The Stax Thread III

[DesignTaylor]

I am discovering quickly just how much influence the energizer has. In my past experiences with planar and dynamic cans it became obvious how important the synergy between amp and HP was but with electrostatics it seems like it might be even more pronounced.

I swapped out the tubes in my SRM-T1 from some GEs to some Toshibas from Japan and the difference in how the L300 LTDs sound is pretty remarkable. More body, smoother, less gain, less shout in the upper mids. Way more to my taste. Probably the most impactful $15 I've ever spent on audio gear.

Looking forward to what the new amp can do.

 

[bigjako]

I am discovering quickly just how much influence the energizer has. In my past experiences with planar and dynamic cans it became obvious how important the synergy between amp and HP was but with electrostatics it seems like it might be even more pronounced.

I swapped out the tubes in my SRM-T1 from some GEs to some Toshibas from Japan and the difference in how the L300 LTDs sound is pretty remarkable. More body, smoother, less gain, less shout in the upper mids. Way more to my taste. Probably the most impactful $15 I've ever spent on audio gear.

Looking forward to what the new amp can do.

When you swapped tubes did you also re-bias? I've swapped tubes to great effect for non-electrostatic amps but have been worried about doing it on my electrostatic amps, without having ever rebiased tubes before.

 

[chocolates]

there's a great tutorial on head-fi actually for rebiasing, i did it for my 007t: https://www.head-fi.org/articles/adjusting-bias-on-stax-tube-amplifiers.17232/

I am discovering quickly just how much influence the energizer has. In my past experiences with planar and dynamic cans it became obvious how important the synergy between amp and HP was but with electrostatics it seems like it might be even more pronounced.

yeah, estats seem to behave more like speakers than traditional cans with respect to their relationship between amplifiers and sound

 

[DesignTaylor]

When you swapped tubes did you also re-bias?

I did not take the time to re-bias. I know I probably should but was feeling a bit lax about it.

That is a great write up, looks pretty easy, just need to find my multimeter.

 

[PointyFox]

Yeah, could be a lack of power or maybe a lack of seal? If a SR-007 leaks a lot of air it will sound pretty bad until you do the bass port mod. Once modded with a proper amp they sound more transparent than Lambdas and the Utopia, with the SR-009 sounding even more transparent and being sealed well by default.

 

[6PANDEMONIUM6]

Yeah, could be a lack of power or maybe a lack of seal? If a SR-007 leaks a lot of air it will sound pretty bad until you do the bass port mod. Once modded with a proper amp they sound more transparent than Lambdas and the Utopia, with the SR-009 sounding even more transparent and being sealed well by default.

Haha, I wasn't really referring to the sound of the music being "transparent" in my last paragraph. I meant how the structure of the headphones themselves is more open. For example, when you put Utopias on your head, with no audio playing, they are physically very open. They don't shut you away from the outside world. Even when there is pure silence the construction of the cups and earpads themselves makes it seem as if air can pass right through. Lambdas are more like that than the 007s.

Meanwhile, on something like the Meze Empyrean or Audeze LCD-4 it feels like there is a wall separating you from the world. Not as closed-off feeling as a closed-back headphone but more closed-off than Lambdas or the Utopias. Not the sound but the actual build of the headphones is not as open and clear. This sort of affects how I perceive the audio being played on the headphones. The 007s are certainly more open than the lcd-4s or Empyreans but they are not as open as lambdas or utopias.

Not the clarity of sound but rather the openness of actually having them on your head. I don't think that I can explain it any better than that.

When this physically more open structure is combined with the way that Lambdas over-emphasize instrument separation and the 007s don't and stage more like a conventional high-end headphone I perceive the lambdas as being more open and clear.

Also, I had the 007 mk.1s which are supposedly better sealed out of the box than the later variants. I'm certainly willing to listen to a modded mk.2 and see what the differences are though.

 

[6PANDEMONIUM6]

It might just be a quality of headphone construction that I'm particularly sensitive to.

 

[PointyFox]

In my mind they're similar, but I guess once music starts playing you can get additional reflections that weren't audible before, so they're different in that regard. The Empyrean isn't very transparent in either regard. When I first tried them out I thought "These are pretty good for closed-back headphones. Oh wait, they're open? Ehh...".

 

[astromaddie]

Would a 007 Mk2 be worth getting? I have a T1S I’ll be doing the constant current mod on, and a D10. I have a L700 but I’d be selling off the lambda in exchange for the 007.

 

[Mach3]

As long as you don't listen to them super loud you should be fine.
Also you should port mod the 007 Mk2.

 

[astromaddie]

Is the port mod like the bluetak mod for the L700?

 

[118900]

Would a 007 Mk2 be worth getting? I have a T1S I’ll be doing the constant current mod on, and a D10. I have a L700 but I’d be selling off the lambda in exchange for the 007.

remember you need adequate amplification for the 007s. Without it they risk sounding "worse" than the L700s, bear that in mind based on the modification you intend to do to the T1S.

I cannot comment on the SQ between the two as I have never heard the L700s but I can guarantee that when properly amplified the 007 Mk2 with Spritzer blutac port modification are noticeably better (to my ears) than the Audeze LCD-4z.

 

[astromaddie]

remember you need adequate amplification for the 007s. Without it they risk sounding "worse" than the L700s, bear that in mind based on the modification you intend to do to the T1S.

So you think even with the D10, the 007 will sound “worse” than the L700, not just “similar”? I assume the CCS mod on the T1S will provide adequate amplification at least, but it would be disappointing if I couldn’t really use my D10 anymore.

 

[118900]

So you think even with the D10, the 007 will sound “worse” than the L700, not just “similar”? I assume the CCS mod on the T1S will provide adequate amplification at least, but it would be disappointing if I couldn’t really use my D10 anymore.

I asked the same question myself when I was trying to decide (including to @spritzer) and the consensus is that the D10 simply doesn't have the power to drive the 007s.

The 007s require that extra power to drive them properly at the high and low frequencies, unlike the L700 (and lambdas in general) which by their very construction are easier to drive, therefore the 007s risk sounding bloated and out of control in the low end and dull in the high end because of this lack of power. With the same amp that cannot drive the 007s the L700s could sound perfectly adequate because the power is enough to drive them.

The difference is that when both are amplified correctly, the 007s will sound much better than the L700s.

I am driving mine with a modified SRM-717 and like I said, I dropped the Audeze immediately after hearing the 007s.

 

[Tugbars]

I totally agree with Juansan. I'd say, don't consider buying 007 unless you have Carbon(If you don't have money for Mjolnir Carbon you can get one of those made by famous legit builders) and a dac which is at least at the same level of Denafrips Pontus. My SR507's sound almost equally detailed with a 500$ dac or a 1800$ dac.(tonality is similar too) However, the difference between these dacs are like day and night when I compare them with 007. I don't know how to explain it, I don't know the scientific side of things but that's how things are.