Does the Stax SR007 have more musicality than sr009?
Define musicality. This cannot be a simplistic yes/no answer. I have both, an early series 007 Mk1 with the old style box (supposed to be from the best bunch), and a newer 009. IMO the 009 sounds definitely more musical than the stock 007 Mk1. More true to the timbre, instruments just sound right, in a sound stage that is right.
I have modded both the 007 and the 009 (ear pads). The 009 mod made the bass lines more clear, more deep and more punchy, which sounded very musical and pleasant, but after a time I thought the slight change in neutrality actually subtracts from the original value. Behold, I prioritized neutrality over "musicality" despite I am more like an emotional listener than an intellectual one. The 009 has some magic indeed.
The 007 mod brought it very close to the 009 tonality, and with some music is even preferable, generally it's a beautiful, smooth, slightly sepia tone, but still the midrange is more recessed, and so is the treble, when compared with the 009. The presence of the 009 sounds just more real. Resolution is similar (you hear similar amount of details and dynamic gradations with both), even though the difference in presence elevation makes some things more evident with the 009.
In turn, in the treble I think the 007 has more realistic tonality, despite being slightly recessed. The 009 sounds thinner (and somehow more artificial) in comparison, but a KGSSHV and proper sources help that.
So the problem of the 007 is the midrange recess, which cannot be cured with my ear pad mods - I guess the membrane needs to be changed for that. A BHSE can cure that to some extent.
So both are musical, and both are nowhere from live acoustic concert. They are situated at different sides of reference, the 007 a bit farther than the 009. This was a deliberate choice Stax made. From there it's only question of money and priorities. You'd likely be happy with the [modded] 007, and likely even happier with the 009 if you wanted to spend a lot more on that extra musical neutrality and realism.
The 009 also has a deceiving property that it changes a lot according to what you feed to it. The 007 sounds more consistent vs sources. A lot of reviews may be affected by a certain choice of sources with the 009.
. The 009 pads really transformed the 007, as described in the Stax mod thread, more open, better treble. Even with that, it's still more recessed than the 009. I also hear the same things as you, the 007 being more colorful, with better dynamic impression (likely because the added body in low treble) but the 009 is more accurate. It's a matter of taste, really. BTW my big surprise is how my TH900 caught up on the big Stax after extensive mods - similarly colored as the 007, and not as smooth, but boy it has bass like no other.
