The Stax Thread III
Feb 20, 2018 at 1:36 AM Post #14,281 of 25,262
Wow.
So much blabbering and speculations about a "mere" Lambda with a stupidly cheap 3-figures price tag compared to whatever the market is doing today.
Get them, like them or dislike them, say your word about them whenever you feel to add ressources on how they sound compared to other Lambdas, keep them or sell them.

Ali
 
Feb 20, 2018 at 3:28 AM Post #14,284 of 25,262
There were three guys at the booth and Jack was not the one I spoke to. The person I spoke with said the amp alone was $2000.

Regardless I have a few questions - however please take into account that I am definitely a Stax newbie who wants to dip my toes in the water. I remember coming away from CanJam last year thinking the Blue Hawaii/009 was the best I heard and I have not been able to get that demo out of my mind. Aside from that I do not want to jump in full load as I have done that this past year with a pair of Utopia’s and Z1R’s for closed back. So the idea of TOTL Stax is not in the cards now.

Keeping in mind that show conditions and limited music selection were not ideal for demo I came away with these impressions after my first limited sessions with the Lamda series yesterday:

The 300 definitely gave me a taste of what Stax can do - a very open airy and FAST sound (my 2 channel is a TOTL Naim system so fast and PRAT are in my DNA) with an out of head experience.

Stepping up to the 500 I definitely heard an improvement - all of the same qualities as the 300 however much more refined, better timber and tonal qualities (less bright and strident) and a more fuller bottom end.

We were finally able to get their 700 over which was on loan at another display booth however I only had a brief few minutes with them. Based upon that very short listen I did not like them as much as the 500. I felt the bass was muddy and masked what was going on in the top end. Things sounded a bit confused and cloudy.

All demo’s were through the 353 Black anniversary which I thought was quite nice - from a performance, form factor and price persepective.

So here is my question to those who are obviously more experienced than I am - I felt the 500 hit the sweet spot - right in between the 300 and 700 - and due to my quick impressions of the 700’s bass - even if I wanted to spend for them (which I can do) - I think I would still go with the 500.

And now here is the kicker - if the 300’s I listened to were really the Anniversary issue - then I would not choose them. I liked the 500’s better. I think as a set, Anniversary 300/353 vs. 500/353, the cost is about the same. If the 300’s that I listened to were instead the regular 300’s than I might consider going blindly into the 300 anniversary as they are supposed to be a cross between the 300/700

Any opinions or advice?

I also have 353x and 323s , L300 & L500 perform much better on the 353x than L700, I agree that L700 sound bad on 353x. L700 will perform much better on 323s or 717 or or tube hybrid or better amps
 
Feb 20, 2018 at 6:01 AM Post #14,286 of 25,262
STAX probably had a bad production run (1600 units) of L700 stators that didn’t meet spec, and instead of writing them off, recycled them with L300 diaphragms and a gold emblem into becoming the “Limited” L300 Anniversary Edition.

Or not. :beerchug:
Or yes..........:ksc75smile::L3000::L3000::ksc75smile:
 
Feb 20, 2018 at 6:54 AM Post #14,287 of 25,262
Agreed. The sr-009 really did not separate itself from less expensive headphones (hd800, Lcd-X, 007mk1) until the source was well into 4 figures. In my case that was a Brinkmann Bardo with direct to disc records. Not cheap but I think you can save allot getting a Yamaha gt2000 or Micro Seiki bl-91. If you can deal with used those two record players are close to the Bardo for a fraction the cost...

Back to the L-300le. I know there has been a bit of a emotional posts to say the least, but man as someone who thinks the Lamda's limited editions are the most underrated headphones out there it is very nice to see such interest finally. It is way more than time. Too many great enthusiasts do not know what they are missing.

Thank You for your contribution. I am about to pull the triger on an L-700 or SR-009 ...but I do not want to need a 4 figure amp to move the latter properly ! Recomendaciones please for a newbie to the Stax World. Thanks !
 
Feb 20, 2018 at 7:10 AM Post #14,288 of 25,262
I have the 700 and the 009 and am currently using a modified Stax SRM-007tII with some nice vintage tubes. Fed by an Esoteric K-03X (not cheap and not the best use of funds for a front-end which is soon to be displaced by a Jay's Audio CDT-3 and a Denafrips Terminator), I prefer the 009 in every regard. But if this was to remain my system I could not justify the price differential for the 009. I am waiting on some serious amplification and from what I have read, the 009 should scale up beautifully. So in your case I would recommend the 700.
 
Feb 20, 2018 at 7:24 AM Post #14,289 of 25,262
I also have 353x and 323s , L300 & L500 perform much better on the 353x than L700, I agree that L700 sound bad on 353x. L700 will perform much better on 323s or 717 or or tube hybrid or better amps

Thank you for this. I have actually come across some other posts which intimate the same thing.
I guess this logically explains why I was not overly impressed with what I heard from the 700's
 
Feb 20, 2018 at 7:27 AM Post #14,290 of 25,262
I have the 700 and the 009 and am currently using a modified Stax SRM-007tII with some nice vintage tubes. Fed by an Esoteric K-03X (not cheap and not the best use of funds for a front-end which is soon to be displaced by a Jay's Audio CDT-3 and a Denafrips Terminator), I prefer the 009 in every regard. But if this was to remain my system I could not justify the price differential for the 009. I am waiting on some serious amplification and from what I have read, the 009 should scale up beautifully. So in your case I would recommend the 700.

Thank you for your recommendation. It seems better for newbies to grow by steps, one at a time with solid foundations to make the most & enjoy the most each step !
 
Feb 20, 2018 at 1:27 PM Post #14,293 of 25,262
Well - the mystery deepens. I just had a telephone conversation with Jack Woo who called me back. It turns out that there was BOTH a basic 300 and a 300 Anniversary headphone at the booth. Based on what I heard I think it was the basic 300 and not the Anniversary which the (confused) rep had me listen to. Mr Woo said that the Anniversary is considerably better than the 500 I liked - and approached the 700 in performance.

On Saturday afternoon, facing into the room, on the left side: from left to right were the L500, the L300 Anniv., L700 w/ battery amp/DAC, and the T8000 amp (did not notice what was connected to it as it was in use the whole time I was there).

I'm not sure I understand what the big mystery is here. Next time, takes notes. :)
 
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Feb 20, 2018 at 1:55 PM Post #14,295 of 25,262
On Saturday afternoon, facing into the room, on the left side: from left to right were the L500, the L300 Anniv., L700 w/ battery amp/DAC, and the T8000 amp (did not notice what was connected to it as it was in use the whole time I was there).

I'm not sure I understand what the big mystery is here. Next time, takes notes. :)

Well I was there too and the big mystery was - there were TWO pairs of 300's.
Jack confirmed to me on a telephone call that only ONE was the anniversary edition. The other was a regular 300.
This was on Saturday - don't know what was going on Sunday
 

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