it depends on the parameters of your ears (how far they stick out) and your head size and shape, but the amount and quality of the bass varies depending on how carefully I adjust the placement. The rectangular shape probably makes it more critical than the round shape of the higher end Stax.

 

[luvmusik]

Eager to read if anyone has details on an A-B sound Comparison between Stax SR-L700 and Airbow/Stax SR-SC11,  Stax SR-404LE (LTD, Limited) & Koss ESP-950. We have had a brief summation of the SR-L700 to the Lambda Nova Signature a few pages back.

 

[conquerator2]

I think I summed the L500 and ESP950 a couple pages back.
The former is more technically able, while the latter has (to my ears) superior tonality.
I kept the latter. YMMV

 

[luvmusik]

I think I summed the L500 and ESP950 a couple pages back.
The former is more technically able, while the latter has (to my ears) superior tonality.
I kept the latter. YMMV

 
Yes, those were great posts you made, thank you for the info, and we had a nice exchange about it.
 
Hoping to find the ESP/950 comparison to the SR-L700 now, which may be similar or different to L500 comparitively.
 
Trying to see how these L700 pan out against the best performing Lambda-only designs, thus, my eagerness in awaiting comparisons to Airbow/Stax SR-SC11, Stax SR-404LE (LTD, Limited) and Koss ESP/950.
 
We have read some summations vs SR507, and the Airbow/Stax SR-SC21 likely would place a hair better than 507, as based on the 507. The earliest Airbow/Stax SR-SC1 has been upgraded by the newer SR-SC11, so although all these mentioned sets are exceptional performers, the SR-SC-1 may be best covered by the slightly better SR-SC11 sound comparison to the L700.
 
With Stax, we are splitting hairs often as to what aspects ever so slightly edge out any model; and models have their + and - attributes comparatively, so personal preference chooses the set anyone may like most. At times, it's a trade off of attributes. Some love the slam of the 507 bass better, yet others feel the upper-midrange & lower-treble high frequency can be strident. Many like the Airbow SR-SC11 and Stax SR-404 LE (LTD, Limited) the best of the Lambdas.
 
Some runners-up place with the Stax Lambda Nova Signature, even the original Lambda Normal bias for naturalness (a Spritzer favorite for that aspect) and although less detailed, the SR-202/207 has a nice balance overall, often cited as a recommended value too, even preferred by some to the 30X family.
 
With speculation only, from not having heard the 2 new models, seems the top performing  7 Lambda-only designs likely may be, in no order at all -
 
Stax SR-L700, Stax SR-L500, Airbow/Stax SR-SC11, Stax SR-404LE (LTD, Limited), Airbow/Stax SR-SC21, Stax SR-507, and Koss ESP/950. (*noted below)
 
Since the SR-SC11 and SR-404LE are very close to one another, and the SR-SC21 and SR-507 are very close to one another, those perspective models could almost nearly be considered the same 2 grouped models (not saying they're exact same among those 4, or any 2), so then, there may be 5 top Lambda-designs when clumping the Airbows into the Stax model they are based upon. (* noted above).
 
What's cool is, we have some nice choices.

 

[catscratch]

I'm not sure about the bass roll-off on the L700 TBH. On one hand, there clearly is some, as bass lines that go deep get quieter the deeper they go, but that could be the microphone in the recording rather than the phones. On the other hand, I've heard some truly subterranean tones from the L700 in places where there were none with the HD650. So I would say the L700 extends down, but doesn't have as much volume in the deep bass as it does in the mid and upper bass. At least that's what I'm thinking so far.

The comments I read elsewhere about these being similar to the Sennheiser 6X0 series phones aren't too far off base. Obviously these are different in spatial presentation and are a bit crisper up top, but the overall approach of an inoffensive, balanced, easy to like sound that does little wrong and a lot right is here. It's hard not to recommend these.

 

[tanyokemeng]

Just had a listen at a dealer to the L500 and L700 connected to the 252S and 353X drivers.

This is my first experience with stats, a newbie. coming from a collection of HD800, HE-6, AKG845, B&W P7.

I must say both L500 and L700 are very impressive headphones.

I had the first listen with L500 connected to the smaller 252S driver, to my iPhone (that's all I had for an impromptu test).
From all I have read, I was expecting a clear, lean, dry and "weightless" (maybe boring?) presentation.
Wow, I was not expecting what i heard.
The sound of L500 out of the tiny 252S on a mid-volume is clear, smooth, even, balanced, detailed, intimate, and the bass is surprisingly fairly taut and punchy. Soundstage is slightly smaller, more intimate. Very good.

Then I switched to 353X, and the change is immediately noticeable. The general sound is clearer, and soundstage is slightly wider.
There is bass on the L500! It is taut, and present but never overwhelming into the other frequencies, its just right. I guess u can call it clean taut bass.
The L500 + 353X is a very good combo indeed. I later realised the 5100 is actually packaged as such, rightfully so.
For a layman first listen to a stats, the L500 plus 353X will impress a first timer reasonably.

Next I switched to the L700. First of all, L700 was softer than L500 on the same volume settings. In the noisy test environment, the L500 was at 10-11 o'clock, while the L700 was at 1 o'clock to get the same listening volume. The following few seconds, I could not immediately notice any major differences between the two headphones. Apparently, the difference between changing from 252S to 353X was more noticeable than changing from L500 to L700.

Then shortly after it strikes me that changing to the L700 was the soundstage is a little open and further away, a little more airy/ drier. (Not HD800 kind of wide). The L500 is a little more intimate and closer, which is very nice and not in a bad way.
The L700 highs are slightly more extended and sparkly (eg. the plucks of the guitar and audience claps). It feels "live" and "real", "natural". The spatial placement of instruments is very good.
However, the L700 bass is less prominent, less weight. The bass is clean but not as tight. It does not have the weight and satisfying bass of the L500.
Details wise, they are both very detailed, but since the L700 is more airy, it gives the "feeling" that it has more details and clearer.
I have to emphasize the difference is not day and night, subtle but noticeable when A/B-ing

IMHO, I think comparatively L500 may better for more energetic music. It is more "fun". Not everyone likes a HD800 diffused presentation for all their music.
L700 is clearer and slightly wider and deeper soundstage, may be "better" (than L500) for other genres eg jazz, orchestral (?).
I wanted to pick the L700, its technically good, but the bass was lacking weight slightly and a little loose, that gave me pause. I did find the bass on L500 more satisfying for my needs. If L700 had L500's bass body, I would have picked L700 without hesitation, period. That's the Archille's heel, sigh, choices choices choices.

Frankly, if I were to pick either of these two headphones, I would be happy. Coming from dynamic and planars, these stats sound special. L500 and L700 sound like siblings with slightly different tuning.
L500 being half the price of L700, is a bargain. I am sure the difference in sound is not 50%.
I would pick one and be very happy.

 

[Pokemonn]

i personally recommend to try some stax tube amps + advanced L lambda combo.
withrelativly cheap (inc. used)stax tube amps, L700 sounds more organic and smooth and musical and less edgy and yummy. highly recomended to try them.

 

[Ampeezy]

Looking to get a pair of electrostats after dabbling in planar magnetics the past few years. I have been taking a good look at the sr-007 and sr-009. I was wondering if anyone has all three, or just the sr-007A and the L700. How much of a step up would the sr-007A be?
 
I could afford the sr-009 with the 007TA amp  but that would still be quite the hole in my bank account, and for that price there better be angels in those cups singing to me, otherwise I was considering the sr-007 with the same amp.
 
If the L700 gets me there I will definitely look into that instead. They look quite retro though.

 

[TheGadaffiDuck]

I would like to open a dialogue about the L300 VS L500. What significant difference is there between the2, and is the 500 really a worthy upgrade?

 

[conquerator2]

I would like to open a dialogue about the L300 VS L500. What significant difference is there between the2, and is the 500 really a worthy upgrade?

Good question! They are very similar. The L500 has better pads, cable and an overhauled arc assembly. The sound might be ever so slightly brighter vs the L300.
I auditioned both and should have gotten the L300 but because the earpads were difficult to source I opted for the L500. Mistake

 

[TheGadaffiDuck]

So basically the only major difference is the pads and headband eh? I think the fact that the 500 is brighter is probably a negative for me, cause im young and still have most of my hearing lol. Pads probably doesnt matter cause the earpads are so bloody thin, and would be kinda uncomfortable no matter what ahaba