[Magick Man]

I'm looking at getting a taste of STAX electrostatic headphones but I don't want to go crazy past the point of diminishing return. Any recommendations for a price/performance setup?

The Koss ESP/950 setup, it's usually <$700, also there's the STAX SRS-2170 system for ~$750. Both come with earspeakers and amp. I own the Koss and it's an absolute steal for the quality of sound you get.

 

[cat6man]

Quote:

I'm looking at getting a taste of STAX electrostatic headphones but I don't want to go crazy past the point of diminishing return. Any recommendations for a price/performance setup?

 
I don't recommend going crazy but diminishing returns is a relative concept.  I found the 009 + BHSE to sound SO FRIGGIN smiling-like-a-fool-in-my-chair GOOD that I ended up there, with absolutely no intention of upgrading anything when I attended my first northern NJ meet 3 years ago.  Nothing takes the place of going to meets and hearing music that you bring (and know).  Only you can decide where diminishing returns are for you and your budget.  By all means ask for advice, but get out there and listen.  I started at the bottom of the stax food chain in college in the late 70s (and loved them!!) and re-entered the stax world close to the bottom of the food chain about 10 years ago, when I started listening to electrostatics again after decades of not using headphones at all.  Ending up where I am now was never ever considered a possibility as I also believe in diminishing returns, but the 009/BHSE combo presented absolutely worthwhile improvements (albeit at a non-trivial cost)..................use the 'am i smiling while hearing this?' test and you'll find your own equilibrium point.
 
enjoy!

 

[milosz]

I got a pair of Lambda Signature Pro's and an SRM-T1 for about $1,000 on Audiogon.  Love them.  I put new earpads on the Lambdas. 
 
I also have a pair of ESP-950's. They are also excellent, and less costly.  The ESP-950's are definitely a high end product in terms of sound, and do give you the "electrostatic" experience- but they do not sound like Stax.  Are the Koss better or worse? I would say, no, they are as good in sound quality as the various Lambdas out there, maybe even close to the SR-007's in some ways.  But the Koss are DIFFERENT sounding.  A different voice. If I had to characterize the Koss ESP 950 sound I would say, more bass impact and a somewhat more prominent midrange than the Stax. Good, smooth treble from the Koss, but not the same kind of 'transparent balance' that the Stax have. I like the Koss a lot, but they are different from the Stax.  Only Stax sound like Stax, though Koss and Stax both offer that very low distortion, fast-transient-clarity electrostatic sound. And even though the Koss headphones use a lot of plastic- the Koss amp is mostly plastic, too- the Koss are not cheap crappy plastic headphones. For plastic, the headphones themselves are well made and fit and finish are quite good, and the plastic Koss amp hits well above it's weight- pretty good sound considering the low price of Koss amp. But in the end, only Stax are Stax.
 
If you can, listen to both side by side and decide which you like best.  In my case, I LOVE  having BOTH!!!!!!  I like to switch off.  I'm lucky that I can have such things.

 

[livewire]

Ditto!

 

[MorbidToaster]

So I'm hearing the 009s for the first time through the LL and my Cambridge 851C.
 
This is stupid. I hate Head-fi. 
 
That is all.

 

[NamelessPFG]

Quote:

I got a pair of Lambda Signature Pro's and an SRM-T1 for about $1,000 on Audiogon.  Love them.  I put new earpads on the Lambdas. 
 
I also have a pair of ESP-950's. They are also excellent, and less costly.  The ESP-950's are definitely a high end product in terms of sound, and do give you the "electrostatic" experience- but they do not sound like Stax.  Are the Koss better or worse? I would say, no, they are as good in sound quality as the various Lambdas out there, maybe even close to the SR-007's in some ways.  But the Koss are DIFFERENT sounding.  A different voice. If I had to characterize the Koss ESP 950 sound I would say, more bass impact and a somewhat more prominent midrange than the Stax. Good, smooth treble from the Koss, but not the same kind of 'transparent balance' that the Stax have. I like the Koss a lot, but they are different from the Stax.  Only Stax sound like Stax, though Koss and Stax both offer that very low distortion, fast-transient-clarity electrostatic sound. And even though the Koss headphones use a lot of plastic- the Koss amp is mostly plastic, too- the Koss are not cheap crappy plastic headphones. For plastic, the headphones themselves are well made and fit and finish are quite good, and the plastic Koss amp hits well above it's weight- pretty good sound considering the low price of Koss amp. But in the end, only Stax are Stax.
 
If you can, listen to both side by side and decide which you like best.  In my case, I LOVE  having BOTH!!!!!!  I like to switch off.  I'm lucky that I can have such things.

 
Do you think that someone who loves the Normal bias SR-Lambda's midrange in particular would get along well with the ESP/950, even if it doesn't sound quite like Stax?
 
Much of what I've been hearing about the ESP/950's sound presentation seems like what I'm looking for...except for the reports of a smaller soundstage, which I might find detrimental to having that "atmospheric" presentation I'm looking for.
 
Quote:

So I'm hearing the 009s for the first time through the LL and my Cambridge 851C.
 
This is stupid. I hate Head-fi. 
 
That is all.

 
Sorry about your wallet.
 
Sorry about my wallet too. And my sanity. Were it not for this place, I wouldn't be tempted into buying reasonably affordable Lambda setups and being forever spoiled by their sound presentation.

 

[milosz]

Quote:

 
Do you think that someone who loves the Normal bias SR-Lambda's midrange in particular would get along well with the ESP/950, even if it doesn't sound quite like Stax?
 
Much of what I've been hearing about the ESP/950's sound presentation seems like what I'm looking for...except for the reports of a smaller soundstage, which I might find detrimental to having that "atmospheric" presentation I'm looking for.
 

 
I haven't heard normal-bias Lambdas, so I can't really say.

 

[rubenpp]

Quote:

So I'm hearing the 009s for the first time through the LL and my Cambridge 851C.
 
This is stupid. I hate Head-fi. 
 
That is all.

 
 
Out of curiosity, are you regretting it - Gettting the 009 and LL ?

 

[MorbidToaster]

I'm regretting taking up Alex's offer on the demo...because now I have to actually buy one.
 
Quote:

 
 
Out of curiosity, are you regretting it - Gettting the 009 and LL ?

 

[MrGreen]

OT: I like the album in your picture. if you tend to like that sort of music, I agree that stax is king.

 

[rubenpp]

Quote:

I'm regretting taking up Alex's offer on the demo...because now I have to actually buy one.
 

 
Thanks for the response. I myself  am thinking of taking the same route  

 

[sphinxvc]

To anyone, what do you figure the manufacturing cost of an SR-009 is?  
 
I'm not thinking of overhead for warranty, R&D, Stax pensions and whatever else; just in terms of raw materials + manufacturing costs...

 

[Rithrin]

Quote:

To anyone, what do you figure the manufacturing cost of an SR-009 is?  
 
I'm not thinking of overhead for warranty, R&D, Stax pensions and whatever else; just in terms of raw materials + manufacturing costs...

 
I would avg 400-900$ including machines, [but that is in bulk] - key. It may in fact it may even be less than that
 
(including avg-ing machines)
 
What you're really getting is a ****tion of engineering and expensive work from a bunch of really crazy people.
 
In this case, they are the top, and the top (Kevin Gilmore associated) exl; i.e, have put their work into it. There are some people who's time is worth a lot of money, (the greats) and theirs is the time that I want to [bask] share in. (Inherently, their time is what I want to learn about.)
 
THEY are the bread winners, THEY are what bring progress to the world [and humanity], or at least, the intelligent portions of it, as a whole. That is the reality of life.
 
Unfortunately, in all the sum of it's parts, the Sr 009 would not be something easy to reciprocate - not at all. And that's not including it's shell.
 
And as an add [HARD engineering] is something I will happily pay for. We need to support people like that (anyone who's heard the Sr 009 will probably agree with me).
 
{Slight grammatical edit: 11:02pm}

 

[forbigger]

I'd say COGS will be around 1k or less. Add another 1k for R&D. The rest is gross profit.

 

[Magick Man]

Paying for parts, labor, support, rent, R&D, promotion, front office, etc.. I'd put it at around $3k, once everything like that is factored in. They then sell to the dealers for $4k, which leaves $1k in net profit. That's not too bad, but they aren't making a killing.