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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: (Hopefully short) headphone journey

Post Subject: Store experience with StaxPosted by scooter on: 6/28/2013

Hi N-set,

Interesting query on the small Stax. I don't want to go down the path of equipment reviewer but do want to answer your question and contribute where I can.

I have not tried the portable Stax model. Out of the gate, I could not reconcile the "electrostatic concept" with a tiny diaphragm and the small 252 amp.

I have tried the SR-009, SR-007, SR-507, and SR-407 many times over a total of some 5 hours with a variety of sources but always with some Stax branded amplifier. Every time I thought / suspected that the big Stax amps looked nice but were not up to the task. The sources were not especially good but I had the gut feeling that the Stax amplifiers were the limiting factor. The amplifiers were "loud" enough, but musical dynamics reminded me of driving a car in 5th gear in the city; stepping on the gas seemed to be an exercise in futility.

I found the SR-009 to be quite spectacular in many ways, although for some reason not entirely satisfying, with the jazz and light-listening demo CDs provided by the retailers. The SR-009s are certainly worth listening to as they are unique and detailed and clear. However, with my own classical CDs, the SR-009 just collapsed; disappointing but made the purchase decision easy.

It appears a significant number of Stax listeners have acquired (or put a deposit) on third-party "high-power" amplifiers that are more expensive than the Stax headphones. I have no experience with these third-party amplifiers. Although the amount of internet banter around amplifier upgrades for the SR-009 indicates some level of discontent with something, somewhere.

As a side note, I spent some time with the HifiMan and Audeze electrostatic headphones which seemed to all have the same challenge with classical music. Maybe electrostatics have problems reproducing "classical music" or electrostatics need different amplification solutions to reproduce "classical music" effectively.

I will revisit the Audeze LCD-2 and Stax SR-009 with different amplification as these seemed to have the most potential of the lot; the semi-annual Tokyo headphone fest might provide that opportunity. Given all the headphone stores in Tokyo, I don't see a reason to buy any "untested" gear.

And for now, the cheap Sony is a lot of fun.

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