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Well the SRS-X1000 just showed up unexpectedly and with all of my cameras out of juice the phone had to do. It really doesn't like the halogen lights in the kitchen... First off, this made me laugh out loud... here is how they came out of the box: Now for anybody familiar with the vintage SR-1/2/3/5 and SR-X series... this is usually how they arrived too with one or both earcups loose from the headband. Packaging is also very reminiscent of the SR-X boxes: I must say though that I fucking despise these new Stax boxes from a graphics design point of view. It looks like any cheap, tacky crap out of China... the older ones were unique and had their own thing going on but this just fucking blows. Now for the headphones it was a quick trip into the office for a listen so no more pics. Usual rig of Denarips Terminator and Carbon CC. They do feel nice in the hand though, very light and the cable actually has copper colored lines/dashes on it, not gold ones as they often looked from the pics. Gone is the blue cable... why they made that I have no idea. The headband has a lot of extension to it so even melon heads can use these. There is no padding on the headband at all but the material is firm here, not loose like on the original SR-X units. Earpads are nice and snug and seem to be nice quality, leagues ahead of the garbage on the L300/L500's. Now for sound... these sound pretty good which is a fun thing to say about a Stax set for a change. They are nice and neutral, not much forward slant here but they are quite extended on top. The bottom end is a bit lacking (smaller drivers and all that) but it is very mid-bass happy so quite fun to listen to. Midrange is a tiny bit closed in at times and the soundstage is quite closed in but it doesn't really bother me. Just that odd moment where something sounds a tad bit off but yeah... these are so much better than the L300... it's not even fucking funny. Might even be able to finally retire my aging fleet of SR-207 test headphones good... we'll see. I'll update more in the coming days but after an hour, yeah get a set. Now for the amp, first thing you notice is that it's a good inch deeper than the 252S and all of the other desktop Stax amps before it. I haven't done any circuit analysis yet but this is clearly just a version of the last 252S circuit and yup... it's still all through hole in 2024. Utterly bizarre... The extra length in the chassis is just there for the fuse and a breakout board for the RCA's. There are clearly spots on the PCB for - inputs so they might make a balanced version of it at some point? Been there, done that and while fun... it adds very little to the performance. Input Jfets are K81's so 2SK2881's and those riser boards seem to be PCB capacitors. I need to take a look at them in more detail but yeah, quite odd as they are numbered from 1 and up to 4.

Birgir "It's not complete trash" for those not familiar this is high praise

So true!!!

The Panasonic S9 is kind of interesting. Just watched the live intro and they're really stressing the color grade in camera (thru LUTs with a dedicated button) and share immediately. Two new lenses (pancake included free with camera some package deals) also focused on size and slow apertures for snaps. No mechanical shutter though. Not sure if mimicking phone publishing speed will make it less desirable to also carry or bridge the quality jump, but will be interesting to watch. The reviews seem already split on this question.

8 years ago today the guy who runs The Absolute Sound tried to liberate my stuff.

#minidiscin2025

Don't look now, but I think I found Brent.

Still my favorite voice of all time. Followed by KD Lang at #2 and Alison Krauss at #3. And shout out to Willie Nelson for writing such a beautiful song.

I don't know much about cameras, but the Lumix S9 caught my interest too. I've set my sights on the new Fujifilm X-T50, however... I think it has more flexibility. 📸

Belated Happy Birthday!!

No mechanical shutter, no EVF, no flash... not that amazing for $1500 plus glass. Maybe that LUT thing is of interest to some people.

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday!

As a long term Yes follower I tend to gravitate to other albums for some reason. But then I have to just remember 'Heart of the Sunrise' and I am back to listening to this album. As I just did. A Roger Dean visual version:

Happy birthday, Rob!

Happy birthday, Rob! I was going to get AI to generate an ASMR birthday greeting for you, but the cease and desist from ScarJo put paid to that. Cheers!

Cheers Rob - Happy Birthday - don't do any listening that I wouldn't do...

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Rob!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Have a great one Rob! Cheers!

Steve came up from the coal mine to work on his headphone stand

Happy birthday, Rob! Hope you are able to get outside and enjoy this lovely spring weather!

Happy Birthday Rob!

Worth a listen... The Disastrous Relationship Between Israel, Palestinians and the U.N. or your favorite podcast app

^ Noted Boom X 😁 And don't get me started on Reagan. I thought I'd never have such hatred for any human being... Then Trump came along.