[Bingturong]

Does anyone here know what is a good replacement for the SRA-3S volume/balance pot?

 

[o7brother]

Went on a little trip to BoogieWoogie’s house recently, and would you look at that desk

From left to right, we have a Holo Audio Spring Kitsune DAC, a KGSSHV Carbon (not Mjolnir but a quality build, unlike the cheaper Chinese versions) a Mjolnir KGSSHV Mini (the discontinued variant with the smallest chassis) and a Stax SRM-717, aka the best solid state amp made by Stax. We also tried his RME ADI-2 DAC with the various amps as well.

As for headphones, we have three of my personal units, an SR-404 Limited Edition (up for sale btw), an SR-007 Mk 2.9 and an SR-009.

The main purpose of this meet was for me to spend a few hours comparing the three amps in particular, and Boogie was excited to hear the SR-009 and 404LE for the first time (spoiler, he liked them).

Let’s address the largest difference between the amps: power. The SRM-717 has enough headroom that neither of us could rotate the knob past the 2 o’clock position on the quietest recordings, and for most music, much less than that. The mafia amps, on the other hand, were absolute monsters; we could hardly move the knob past the 9 o’clock position.

First of all, the effect the better amps had on these headphones was more noticeable on the 007 than on the 009 and 404LE. Each amp represents a relatively small increment in sound quality compared to the last, perhaps understandably. I’ll describe the differences between the Carbon and 717 to make it easier on myself, since I’ve extensively A/B’d the 717 and the Mini in my own time and find them extremely similar in tone.

We each listened for a good while, comparing the three amps, without saying anything so as to avoid influencing each other. Then we shared our thoughts and we were in agreement. Basically, the major difference heard from the Carbon was detail. The treble just sounded slightly more natural and transparent than that of the 717. This leads to a more dynamic and engaging listen on the Carbon, without straying into sibilance or anything like that. We also felt the soundstage was slightly bigger on the 007. Not a big difference in soundstage or bass with the 009, as I had been lead to believe.

The Carbon works wonders on any kind of music. I especially enjoyed it on energetic pop songs like Dua Lipa’s stuff, which is quite well-produced, as well as the usual reference songs like the Hell Freezes Over version of Hotel California and Dire Straits stuff. Boogie cycled through his collection of heavy metal music and was grinning ear to ear.

Overall, my favorite combo was RME + Carbon + 007, but Boogie preferred Holo + Carbon + 009. The main takeaway here is that the various mafia amplifiers are all extremely well made. Once you're this close to the summit, the differences in sound quality become smaller and smaller. The KGSSHV Carbon is the best e-stat amp I’ve ever heard, and represents the final step in that journey, and this particular Carbon may yet end up in my possession

 

[nepherte]

Went on a little trip to BoogieWoogie’s house recently, and would you look at that desk

From left to right, we have a Holo Audio Spring Kitsune DAC, a KGSSHV Carbon (not Mjolnir but a quality build, unlike the cheaper Chinese versions) a Mjolnir KGSSHV Mini (the discontinued variant with the smallest chassis) and a Stax SRM-717, aka the best solid state amp made by Stax. We also tried his RME ADI-2 DAC with the various amps as well.

As for headphones, we have three of my personal units, an SR-404 Limited Edition (up for sale btw), an SR-007 Mk 2.9 and an SR-009.

The main purpose of this meet was for me to spend a few hours comparing the three amps in particular, and Boogie was excited to hear the SR-009 and 404LE for the first time (spoiler, he liked them).

Let’s address the largest difference between the amps: power. The SRM-717 has enough headroom that neither of us could rotate the knob past the 2 o’clock position on the quietest recordings, and for most music, much less than that. The mafia amps, on the other hand, were absolute monsters; we could hardly move the knob past the 9 o’clock position.

First of all, the effect the better amps had on these headphones was more noticeable on the 007 than on the 009 and 404LE. Each amp represents a relatively small increment in sound quality compared to the last, perhaps understandably. I’ll describe the differences between the Carbon and 717 to make it easier on myself, since I’ve extensively A/B’d the 717 and the Mini in my own time and find them extremely similar in tone.

We each listened for a good while, comparing the three amps, without saying anything so as to avoid influencing each other. Then we shared our thoughts and we were in agreement. Basically, the major difference heard from the Carbon was detail. The treble just sounded slightly more natural and transparent than that of the 717. This leads to a more dynamic and engaging listen on the Carbon, without straying into sibilance or anything like that. We also felt the soundstage was slightly bigger on the 007. Not a big difference in soundstage or bass with the 009, as I had been lead to believe.

The Carbon works wonders on any kind of music. I especially enjoyed it on energetic pop songs like Dua Lipa’s stuff, which is quite well-produced, as well as the usual reference songs like the Hell Freezes Over version of Hotel California and Dire Straits stuff. Boogie cycled through his collection of heavy metal music and was grinning ear to ear.

Overall, my favorite combo was RME + Carbon + 007, but Boogie preferred Holo + Carbon + 009. The main takeaway here is that the various mafia amplifiers are all extremely well made. Once your this close to the summit, the differences in sound quality become smaller and smaller. The KGSSHV Carbon is the best e-stat amp I’ve ever heard, and represents the final step in that journey, and this particular Carbon may yet end up in my possession

That Carbon looks sick. Care to disclose who is the builder?

 

[o7brother]

Care to disclose who is the builder?

I don't know, you'll have to ask BoogieWoogie. If I recall correctly, he mentions it was built in Europe and that good components from Mouser were used. He has some info and inside pics here:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/fs-kgsshv-carbon.927101/

 

[BenF]

did you write anywhere comparison between 009 and Perun?

Here are my notes from that day:

Perun and 009S sound oddly similar. 009S has an edge in transparency, but not too much
009S is easier to drive, Perun is usually at 11 AM, 009S at 10:30 on the Blue Hawaii

Female voices sound too thin on 009S, perfect on Perun ("Hold My Hand" by Brandy Clark)
009 doesn't have the thin female voice problem, perfect like Perun.

Bass on 009 sounds a bit fuller than on 009S ("Falling" by Haim)
009 has slightly deeper and fuller bass than Perun ( "Weatherstorm" by Craig Armstrong)

Perun is greatly benefiting from better amplification, Blue Hawaii has bridged the gap between Perun and 009, compared to SRM253S.
Stax D10 doesn't have enough power to drive Perun - bass lacks impact, and sometime volume is lacking too.
Stax D50 drives Perun beautifully, bass is great.

Shangrila Jr is harder to drive than 009 or Perun, needs to go 2-3 settings above 009 for the same volume
Shangrila Jr sounds like a less "live" version of 009, bass is as good as 009 though
Shangrila Jr sounds similar to Perun, but with better bass, really hard to tell the difference when volume is matched.

My Perun is not the latest "Live Sound" version, it's the one before it.
The "Live Sound" should sound even better, but from my experience newer doesn't always mean better.

here please more detailed or link please, I had 253s but sold it.. interesting to know what is the difference..

http://www.ippinkan.co.jp/airbow/product/headphone/srm253_pac253.html
It is discontinued, but still available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/Airbow-–-SRM-–-253S-iya-supi-ka-Dedicated-Driver-Amplifier/dp/B075KBB5VQ
Airbow also makes a linear power supply, but I use another one with my 253S.

 

[Tugbars]

I heard about a local amplifier designer in Germany:

http://high-amp.de/html/frame.html

He goes into details of all the necessary information about his amps.
He claims that his best amp(Sirrus) is able to deliver 15mA current and 1500 voltage swing. He explains how each stage of amplification is designed, he shares all the schematics and details on how to build his amps too. My intuition says that his designs are promising but I don't know how to interpret all the data he is sharing. If somebody has listened to one of his amps, please share your opinion. And if an amplifier designer can evaluate his design choices in his amps. That would be great.

 

[armani006]

The "Live Sound" should sound even better, but from my experience newer doesn't always mean better.

thank you for so big review, Live sounds is really better, want to try it..

I heard about a local amplifier designer in Germany:

I know him, and had a conversation with Mr Rauenbuehler.. but didn't try his amps.
he has reviews on his page, there people say that Alpha Centauri V7.0 is better than Blue Hawaii, but I would not believe them so easy...

 

[ahmedie]

I have perun too they sound natural and smooth, most close to zmf natural of all stax headphones I have, but they are also a little slower than other Stax, instruments placement is similar to lambda but with bigger soundstage. They have outstanding vocal performance I agree! below music sound really good

 

[BenF]

I think BenF preference is clearly toward bright headphones that why he like 009 so much than 007 !

Since when is 009 a bright headphone? Here is Tyll's measurement of 009 SNSZ92251:

009 is practically flat between 2kHz and 5kHz, and even more subdued in the 5kHz-10kHz range.
Now L300 definitely sounds brighter, thanks to both lesser bass response and extra energy in the 5kHz-10Khz range:

Here are the measurements of my L300 and 009:

As you can see, my L300 is even flatter in the midrange than my 009:
L300 goes 13.5dB down from 1.3kHz to 4kHz (2.7kHz), without any peaks in the middle.
009 goes 14dB down from 1.1kHz to 3.6Khz (2.5kHz), and has an extra peak around 2.8kHz.

L700 have much obvious tuning regarding frequency response (hence veiled?), with the darkest background out of new models

"Obvious tuning" is one way to call it, "bad tuning" is my preferred term:

Look at that horrible 10dB crash between 1,2kHz and 1.8kHz, followed by a 7dB crash between 2.3kHz and 3.6kHz.
Female vocals don't sound very good on L700.

Some people were saying that L700 is a "mini-009" - that it ain't.

Okay they are very transparent, they sound totally different from music to music, so they reveal source better? but they are not even close to 009 in term of detail retreival let alone L700

Can't say that I heard something in 009 that I didn't hear in L300.

I would not say they are very natural, the highs are obviously subdued with small soundstage, instruments sizes are bigger, L700 sound-stage is much larger...

As you can see from the graphs above, highs in L300 are anything but subdued compared to L700 and 009.

... L300 also almost completely rolls off after 10khz, I don't know what you mean with perfect treble... really.

As the graphs above show, above 10kHz, there isn't much difference between L300, L700 and 009.

 

[armani006]

Now L300 definitely sounds brighter, thanks to both lesser bass response and extra energy in the 5kHz-10Khz range:

to addition, L500 stock pads and Vesper Audio pads with memory foam and genuine leather 2.5cm thick. To show how much pads can play role... red lines' dive at 7kHz I think is the leather resonance but not sure...

 

[daytrader]

Chart measurements don’t make music and listening is subjective. Be happy you are satisfied with the entry level Stax!

 

[Tugbars]

I just would like point out that almost all measurements at high treble region are not reliable. Only few measurement rigs are capable of showing consistent results with accuracy in that range. 009S and 007 shows almost flat response after 8khz according to the results taken from mediocre measurement rigs. That's all. I haven't seen any port modded SR007 or 009 being measured with GRAS or Brüel & Kjær equipment yet. If you have, let me know.

 

[o7brother]

I haven't seen any port modded SR007 or 009 being measured with GRAS or Brüel & Kjær equipment yet. If you have, let me know.

Wait another week and oratory1990 will have measured my 007 MK 2.9 with the blu-tack port mod, as well as my 009. He has a proper GRAS rig.

 

[VandyMan]

Wait another week and oratory1990 will have measured my 007 MK 2.9 with the blu-tack port mod, as well as my 009. He has a proper GRAS rig.

Great! I use his measurements, as processed by AutoEq, as a convolution filter in Roon. I have not been happy with the 009 one, so I'm very pleased he is doing a new measurement.

 

[o7brother]

Great! I use his measurements, as processed by AutoEq, as a convolution filter in Roon. I have not been happy with the 009 one, so I'm very pleased he is doing a new measurement.

He has measured the 009S, not the 009 iirc