[bearFNF]

but you know T2 is not so affordable for almost people. Lol
Even Jude-san never heard it.

Don't forget that Jude has a custom built Frank Cooter amp for his Stax.

 

[mulveling]

It is a wise allocation of funds if you are going digital. Analog that is a bad way to go for the 009. You def. want more into the record player or reel to reel than the amp.

I totally agree - I meant for my comments to be taken in context of digital sources. At this point I have literally 25 to 30 times as much (at least) into my turntable source vs. all my digital gear. I pretty much run analog only with just speakers, though (just the way it's worked out). But that could change at some point, and the 009 / BHSE would be even more bliss than they are now. And certainly, good reel to reel can render the most amazing analog sound.

With analog, ever little change makes a big audible difference.

 

[buzzlulu]

I personally don't put much stock in L700 listening sessions of a few minutes, or even a few days.

JUST SPEAKING FOR MYSELF, my L700 didn't wow me as much as I'd hoped upon first listen. I went back and re-did my comparative listening after 2 weeks with L700 though, and THEN I could fully appreciate them

I attribute it to brain burn-in on my part. Dunno why, but I just had to get used to them. As always, YMMV, etc.

Agreed however, at least here Stateside, it is virtually impossible to demo Stax. Unfortunately I can only comment on what I heard at a brief demo at CanJam, so yes, take all of my comments with a grain of salt. With that said, since I am considering dipping my toes into the Stax world, the only criteria I have to use, as well as the other poster Sound EQ, is what ever limited demo I (and he) had and a perusing of the inter webs to gather various opinions.

With that said one thing I did come across on the "inter webs" is that the 700 requires a better amp than the 353. I read that from several different posters. So if one is considering an intro Stax amp, as I am, than that has some credibility.

At CanJam Woo also had the top of the line Stax solid state amplifier with a 007 or 009 connected to it (I forget which one). I do know that during my time at the booth there were multiple people who sat down at that demo station and just about everyone came away shaking their head in a negative way - no one I saw was happy with that demo.

Now - a demo of the 009 with Blue Hawaii at the HeadAmp booth - I did that one last year and this year. No shaking the head there - extremely impressive.

 

[buzzlulu]

can u tell me what did not give u great impression at first, what amp were u using. As to me such info is important

can i ask are there many people in this thread that liked L500 more than l700 from initial impressions

Here is what I posted a few pages back #14222

------------
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
--------------

 

[Sound Eq]

as i mentioned before i demoed at a dealer in a quiet room the following with 006ts amp 407, L500, 007 and 009

now for all this talk that i am seeing choosing the right energizer is a must and you must know what ur budget is

for example

009 and 007 with 006ts sucks so much that i could not believe people are paying so much money for those cans
407 and L500 were amzing with 006ts of course l500 was better

now since I do not want to over spend and after reading all this, i think that both 006ts and 353x are not good enough for L700 unless I am mistaken, as L700 was not there to demo

honestly I want a good synergy between the energizer and stax and not keep buying and selling in this stax domain, so i want to get things right from the first time.

Also from reading here I see that many are unhappy with 353x and L700, so my question how is 006ts energizer with L700 is it a great synergy or like 353x and L700

It will be helpful if someone develops a summary of synergy between stax products, at least for the newest releases that can aide as a guide for newbies

 

[VRacer-111]

Guess it all depends on taste, because I liked an SR-009 out of an old SRM-212 (not sure if stock) and Chord Mojo more than an SR-007 MK2 out of a KGSSHV Carbon and Schiit Yggy. Still prefer the L300/L500 Lamdas on the Carbon setup to either of the Omegas. I will say that the Mjolnir reworked SRD-7 transformer powered by an NAD C275BEE stereo amp is noticeably better than the STAX SRM-323S Driver unit. Only thing you lose out on is the separate L/R volume matching ability.

 

[buzzlulu]

as i mentioned before i demoed at a dealer in a quiet room the following with 006ts amp 407, L500, 007 and 009

now for all this talk that i am seeing choosing the right energizer is a must and you must know what ur budget is

for example

009 and 007 with 006ts sucks so much that i could not believe people are paying so much money for those cans
407 and L500 were amzing with 006ts of course l500 was better

now since I do not want to over spend and after reading all this, i think that both 006ts and 353x are not good enough for L700 unless I am mistaken, as L700 was not there to demo

honestly I want a good synergy between the energizer and stax and not keep buying and selling in this stax domain, so i want to get things right from the first time.

Also from reading here I see that many are unhappy with 353x and L700, so my question how is 006ts energizer with L700 is it a great synergy or like 353x and L700

It will be helpful if someone develops a summary of synergy between stax products, at least for the newest releases that can aide as a guide for newbies

Synergy between energizer and headphones makes perfect sense.
For myself I am looking, for now, to simply "dip" my toes into the Stax water. I already have a TOTL setup (for me) in the Utopia which can be connected to several sources - my two channel Linn DS and a Sony Signature series TA-ZH1ES Dac/Amp. As such I am not looking to put together a TOTL Stax system - simply get a little taste.

The energizer/heaphone synergy which you mention is why I am considering something like the Anniversary set 300/353. I think they were made for each other - or at least I hope that was Stax's intentions. The guys at WOO also seem to say that the 300 Anniversary is better than the 500.

 

[statfi]

Analog that is a bad way to go for the 009

FWIW, I strongly disagree, based on using 009s with my BHSE 95% of the time with analog.

 

[mulveling]

FWIW, I strongly disagree, based on using 009s with my BHSE 95% of the time with analog.

I think he meant: skimping out with a cheap analog source is a bad way to go with an analog-sourced 009 system; not that analog isn't recommended. Skimping out on source is only approved by me with digital (if done right)

 

[statfi]

I think he meant: skimping out with a cheap analog source is a bad way to go

I stand corrected. Profuse apologies.

 

[JimL11]

as i mentioned before i demoed at a dealer in a quiet room the following with 006ts amp 407, L500, 007 and 009

now for all this talk that i am seeing choosing the right energizer is a must and you must know what ur budget is

for example

009 and 007 with 006ts sucks so much that i could not believe people are paying so much money for those cans
407 and L500 were amzing with 006ts of course l500 was better

now since I do not want to over spend and after reading all this, i think that both 006ts and 353x are not good enough for L700 unless I am mistaken, as L700 was not there to demo

honestly I want a good synergy between the energizer and stax and not keep buying and selling in this stax domain, so i want to get things right from the first time.

Also from reading here I see that many are unhappy with 353x and L700, so my question how is 006ts energizer with L700 is it a great synergy or like 353x and L700

It will be helpful if someone develops a summary of synergy between stax products, at least for the newest releases that can aid as a guide for newbies

There is a general consensus that the SRM-T1/006 series, which are all the same circuit design, works well with all the Lambda series phones, up to and including the latest series. Some report the T1 series sounds somewhat better than the newer 006, but I have no personal experience.

An unmodded T1 or 006 doesn't do so well with the 009, or especially the 007, which is more demanding of power. However, as Muffinhead has discovered, a T1 modified with constant current sources (CCS) replacing its plate resistors does a pretty good job driving the 007 (see post #14007, p. 934 of this thread). As far as the other Stax amps, the SRM007 has tube outputs and is handicapped by its use of plate resistors. The SRM717 has sufficient drive for the 007 and 009. The SRM727 has issues due to its lack of overall feedback, but when modded to have overall global feedback is reportedly slightly superior to the 717, although some feel that is has some solid state dryness/harshness. The T8000 is hybrid with tube inputs and much more expensive than the others without much sonic improvement by report. Overall I would probably rate a modded T1, 717, 727 and T8000 in the same broad category, although an individual may prefer one or another depending on their preferred sonic flavor.

Beyond this, we are talking about third party amps.

The Woo GES is a modified Gilmore all-triode design, which doesn't have the drive capability of his other designs, the Woo WES has had varying reviews and is apparently not price-competitive with the Gilmore designs, and the new Woo amp has not had any reviews. The Eddie Current and Ray Samuels amps are no longer being built, and the Viva amp is also too new to have any reviews.

This leaves us with the SRX-Plus, which is my update/mod of a Stax DIY design from the 1980s, and the Kevin Gilmore designs. These include the KGSS, KGSSHV, KGST, KGSS Carbon, Grounded grid (basically a Carbon with EL34 outputs instead of SiC MOSFET outputs), Blue Hawaii, Megatron, and DIY T2.

Of these, the KGSS, KGSSHV and KGSS Carbon are all solid state.

The KGST, Grounded Grid, Blue Hawaii and DIY T2 are hybrid with tube outputs (DIY T2 also has tube inputs).

The SRX-Plus and Megatron are basically tube amplifiers but with solid state current sources.

If we sort these into Stereophile-type Classes, the consensus seems to be:

Class A+: DIY T2

Class A: BHSE, KGSS Carbon, Grounded grid, Megatron

Class B: KGST, KGSSHV, SRX-Plus

Class C: KGSS

Class D: Stax amps.

 

[Sound Eq]

There is a general consensus that the SRM-T1/006 series, which are all the same circuit design, works well with all the Lambda series phones, up to and including the latest series. Some report the T1 series sounds somewhat better than the newer 006, but I have no personal experience.

An unmodded T1 or 006 doesn't do so well with the 009, or especially the 007, which is more demanding of power. However, as Muffinhead has discovered, a T1 modified with constant current sources (CCS) replacing its plate resistors does a pretty good job driving the 007 (see post #14007, p. 934 of this thread). As far as the other Stax amps, the SRM007 has tube outputs and is handicapped by its use of plate resistors. The SRM717 has sufficient drive for the 007 and 009. The SRM727 has issues due to its lack of overall feedback, but when modded to have overall global feedback is reportedly slightly superior to the 717, although some feel that is has some solid state dryness/harshness. The T8000 is hybrid with tube inputs and much more expensive than the others without much sonic improvement by report. Overall I would probably rate a modded T1, 717, 727 and T8000 in the same broad category, although an individual may prefer one or another depending on their preferred sonic flavor.

Beyond this, we are talking about third party amps.

The Woo GES is a modified Gilmore all-triode design, which doesn't have the drive capability of his other designs, the Woo WES has had varying reviews and is apparently not price-competitive with the Gilmore designs, and the new Woo amp has not had any reviews. The Eddie Current and Ray Samuels amps are no longer being built, and the Viva amp is also too new to have any reviews.

This leaves us with the SRX-Plus, which is my update/mod of a Stax DIY design from the 1980s, and the Kevin Gilmore designs. These include the KGSS, KGSSHV, KGST, KGSS Carbon, Grounded grid (basically a Carbon with EL34 outputs instead of SiC MOSFET outputs), Blue Hawaii, Megatron, and DIY T2.

Of these, the KGSS, KGSSHV and KGSS Carbon are all solid state.

The KGST, Grounded Grid, Blue Hawaii and DIY T2 are hybrid with tube outputs (DIY T2 also has tube inputs).

The SRX-Plus and Megatron are basically tube amplifiers but with solid state current sources.

If we sort these into Stereophile-type Classes, the consensus seems to be:

Class A+: DIY T2

Class A: BHSE, KGSS Carbon, Grounded grid, Megatron

Class B: KGST, KGSSHV, SRX-Plus

Class C: KGSS

Class D: Stax amps.

Thanks for this great detailed reply.

On a total different note what is this new battery powered amp by stax, and which of the lambda series will it be all drive to satisfactory levels. Any mentioning of its price? When is release date?

Also on another note, so does just changing the pads on L300 with L500 pads make the L300 sound like L500, or is this an exaggeration ?

 

[Pokemonn]

but you know(again? Lol) Even Jude-san listen to Loudspeakers(KEF LS50=about 1000$) when he can. not to Stax. me too. since KEF LS50 is jude-san's recommendation.

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/hi...ethan-opolion-of-canjam-global-part-2/?page=3

https://www.head-fi.org/articles/head-fi-buying-guide-desktop-portable-speakers.17580/

 

[AudioThief]

but you know(again? Lol) Even Jude-san listen to Loudspeakers(KEF LS50=about 1000$) when he can. not to Stax. me too...

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/hi...ethan-opolion-of-canjam-global-part-2/?page=3

Why even get into high end headphones if a pair of 1000$ active speakers + dac to your ears beats out the TOTL headphones? lol

 

[Pokemonn]

Why even get into high end headphones if a pair of 1000$ active speakers + dac to your ears beats out the TOTL headphones? lol

maybe i am a masochist...LOL!