[eantala]

i have the means to purchase the 009 and have been thinking about it, I have heard them and they have 2 things I value more than anything , extreme Transparency and uber Resolution.
 
but I just  cannot wrap my head around using this with a special electrostatic amps that can't be used with anything else.  These things are so transparent yet you cannot swap amps, or swap out cables, etc to compare teh differences.  any of my current headphones I can (at least using an adapter)  use with my laptop, tablet , cell phone, any desktop amp, any portable amp, any size usb thumbstick size dac/amp, etc not saying they are ideal setups but the connectivity is there.  
if I get he 009 the flexibility to mix and match or take thing on the road, these things aren't there but yea these things are really that good so I still keep pondering..

 

[greggf]

Yes. 
 
And that is what I've done. 
 
The 009 is not only expensive, it's also the first headphone to not only meet but also exceed my expectations.  I never thought that that could happen, given its price.  And that's using just a Stax 007TII amp.
 
If music is the top priority, get a 009.  If gear swapping and/or comparisons - which is a fun and admirable hobby in itself, and needs no defense - is the top priority, you may want or need to avoid the 009. 

 

[DefQon]

  Yes. 
 
And that is what I've done. 
 
The 009 is not only expensive, it's also the first headphone to not only meet but also exceed my expectations.  I never thought that that could happen, given its price.  And that's using just a Stax 007TII amp.
 
If music is the top priority, get a 009.  If gear swapping and/or comparisons - which is a fun and admirable hobby in itself, and needs no defense - is the top priority, you may want or need to avoid the 009. 

 
All you need now is either a KGSSHV, Megatron or BHSE or possibly a DIY T2. I've also heard good things about the Eddie Current Electra. Or maybe get all of the mentioned amp's. lol

 

[greggf]

lol  Who knows?
 
Y'know, right now, I can't imagine needing anything else.  Very strange position for me to be in.

 

[arnaud]

If gear swapping and/or comparisons - which is a fun and admirable hobby in itself, and needs no defense - is the top priority, you may want or need to avoid the 009. 

I know of at least one person who got rid of it just for that! So, too much of a good thing is not that nice after all it seems .

About your feeling, I know what it is, the 009 has put such a damper on my upgraditis fever of the past... On the other hand, no contest, amplification does not stop at stax gear, I have been in tears listening to the electra (tubes may have played an important role).

Arnaud

 

[eric65]

I know of at least one person who got rid of it just for that! So, too much of a good thing is not that nice after all it seems

.

About your feeling, I know what it is, the 009 has put such a damper on my upgraditis fever of the past... On the other hand, no contest, amplification does not stop at stax gear, I have been in tears listening to the electra (tubes may have played an important role).

Arnaud

 
 
And well, you have at least being two to have been in tears with a 009. 

You, with an Electra, and my friend Bertrand with an RKV (amplifier used directly, without the Wee transformers).
Very nice this 009!

 

[MacedonianHero]

Well, the SR-009s have really helped qualm any pangs for newly released headphones. I would certainly be more curious about the new AKG K812s. They essentially measure like the beyer T1s (which I enjoyed quite a bit). But I'm honest about it, with the SR-009s, they'd likely get very little head time.

 

[rgs9200m]

  Yes. 
 
And that is what I've done. 
 
The 009 is not only expensive, it's also the first headphone to not only meet but also exceed my expectations.  I never thought that that could happen, given its price.  And that's using just a Stax 007TII amp.
 
If music is the top priority, get a 009.  If gear swapping and/or comparisons - which is a fun and admirable hobby in itself, and needs no defense - is the top priority, you may want or need to avoid the 009. 

Yep, that goes for me too. I've got that same combo (for 2 years now).
Play with different interconnects and power cables to tune it to your taste (as I hear it, get some warmth, even if it sacrifices some resolution, as the 009s can handle that).

 

[ericfarrell85]

I think it really depends on the varieties of music you listen to and to what extent you appreciate other qualities in headphones, apart from ultimate resolution. For instance, when listening to symphonic classical, I would rather hear my HD800 and ECBA than the SR009. When listening to small ensemble jazz I'd take the warmth, weight and more pompous bass of the SR007's over the SR009's. When listening to poorly recorded indie I'd rather have a pair of LCD's on my head. Sometimes the euphony of the HE60 and the powerhouse dynamics of the HE6 are preferable. I can say all these things while still believing the SR009 are the finest headphones I own. Just my 2c, but in the upper echelon there are different flavors and all of them are pleasant.

 

[takato14]

To be perfectly honest I don't think the 009 would be a good match for me for a number of reasons...
 
1: Indefinitely tied to a home rig: even if I managed to get ahold of an SRD-X Pro, the only portable Stax energizer in existence, it's not exactly intelligent to walk down the street with $5k of headphone on your head.
 
[1.5: Though, knowing me, I'd probably be dumb enough to do it, so that's a reason in itself not to have one >_____>]
 
2: Not enough impact: It's undeniable fact that an electrostatic transducer simply cannot push as much air as an electrodynamic or even an isodynamic transducer due to the diaphragm weight, and while people say the 009 does punch I'm so accustomed to the huge impact of my gear that I don't think I'd be able to get past that.
 
3: Too much care involved: I like displaying my headphones, I like keeping them with me, I like to flaunt them. The 009 would need to sit on a stand, at home, under a protective anti-dust bag to keep them in good shape.
 
So basically, if it wasn't a stat, I'd be willing to shell out for one.

 

[arnaud]

2: Not enough impact: It's undeniable fact that an electrostatic transducer simply cannot push as much air as an electrodynamic or even an isodynamic transducer due to the diaphragm weight, and while people say the 009 does punch I'm so accustomed to the huge impact of my gear that I don't think I'd be able to get past that.

That's a misbelief (you don't need inertia to move air particles, that's just air after all), unfortunately sometime propagandated with reason by some.

The diaphragm size is gigantic compared to conventional dynamic drivers, sound is emitted by displacement and area (volume velocity). Listen to a 009 to an organ piece and tell me it can't do no bass...

What you may feel though is that the voicing of the 009 is too emphasized toward mids / upper mids which in turns could give an impression of missing body / foundations. There's very little distortion over the whole frequency range too so you won't get any additional body apart from whatever was recorded.

There is a strong shared belief that no headphone can do bass like orthos and people assume it is because of the more massive membrane pushing the air more effectively. To me this is akin to the bass head who needs to see his woofer rattling else doesn't believe there's real bass...

If I may make a supposition, where the inertia of the diaphragm helps is 1) rolling off of the frequency response (natural low pass filter) at mid/high frequencies which gives more bass oumph, relative to the highs, 2) that may be far fetched but I wonder if there isn't a bit of bone-conduction of low frequency vibration transmitted through the cushion system. Very small amount but sufficient to subjectively affect the perceived response (not visible in the typical measurements).

 

[takato14]

2: Not enough impact: It's undeniable fact that an electrostatic transducer simply cannot push as much air as an electrodynamic or even an isodynamic transducer due to the diaphragm weight, and while people say the 009 does punch I'm so accustomed to the huge impact of my gear that I don't think I'd be able to get past that.

That's a misbelief (you don't need inertia to move air particles, that's just air after all), unfortunately sometime propagandated with reason by some.

The diaphragm size is gigantic compared to conventional dynamic drivers, sound is emitted by displacement and area (volume velocity). Listen to a 009 to an organ piece and tell me it can't do no bass...

What you may feel though is that the voicing of the 009 is too emphasized toward mids / upper mids which in turns could give an impression of missing body / foundations. There's very little distortion over the whole frequency range too so you won't get any additional body apart from whatever was recorded.

There is a strong shared belief that no headphone can do bass like orthos and people assume it is because of the more massive membrane pushing the air more effectively. To me this is akin to the bass head who needs to see his woofer rattling else doesn't believe there's real bass...

If I may make a supposition, where the inertia of the diaphragm helps is 1) rolling off of the frequency response (natural low pass filter) at mid/high frequencies which gives more bass oumph, relative to the highs, 2) that may be far fetched but I wonder if there isn't a bit of bone-conduction of low frequency vibration transmitted through the cushion system. Very small amount but sufficient to subjectively affect the perceived response (not visible in the typical measurements).

Electrostatics are a bit different from the other transducer types in that they don't "move" air, they excite the air particles. They can't physically move the air because the diaphragm is so thin that it's actually lighter than air. I know the 009 can do bass, look at its FR for Pete's sake; I'm saying it can't do impact, which is an inherent trait of electrostatic transducers. So, no, you're wrong.

Plus, I'm referring to one headphone in particular that I own, which slams harder than any ortho or even any other dynamic in existence. I would probably love the 009's tonality and presentation so much that I would be able to get over the lack of impact relative to my other gear, but there's still no way it slams as hard.

 

[arnaud]

Milar or whatever engineered plastic used in the 009 doesn't float freely in the air last I checked.

Next, I don't mean to be rude but, a stat diaphgram isn't magically tickling air particles telling them to move around without actually physically displacing them... You got confused with plasma transducers maybe? Be it dynamic, ortho or stat, they're all dipole type volume velocity sources.

But what do I know, having merely been in the field for 20 years, from measuring to modeling to correlating all sorts of noise and vibrations systems lol ). As I said, I always learn, there's no end to it so, please enlighten me!

For impact differing from FR extension, surely you caught the shortcut . Then again, look at a square wave or impulse response of a 009 and all you'll see is extremely fast / short decayed response. If anything, it's probably too clean to sound realistic for the people used to / who haven't quit listening through speakers.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Milar or whatever engineered plastic used in the 009 doesn't float freely in the air last I checked.

Next, I don't mean to be rude but, a stat diaphgram isn't magically tickling air particles telling them to move around without actually physically displacing them... You got confused with plasma transducers maybe? Be it dynamic, ortho or stat, they're all dipole type volume velocity sources.

But what do I know, having merely been in the field for 20 years, from measuring to modeling to correlating all sorts of noise and vibrations systems lol

). As I said, I always learn, there's no end to it so, please enlighten me!

For impact differing from FR extension, surely you caught the shortcut

. Then again, look at a square wave or impulse response of a 009 and all you'll see is extremely fast / short decayed response. If anything, it's probably too clean to sound realistic for the people used to / who haven't quit listening through speakers.

The SR-009s do impact and compete with the LCD-X in that regard....with the right amp. On my KGSSHV, they can really bring it down low. On say the SRM727II or LLmk1, not so much. Then there's the pure quality of the bass, which is unequalled to my ears.

 

[negura]

Yes, I also agree there's no case around the TOTL  stats impact. I had them alongside orthos for a good while. Both the SR007s (MKI) and SR009s have tremendous attack and impact. The SR007 may have a bit more bass oomph, but SR009s have a stupidly good focused impact. All competitive with orthos and in some areas clearly better.