The Stax Thread III

[bearFNF]

I think this is to much!!!!

If you can still afford food, clothing, and shelter... then it's not too much, IMO. Enjoy what you have.

 

[bearFNF]

Hi there,
a sudden urge has grown in me to find a pair of headphones to complement my 007mk2.
And I'm not going to fight it, because I know that this is not, in fact, a sudden urge - it's been growing for a while. It's not that I'm not satisfied with my lovely 007 - in fact I'm in love with every aspect of their sound. It's simply about complementing my collection.
Therefore I'll be looking for something.... similar. Especially characteristics like: speed (airiness), soundstage & holography have to be present. But on top of that I'm looking for a different flavor, something that can be called a variation of electrostatic sound (but not an electrostat).
What headphone comes to your mind first?
(let's say that we have a budget for the new 007).

Dan Clark Audio Voce -see this thread for impressions and info - https://www.head-fi.org/threads/mr-speakers-voce-electrostatic-headphone-thread.887301/
or
Sennheiser HD800 - not electrostat so would need an amp added to drive them. See this thread for info (LOL a long read with 28,689 posts to date) - https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-new-hd800-impressions-thread.650510/

 

[martin778]

I'm noticing something with these TOTL Staxes - they make the sounds so isolated and clear that the stereo image gets weird, sometimes it feels like having 4-5 separate points around the head where sound comes from instead of a complete image. Weird phenomenon.
SR-007mk2 focuses more to the middle, in front of the listener but the X9000 takes the separation to the extreme, my brain still needs to adopt to this.

By the way, I think I've finally lost my mind with Stax, got myself a climate control cabinet to store them...

I wonder how the connectors on the amp are going to hold up with frequent unplugging, with the 700T they are much less tight than with the old SRD/SRM1 stuff where you could almost hold the amp in the air by the 5 pin cable.

 

[lsantista]

Hi there,
a sudden urge has grown in me to find a pair of headphones to complement my 007mk2.
And I'm not going to fight it, because I know that this is not, in fact, a sudden urge - it's been growing for a while. It's not that I'm not satisfied with my lovely 007 - in fact I'm in love with every aspect of their sound. It's simply about complementing my collection.
Therefore I'll be looking for something.... similar. Especially characteristics like: speed (airiness), soundstage & holography have to be present. But on top of that I'm looking for a different flavor, something that can be called a variation of electrostatic sound (but not an electrostat).
What headphone comes to your mind first?
(let's say that we have a budget for the new 007).

when Ive listened to Audeze LC2 for the first and only time, like 20 minutes on mostly pop/acoustic songs that Im not familiar with, the main thought in my mind was "its strikingly similar to the 007mk2 (have that one)". COuld only try one classical song and ok, the Audeze wasnt up to the task. From what I read here, maybe the LCD3 or 4 should still be somewhat similar and better than the 2. Oh I had the original HD800 with delkoni pads and I wouldn't say it reminds me of the 007ii

 

[RadekB]

when Ive listened to Audeze LC2 for the first and only time, like 20 minutes on mostly pop/acoustic songs that Im not familiar with, the main thought in my mind was "its strikingly similar to the 007mk2 (have that one)". COuld only try one classical song and ok, the Audeze wasnt up to the task. From what I read here, maybe the LCD3 or 4 should still be somewhat similar and better than the 2. Oh I had the original HD800 with delkoni pads and I wouldn't say it reminds me of the 007ii

Thanks for the hint. I had a chance to audition LCD-2C some time ago, and as far as my first impression was similar to yours, I noticed that the width of a stage was way narrower + instruments positioning was not that precise (somewhat hazy) vs the 007. And this is a significant variable in my equation

 

[Dontzapme]

Does anyone know what sort of capacitors I would need to replace the stock capacitors in my SRM-006tS amp? Do the "V" and "uF" values need to exactly match the old ones?

I apologize if this has been asked already, but I could not find the answer anywhere myself.

 

[Aspirant Audiophile]

Confessions of an audiophile aspirant who is also possibly just an idiot.

I went to my audio shop to buy my first pair of Stax. L500 MK2, loved them, but I also bought a Node (on the salesperson's advice) and a 252S. Every single person I've met or chatted with has encouraged me to return the Node and the 252S in order to afford better and more relevant equipment.

So. Ok. I went back to the audio shop and demo'd l500, l700 and 007MK2 with the 252, the Stax SRM-D50, and the SRM-353x, all with a Node as the source, but also while planning to run things through my PC upon getting home.

I definitely did not enjoy the 007s on any of the drivers. This is my first Stax, and I want the brightness that makes hearing detail so easy. They just felt like nice headphones that weren't for me personally.

I was surprised (disappointed? shocked?) that I didn't hear a difference between the l500s and l700s, on any of the drivers. So I kept the l500s, returned the Node and 252 I'd bought, and bought the SRM-D50 and a nice USB cable to run audio through my computer.

I come home, and both me and my wife (who is a professional composer) noticed a big drop in the 'brightness' we'd heard from the l500/Node/252 setup we'd started with. We have no idea what happened--is it because we're using a computer instead of a dedicated streamer (the salesperson is literally the only person who thinks this)? Or is the DAC in the SRM-50 really so dated that it takes the edge off the Stax?

I can find almost zero reviews of the SRM-50 online, and even on Head-fi the commentary is pretty sparse. It's almost as though nobody wants to talk about it, unless they're trying to sell it. All I read is that it's got a pretty design and a mediocre DAC...and that the DAC might (or might not) matter.

The way my wife put it is this: with the 252 and Node streamer (or at least something in there), we felt like we were in the room with the musicians, and with the SRM-50, we feel like we're in an adjacent room with carpet on the wall.

So, I traded in a streamer for a better amp and came home with less of the sound I wanted... Not good.

I'm heading back to the audio shop tomorrow to figure out what the heck is going on. I've decided that I'm not going to buy from second-hand experts, even though I'm sure the components can be amazing--it's just a little too much risk for me as a neophyte. But now I'm wondering whether I 'saved' 600 bucks in trading in the Node, only to be stuck with a driver that somehow isn't as clean as the 252, and with the need for a 600-800 new DAC (i.e. the Bifrost 2)...

Any advice from someone more knowledgeable than me?

 

[KDS315]

That SRM-D50 got a lot of criticism for being not the greatest DAC/Amp. I seriously think this is true indeed. Get the newest NODE N130 and a decent STAX-Amp, or add a good DAC in between, as the NODE N130 finally now allows USB out. Since you don't like the SR-007, any other stax headphones is easier to drive, so not a big thing then to find a decent STAX-Amp.

 

[Aspirant Audiophile]

Thanks for the reply; the only reason I bought the Node in the first place is because the salesman was adamant that I can't run Stax through a PC without compromising the sound. It just sat next to my PC. The Node model you describe sounds like it solves my USB crisis, but are you also suggesting that a dedicated streamer is in fact a smart move?

 

[KDS315]

Well I started using Roon on a PC to stream but was not impressed, so my first solution after this was the Node 2i back then. Quite a difference! Now I use a Roon Rock running on an Intel NUC plus a deDicated DAC (RME ADI-2), but not really that much better than using the Node N130 (still have it running as a backup)

 

[bigjako]

The D50 is almost like a portable amp (imo, I've not heard it). Get yourself a proper desktop amp and you should be fine. I second getting some sort of streamer vs running off USB from a PC (I use an Allo DigiOne Signature to connect into my DAC via USB/Coax/BNC but a NUC with Roon Rock seems like a great option too - Darko has a great video about building one).

I would really calm your concerns about third-party amps. They'll likely work out much cheaper in the long run, you'll advance straight to Go and not deal with multiple upgrades along your path (though, it's fair to say that my journey to a Carbon was just as enjoyable as the destination itself). But I get where you're coming from. There are 2 used Stax amps for sale in the Classifieds right now (one of them is mine but I think the 007ts + L-300LE is the better deal right now). The 007ts will serve you well for decades and you can always do the CCS mod to it - that said, if you genuinely prefer the Lambda sound signature over the 007 then you won't need to go too far up the food chain - the Lambdas are easy to drive.

 

[tumpux]

I wouldn’t suggest third party amplifiers or diy streamers like digione to someone who is only comfortable in buying gears from an audio store. They are not there yet. They need the comfort of a knowledgeable sales advisor to help them with their needs.
I would suggest them to find a community with the same interest. It won’t be too hard to find them.
I will also stay away from the audio stores that don’t have good enough demo unit of stax drivers that can make SR-007 sounds noticeably better than Lambdas.

Give us long enough time and one day we all will graduate to the level of soldering monkeys who install ccs mod on their friends’ vintage stax drivers on weekends.

 

[Aspirant Audiophile]

Thank you for your advice, I do have other hobbies, but I'd like to get on the good foot I with this one and not fall down a rabbit hole of poor decisions and then to a stunted interest.

I appreciate the commentary, and I'll update after my wife escorts me to the hi-fi shop.

 

[tumpux]

My favorite quote from my audiophile uncle is to listen to a lot of different setup before deciding to buy a new gear. I didn’t quite get it when he told me 35 years ago. That’s why I accumulated boxes of unused electronics in my storage room. Maybe when we have the resources, the urge to purchase something new could be very strong.

 

[tumpux]

What also important is to know where we came from. If you found Node 2 or D50 is inadequate, it’s probably because your previous setup is very good.