[Julez]

@Chodi:
I have had a testsession on some Stax and Audeze gear last week at a Hifi Store in Germany.
I own the 303 classic headphones with the SRM-323II. I have had a few hours with the 507,
007 and 009. Here's what I think:
009: What can I say. I was disappointed with the sound signature. Extremely foreward and very agressive.
Perhaps good for Classical music. It has a fanstastic heavy and dry bass but the mids and highs were too
agressive for me. Especially with louder volumes and modern music (Hiphop, Electro, etc.). And I was missing the "magic".
007: More fascinating in my opinion. A bit rolled off in the highs it's more dark and veild but never disturbing in the highs and mids.
I will have to take a closer look at them and test them for a longer period.
507: I could not hear a big difference to my 303 (for the price of 1000 Euro against 300 for the 303). So
i was not thinking for one second to change to 507. They are in my opinion very uncomfortable compared to my 303.
I will stay with my 303. Perhaps a Sigma Pro could be interessting for me because of the positioning of the drivers with 
it's different soundstage.
With your budget I would recommend to take one of the Lambda models. In my opinion it's rather a matter of personal
favour wich of the Lambdas you are prefering.
All impressions of the headphones where made with the new SRM-323S (apart from my own set).
Perhaps the best way for you to get a Stax is to buy in Japan with import taxes.
I hope I could help you a little bit!

 

[anetode]

Welcome to head-fi, Jules, I think you'll find the 007 club very comfy around here.

 

[Chodi]

Thank you Julez for your great comments. I would just like to note that while you were testing the SR 507 and others did you happen to listen to the SR 407? I swear, you can search the net for comments about the SR 407 and turn up nothing. I think I saw one brief comment here on Head-Fi about the 407? Maybe that is why Stax is offering the 407 in the 4170 package to unload units they can't sell for lack of interest? 

 

[musicman59]

Quote:

So my ETA for my SR009/SR727II is early next week. Looks like my new Stax rig will be shipping out later this week. Really looking forward to giving them a run and hoping that they can get over the hump my previous e-stat experiences couldn't. 
 
Based on the comments I'm hearing, I'm fairly confident they will. 

Peter, I hope you have dust covers for your other equipment since they will not have much headtime after the Stax combo arrive

.
I am speaking by expereince..... I still love my WA5-LE and Dark Star but the Stax rig attracks me like a magnet. It just sounds naturally perfect to me

.
 
Let us know you impressions after you play with it for a few hours.....

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

 
Does this correlate to degraded performance or just less gain on the amp? The one output should be fine as I never see myself using more than one 'stat at a time. Sorry if I sound ignorant, just being careful with my money here.

 
The gain is the same but a smaller core means it can't handle as much power and thus rolls off faster.  Not a big deal really. 

 

[SHAHZADA123]

I'd like to buy this but have no clue as to the sound signature.
 
 

STAX SR LAMBDA + SRD-7/SB SEMI PANORAMIC SOUND ELECTROSTATIC EARSPEAKER SET

 
Any advice would be appreciated 
Thanks in advance.

 

[NamelessPFG]

You mean this one?
 
It has the best midrange I've ever heard, like vocals suddenly had a veil lifted from them, yet it doesn't have a raspy texture to it like the SR-202 did when raising the mids on an EQ to bring them more in line with the original SR-Lambda.
 
spritzer even considers it to have the best midrange out of the entire Lambda lineup, which is saying something given the numerous successors it has spawned. I don't have nearly that much experience with the Stax lineup, though.
 
Treble and bass extension are good, though later models are said to improve in those departments as well as detail retrieval...at the cost of "musicality", whatever that may mean. This doesn't make the SR-Lambda bad at bass and treble by any means; when you're comparing Stax to Stax, it's more of a matter of "amazing vs. outstanding" and/or what sound signature you prefer. In this case, it's clearly midrange-emphasized, and I happen to like that as someone who listens to a lot of vocal tracks.

 

[SHAHZADA123]

Quote:

You mean this one?
 
It has the best midrange I've ever heard, like vocals suddenly had a veil lifted from them, yet it doesn't have a raspy texture to it like the SR-202 did when raising the mids on an EQ to bring them more in line with the original SR-Lambda.
 
spritzer even considers it to have the best midrange out of the entire Lambda lineup, which is saying something given the numerous successors it has spawned. I don't have nearly that much experience with the Stax lineup, though.
 
Treble and bass extension are good, though later models are said to improve in those departments as well as detail retrieval...at the cost of "musicality", whatever that may mean. This doesn't make the SR-Lambda bad at bass and treble by any means; when you're comparing Stax to Stax, it's more of a matter of "amazing vs. outstanding" and/or what sound signature you prefer. In this case, it's clearly midrange-emphasized, and I happen to like that as someone who listens to a lot of vocal tracks.

Thanks!
I'm putting in my bid 

 

[singh]

That one is in great condition.
Its 350 with 5 days left in the auction . it will go beyond 500.

You can also consider this . The same thing, just not as in as good condition.

 

[juantendo8]

I actually left a pm to him last night for that very same headphone. I hope to make it my first electrostat.

 

[Michgelsen]

Quote:

Thank you Julez for your great comments. I would just like to note that while you were testing the SR 507 and others did you happen to listen to the SR 407? I swear, you can search the net for comments about the SR 407 and turn up nothing. I think I saw one brief comment here on Head-Fi about the 407? Maybe that is why Stax is offering the 407 in the 4170 package to unload units they can't sell for lack of interest? 

 
 
Let me distil you what I've been reading around here in the past years.
Without ever hearing any of the mentioned equipment, I can tell you this is what an intensive search and much reading would most probably yield:

As far as I know, there is nothing that suggests that the 407 and 507 have different drivers. The difference is in the headband, pads and cable. The pads are supposed to make a slight difference, but you can always put the 507 leather pads on a 407. The headband and cable should not influence the sound. One major advantage of the 507 is that it's black instead of ****ty brown, and that you buy the feeling that you have the top model of the current lambda's, but that's about it.

Furthermore, the Stax site mentions this: "(...) and now the SR-307 and SR-407 have adopted the same sounding body (sound element) as that of the top model SR-507." However, the 307 does not have the same specs as the 407 and 507, which do have the same specs. Thus, it is likely that the 307 does in fact have different drivers from the 407 and 507.

Conclusion: the 407 should be the best buy of the current lambda's.

Speaking of amps, the SRM-323S is Stax Mafia approved and gets a lot of positive feedback around here. It's also cheaper than a SRM-006TS or a SRM-600 Limited.

So, 407 + 323S should be a superb entrance into the Stax world and fits your budget.

 

[Chodi]

Quote:

 
 
Let me distil you what I've been reading around here in the past years.
Without ever hearing any of the mentioned equipment, I can tell you this is what an intensive search and much reading would most probably yield:

As far as I know, there is nothing that suggests that the 407 and 507 have different drivers. The difference is in the headband, pads and cable. The pads are supposed to make a slight difference, but you can always put the 507 leather pads on a 407. The headband and cable should not influence the sound. One major advantage of the 507 is that it's black instead of ****ty brown, and that you buy the feeling that you have the top model of the current lambda's, but that's about it.

Furthermore, the Stax site mentions this: "(...) and now the SR-307 and SR-407 have adopted the same sounding body (sound element) as that of the top model SR-507." However, the 307 does not have the same specs as the 407 and 507, which do have the same specs. Thus, it is likely that the 307 does in fact have different drivers from the 407 and 507.

Conclusion: the 407 should be the best buy of the current lambda's.

Speaking of amps, the SRM-323S is Stax Mafia approved and gets a lot of positive feedback around here. It's also cheaper than a SRM-006TS or a SRM-600 Limited.

So, 407 + 323S should be a superb entrance into the Stax world and fits your budget.

Thank you for that information. It seems those few on the forum who have bought the 507 just went for the "Top of the Line" instead of being concerned about savings. I am going to suffer the 6 hour round trip drive to Bangkok probably next week and audition the difference at the dealer. They won't allow me to bring my own music so it is much more difficult than it should be. Further they have no 006t for demo only new in the box for sale. This is like buying cars in Thailand there are no "test drives" here at your local dealer. You have to buy on spec. I am really a tube guy when it comes to amps but I will give the 323S a serious listen. If I ever buy one of these setups I guess I could do the first review of them on Head-fi. When you consider that the 507 cost is about the same as some of the highly regarded dynamics and more than the highly regarded HE500  and it has no serious review anywhere (no love at all). Even on Amazon not one user review! Clearly Stax is having a problem generating excitement with the middle of their line. Hard for a company to make a living selling only $5000 headphone systems. 

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Peter, I hope you have dust covers for your other equipment since they will not have much headtime after the Stax combo arrive

.
I am speaking by expereince..... I still love my WA5-LE and Dark Star but the Stax rig attracks me like a magnet. It just sounds naturally perfect to me

.
 
Let us know you impressions after you play with it for a few hours.....

LoL...thanks for helping me while I sit an wait for news that they've been shipped out. 

  

 

[Draygonn]

LoL...thanks for helping me while I sit an wait for news that they've been shipped out.    

Eagerly awaiting new toy syndrome

I am eagerly awaiting impressions

 

[Dyaems]

sorry if this is off topic but any other new info about that new stax portable? =)