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The Onion has been going off these days...

Here I was thinking I was going to have a productive day... I didn't take any pics of the wooden boxes but they are very nice though my EX-1a box was branded as ES-2a... no matter. First off is the ES-2a and I went for the "Omega look" in terms of color. My ES-1a is all black so made sense to separate them in the collection. I like the color a lot, the finish isn't quite perfect but having been through the hell of trying to get perfect anodizing... yeah I understand that. I'm happy the outer screen has mesh in it now as that's a large part of why the Omegas sound the way they do, not that this is a copy of the Omega. I mean not really... The earpads are very nice and supple, concave similar to the newer Audeze LCD pads. A closer look at the driver face and those lover copper stators. The dust covers come with the set and I did install them as I like to keep dust out of all of my headphones. Might have some slight impact on the sound but who cares. I ordered the set with the regular cable but Benson upgraded me to the Stax Wide PC-OCC cable free of charge so thanks for that. The fit and finish of these is excellent, better than the ES-1a and that was no slouch. My main issue with them was the lack of strain relief on the headphones for the cable but that has been fixed here. EX-1a: I was pleasantly surprised when Benson told me that there would also be a cheaper version coming in the form of the EX-1a as ~1k$ headphones are sorely needed. Clearly been in the works long before Stax introduced the X1 but a take on the same Stax SR-1/2/3/3N/5/5N and X design but with much better build quality than the X1. The earcups are actually fixed to the headband and made of aluminum, not needing the new Stax mod of placing some tape over the X1 forks on new units as they won't stay in place. Very nice, all leather, earpads and it looks like leather on the headband as well. Very nice cable entry, made of soft "rubber like" material. Same plug on both sets (this has the basic 6core cable which seems to be perfectly serviceable but more on that when I get some time with them) and it is a mixture of the same rubber-like material and 3D printed end piece. Works perfectly. Now for some impressions. I've just about had an hour since I got them and spent it on the ES-2a and all I can say is... I've very, very impressed. Very neutral sound signature, a bit laid back (as if you are a couple of rows back from the performance) with a large and expansive soundstage. No lack of focus here though, they conjure a very solid stage but it's just a step back from say a 007. Very Omega like really... Treble is nice and extended, not the mess of the Stax 009 and X9000, just as detailed though . Midrange is excellent, voices have the right presence without being too forward. The bass is tight and deep, only small issue I've found would be a bit of a lack of extreme deep bass and some slight resonance in the bass on certain tracks. Nothing I worry about and I'd take these over the Stax 009's or X9000 any day of the week. I'll try the EX-1a when I can take these off my head dig my only working X1 out of storage to compare against it.

Thank you, Joamat, for your warm welcome and for sharing the materials. I’ve reviewed them thoroughly and truly appreciate your support.

Tchaikovsky: Serenade for String Orchestra, Op. 48, TH 48 - Barber: Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 - Elgar: Introduction and Allegro, Op. 47 by Charles Munch (1957) https://album.link/rkzptq2wkrt63 Example: Lovely LS recording of the Boston with Munch. Including the iconic Adagio.

Classic special effects movie, with an impossibly young looking Leslie Nielsen. Loosely based on Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

Talk Talk - It's My Life

Everyone's favorite painfully polite British retro tech tuber investigates a premium boombox from the late 80s.

There is the EX-1a too: https://www.eslabhk.com/ex1a The prices are also very fair and I will be buying both.