The Stax I thread

I never thought I'd end up owning another electrostatic system, but I'm glad I did... after listening to it for a week, I have to say that the KGSSHV Carbon + SR-007A is utterly good. And that's high praise coming from someone like me who have openly expressed my general dislike for stats.

The biggest downfall of most stats I've heard, including those regarded by many as TOTL (e.g. Sennheiser HE 1, Sonoma Acoustics Model One), were their inherent lack of body and bass slam. I hate to use the terms but they simply did not have the PRaT or that "toe-tapping" factor I get from a well-implemented dynamic setup. Even the best stat setup I've heard, the BHSE/SR-007MK1, left a lot to be desired in the bass department.

Another one of my complaints with most stat systems I've heard is that they often start clipping before reaching sufficiently high SPL for my tastes (I tend to listen louder than most, and the fact that I use OOYH which attenuates signal necessitates a powerful amp). The Model One was an epic fail in this regard, and not even the KGSSHV or BHSE had enough power to make the SR-007MK1 sing in my book. Now the SR-007 is one of the lesser efficient stats out there, so I could've used the more sensitive SR-009 to reach satisfactory volume levels. However, the SR-009 has a nasty bright, fucked up tonality IMO and I vastly prefer SR-007 to it.

Fast forward 4-5 years and here I am with the KGSSHV Carbon made by Birgir/Spritzer of Mjolnir Audio, who claim that this amp produces the best bass he's heard from any electrostatic amp. It also outputs 2.5 times more power than a normal KGSSHV. After plugging the latest SR-007A (latest version, identical to 007MK2) into the amp and listening to a couple of my reference tracks, I let out a sigh of relief as it became clear that the Carbon had more than enough power to play SR-007A loudly without clipping, and with more bass than I had hoped for. If I hadn't known any better, I would've guessed I was listening to another dynamic headphone.

Now, for a direct comparison against my current TOTL dynamic setup, namely ZDS + Utopia:

1. The Utopia still has deeper bass and slams harder. However, the SR-007A comes surprisingly close. While it doesn't have the bass quantity that Utopia does, both excel in bass quality and deliver tight bass (as opposed to bassy bass). For bass-heavy tracks, the Utopia might be too much of a good thing and could cause listening fatigue.

2. The Utopia has upfront and sweet, romantic mids. However, I feel this attribute comes more from ZDS than Utopia itself. The SR-007A has relatively more neutral, but in a way more natural sounding mids. There is more coloration in the mids for Utopia, which can be a good thing for female vocals. As someone put it, it's eerily haunting in a way.

3. The Utopia is brighter than SR-007A in the highs. The SR-007A does treble quite well, but relatively subdued compared to Utopia. While not as much as HD800, the Utopia's treble still can become fatiguing over time, whereas there was none with SR-007A.

4. Because the Utopia has a brighter treble, it may give you an initial impression that it's more transparent than the SR-007A. However, I feel the SR-007A is clearer and more transparent in the entire sonic spectrum as a whole.

5. Both deliver excellent soundstaging, but I have to give the nod to SR-007A here. The ZDS is known for its deep and wide holographic soundstage, but I think the Utopia is the bottleneck and perhaps its greatest weakness. The SR-007A, combined with the Carbon pushes the soundstage even deeper and wider.

To summarize,

ZDS + Utopia: more "wow" factor, brighter yet bass-heavy, rich and romantic mids, a bit colored in a euphonic and tasteful way but could get fatiguing over time (nowhere as badly as HD800 though), eerily haunting especially for vocals

Carbon + 007A: superior technicalities but doesn't draw attention to itself (I know Utopia is known for this very quality, but it's even more so for 007A), more natural sounding in the long run, and no fatigue even after hours of listening

I've ordered some blutack to see how much the Spritzer port mod would improve upon the already excellent SR-007A in stock form. If I can tolerate the Stax fart, that is.

 

Stax SR-009 BK coming next month

http://www.bm.rs/Stax/STAX 80th anniversary SR-009BK.pdf

Got an email from Stax saying to order before Nov 19th, they won't take anymore orders after that.

 

Limited to 180 units total. Dang

 

Some pics from Head-Fi

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/sta...with-impressions.877870/page-44#post-14564246

Looks nice in that glossy black.

 

I don't understand Stax logic of releasing a special edition of the SR009 after just launching the SR009S

Maybe they had a bunch of 009 parts lying around to get rid of now that everyone wants the updated version so they just decided to anodise them black?

Love the black colour though. Never liked the silver on the 009.

 

Though I admit 009BK has the looks, I thought you were one of those people like me who prefer 007 to 009?

 

So I went ahead and performed the port mod per Spritzer's instructions on the other other website. Overall it was self-explanatory and easier than I had anticipated, save the last part where you put the pads back on...

As for the much feared Stax fart... I'm relieved to report that I not hearing it so far, or any sound that remotely resembles that of a flatulence. Then again, I don't recall having any fart issues with the SR-007 MK1 I used to own years ago.

Maybe my expectations were a bit too high, but the port mod didn't make a night and day difference. However it did slightly tighten up the bass, which is a welcome improvement. All in all, I think the mod was worth it.

 

Isn't that pretty much what it does, though? I mean, a slight improvement and everything still working sounds good to me...

 

@songmic: You don't happen to have a measurement setup by any chance? I'd love to see some before-and-after measurements, same rig, for the blutac mod. Actually, would love to see something on the 007Mk2.9 in general... I don't know of anyone measuring Stax since Tyll.

PS: I'm one of those people who reversed the blutac mod after it caused serious Stax fart problems.

 

Yeah but I guess I was expecting a more drastic change, like the damping/disc/foam mod of HD650 or the SuperBAF/SuperDupont mod of HD800. I mean I wouldn't listen to HD650 or HD800 in stock form, one is congested and veiled while the other is bright as f**k. On the other hand, if I hadn't known about the port mod, I still would've lived happily with the stock SR-007A. I wouldn't call the port mod a must for all 007MK2 owners, unlike the above mods for the Senns, but nevertheless a worthwhile improvement.

I'm afraid not. I actually read your previous posts regarding the fart, so I had some reservations about performing the mod. In the end, I'm glad I did. Maybe because I have a relatively small noggin or wear glasses that break an otherwise perfect seal? I even tried deliberately breaking the seal during playback, and no fart.

 

Yes, that 6KHz or so spike in the stock HD800 is actually painful sometimes, depending on source material. @sorrodje did a wonders his small, cheap mod. The HD650 is sleepy out of the box, too- though I'd argue less "broken" per se, with a decent amp- but the mod really is quite a nice difference in terms of a less fuzzy bass (and if you hole the foam, clearer highs too). Agreed, the mods there are surprisingly potent.

The 007 are a bit less out of kilter out of the box, perhaps? It's more of a refinement, a change of taste. People who are jarred by the bass tuning as stock will probably get more of a kick out of the change, whereas people who are more ambivalent will find it more a change of flavour as you did? That's my rationalisation, anyway.

(Happy to revisit the 007 and see if I am talking nonsense, if anyone wants to send me some 007mk1/2 and a Carbon )

 

@songmic: Any chance of a comparison between the HD650 (KISS mod) and/or LCD-2.2? I'm especially interested in your opinion because if I get the 007MK2 it would be a recently released model with port mod performed, as its sounds like I would get on better with that version.

I expect the 007 to spank them in technicalities, but my biggest concern would be if the 007 comes across as a bit too thin/cold. There's little else that can kill a pair of headphones for me faster than recessed lower midrange and upper bass.

 

I never owned a KISS-modded HD650, but mine has the so-called trifecta (damping/disc/foam) mods which should be similar sounding. As for LCD-2.2, I had owned it nearly 6-7 years ago around the time it was released, so I can't remember very well, but I recently owned the LCD-2C which is supposedly similar but better sounding than the unicorn LCD-2.2. So I'll make comparisons with the HD650M and LCD-2C.

The 007 does spank them in technicalities, followed by HD650M and LCD-2C. While the LCD-2C was a decent performer for its price, particularly when driven by Lyr 3, the HD650M scaled like mad on TOTL amps (e.g. ZDS, Studio).

Thin/cold is what I would use to describe 009, not 007. In strictly relative terms, the 007 is thinner and colder than both HD650M and LCD-2C, but then again both HD650M and LCD-2C are relatively thick and dark sounding phones. The LCD-2C was a bit too thick for my tastes.

The 007 may sound thin and cold if driven by a poor amp. Like inefficient yet potentially high scaling planars, the 007 demands a lot of power to sound great. For most people a KGSSHV would be enough, for me I went all the way to Carbon to enjoy what it's truly capable of.

The Carbon/007A with port mod is definitely NOT thin or cold sounding, in fact it is perhaps the most organic and full-sounding electrostatic setup I've heard. Has the best qualities of both dynamics and stats.

 

I’d love to hear either of them but they are virtually unobtainium...

 

so my GG finally arrived, and is playng very good music since some days now
it's a really very nice Soren build, SED =C= but I have already ordered a quartet of JJ 6CA7 to give them a try