[livewire]

Interesting comment Spritzer, I never thought of doing that with stats.
I could see how it might widen the soundstage and increase treble response.
In the past I did just that to my HD-555 dynamics and the above was the exact result along with increased bass.
Amazing! That mod transformed them from some anemic, veiled crap into something I could actually listen to and enjoy.
 
Gonna play with the damping in the future if I can figure how to get the ESP-950's apart without breaking something.
Need to think about it first, as any noticable mod will void my lifetime warranty....

 

[chinsettawong]

I prefer not to use any damping material.  To me the stats play much better that way.
 
Wachara C.

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

I prefer not to use any damping material.  To me the stats play much better that way.
 
Wachara C.

Agreed and the Lambdas sound better without the back foam which acts as damping.
 
I think Stax used the damping to try bring up the midrange, but it makes it sound somewhat harsh and reduces the width of the soundfield.
 
I wonder how many other stats use damping.  The Sigma, which uses the same  drivers as the Lambda doesn't use the same damping ( by which I do not mean the mineral wool which lines the enclosure.)  The 003's don't and I haven't seen any in the 007 either.  Are the 009, HE 90 and HE 60 damped?
 

 

[n3rdling]

Not to my knowledge

 

[spritzer]

All of them are damped to some extent as the air trapped next to the stator does just that.  The last Stax headphones to be externally damped were the SR-Lambda Pro and SR-Ganna Pro (first version). 
 
One has to remember that the ESP950 hails back from the 1980's (late 89) so considering that, it is a hell of a headphone. 

 

[edstrelow]

Quote:

All of them are damped to some extent as the air trapped next to the stator does just that.  The last Stax headphones to be externally damped were the SR-Lambda Pro and SR-Ganna Pro (first version). 
 
One has to remember that the ESP950 hails back from the 1980's (late 89) so considering that, it is a hell of a headphone. 

I was thinking in terms of the damping effect or whatever one wants to call it of the back foam.
 
In a sense anything that blocks the sound transmitted from the diaphragm is in some respect damping the diaphragm and possibly causing other physical effects to the sound as well. That would include, as you note, the stator because it traps air. as well as all structures in the earcup before or behind the diaphragm which could cause some impediment of the free movement the diaphragm would otherwise have if it were in open air.
 
So presumably the less transparent the stator the more the damping effect. Now with the SR009 it looks as if Stax is trying to reduce the damping effect of the stator by making it especially transparent.
 

 

[Hammerzeit]

I'm two weeks away from putting a downpayment for the BHSE yet all I can think of is trying out a lyr with the senn 650s and akg 701...I have a problem... Please talk me out of spending my money on non-stax gear, two more weeks!

 

[livewire]

Think of this, you will prolly be one of the first to have not waited a year or more
to take delivery of your BHSE. Besides, no 701 or 650 is gonna sound as good as what
you have right now. Oh sure, better bass and a "thicker" delivery, but you might tire soon
of the sub-par performance of the dynamics in general. I know. I have the 702's and modded 555's.(but no Lyr)
I love them both dearly and at times want to put the stats down for a taste of something different.
But I always go back to the Stax and prolly spend 85% of my listening time with them.
Granted, they aint no 009's with a BHSE tho. Keep saving my friend! The result will be well worth it.
Or on the other hand, a small Lyrical detour might not be so bad after all.
If it were me I would want to get on that BHSE bandwagon to insure my place in the fast(er) lane.
Justin's 45 piece build aint gonna last forever. Then the big wait might be on again, and again....

 

[BoogieWoogie]

I read this about the Stax Adaptar "When the knob is on the off position, the signal from your speaker amplifier is passed on to the speakers, thus you conveniently can switch between your headphone and speaker set up."
 
Hows can I have both adaptor and speakers connected to the amp ?

 

[Amarphael]

I take it you refer to the SRD boxes, It has output teminals to the speakers, You have to set the adapet between the speakers and the amp.
http://www.headfonia.com/stax-srd-7/

 

[BoogieWoogie]

 
Quote:

I take it you refer to the SRD boxes, It has output teminals to the speakers, You have to set the adapet between the speakers and the amp.
http://www.headfonia.com/stax-srd-7/

Yes but hows that possible, if I connect the speakers there is no entrance for the SRD cables.

 

[John Buchanan]

Quote:

I read this about the Stax Adaptar "When the knob is on the off position, the signal from your speaker amplifier is passed on to the speakers, thus you conveniently can switch between your headphone and speaker set up."
 
Hows can I have both adaptor and speakers connected to the amp ?

Your amp's speaker outputs connect to wires that are the input to the SRD -5/6/7 adaptor. There are speaker wire terminals that connect to the back of the adaptor. The front switch either outputs the signal to the headphones connected at the front panel, or the speakers wires connected to the back panel. It's reasonably intuitive when you actually have one.
 

 

[BoogieWoogie]

Thanks gotcha.

 

[Electrostax]

Quote:

I'm two weeks away from putting a downpayment for the BHSE yet all I can think of is trying out a lyr with the senn 650s and akg 701...I have a problem... Please talk me out of spending my money on non-stax gear, two more weeks!

Non-stax gear does not deliver stax-thrills.  
Before recently buying a current stax combo I went to audition the cream of the crop of current dynamic headphones including senn 650/800, akg 702, beyer t1/880, grado gs1000/rs1 and many more, the only one of these I could even start to compare to the electrostats were the sennheiser HD800 driven by a lehmann black cube. -although very nice, it lacked the "magic ingredient" that takes you all the way, and transports you into the music, to the exact time and place of the recording. The stax has this magic and the difference can best be described as experiencing the music rather than just listening to it.
The HD800 I left thinking "What a really nice set of headphones!.."
The Stax I couldn´t leave, and all i could think was "More! More!!! ..."
IMHO Stax/BHSE will leave you content that you made the right choice whatever you audition for many years to come, while dynamics will only leave you in doubt and a state of constant upgraditis..
        

 

[Electrostax]

BTW- To those fellow Stax enthusiasts that have not yet tried their phones while watching movies -PLEASE DO!
Soundtracks are so stunning that I actually prefer the fantastically open and full bodied stereo sound of the stax to the surround sound on my (quite good) home surround setup. 
The latest TRON movie is highly recommended on stax!