The Stax Thread III

[davidsh]

 

  That is blasphemy!

Get him!!

Heh, please don't. They sound overpriced and have a weird high mid-range.. Okay?!?
 
Personally, I have only once heard equipment that is good enough to 'dissappear'. This was a speaker setup consisting of some 10k$ DAC and 2 Spectron Musician III class-D used as monoblocks along with the SP technology Revelation speakers, all this fed from coax form a dedicated pc from some pretty expensive sound card. Have also heard same system with a 18" active sub. Don't remember the brand.
Well, the context is that just as I thought I might have a grasp on the sound signature it seemed to transform into something completely different, and I found every single track to seem to have a different signature which was very dependent on volume as well. 

 

[padam]

   
Personally I'm not certain if I'd agree with DefQon's definition of 009 fans falling into one of the two categories. But the 009 gets more head time than my 007mk1 and I find both to be relaxing enough.
 
I'm particularly curious about your comment the Smyth Realiser with the right profile providing a "fuller" sound. Has anyone had an opportunity to compare a SR-009 with the Realiser against the JPS Labs Abyss?

My assumption is based on various impressions and this review as well. But there is always a trade-off with any kind of EQ stepping in.

 

[AManAnd88Keys]

I also find the 009 more tonally correct (in the sense of sounding tonally neutral) than the 007mk1, but that's driven from the stock 727 amp.

Having said that, there is no question the
Mk1 strikes the best balance between correctness and masking of unpleasant nature of some (many depending on you fav music genre) of today's recordings / true tone of some instruments (ever heard a trumpet or violin in real? It's not necessarily silk and smooth at actual loudness level

).

The 009 does not suffer of sins of commission like many a headphone do (because unfortunately, it's all a matter of compromise like ever other man made imperfect designs...). But the 009 also does not suffer sins of omission to please the ear at the expense of fidelity.

As such, the 007mk1 is much more accomodating of bright / harsh recordings or listening sessions at realistic and/or ear splitting volume levels.

In my not so humble opinion (why should an opinion be humble?), the 009 excels at low to moderate volume levels for moderate to excellent quality recordings and is the most chameleon like headphone I've heard (in the sense it's pretty difficult to hear the same sound characteristics coming back recording after recording).

The 007 is much more tolerant of music genres and listening habits while, apparently, giving very little away to the 009 when properly fed.

Yes I have, and I think anyone talking about right or wrong tonality should know very well how instruments and voices sound in real life.

 

[realmassy]

.

 

[DefQon]

  Imho it does sound "quite right" tonally. 

 
 

 
Yes but that depends on how you define tonally quite right, I'm talking more from perspective of everything included in the package not just parts of the sound the renders life like instrument notes or such. I find the 009 a bit bright sounding, in similar ways to the 507 brightness (the latter worse to the point of sounding cold at times). Regardless of how well it sounds I have not found a single headphone that I have heard or owned (save for except the R10 or HE90 which are out of my reach) that renders piano notes realistically, imho I think the piano is one instrument very hard to produce like the real thing.

 

[AManAnd88Keys]

   
 
 
Yes but that depends on how you define tonally quite right, I'm talking more from perspective of everything included in the package not just parts of the sound the renders life like instrument notes or such. I find the 009 a bit bright sounding, in similar ways to the 507 brightness (the latter worse to the point of sounding cold at times). Regardless of how well it sounds I have not found a single headphone that I have heard or owned (save for except the R10 or HE90 which are out of my reach) that renders piano notes realistically, imho I think the piano is one instrument very hard to produce like the real thing.

As someone who plays the piano and who has heard quite a number of pianists, I'd say that this has a lot to do with the SQ of the source.

 

[davidsh]

 
Yes but that depends on how you define tonally quite right, I'm talking more from perspective of everything included in the package not just parts of the sound the renders life like instrument notes or such. I find the 009 a bit bright sounding, in similar ways to the 507 brightness (the latter worse to the point of sounding cold at times). Regardless of how well it sounds I have not found a single headphone that I have heard or owned (save for except the R10 or HE90 which are out of my reach) that renders piano notes realistically, imho I think the piano is one instrument very hard to produce like the real thing.

I have always thought the exact same thing about piano. 

 

[DefQon]

 
As someone who plays the piano and who has heard quite a number of pianists, I'd say that this has a lot to do with the SQ of the source.

I'm going to disagree with this somewhat, the source can only do so much and we're talking about smaller percentages than amplification. It should be no excuse to say use an expensive source to balance or fix the deficiencies or limitations of the transducer.

 

[AManAnd88Keys]

  I'm going to disagree with this somewhat, the source can only do so much and we're talking about smaller percentages than amplification. It should be no excuse to say use an expensive source to balance or fix the deficiencies or limitations of the transducer.

I understand you. If the source and recording are very good and there are still imperfections - it's most likely the transducer. Otherwise, if there are several parts of the setup that could play a role in that, then it's pretty hard to tell...

 

[milosz]

Someone selling a pair of SR-009's, new and unopened, on Audiogon for under $4000
 
Seller has no feedback so probably best to perform due diligence. 
 
DISCLAIMER:   I have no connection with this seller, with Audiogon, with Stax or with due diligence.....

 

[ericfarrell85]

Can someone recommend their preferred albums or music of choice on the SR009?

 

[SoupRKnowva]

Can someone recommend their preferred albums or music of choice on the SR009?

All of them? I think that all of my music sounds excellent on them

Though I spend most of my time with then listening to metal. They are absolutely stunning with metal

 

[davidsh]

^isn't recording quality an issue to you (thinking about metal)

 

[SoupRKnowva]

^isn't recording quality an issue to you (thinking about metal)

Not at all, I've never been a big proponent of using worse gear just because the recording quality isn't as good as some other music. I love the fidelity the 009s provide

 

[spritzer]

The 007 is much more tolerant of music genres and listening habits while, apparently, giving very little away to the 009 when properly fed.

 
I think this sums it up nicely.  To add to it though, behavior at higher volume level is the true test of any component.  With amps this tests the circuit and power supply far more than whisper levels.  Clipping would be the most extreme case but the ability to maintain the full voltage swing into any load is what all amps should strive for.  When Tyll did his comparison of electrostatic amplifiers he dropped me a line asking for how I test 'stat amps.  My first port of call is always how they perform with hard to drive sets (Sigma's, 007Mk1) at high volume levels so that's what I told him, push them and push them hard. 

 
This is a far bigger issue with transducers, they need to work harder to produce higher SPL and this will cause issues with the housing, diaphragm and even the stators.  Excess energy needs to be dissipated, both as vibration and as heat, which will trip up the designs.  Take any of the Lambdas and push them hard.  The driver structure is well designed but the interface with the baffle and the baffle material is not ideal as it can't transmit the extra energy as efficiently.  Same problem with the SR-Omega, the plastic skeleton that the driver rests in does the sound no favors. 
 
Now these structural issues have been dealt with in the 009 but Stax did design them to have a sound and the Stax amps are supposed to counter that and make for a nice combination.  This are the same design choices we make when designing amps, this stage has a bit more second harmonic distortion to keep the higher orders in check and all that.  There is also one aspect of the recent Stax models that has been overlooked, why did they change to the new diaphragm material?  Now that we know what it is I can only think of one reason, even higher tensile strength that mylar. 
 

   
Hi Mike, was the mod only the feedback change or was it more drastic (replacing transistor)? Been thinking of having something like this done with mine.

 
Only one amp I know of has had the transistor swap but I for one don't understand why anybody would do that.  The 2SC5466 that Stax use is perfect for the role and is only outclassed if you need a part that handles more voltage.  All but impossible to raise the rail voltages within the 727 chassis....
 

I'm pretty sure the original BH or KGBH is also available as diy as evidently the schematics can be found on the headwize projects page.

Don't forget there is the Megatron as well if you like stats and tubes.

 
There are a few dozen DIY Blue Hawaii's out there so yes.