[VandyMan]

Apparently the Voce is continuing on and not discontinued which surprised me…

No, I got an email from DCA (for Club DCA members) a few weeks ago saying that the Voce was discontinued and offering it at a steep discount. I think they are just selling out their inventory.

I checked their website and it says "Updated Summer 2022!", so the Voce has indeed been changed since the original.

 

[gammi]

I think this is correct about the Corina. It has less of the ethereal estat sound and has more upper midrange weight. To me, it still sounds like an estat, especially with female vocals, but has a sound signature that is more neutral than most others. It is a bit like the CRBN that way, but I think it is better than the CRBN overall. I find the Sr-009 ethereal sound enjoyable with a lot of music, but I also think it can sound artificial.

Yeah, this was my impression as well. The lack of that ethereal estat sound, as you say, is what led me to say it's more planar-like. Someone who already has a Susvara or Expanse or other high end planar probably wouldn't gain as much from adding the Corina to their collection as they would an 009 or X9000.

I think at the really high end it's more about differences than what's outright "better". From my short listen, I would say it seemed the Corina is better at giving a neutral presentation and X9000 is better at giving that sparkling presentation normally associated with estats.

 

[protoss]

When it comes to Estats, technically, only the lambda contains the true estats sound.
1979 to 2000

@ESL-1

I mention a list of dacs ideas, amps, and how to pick which one for which gear in the pervious pages.
Let’s take the L700MK2, for example. How to perfect it?
Tube it and R2R it. What we need to achieve is a liquid fire sound. If it is not buttery smooth and effortless. We fail. We should know where it fall short and that’s where we must fix. The bass, the shout and the brightness. We must avoid it from ever getting harsh and nasal.
Keeping the headphone warm and musical and extending this quality will make the l700 one of the best.
Pre-amp it with 300B

My go-to is the 407, I prefer and like the sweet, musically balanced sound.

I am off with the analytical, clarity nonsense. Those are trashy, all 5k to 20K headphones are heading toward this area. Meh. Where is that liquid buttery warm large soundstage for 10K headphone? Nowhere? Good let it be at the 1K to 3K area

 

[Schelp san]

When it comes to Estats, technically, only the lambda contains the true estats sound.
1979 to 2000

@ESL-1

I mention a list of dacs ideas, amps, and how to pick which one for which gear in the pervious pages.
Let’s take the L700MK2, for example. How to perfect it?
Tube it and R2R it. What we need to achieve is a liquid fire sound. If it is not buttery smooth and effortless. We fail. We should know where it fall short and that’s where we must fix. The bass, the shout and the brightness. We must avoid it from ever getting harsh and nasal.
Keeping the headphone warm and musical and extending this quality will make the l700 one of the best.
Pre-amp it with 300B

My go-to is the 407, I prefer and like the sweet, musically balanced sound.

I am off with the analytical, clarity nonsense. Those are trashy, all 5k to 20K headphones are heading toward this area. Meh. Where is that liquid buttery warm large soundstage for 10K headphone? Nowhere? Good let it be at the 1K to 3K area

You need a Megatron, no 300B preamp. Honestly. Saying this while listening to it with 307.

 

[protoss]

Oh I bet, I just have the 300B around
Why not F around with it.

307,407,507... Lambdas are great sounding headphones. Megatron that 307 review

 

[oneguy]

I like the 407 and 507 but I haven’t heard the 307. I hope to change that one day. The 407 was more my flavor but the 507 was still a good listen. I’m not a fan of the 404.

I don’t perceive a large sound stage from lambdas compared to what the Omega variants offer but to each his/her own. They are very good at their own niches.

My personal favorite from the non-Omega Stax category is the Sigma Pro though. @protoss have you heard the Sigma Pro?

 

[Yodamanjaro]

I'm still wondering if the L700 would make any difference compared to my modded L300, assuming I do the SoCas mod to the L700 as well. This might be a dumb question, but is the L700 that much different than the L300 once you match the headband and housing?

 

[John Wimberley]

My personal favorite from the non-Omega Stax category is the Sigma Pro though. @protoss have you heard the Sigma Pro?

Sigma Pro with the right amp is hard to beat.

 

[tigermilk]

I am still on target for a work trip to Japan next week. Thanks to all who previously provided suggestions on where to find Stax besides Yodobashi, Avic, and Audio Union where I have been many times before. Now it just comes down to what I want to get. For perspective, in my Stax collection I have a SR-404 Signature, a couple of SR-003s (great for the office at work), SRM-252, and SRM-006t. I know many complain about the older Stax amps, but honestly I have had no power concerns with the 006t (or maybe just don't know what I am missing). I listen to all genres, with most of it being rock, modern alternative, and classical. Currently the 404s are used to listen to vinyl, as I have another setup (Marantz HD-DAC, HD-CD1, Senn 600s) for CDs/streaming at home. I was thinking of either the L700 or L500 new or a used SR-007 or 009. In the past when I have listened to various Stax setups at Yodobashi, the noisy environment was always a challenge. Primary may be the L700 to be as close to the 404s. Solid choice?

 

[Schelp san]

If I remember right (not 100% sure), in the shop in Japan where I got my 307 at that time, they said that the drivers of 307/407/507 are the same, just 207 would be different. They others would differ only in cable, pads etc. And at least between 307 and 407 I do not remember finding a sonic difference. Some time ago I had 307, 507 and L700 MK1 at home. 307 and 507 were very similar sounding, but 507 had slightly more of that loundness characteric, so slightly more emphasized bass and treble. I found 307 a bit more neutral, so I kept it.
L700 in comparison seemed to sound more refined and technicaly more grown up, also less forward. But it did not give me that excitement the 307 gave me, so I kept only 307.
009 for me was definetely a step avove L700, but as always, so much depends on chain, preference etc.

 

[protoss]

@oneguy
Yes, I heard the Stax Sigma Pro and found that it should not be tube and be paired with an R2R dac. The opposite, I express with the L700.
When I used it with tubes/R2R, I got a very dark and veiled sound. Use it with a solid state and a saber dac, and this thing explodes with dynamic punch and soundstage.
A great example of gear matching must be part of the consideration.
Now, I'm waiting for a Stax Sigma X (2024).

I Hope Stax is not lazy and cater to amateur rich and thinks Omega style headphones are the answers and only produce those.

We need:
Stax Sigma X
Stax Gamma X
Stax Alpha X
Stax 4070 X
with a whole bunch of more lambdas, the real original electrostatic sound.

 

[oneguy]

@oneguy
Yes, I heard the Stax Sigma Pro and found that it should not be tube and be paired with an R2R dac. The opposite, I express with the L700.
When I used it with tubes/R2R, I got a very dark and veiled sound. Use it with a solid state and a saber dac, and this thing explodes with dynamic punch and soundstage.
A great example of gear matching must be part of the consideration.
Now, I'm waiting for a Stax Sigma X (2024).

I Hope Stax is not lazy and cater to amateur rich and thinks Omega style headphones are the answers and only produce those.

We need:
Stax Sigma X
Stax Gamma X
Stax Alpha X
Stax 4070 X
with a whole bunch of more lambdas, the real original electrostatic sound.

Man we do have different ears. I didn’t feel that way at all with the Sigma Pro fed by a May KTE and KGGG. I thought the combination was amazing and one of my top five headphones to listen to with my R2R and tube amp combo.

I welcome the chance to hear new Stax renditions of the other than lamda and omega lines. It would spice things up.

 

[protoss]

I thought the combination was amazing and one of my top five headphones to listen to with my R2R and tube amp combo.

Oh yeah, I like the sigma, big fan! Gear differences, is the preference, overall, great experience with the Sigma. I know a buddy who prefer the normal bias version over the Pro thou.

 

[protoss]

Stax made over 10 different earspeaker models.
From in-ear to on-ear to over-ear to a box on your face.

They have so much history in making headphones, they should step it up and show more variety. But this time for modern users that want efficient usages.

 

[gammi]

Man we do have different ears. I didn’t feel that way at all with the Sigma Pro fed by a May KTE and KGGG. I thought the combination was amazing and one of my top five headphones to listen to with my R2R and tube amp combo.

I welcome the chance to hear new Stax renditions of the other than lamda and omega lines. It would spice things up.

Worth noting that May has less "R2R sound" than some other DACs and measures more like a delta sigma DAC.

R2R gets used as a generic label for any DAC with a resistor ladder but there's various different designs under that umbrella. Some DACs sound more "R2R" than others.
Some discussion on this:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/an-...r-qutest-and-holo-may-hqplayer.952934/page-14