[Hun7er]

  Spent a wonderful afternoon listening to my friend's 009, while I await delivery of my owns amps............
 
His system consists of the Playback Design MPS-5 > ARC Ref 5 SE > 8PS, listening to CDs and HiRez music files from a Mac using JRiver.
 
The 009 sounded so different from what I heard in Tokyo on a Stax amp, where the 009 was ethereal and delicate, the 009 today was full of power and grace, a deadly combination that truly draws one into the music. I never knew that 009 could do bass like what I heard today, full of impact and slam. Composition of sound was wonderful, leading edges, note, decay was compelling, and instrument specific in all three main frequencies. Soundstaging was surprising today too. Where in Tokyo, the images were floating around the forehead, today they were smack bang in front, well structured and correct, with good palpability. 
 
With the ARC Ref 5 SE in the chain compared to just the 8PS resulted in better dynamics on both the micro and macro level, larger soundstaging and more solidity to images..................... 

 
Everytime we can read HD800 or SR009 sound sterile, harsh or thin. For me it's not true when properly amped they can do thing that no others cans do.

 

[Manoa1]

If it's really tied to when certain notes are played I don't think it's a driver issue, sound more like something in the amp or source side of things.

I tried changing my source, interconnects, and earspeaker socket on the amp but I still had the same result. I hope its not the amp because I'm working out a deal with the seller to swap the headphones.

 

[greggf]

I have yet to hear the SR009 as harsh, thin, or metallic with current production Stax amps.  God, I hope I'm not doing something wrong.  Maybe I need a better amp.

 

[Manoa1]

If it's really tied to when certain notes are played I don't think it's a driver issue, sound more like something in the amp or source side of things.

Your comment made me curious so I started looking at the 310 amp, particularly at the balance screw on the back. To balance the sound so vocals are centered, the screw was maxed all the way to the right. I played with the balance a bit and even with the screw maxed to the left channel I still get the buzzing/static on higher/loud frequencies in the right ear. Any thoughts?

 

[ALSO]

(Begins again, bid #1, this time for posterity as well.)

 

[graben]

I've been away for awhile. Did the Chinese company that bought Stax end up making any changes?

 

[3X0]

Edifier? As far as I know Stax still operates independently and their designs and production remain unaffected by the acquisition.

 

[shipsupt]

That adjustment should only need to be made if you've got some imbalance in the headphones.  My 310 is set dead center.  I'm not sure it's related to the noise you're hearing, but seems that those headphones have some imbalance that's being corrected by the amp.
 
 
Quote:

Your comment made me curious so I started looking at the 310 amp, particularly at the balance screw on the back. To balance the sound so vocals are centered, the screw was maxed all the way to the right. I played with the balance a bit and even with the screw maxed to the left channel I still get the buzzing/static on higher/loud frequencies in the right ear. Any thoughts?

 

[edstrelow]

  So recently i've been thinking of selling my dynamic rig or at least my dac/amp to start with. I have a SR007 already and I'm not a huge fan of the SR009. Is there anything else that I should look at?

You might look try listening to a Sigma Pro or better yet  Sigma/404.  These have a rather different sound than other stats and I find them excellent with vocal. choral and opera.

 

[iwik]

Padam,
Those Lambda Pro (not the Classic) is that what they call them or is there a SRxxx?.
Thanks
Les

 

[spkrs01]

My good friend has closed the deal on this 2nd hand 8PS on my behalf from a Chinese seller.
 
I should be receiving the amp in a week or so!
 

 

 

 

 
Pictures are from the seller.

 

[nickif]

My good friend has closed the deal on this 2nd hand 8PS on my behalf from a Chinese seller.

I should be receiving the amp in a week or so

Congrats Gavin! this one seems to be in better shape than mine, looking forward to your comparison between the 8PS and LL2

 

[spkrs01]

Congrats Gavin! this one seems to be in better shape than mine, looking forward to your comparison between the 8PS and LL2

 
All thanks to you for pointing me to this amp.
 
Cost/Performance ratio is incredible..................very excited to receive it!

 

[RiStaR]

Please do share your impressions of the two amps. Very interested to learn more about the Chinese DIY amp, too

 

[2Erly]

Hm. So Ive already decided that I'll be coming over to the Stax camp but still going back and forth whether I want to go with the 007MK1/2 or 009s... Can someone give me some insight on which I should lean towards given my experiences & preferences? Im also a 1 headphone kind of guy so while I know 1 headphone wont excel at everything we can definitely try to cover as much bases as possible

 
 
I currently have a pair of Audeze LCD2s Rev1 that I like after years back buying some Denon 7ks which I ended up not liking at all due to its brightness, harshness and just overall sloppyness IMO and stepping back from headphones. Im now looking for something more open sounding/separated, and though I do enjoy the non bright sound I feel like some of the details of the music are rolled off/lost because of its "darkness" sometimes. Also, I find the "slam" of the LCD2s to be fatiguing sometimes, though I do enjoy the body the music has. Genres I listen to in no particular order mostly are TripHop, Old RNB/Soul, Folk, Ambient music, and some Jazz.