The Stax thread (New)

[arnaud]

As much as I like the 009, I am not sure I could recommend it blindly over the O2mk2 given the high retail price (esp. outside  japan) and without knowledge of the target audience (both sound preference and equipment). To my ears, it's clearly better (as in not subtle) than my 007a through the 727 stax amp, but it's also much more needy of quality source material (both the dac and especially the music). Considering the high end non-stax amps seem to do marvels at extracting the last bit of potential from the O2, it becomes even harder to recommend the 009 for such owners who've dialed their rig to sound right with the o2.
 
On the other hand, if budget is not the main issue,  starting from scratch (not a previous stax owner), for someone who's listening to well recorded  music and/or at reasonable volume through a reasonable quality player/dac, I would easily recommend the 009 and stax amp (possibly even just the 323s) over the O2. The accessibility (both price and immediate availability) is much higher than jumping to something like the bhse right from the start and, if anything, the level of performance will keep going north as you latter invest in higher end dac and/or amp...
 
 

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

 
This is the general consensus that I've heard from folks that have tested them. The Omega 2 really craves power, and the 007Tii just doesn't have enough of it. An O2 Mk1 on a BHSE will put up a much tougher fight against the SR-009 on the SRM-007Tii or a GES. Ironically I've seen mentioned in several SR-009 reviews that it "needs" $5,000 worth of BHSE or WES behind it to be worth using. This is considerably less true about the 009 than it is about the O2.

Actually, my SR-009 do very well off a maxed eXStatA, or even the Sennheiser HEV70, although they are only as good as the amp you are using.  They take a nice step up with my DIY KGSS or WES, but don't rule out using a cheap amp with SR-009.  You may be surprised.
 

 

[sillysally]

I am glad to read you agree with me on the SRM-009's. Also why I took a pass on the BHSE with the 009's and got a SRM-727, I think the 727 amp is more flexible over the 323 mainly because of its XLR balanced input, plus it being a little more powerful.
 
I can't really say if the XLR balanced part of the 727 would be any better than RCA 2Ch audio. For MCH audio using the Binaural technique, the balanced out for the 009's is amazing because of the 009's sound-field for 5.1/7.1 audio and it's ability to separate the sounds and where they are coming from.

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

On the other hand, if budget is not the main issue,  starting from scratch (not a previous stax owner), for someone who's listening to well recorded  music and/or at reasonable volume through a reasonable quality player/dac, I would easily recommend the 009 and stax amp (possibly even just the 323s) over the O2. The accessibility (both price and immediate availability) is much higher than jumping to something like the bhse right from the start and, if anything, the level of performance will keep going north as you latter invest in higher end dac and/or amp...

 
This is a good point. If you happen to have $6K, you could have an SR-009 and a 323S in your hands within a week. Tracking down an O2 Mk1 will take awhile, and the wait for a BHSE could take as long as a year, and the two of them will cost more than the 323/009 combo.
 
 

 

[Maxvla]

This is a good point. If you happen to have $6K, you could have an SR-009 and a 323S in your hands within a week. Tracking down an O2 Mk1 will take awhile, and the wait for a BHSE could take as long as a year, and the two of them will cost more than the 323/009 combo.

 

Interestingly, when I posted a wanted thread for various Stax models, the first offering was a O2 MK1 I ended up buying.

 

[sillysally]

Or for less then $700 more get the 009/727 combo (when on sale). The one thing to make sure if you are buying new as I did or used, is to get the Stax amp using the right voltage for where you live.
 
For hundreds less than the BHSE/009 combo with the Alps RK-50 pot and upgrading the tubes. I got all my gear and that includes the Realiser and AIX PRIR's.

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

Interestingly, when I posted a wanted thread for various Stax models, the first offering was a O2 MK1 I ended up buying.

 
There's also two MK1s on Audiogon right now. Shows what I know

 
 

 

[arnaud]

Is there usually so many o2mk1 on the used market? Could it be people who are moving up the ladder and are ok with only the 009?

 

[TMoney]

Anyone else find it humourous that everyone who has been commenting on the 009s sounding just fine out of the production model Stax amps hasn't heard what they are capable of out of something like a BHSE/T2/KGSSHV/Etc?
 
Honestly guys, you may think they sound "good enough" now, but wait until you hear how they sound with a higher powered amp. You won't be able to go back.

 

[arnaud]

Quote:

Anyone else find it humourous that everyone who has been commenting on the 009s sounding just fine out of the production model Stax amps hasn't heard what they are capable of out of something like a BHSE/T2/KGSSHV/Etc?
 
Honestly guys, you may think they sound "good enough" now, but wait until you hear how they sound with a higher powered amp. You won't be able to go back.

 
Humourous it may be, but it also goes the other way around: people claim that only such non-stax uber-offerings can really do justice, while at the same time absolutely nobody bothers trying the stax amps. I asked in several threads, especially from recent bay area meet where both stax amps and other offerings with multiple 009s were present. But in the end, I think only 1 person gave it a shot (elysean - sorry if I misspelled). And guess what, it seemed he preferred something else over the BHSE in regards to the 009. I understand there's only so much value when the environment is noisy and sources are different. But well, this is the status: people keep propagating this non-sense about the 009 needing no less than these Gilmore designs to move its behind while people who actually spent time with lesser gear find absolutely none of the driving issues the O2 suffers from when underpowered.
 
 

 

[thinker]

Quote:

 
Humourous it may be, but it also goes the other way around: people claim that only such non-stax uber-offerings can really do justice, while at the same time absolutely nobody bothers trying the stax amps. I asked in several threads, especially from recent bay area meet where both stax amps and other offerings with multiple 009s were present. But in the end, I think only 1 person gave it a shot (elysean - sorry if I misspelled). And guess what, it seemed he preferred something else over the BHSE in regards to the 009. I understand there's only so much value when the environment is noisy and sources are different. But well, this is the status: people keep propagating this non-sense about the 009 needing no less than these Gilmore designs to move its behind while people who actually spent time with lesser gear find absolutely none of the driving issues the O2 suffers from when underpowered.
 
 

The SR-009 with srm-600 ltd is stellar.I was first looking  727,007 amps but the dealer said "take srm-600 it's much better than 727 or 007 with 009".I will not comment more on this issue because i dont have 727,007 amps to compare .
 
 

 

[Hennyo]

Tmoney is not talking about the BHSE. This amp was designed specifically for the O2's. He's talking about the KGSSHV. Which is basically an evolution of the evolution of the Sr 727A. The BHSE and the KGSSHV are two completely different beasts, along with the AC coupled WES.

 

[TMoney]

I'm actually talking about all the higher end amps. Please don't clarify my statements.
 
Come on, Arnaud. You trust the impressions of people at meets listening on unfamiliar amps and headphones in a noisy environment over those of us who have lived with both Stax production amps and higher powered 3rd party/DIY amps? Don't answer that, rhetorical question.
 
I fully admit that I felt the same way as you do until I heard one of Kerry's DIY stat amps at a meet. It'll change your perceptions of what the 007/009s are capable of. After that there is no turning back.
 
There are good reasons why you almost never see the higher end stat amps up for sale here, on ebay and on a-gon.
 
Try and cop a listen to one sometime if you can. I would hope that at least one of the new BHSE's is headed to Japan. If you still feel the way you do after a listen, then you'll sound quite a bit more credible than relying solely on hearsay.
 

 

[spritzer]

The KGSSHV is not an evolution on the 727 or the 717 for that matter.  What on earth gave you that idea?  The 727 is just the latest version of a long running Stax circuit (around 30 years old now) but the KGSSHV is the ultimate version of the old KGSS.  Kevin even talked about doing these mods in his old KGSS article but the parts were in short supply then.
 
The BHSE being designed for the SR-007 is another baseless statement.  The Blue Hawaii makes all electrostatic headphones perform at their best but that doesn't mean that the end result is better subjectively.  The HE90 s a good example of a transducer needing a sympathetic match and I do think the SR-009 falls into this category.  This is a "fault" of the transducer and not the amp.  The amp I use with the 009's is a bit of an oddball, a fully rebuilt SRA-10S.  I bypassed all of the preamp stuff so the end result is a push-pull driver stage with a single ended output stage fed off a single B+ and thus needs output caps.  The only issue with this amp is the high capacitance of the old TO3 output devices but I've got some parts sitting in customs to try and rectify that. 

 

[Amarphael]

Just wondering if Edifier-backed Stax will be hastening the (hopfully existant) R&D for the next top amp... Yes i know they said there isn't anything planned for the near future but that was BEFORE, iirc.