[hawkeye83]

One other thing I've noticed is that these seem to take quite a bit of power to achieve any volume.  Hopefully that doesn't mean I'm losing polarization in the membranes (is that the right term?).  My 50 wpc Sherbourn amp is turned up 3/4 or more, and my computer volume control is turned up 90% to achieve any sort of fairly loud volume.  If I had the volume turned that high and selected my Kef loudspeakers instead of the headphones, it would be so loud I'd have to leave the room.  Does this sound normal?  I still like my Stax, will just need to crank the volume a bit!

 

[nehcrow]

  Because STAX are niche and boutique in the likes of Audeze, Hifiman and I'd rather stick with something that has proven QC and opinions like Sennheiser, Creative, Audio-Technica, Beyerdynamic, AKG, Denon, Sony, V-Moda, Philips, Monster, Beats by Dre, Bose, Koss.
 
I just don't trust niche manufactures in whatever sector. I'd rather go with a name brand. Pus the whole lack of distributors and no way to drive STAX out of anything you'd use everyday.
 
I mean, if STAX are really that good, why don't I see Gamestop, Best Buy, Walmart, Radio Shack, Guitar Center, HHGreg carrying them?
 
If STAX is really that good, why don't studios around the world use them for recording, mixing and production?
 
 
And of course, why pay thousands for headphones with no isolation and restricted to home usage when you could pay a few hundred for full-size speakers?

Are you serious?

 

[nick n]

That seems a little excessive having to turn them up that much. You don't have any muting buttons on the amp on or anything by mistake? So no imbalance just loooow sensitivity. Something's up there.
 
I can't recall what is inside the adaptor I can pop mine open and see sometime soon but they are really straightforward so not much can go wrong, maybe a capacitor or two in there.
 
They'll either be SR-30, 40 or maybe 60  but probably the first two. 50 is a closed back one.

 

[Arif1971]

Why Stax? Simply put, there are no better headphones available today. At almost £6000 (including 007 energiser - the 009 energiser is still on the drawing board!) not everyone will go rushing out to buy a pair, but then there is no real stampede to acquire a Bugatti Veyron either. Being the best, or at the very least perceived to be the best, while attracting many fans, will simultaneously draw a crowd of non believers too - it has always been this way and will remain so. To hear every nuance of a recording with such precision combined with subtlety and refinement is quite a neat trick and Stax have pulled it off. Yes it is true, there are other good quality headphones, but none quite like the Stax. The closest I ever heard was from the original Sennheiser Orpheus - http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/01/orpheus-headphones/ (does anyone else remember them?) and I was led to believe that I sold the last pair from Sennheiser several years ago. At the time they outperformed the 007 Omega Reference from Stax but the 009 has set a new standard. The good news is for those with the spare cash and equally the inclination to spend such an amount on headphones, the Stax 009 are the best part of £3000 more affordable than the old Sennheisers!
Headphones are not for everyone, but for those who want the best there can be no further argument.

 

[mark3]

100+ entries in this thread & no one explained how electrostatic headphones/speakers differ from dynamic (conventional) headphones/speakers. Perhaps its been covered in other threads. In case it hasn't, briefly and grossly oversimplified, all phones/speakers convert electrical energy into sound (moving air). The electric signal frequently changes between a positive to negative charge. Dynamic phones/speakers have a magnet at the back end of the cone. A big heavy magnet for large cones; sometimes many pounds in the case of subwooferrs. As the electric signal repeatedly swings from positive to negative and back again the magnet is attracted or repelled as applicable moving back and forth. This pushes/pulls the attached cone in/out which moves air which a listener hears as sound. An electrostatic speaker uses a thin membrane with a static charge instead of magnet and paper/hemp/carbon fiber/silk/etc cone. The electro-mechanical principal is the same. In practice, an electrostatic membrane is orders of magnitude lighter and posses correspondingly less inertia. The mechanical motion tracks the electric signal more accurately. It also moves back/forth far less than a cone so it displaces much less air and therefore is less loud all other things being equal. What one hears is clearer, less distorted sound. For those who've never head electrostatics, imagine the difference between a garbled cell phone and a clear hard wired land line conversation. (Yes, it's an exaggeration but it aptly describes the difference.) There's other stuff too but this is the brief, grossly oversimplified explanation.
 
A personal note: I have extensive (decade +) experience with 3 headphone models: Infinity electrostatic headphones, Stax Lambda Pro/SRM 1 mk2 & Sony MDR 7506. I use the Stax when I want to hear all that I can in a recording or live feed. I use the Sony when I want to hear it as most listeners (will) hear it. The Sony can play louder; the Stax sound better to me by most measures; although, extended listening to the Stax sometimes gives me a headache. I imagine it's the extended high frequency energy. The Infinity is my favorite of the 3 but production ceased >30 years ago and parts are unobtainable. Let me know if anyone knows of a pair for sale. FWIW, I auditioned both the SRM 1 mk2 solid state amp and the SRM 1T(?) tube amp at the time of purchase. The solid state amp had better base. The midrange and treble were about the same IIRC.
 
There is a significant subjective component regarding which model headphones one prefers and cost counts. YMWV.
Happy listening,

 

[Chris_Himself]

You can't lego and play with their sound signature as much and they have somewhat of a hearty cost to step into them, even their entry rig is fairly expensive IMO. What you get is what you get more or less unless you buy a rather expensive boutique amp for them.

 

[catspaw]

  Are you serious?

I think he might be. Obviously not the type of consumer from head-fi as you would normally se, but then again noone says he actually has tried the brands that here are considered as higher tier.
 
Personally, Ive had mixed results when it comes to headphones and my opinions varying from others often (like when i thought Cowon CE1 IEM were some of the best, becouse their sound signature was one that i liked).
 
Also beeing afarid of something like the stax Is not uncommon. i havent personally tried them, so even if people seem to love them, It seems odd to just trust the opinion of the masses (that many times has been proven wrong) on spending a huge amount of money.
 
Personally, I went for the Hifiman HE-400 after about 2 months of considering if it is worth the money.
After 1 year of use im positive I made the right call, but Stax are kinda more expensive .

 

[NamelessPFG]

I got started on Stax for less than the price of an HE-400, since I had a speaker amp handy (an old A/V receiver) to drive the included transformer box.

Not everyone has that convenience, however, and the amp requirements are where Stax slaughters your wallet. A typical SRM-1/Mk2 Pro or SRM-T1 starts at $350-400 and only goes way up in price, whereas a typical SR-Lambda with transformer box is just $220-350, speaker amp possibly adding another $40-150 depending on what you get.

By contrast, the HE-400 will run off of any source decently and actually shares a lot in common with the SR-202 in sound signature. (Including the recessed midrange, where both lose handily to the SR-Lambda as a result...)

I think it's a lot like computer water-cooling. The initial investment is steep, but worth it if you intend to carry it over and use it for years to come...and you don't have to regularly replace waterblocks with Stax, either.

 

[catspaw]

Well, every hobby when taken to the extreme is expensive. Think of stamps colletions, clothes, etc.

 

[captian73]

Sorry to resurrect and old thread. I curse the day I sold my SR-002 MKII earphones. I had the older version with the oval type ear-buds which at best were painful. The portable headphone amp that had to be used sucked batteries every 2-4 hours, which doesn't really encourage portability. The headphone amp itself wasn't of the most sturdiest quality either, and for me, shoving it into a backpack along with other items would have induced thoughts of finding the headphone amp in bits when i got to my destination. They took a while to adjust, me bring used to drum & bass mostly via the likes of Ultrasone headphones, but I soon got used to the Stax sound and came to love them, even with electronic music.
 
At the time i got rid, I had over 90 pairs of headphones, and the rule was; if I hadn't used them for a year, they were going on ebay. The oval ear-buds were easily THE most uncomfortable headphones I've ever owned, but countered by one of the most even and energetic sounds i've ever heard (form phones that price). I would have a go on the new rounded ear bud type 002/003 ear system.
 
Now I'm going off to cry ... with my Denon AH D-340 headphones - How the mighty have fallen!

 

[pcbr]

I have an old (but brand new) Stax SR.-X MkIII and an SR.-507.
Both beautiful, but older one is better, because more transparent and realistic.
And it's project and construction has more then 40 years!!!
Which other headphone after 40 years will can do the same?

 

[labrat]

Del

 

[captian73]

The old version, the version i owned had oval ear openings. 
 


 
 
The new version most certainly does not! 
 
http://www.stax.co.jp/Pdf/Export/NEWS_E_SRS002_121015.pdf
 

 
If your headphones are oval, one would assume they are the old model/old stock!

 

[labrat]

Del

 

[gregsenko]

Thanks for bringing-up the Stax ear-bud. Portability is a rpractical concern and switching from my Stax electrostatics to my Etymotic custom fitted IEM is a reasonable but unsatisfying alternative. I had been wondering if someone could make custom ear pieces for the Stax earbuds. But, it sounds like the earpiece so integral to the design that other approaches will not work. Thanks for that information.