[Yuceka]

Quote:

Hey guys, 
 
I recently heard some stax headphones and I fell in love. Enough said. 
 
But I am not at a point in my life where I can dump 1-5K on headphones. 
 
I already have a good audio setup so I am not looking for something that is so great that it can replace my setup, but I would like some electrostatic headphones to play around with, learn a couple of things, and simply enjoy them. I would like something cheap as possible. I am not looking for the 009s on a budget, so anything you recommend I can see if I can snag them at a decent price. (I would like to have it under 100 bucks, and no more than 200). If you find a pair that are broken and destroyed, I can fix them up as well. 

Stax under $100-200? Excuse me but have you done any reading on Stax? If you need something that cheap, you really should look elsewhere. And as for fixing a broken or destroyed pair of Stax, hmmm...

 

[Tjj226 Angel]

Quote:

Stax under $100-200? Excuse me but have you done any reading on Stax? If you need something that cheap, you really should look elsewhere. And as for fixing a broken or destroyed pair of Stax, hmmm...

I chose my words carefully. I said electrostatic headphones. It didn't have to be made by stax. 
 
To give you an idea, I am the kind of guy who would rather buy something cheap. Learn how it works. And then build something similar to really expensive items on a budget. 
 
That is why I am looking to play around with something more than actually looking for good audio. 

 

[wuwhere]

Here's a used Stax SR-30. I'm sure it can be had for $100 - $200, shipping included.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/STAX-SR-30-ELECTROSTATIC-HEADPHONES-NR-/400369992336?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item5d37e94290

 

[arnaud]

I'd recommend a read through the DIY Stat thread, one of my favorite head-fi threads besides this one

 

[anetode]

Quote:

Here's a used Stax SR-30. I'm sure it can be had for $100 - $200, shipping included.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/STAX-SR-30-ELECTROSTATIC-HEADPHONES-NR-/400369992336?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item5d37e94290

Yup, keep your eyes peeled on ebay, you can usually find something from the 70s era for under 200.
 
Speaking of which, What is this on about?

 

[wuwhere]

I read about somebody DIYed an esl headphone, he said it sounded like a Stax SR-404. I wonder if he can DIY one that sounds like an SR-009.

 

[Tjj226 Angel]

Forgive me for being such a noob, but with only 24 hours left on the bidding, can someone possibly give me an idea if http://page10.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m103832334 this is any good, and what to look out for in terms of shipping and so forth. I would really appreciate it. 

 

[n3rdling]

You'll probably be happy with any Lambda headphone, but that auction will probably end up higher than your budget allows.  If you don't speak Japanese, you might want to use a third party bidding service to get those for you.  For under $200, I think it's more realistic to expect a SR-5 with SRD-5, which will be a nice intro to electrostats.

 

[dukeskd]

You can also search eBay for old school Koss electrostatic headphone + amp combos. One of head-fi's members, MuppetFace, has one and says the sound is amazing for the $200 she spent.

 

[Headzone]

Hey, is it safe to store my SR-202's on my desk, because they have the dust cover (foams) rottened off. I just read that dust can do something bad if it goes to the drivers?

 

[rgs9200m]

About the Stax 007t/ii amp with the 009s, Tyll says:
 
 
I liked the sound of this amp quite a bit. A sweet and delicate presentation. The bass isn't terribly tight, but it's well proportioned. The mids and treble are lush with a slight warm tilt and slightly rolled-off upper treble. There also seems to be a slight glare in the mid treble that more often than not is heard as a bit of treble sparkle, which is nice as it balances out the slight roll-off of the upper-treble.
 
I have this combo and with a little help from a warmish power cord on my CD player that still maintains a controlled bass, the 009s sounds great, just great, sweet and delicate like Tyll said, along with extraordinary detail and imaging, layering, and spaciousness. It's a live, real sound. So I would take Tyll's words here to heart on the 007t, as it sounds like what I hear too, and the flaws are pretty small and can be cured (at least I could).
 
Tyll goes on to say that if you turn the volume up high, the bass get wooly. It's hard to measure, buy I turn them way up as loud as I could stand to listen on the pain threshold, and with those limits the bass is superb, 
well integrated and very detailed and tight, more detailed and controlled than HD800s.
 
So I reiterate that the 007t/ii and the 009 are a very fine match, actually amazing for me.

 

[Solude]

Like all things, superb only describes something until something better is heard.  Which is to say... listen to a BHSE and bring a diaper

 

[n3rdling]

Changing the power cord of your CD player isn't gonna give your amp more control of the SR-009s bass.

 

[gilency]

Changing the power cord of your CD player isn't gonna give your amp more control of the SR-009s bass.

Agree with you. I personally have a hard time taking seriously the impressions of anybody who makes those kind of comments.

 

[DefQon]

Quote:

 
Speaking of which, What is this on about?

 
LOL, I was just looking at that and was thinking to myself....What is going on? SR-X's tend to go for around $150-200 on a fairly good condition unit, but $1000 is just ridiculous
 
@Tjj226 Angel
 
Unfortunately ebay listings on older Stax unit's, the prices fluctuate all the time. I've follow ebay everyday on the hunt for another pair of Lambda Pro's within my expenditure as my current pair are fairly beat up (what do you expect for a near 30 year old headphone). I search through the American and Australian ebay domains and I can tell you that for $100-200 total including shipping you won't get a true electrostat can at all.
 
Massive shame to some seller's milking buyers and collectors upscaling some vintage electrostat (mainly Stax) gear prices over what they are really worth just because it's rare. Don't bother looking at the buy it now listings as most are high priced, auctions give you more luck but just to give you a baseline of how much vintage Stax goes for. Electret SR-30/40's go for around $115-140 excluding shipping mostly poor condition unit's and most of them don't come with the SRD-4 energizer low end Stax electrets run off by stock. The last Lambda Pro that was on audiogon scale of 6/10 was sold for $486 excl shipping, Lambda Signatures usually fetch higher prices somewhere between $400-650 as well as SR-404's. Mind you these prices are usually without it's transformer adapter.
 
Koss ESP6-7 usually go for around $100-200 mark tops but they don't sound anywhere near as good as even low-end Stax models, if MP really think's the low-end ESP's sound good I want w/e she is smoking because they sound absolute crap until you get to about the ESP-9 model's they sound acceptable.