spritzer

Stax just posted this on X in Japanese but it made me laugh: Anybody want to venture a guess why this had to be posted? Terrible headband design strikes yet again.

After almost a week the smell from the stock SR-007S earpads has subsided so I put them back on... and they lasted there for a good hour before I removed them. What the hell were Stax thinking with these... Going from the 007Mk1 pads it was a drastic downgrade, bass, upper bass gets this reverb effect to it, midrange looses all definition and the top end is very peaky. The soundstage and imaging being poor on a 007 is pretty much rock bottom for performance. So I went back to the Kennerton pads as they were a better fit for the new arc and lack of rotation compared to the Mk1 pads. Sound is much tighter and more controlled with them with minimal downsides. As it stands now, I'm going to go with the Kennerton ECL-01 pads but I've gone on a bit of an earpad buying spree (as if I needed any more...) so there might be something better out there for them. To anybody with a set of SR-007S's, I'd recommend trying other earpads as the 105mm size is pretty common and they are easy enough to install.

A SRM-313 with a normal bias output would be a solid upgrade and one of the best normal bias amps out there. I'd pick it over a SRM-1 Mk2 as they are more reliable but it would also be an upgrade too.

Had some free time so on went the 007Mk1 pads: These are the 71xxx type but fitted with new foam so not stock, not that a 20+ year old stock set would be fine now. First impressions are okey, the sound has a tad more space around it and the top end might be a bit better but a particular frequency range has that "sheen" to it that is not natural. I'll spend some more time with this setup Comparison of the stock pads on the right and 007Mk1's on the left (with new foam so a bit puffier than normal). Now the Kennerton pads vs. the stock ones. This is with 007 mesh installed but much smaller opening area. Thicker leather too. Finally I wanted to try and show just how shit the stock pads are: The red line on the right hand pad, that's the edge of the foam and where the leather should start. It's off by some 5mm or so in the middle and the same on the other side. I'm not sure if the foam is simply rotated out of alignment or if it is cut incorrectly but the pads are sealed so no way to simply peel them open like the older pads. Both pads are also crooked and just cheap crap. Stax you can do so much better...

I felt a bit hopeful after the X1 release as it was a large step up from the L300 but the first one failing like that did sour it for me bit. Still they are nice enough for the price even if the ES-1x does the same idea much better. Granted at twice the price but more comfortable and far better build quality. As an update on the 007S, I've used them a lot over the last couple of days and they are not "gelling" for me at all. On some material they are just fine but not so much on other songs. I always have this feeling it is a superficial look into the music, it lacks the depth of the older units and the SR-Omega. Voices have this 2D feeling to them and not 3D as they should be. It is subtle thing but apparent after a few hours. Detail is also simply not there that is readily apparent on a Mk1 or 007A. Transients have an edge to them that is just annoying with some material, loud crescendos bite way too hard for no reason. I'm still on the Kennerton pads as the stock pads still smell awful after letting them sit with air blowing over them. I might try some refurbished 007Mk1 pads or have something custom made....

I for one don't mind prices going up, might be the Icelander in me as having one of the smallest currencies in the world means we are in for a wild ride. Inflation targets here are usually around 3.5% but seldomly reached so loosing 50% of value in 10 years is perfectly normal. That being said, something has to come along with that price increase. The SR-Omega build quality is terrible so when moving to simpler drivers and housing with the 007, we got nicer parts. Actual leather earpads and they were not terribly expensive either. The fact that the SR-Omega was 180K Yen in 1993, the SR-007 again 180K Yen in 1998 and finally rising to 192k Yen in 2007... that is not good in terms of the economic health of the company. That was indeed always the issue with Stax, not enough capital to work with. I'd even call the price increase to the 009 justifiable. I may not be a fan of the sound signature but they did bring some impressive improvements, fused stators, nice housings, back to wooden boxes, new arc design (even if it is a bit crap) and a new cable design. Then we come to the earpads... nice leather but the nastiest pleather possible on anything not touching the head so the pads degrade quickly. We were back to the crap foam used in the 007Mk1 pads so they don't last either but now you can't just replace the foam. How much would it have cost to make them entirely out of leather? My favorite part though is the "made in japan" piece next to the cable entry as it's just a flat piece of plastic that is bent and glued into shape to cover up the hole. Yeah.... The 007A ended at 200K Yen and now we are up to 250K Yen (plus tax) and aside from any voicing issues, worse cable and cheaper earpads/headpad for a large premium. It's not exactly progress is it... On another note, I recently got a NOS L500mk1 and the earpads on those are such utter shit it isn't even funny. The L700 pads aren't much better as again, same cheap material used where they don't touch and it just falls apart.

They are a bit more sensitive than a recent 007A when doing A-B comparisons but seem to be just as power hungry. I'd pick the two ES Lab sets over them at the current state of the set, they are both superior and better made too. I'd rather say the whole driver structure and diaphragm would impact the detail. It's not top end detail or something like that, it's small details which are buried deep in the mix... simply aren't there and readily apparent on the 007A. I could measure them but it's just a pointless exercise and tells just a part of the picture. Right now they are okey with the Kennerton pads and indeed, the difference in quality is staggering compared to the Stax. Thick leather that actually smells like it even though I've had these for years. One part I haven't touched on is the headpad... yeah it isn't great either and I suspect it might be a problem for some users. There is only about 10mm of travel for it until it reaches the arc, and that's after I've been bending it upwards. It's also way too thick and doesn't bend easily to the shape of the head. It also feels very cheap, worse than the 009 and X9000 pads.

The sound and the smell finally got to me so now they are like this: I believe these are Kennerton earpads and I fitted the dust screens from a set of old 007 pads inside them (as they didn't have anything at all). They are more aggressive now due to the smaller opening but at least the smell isn't killing me. I must say I'm a bit shocked by the stock Stax earpads as they are clearly just made by some Chinese OEM, the look and the feel is exactly like those 20$ pads you can find on Aliexpress. Same elastic material inside as dust cover too and they are not well made at all. The left and right pads don't match up fully with one being about 5mm off. Now knowing Stax these will be sold as replacement parts for 300$...

I think I'm forced to replace the earpads simply because of the foul stench... but they are clearly an issue. Everything sounds too boomy and hollow.

The pads are slighly angled, similar to the older 007 ones and they are perfectly circular on the inside. I'm not thrilled with the quality of them (aside from the smell) and that vinyl back lip does point to a specific OEM in China. The pads simply pull off like the older units but are a bit more of a pain to install even though there is no spring as the housing doesn't rotate. That makes the top next to the headband rather annoying to deal with. Still no 009/X9000 in terms annoyance though. I've taken to doing A-B comparisons against the 007A and yeah, the older unit is much smoother and more coherent. Still the bass on the 007S is tuneful and "fun" plus the bright nature isn't overly annoying.

I don't think this is heat related as they've gone on at least 5 flights to get here and that cools anything right down. They are also factory fresh as they can be so no... this is from the earpads. The smell is bad enough that I've stopped listening to them.

Well, they have arrived: First off, they smell terrible. I don't know what they are using in those new earpads but it smells awful, deep and nasty chemical smell. Might be the foam but yeah... this isn't great. Now for the new arc... ehhh it's alright. The fitment is similar to the old one and it does the job. I have the same problem as with all other 007's though, it's too wide for my rather gigantic head so I'll need to bend it bit to make it taller. Small thing and I'll get to check out how it is to manhandle it a bit. Now for the sound... I'm only a few tracks in but initial impressions were not great. Way too boomy but it settled down when I pressed the top of the drivers towards the head, hence the arc issue I always have. The port is gone though so get the fitment right and the bass should be just fine. In terms of tone they are not as bad as the X9000 or 009S, more forward than the 007A with a port mod though and the excellent depth perception of the older models might be lacking here. Not sure, need to do some listening but the sound is certainly more "in your face" than the older ones. They don't seem to have the resolution of the older one either, this is on my usual Denafrips Terminator and Carbon CC setup, and I have this distinct feeling that something is lacking. Now I know how all of the 007's sound like the back of my hand and detail that should be there... just isn't. It's subtle though. Sound stage is just fine but I have this nagging sensation that it isn't as precise as a nice 007Mk1 or Mk2/A. The sound is also not as smooth and balanced as the older ones. Push it with something demanding (now I'm playing Knopfler - Going Home) and this isn't brilliant. The whole fun bit about this song is to crank it a bit in volume once it gets going and it kinda falls apart, becomes harsh and grading while loosing cohesion. A good 007Mk1 can play this at stupid volume levels on this setup and no problems at all. Sorry for the stream of consciousness but I just wrote what came to mind. Overall... this is a much better effort than the X9000 though and time will tell how I get on with them. Not talking about burn in... that shit doesn't exist. Finally I grabbed the nearest 007 which just happened to be a Mk2.9 007A for comparison: The structure is clearly very different but I'll have to investigate further later on. Finally, that stench from the earpads is driving me fucking nuts!!

I sold both of my X9000's (there is no reason to keep them when they are already plummeting in price so I'll pick up a cheap one in 5 years) and the L500 and L700Mk2's are also gone. I might pickup either of the other two if they show up at a nice price but the cables have never changed much for me

I don't have any of the other cables here so I can't test that.

True, hopefully I'll know tomorrow.