[deadlylover]

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BTW- To those fellow Stax enthusiasts that have not yet tried their phones while watching moves -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!    

Man I use the O2's for everything. Music, games, anime, voice chat, whatever =P.

 

[paulchiu]

have you auditioned the Stax tubed amp with your Stax, which one, BTW?
 

 
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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]

Currently the tubed SRM-006ts paired with the SR-407 phones, aka SRS-4170 combo, as my dealer was kind enough to lend me this while I wait for my SR-507/SRM-323s that will be arriving in two weeks.
I have never before been sure if I could actually hear much difference between interconnects or if I was experiencing a placebo effect. These headphones are so good that they would put an end to all claims of "snake oil" if everyone had them.. At my local hifi store the manager there said that he could not tell the difference between the Van Den Hul "D-102 Mk3" and "Waterfall" interconnects on their high end demo kit. On my stax kit they were night and day... okay that´s slightly exaggerated, but in double blind test with my brother switching cables I could tell them apart each and every time!...  No placebo.
They are both great cables, and one is not nessecarily "better" than the other, just different so it is a matter of taste.
I liked the waterfall the best as it seems to extend deeper in the bass and higher in the treble, the D-102 seems slightly narrower in its frequency extention, but is more "forward" in the higher bass and lower midrange region, it also seemed to lack a little "space" and "airiness" compared to the waterfall.
It also lets me hear the difference on the toslink and coax digital output from my sonos. contrary to much that i have read about toslink giving an electrical/ground isolation between components and thus sonic advantages, I preferred the coax. the optical connection sounded more spacious and "airy", but the sources of the sounds were hard to pinpoint, as if they were slightly "smeared out" in the picture. The coax on the other hand had the sources of sound very well focused and although there was less "surround-like" ambience, the sound was much more realistic and life-like.
Maybe what I heard was jitter on the optical connection? 
Amazed by my stax....

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

It also lets me hear the difference on the toslink and coax digital output from my sonos. contrary to much that i have read about toslink giving an electrical/ground isolation between components and thus sonic advantages, I preferred the coax. the optical connection sounded more spacious and "airy", but the sources of the sounds were hard to pinpoint, as if they were slightly "smeared out" in the picture. The coax on the other hand had the sources of sound very well focused and although there was less "surround-like" ambience, the sound was much more realistic and life-like.
Maybe what I heard was jitter on the optical connection? 
Amazed by my stax....

Toslink is immune to RF and EMI distortion, and also conveniently breaks ground loops. Unfortunately as you've noticed, none of that makes up for the fact that its a disaster in terms of jitter. Supposedly the old ST (AT&T) optical connection is much better at dealing with that than the Toslink found on nearly everything now, but ST jacks are extremely rare these days. All but the poorest quality coaxial cables will outperform toslink, and the best ones which actually maintain close to 75 Ohms tip to tip and use BNC jacks will absolutely destroy toslink, and often AES/EBU as well.
 

 

[n3rdling]

Just put on my normal bias Sigmas for the first time in a few months.  Five seconds in, I just started laughing because of how good the midrange is on these things.  I wonder why these aren't more popular, are the looks that much of a put off? 

 

[Deadneddz]

I seriously wonder the exact same thing....

 

[John Buchanan]

Quote:

Just put on my normal bias Sigmas for the first time in a few months.  Five seconds in, I just started laughing because of how good the midrange is on these things.  I wonder why these aren't more popular, are the looks that much of a put off? 

Have you seen what people are selling these  25 - 32 year old phones for? As much as a 2nd hand O2. And yes, they are worth it - I sold my O2 Mk 1 in preference to losing the Sigma/404. Midrange like no other.
 

 

[deadlylover]

Quote:

Have you seen what people are selling these  25 - 32 year old phones for? As much as a 2nd hand O2. And yes, they are worth it - I sold my O2 Mk 1 in preference to losing the Sigma/404. Midrange like no other.
 

Bloody hell I need to listen to one of those bad boys somewhere in this lifetime.
 
I recall father Stax saying that his favourite phones were still the Sigma despite just releasing the original Omega or something like that, so they must be pretty special.

 

[milosz]

Two weeks ago I got a pair of Lambda Signatures with an SRM-T1, and I am really loving these things. I have a TON of dynamic and planar  headphones - HD800's, HE-5's, LCD-2's, Denon AHD7000s, etc etc., but I am just really digging these 25 year old Lambdas right now. They have such great midrange texture, nice -but not painful- highs and tuneful bass.  
 
It's true they don't have the bass "impact" of the better dynamic and orthos, they probably just can't handle the excursion. But their bass does not seem weak or thin- it's just "very good," as opposed to "amazing" which you can get out of the LCD-2's, for example.
 
But it's really the midrange and texture-  wow.  The midrange detail and the way the spectrum is so well balanced.  Makes me want to try a pair of SR-007's.  
 
I spruced these Lambda Signatures up- put new, brown earpads and a new headpad on, cleaned out all the crumbled foam.  Loving them!
 
Recently also got an SRM-1/MK2, haven't tried that out yet.
 

 

[gilency]

I love my Sigma/404's.

 

[dukja]

Quote:

Two weeks ago I got a pair of Lambda Signatures with an SRM-T1, and I am really loving these things. I have a TON of dynamic and planar  headphones - HD800's, HE-5's, LCD-2's, Denon AHD7000s, etc etc., but I am just really digging these 25 year old Lambdas right now. They have such great midrange texture, nice -but not painful- highs and tuneful bass.  
 
It's true they don't have the bass "impact" of the better dynamic and orthos, they probably just can't handle the excursion. But their bass does not seem weak or thin- it's just "very good," as opposed to "amazing" which you can get out of the LCD-2's, for example.
 
But it's really the midrange and texture-  wow.  The midrange detail and the way the spectrum is so well balanced.  Makes me want to try a pair of SR-007's. 
 

 
I also had T1, HE-6, and new Lambda sr-407.  They hold their own place by each own.  SR-407 has actually probably the most satisfying bass with SRM-323S.  The low end extension and generosity is soothingly satisfying.  And it is even quite punchy comparable to my other systems.  I was so amazed by this setup and is looking for even better amp for my 407.
 
The only "less" of my 407 is the treble level or sparkiness, which I don't consider as weakness but a feature. 407 is the only phone I can use to glide through all bright recordings. 

 
 

 

[jaycalgary]

"I love my Sigma/404's"
I love my diy Sigma/407's

 

[Amarphael]

Quote:

I love my diy Sigma/407's

 
POIDH.
 
 

 

[jaycalgary]

Oh it happened all right. Actually listening to them right now. The shape is a bit smaller and different from Sigma but probably the same effect sans plastic.
I am still going to make some small changes but the pics are from even before I had a chance to hear them.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/541076/stax-sigma-wood-mesh-housing/60#post_7586091

 

[Jodet]

Two questions for Stax folks:  
 
1) How much better is the SR007MK2 over the SR-507?
 
2) Would a SR007MK2 / 323S combination make sense?
 
All comments welcome.