[catscratch]

Quote:

So guys, i red some reviews about the in ear stax, and they talk very well about them. How do you compare the 005 system to the 3050 or 4040?
It seems much cheaper, and can afford it. Do you also think it's better than akg k701 or sennheiser hd650 (or maybe even hd800)?

 
The 003 is pretty close in presentation to the Omega 2 (mk1) whereas the 303 and 404 are quite different. The 003 is warm and fairly forward in the midrange, has good bass that could go a bit deeper and highs that aren't emphasized and lack a little bit of extension. The speed is pretty ridiculous though and midrange tone is about as good as it gets at this price, or just about anywhere for that matter. They also offer a small but focused soundstage with good imaging, and sound very fluid. The Omega 2 is of course better in just about all respects and is much better at the frequency extremes, but tonality is similar and the overall warm, fluid, and very focused feel is pretty close, so if you like the 003 the O2 is the natural way to go.
 
The 303/404 has a much bigger soundstage but its imaging is more diffuse; it sounds like it's trying too hard to be spatious and loses some imaging accuracy as a result. Its mids are tilted up towards the upper midrange and lower mids are a bit lacking, which gives it a somewhat unnatural and honky tone; that's the main flaw that turns me off from these headphones. They're drier and less fluid than the 003, but they aren't dry in the absolute sense and can still be quite fluid if the source and amp are up to spec. The bass is pretty good and goes very deep, the highs are very extended if a little bit hard in the lower treble, resolution is excellent and in general these are really great headphones for ambient music - the huge soundstage really makes things sound very airy. Properly driven they can sound like Grados with soundstage, forward and punchy, but from most Stax amps they'll be a lot more laid-back.
 
I prefer the 003 over the 404 by a good margin. The 404 would be a better headphone if not for the mids, but I just can't stand that coloration. The 303 is the same as the 404 minus a bit of transparency. Go for the 005 system, but expect to spend a not inconsiderable amount of time trying to get the damn headphones to fit properly - they're like an IEM in that they need a good fit or they can sound congested - and even at the best of times they're not that comfortable. But there's very little that competes with them in terms of sound quality for the buck and they will beat out many full-size systems that they should have no right to even come close to. The headphones also scale really well and can sound scary good out of a higher-quality rig.
 
I'm not a fan of the K701, the HD650 will scale really well and can sound downright fantastic in the right rig, but then again so can the 003. I think in most rigs the 003 will sound better. They're fairly similar actually in terms of overall feel, though the 003 is of course much faster and more forward.

 

[anetode]

I bought my pair about a month ago; I thought they'd all sold out worldwide but I got one of the last pairs from elusivedisc.

I was lucky.  I decided to drop by a local hi-fi dealer and he had a 404LE/SRM-600 set. I only bought the 404LE though.  I've heard a lot of good things about the SR-SC1 and hope I can try a pair one day.

I don't know about the SR-SC1, but at least the 404LE marks an attempt to make these fine headphones less ugly. I picked up a used pair over the regular 404s just for that, and for some music they sound better than the SR-007, if you can handle a little crunch in the treble.

 

[jjinh]

Quote:

I don't know about the SR-SC1, but at least the 404LE marks an attempt to make these fine headphones less ugly. I picked up a used pair over the regular 404s just for that, and for some music they sound better than the SR-007, if you can handle a little crunch in the treble.

 
Yeh, the 404LE look better than the brown of the lambda nova signatures I have next to me, and sound heaps better. I think I even prefer my SR-202 over the LNS.

Since you mention the SR-007, I recently purchased a pair of mk1s using kuboten - I'm eagerly looking forward to hearing them

, hopefully the brown isnt as yucky as with the LNS.

 

[anetode]

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. The classy, understated look & well-engineered build of Stax's O2s make the likes of Ultrasone "Edition" series look like a joke. IMHO

 

[Duckman]

Quote:

Hey Duckman, what amp are you currently using for your SR-007s?

I've borrowed a friend's Exstata solid state. And don't worry, the O2s look great.

 

[jjinh]

Quote:

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. The classy, understated look & well-engineered build of Stax's O2s make the likes of Ultrasone "Edition" series look like a joke. IMHO

 
I mean the pics look nice, but why brown? Maybe I should have got a black mk1, or mk2?
 
Quote:

I've borrowed a friend's Exstata solid state. And don't worry, the O2s look great.

Thanks, I suppose I cant see what headphones I using anyway.

 

[anetode]

Um, how to say it delicately... There's that 60s-80s dull-shine molded plastic with brown pigment that just looks like crap. Then there's the matte brown sumptuous leather of the sorts used in O2s which has a different impact in real life than in photographs.

 

[DyBre]

waiting for spritzer to enlighten us with both comparisons, since he used to own both of them. IMHO, the cable used in airbow should be better since it is cryoed, however SR-404 LE uses leather pads. great rivals though.

 

[Cya|\|]

Thx a  lot for the many answers.
Indeed the 005 seems the best choice, as it's kinda affordable for me too.
Maybe i'll pair it with silver rca cables (you can find them cheap on ebay from chinese sellers), just to pump trebles a little.
Edit: i mean silver plated. As with the "skin effect" high frequencies travel on the edges of cables, so even if it's only silver plated, it's fine to boost high frequencies a little.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

I mean the pics look nice, but why brown? Maybe I should have got a black mk1, or mk2?

Thanks, I suppose I cant see what headphones I using anyway.

SR-007BL all the way - black so-called MK1 that is.

 

[graben]

I think I am going to be ordering a 404le tonight and a 202, I will compare thrm to the SC-1 that I had. and my current LNS ( I missed the one I sold, so I got another one)

 

[AppleheadMay]

Well, I just came home with my SR-007 (brown) which was a demo model from the BeNeLux distributor, outfitted with new pads and headband (brown). Probably the last one to buy officially with guarantee around here. I bought me some extra MkII pads and a MkII headband since the material seems to be better.
My 717 arrived this week by mail, a tad damaged by the *************************** (you really don't wanna know what those words were 

) Belgian customs.
It still plays fine though, and I'm trying to get the parts to get it back to pristine state.
 
I have them on my head now for the first time, so I won't comment on the SQ yet. I need to get used to it, but it seems impressive at first hear.

 

[Michgelsen]

 

 
Regarding SR-SC1 vs SR-404 Limited they're both quite rare. According to Spritzer in this thread they sound quite close which means they both sound quite enjoyable - I think you'd be happy owning either.
 
Now who actually sells the Airbow? I missed out on the one in the FS forums a little while ago... I too wanted to compare them to the 404 Limiteds. Are there any online retailers?

 

You can buy them directly from a Japanese site I believe. Google 'airbow sr-sc1', it's the first hit. I guess Kuboten could arrange something if you can't speak/write Japanese..? Just an idea.
 
 
 
 

Edit: i mean silver plated. As with the "skin effect" high frequencies travel on the edges of cables, so even if it's only silver plated, it's fine to boost high frequencies a little.

 
The Stax thread is no place for such ridiculousness. Do some further reading on the skin effect and properties of cables.

 

[spritzer]

I wanted to let all the Stax fans know that there are some very important news on the amp front for us.  Dr. Gilmore and I are working on a new version of the KGSS (here after called KGSSHV) which will be a DIY based attempt to give people a truly high end electrostatic experience on a budget.  There will be a thread on this subject soon in the DIY forum but I wanted to give you lot the first heads up about the new project. 

  At it's core it is basically the same circuit as the much loved KGSS but with a few very important improvements, higher rail voltages then the stock amp (+/-500V compared to +/-350V), a constant current source loaded outputstage (which the KGSS lacked) and the best part, it is fitted with a truly top of the line PSU, the same one as can be found in our DIYT2 project.  With these improvements we have an amp which can give any of the tube based units a run for their money (T2, BH, WES and ESX) with the comfort and lack of fuss SS brings to the table. 
 
The boards are designed to be fitted to large, side mounted heatsinks.  The amp board has both channels on one PCB and the PSU is alos complete on one PCB.  They can either be mounted on either side of a single chassis or in two separate boxes.  The amp board is fitted with a spot for the volume pot and PCB mounted XLR jacks but there are also porvisions for normal input tabs.  The volume pots the boards are designed for are all 4-gang, a DACT CT-2, TKD 4CP-601 and a custom made Alpha pot which I had made for me.  These are cheaper then an RK27, sound better and I'll be selling them from my own stash at cost. 
 
Now the best part, you can build one of these for under 500$. 

  All parts are easy to get and the project will be accompanied with a full BOM plus detailed instructions on how to build one.  The power transformer have to be custom ordered but companies like SumR provide such excellent service that this is by no means harder then picking up a prebuilt unit.  You are also only paying for stuff you need and the transformer can be optimized for audio use. 
 
I hope you are as excited as I am...
 

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

I wanted to let all the Stax fans know that there are some very important news on the amp front for us.  Dr. Gilmore and I are working on a new version of the KGSS (here after called KGSSHV) which will be a DIY based attempt to give people a truly high end electrostatic experience on a budget.  There will be a thread on this subject soon in the DIY forum but I wanted to give you lot the first heads up about the new project. 

  At it's core it is basically the same circuit as the much loved KGSS but with a few very important improvements, higher rail voltages then the stock amp (+/-500V compared to +/-350V), a constant current source loaded outputstage (which the KGSS lacked) and the best part, it is fitted with a truly top of the line PSU, the same one as can be found in our DIYT2 project.  With these improvements we have an amp which can give any of the tube based units a run for their money (T2, BH, WES and ESX) with the comfort and lack of fuss SS brings to the table. 
 
The boards are designed to be fitted to large, side mounted heatsinks.  The amp board has both channels on one PCB and the PSU is alos complete on one PCB.  They can either be mounted on either side of a single chassis or in two separate boxes.  The amp board is fitted with a spot for the volume pot and PCB mounted XLR jacks but there are also porvisions for normal input tabs.  The volume pots the boards are designed for are all 4-gang, a DACT CT-2, TKD 4CP-601 and a custom made Alpha pot which I had made for me.  These are cheaper then an RK27, sound better and I'll be selling them from my own stash at cost. 
 
Now the best part, you can build one of these for under 500$. 

  All parts are easy to get and the project will be accompanied with a full BOM plus detailed instructions on how to build one.  The power transformer have to be custom ordered but companies like SumR provide such excellent service that this is by no means harder then picking up a prebuilt unit.  You are also only paying for stuff you need and the transformer can be optimized for audio use. 
 
I hope you are as excited as I am...
   

What can I say except WOW!  I am not great at DIY but I would be a lot more likely to succeed with solid state than tubes, so this looks like the way for me to go state of the art.