[axle_69]

  I waited for this for 4 years. Heartfelt thanks to Stax mafias.
 

 
Congratulations!
I may have understood it wrong. Did it take you 4 years to build it? I was planning to build an amplifier and get a 009 in the long run but that day may have to come sooner than planned (the way things are going my L700+353X are at risk of being speakernapped by my daughter). If it did, nothing wrong with it, just wanted to know when to start (study, learn, buy components, measure, takes a lot of time but is great fun, took me almost a year to build a 300B PSE).
Cheers.

 

[koonhua90]

   
Congratulations!
I may have understood it wrong. Did it take you 4 years to build it? I was planning to build an amplifier and get a 009 in the long run but that day may have to come sooner than planned (the way things are going my L700+353X are at risk of being speakernapped by my daughter). If it did, nothing wrong with it, just wanted to know when to start (study, learn, buy components, measure, takes a lot of time but is great fun, took me almost a year to build a 300B PSE).
Cheers.

 
I built it last year and waited a year before pulling the trigger. Now JPY is going up, I figured I should get one before it goes up more.
 
I used to have the Omega Mk1 with SRM-T1 which was modified by Spritzer, a Stax 507,  LCD-3 and ATH-W3000ANV close to 4 years ago. With the Omega Mk1 I sold the others and never look back. I then sold the Mk1 as I thought that I needed the cash, which eventually I didn't anyway. Ever since I have regretted selling the 007, thus I decided to one day DIY a Stax amp so I could get the 009. I learned and stumbled along the way, but eventually with the help I received from the community I managed to complete it.
 
Even just now I have to troubleshoot and found out that I have a lemon volume pot. I am running pot-less now. Sound is perfect, or as pristine as it could be. I had a session listening to the Soltanus Acoustics ESL Virtuoso (full range crossover-less) yesterday, powered by a Magtech amp, and the ESL was one class above the Maggies I heard. The 009 I am hearing now is very consistent with my impression of the Soltanus ESL, except the 009 hits harder down low, and have a much linear bass extension.
 
The DIY forum is quite friendly, provided you know what you are doing and saying. Have fun learning and building.

 

[zolkis]

I have spent about 2 hours with the following gear:
 
(Energizers)
Stax SRM-007t II
Stax SRM-353X
Nebuchadnezzar:  http://knob.planet.ee/amps/staxneb1/staxneb1.htm
(I will call it Nezzar for shorter name).
 
(Ear speakers)
Stax SR-L500
Stax SR-L700
Stax SR-007 Mk 1 (modified)
Stax SR-007 Mk II
Stax SR-009
 
Thanks to Audelec (http://www.audelec.fi) for the opportunity. The reason I went there was to hear Erik Konka's Nezzar amp, compared to some Stax amps I know. The Nezzar has recently been reviewed in a Finnish Hi-Fi magazine, and the test unit was still lingering there before going back to Estonia, so I took the opportunity.
 
Disclaimer: I have no interest, nor conflict of interest and no financial gains in doing this short review.
 
Since 2 hours is enough just for a first impression, I tried to minimize variables, and used gear that I know. To determine how things scale, I included the L500 and L700 as well. Then, I had well known classical, instrumental and jazz music that I used for testing for many years. Anyway, take all this with much salt: too short time, and too many genres missing. I'd make only a few subjective comments now about the gear above.
 
The 353X was a positive experience again, it could actually drive all present Stax headphones, and the sound quality was closer to the 007t II than the price difference would suggest.
I would definitely recommend the 353X over the 323S.
 
The L500 sounded like any other nice headphone, a bit more confined stage than the L700. It's a good (the best) entry level Stax headphone, and good match with the 353X, but I would go and get the L700 instead.
 
The L700 was closer to the 009 than to the L500, and it is likely the sweet spot of all current Stax headphones. It sounds like a better 507, spacious, relaxed, ethereal, without the 507's problems, and with better sound stage and more solidity in midrange. Of course you get what you pay for, the 009 is more exact, has yet fuller midrange, and better stage, but still, you're not losing much music with the L700. Especially when going from the 353X to the SRM-007t II, or even better, the Nezzar. If you are contemplating the L700, I think the Nezzar would make the best synergy from the amps above. But if you trust Stax more, you'd be happy with the 353X + L700, or with a tube amp and the L700.
 
The 007t II is like a more harmonically rich 353X, and the Nezzar is somewhat richer and perhaps a bit more refined than the SRM-007t II. The 353X is not much behind these two, though, but the difference is there. The Nezzar makes the 009 sound really sweet and musical, with nicely layered stage and powerful, resolving bass.
 
I didn't spent much time with the SR-007 Mk II, as IMHO the L700 sounded better, unless you prefer darker sounding headphones with somewhat deeper tonality.
 
The 007 Mk1 sounded softer than the L700 (in the musical sense, i.e. less hard, though I wouldn't call the L700 hard sounding), with more colors and resolution in the mids and bass. It was more pleasant listening experience anyway. In addition, I like the fact that I can meticulously adjust the headband of the 007 Mk1 to the right fit on my head, something impossible with the new Stax headbands. So no, I would not trade the L700 for my trusty (modified) 007 Mk1.
 
I don't know if the Nezzar is among the best amps for the notoriously difficult 007 Mk1, but I was happy how it has driven it -- let's call it sufficiently powerful. Again I could not decide if I liked the 009 or the 007 Mk1 more. Each had their strong sides, and no weak sides really.
 
Anyway the end of the story is that I was quite happy with the Nezzar, reminding me to Leben sound signature: highly musical, resolving, nice layered sound stage, rich in harmonics, yet closer to neutral than to being warm. I'd give it that I liked it more than the SRM-007t II, though for such statement a lot more testing would be needed.
Note that the Nezzar unit I tested looked more like a prototype, but I understood that production versions are on the way. I don't know the exact price, but AFAIK it is quite reasonable. Well done.

 

[Drumonron]

Pulled the trigger and just ordered the SR-007 MK2, I looked over many impressions and I'm taking the plunge.  I was struggling with either the 007 or 009 but I decided to go with the 007.  Wish me luck.  PS.  Been a long time since I posted!  Let me just say I have no intentions of ordering a 5 - 10k amp for it.  Gonna use what I have been using and see what I think.  Good to see this community is still thriving.

 

[koonhua90]

  Congrats, I am glad you got your KGSShv going. I have 2 and they are both great amps and sound superb with the 009s. I assume you built the amp yourself?

 
Built it myself with the help from the DIY community.

 

[David1961]

Pulled the trigger and just ordered the SR-007 MK2, I looked over many impressions and I'm taking the plunge.  I was struggling with either the 007 or 009 but I decided to go with the 007.  Wish me luck.  PS.  Been a long time since I posted!  Let me just say I have no intentions of ordering a 5 - 10k amp for it.  Gonna use what I have been using and see what I think.  Good to see this community is still thriving.

Seeing how you've ordered an SR-007mk2 but have no intentions of getting an amp like the BHSE, and probably don't want to try building an amp yourself, I would suggest you have a look on mjolnir-audio.com

 

[purk]

Seeing how you've ordered an SR-007mk2 but have no intentions of getting an amp like the BHSE, and probably don't want to try building an amp yourself, I would suggest you have a look on mjolnir-audio.com

Yup, a great recommendation on mjolnir audio.  Also, pay attention to the FS forum as well.  I saw a great sounding KGSSHV full-size on sale there too for $2500.

 

[paradoxper]

Unapologetically and shamelessly plugging myself. My KGSSHV, which is full size and built by Geoff is For Sale.

 

[David1961]

Unapologetically and shamelessly plugging myself. My KGSSHV, which is full size and built by Geoff is For Sale for $2600 shipped. 

I've heard two KGSSHV's built by Geoff owned by astrostar59 with my 009 and Julian's 007mk2, and both Earspeaker's sounded very good with both amps.
The build quality was/is also very good, IMO.

 

[rgs9200m]

It's a very good idea to get the SR007. Lots of folks who jump into Stax for the first time with no previous experience and start with the SR009s have problems because these take a lot of work to get right and are very revealing, to say the least.
The SR007 is a very absorbing headphone that lets you focus on the music and represents Stax at its best.
The worst situation is for someone who is not familiar with high-end headphones at all to jump into the 009 and discover they are not plug-and-play when the 009s do their thing.
I just spent most of last evening going through some favorite SACDs with the SR007 and was yet again astounded at their sweet detail and impact and musicality and truth (with a KGSSHV mini).
As a side note, for some reason, I find Stax phones and SACDs are an extremely good match, like they were made for each other, with a real synergy going on there.

 

[bmichels]

Originally Posted by rgs9200m /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
...the SR009s have problems because these take a lot of work to get right and are very revealing, to say the least....they are not plug-and-play...

 
what do you mean ?  What type of work is needed to make the SR009 work ? some type of tuning ? 

 

[purk]

  Unapologetically and shamelessly plugging myself. My KGSSHV, which is full size and built by Geoff is For Sale.

Please someone buy this amp!  The volume control is sick so as a custom chassis.  Worth every penny IMO and I'm not affiliated with the seller.  If I don't already have the KGSSHV Carbon, I'll be all over this.  Plus it is a full-size KGSSHV in a smaller chassis.  Tough to beat that.

 

[Rhamnetin]

  Please someone buy this amp!  The volume control is sick so as a custom chassis.  Worth every penny IMO and I'm not affiliated with the seller.  If I don't already have the KGSSHV Carbon, I'll be all over this.  Plus it is a full-size KGSSHV in a smaller chassis.  Tough to beat that.

 
Someone, give me the funds so I can buy this KGSSHV!
 
Quote:

   
what do you mean ?  What type of work is needed to make the SR009 work ? some type of tuning ? 

 
He means the SR-009 is too bright for him and a few others.  

 

[rgs9200m]

The 009 will transmit loud and clear any digital upper-mid emphasis that is in the recording or digital source and this can easily be fatiguing or worse if you are sensitive to this. If the amp adds to this too (like the Stax amps do to my ears, and apparently to people like Tyll), you are in trouble.

 

[sensui123]

  Please someone buy this amp!  The volume control is sick so as a custom chassis.  Worth every penny IMO and I'm not affiliated with the seller.  If I don't already have the KGSSHV Carbon, I'll be all over this.  Plus it is a full-size KGSSHV in a smaller chassis.  Tough to beat that.

 
If I didn't have a build with Birgir currently I'd be all over that piece of art.  Best luck with sale paradoxper......spectacular amp.