spritzer

Very interesting and clearly prototypes or something like that. Stax always photo etch the stators so this is normal but the strengthening bars on top are interesting.

Never seen anything like that....

I have plenty of the 5 pin plugs but no 6 pins.

That is very plausible but does make one wonder about the QC...

The drivers are assembled there but all the testing etc. after that is just done out in the open. Talk to Justin as this happened to another set which he also sold. Not sure what is going on with that... The serial number on the 009S is underneath the left arc so no sticker there?

What is worse though is the damage suffered to the drivers while they were installing them. Visible finger marks in the dust covers... yeah not good.

Yeah that feedback is troublesome. I for one like this circuit without feedback but you could run it through caps. C2 isn't needed and neither is C1....

Yeahhh I'm not going that far. One thing that I might do, a custom housing to make it less of a shell and more an integral part of the phones. Way too much other stuff to do though...

Too funny.... As for the 009's, this is very much still a common thing and Stax have never admitted to the issue. I know of one set which was sent back three times for new drivers and last I heard, they still work but it is a pretty staggering failure rate.

I've never seen driver failure in a Mk1 which wasn't related to the operator doing something really stupid or bad amp design. The cable is an issue but the drivers are just fine. That being said, there are some lemons out there as Stax had serious QC issues at one point.

The current 007Mk2 is excellent and an upgrade over the Mk1 really (once port modded) and that would still be my top choice. The only ones which can reproduce the full range without any issues. The top end on the current Mk2's is improved and amps like the Carbon means they are not dark at all. The 009's are too bright and even when fitted with EP-007 earpads they are just grating to me. The earpad change has helped though, they are now more dynamic and not as uninvolving as the 009's have always been. As for the 009S's, they are growing on me with the older 009 earpads plus I did some small tweaks to improve the sealing. They are still bass deficient but at least the top end doesn't make me want to cut off my ears... It's nice open top end and with the older pads they have a bit more focus which the stock setup really lacks. While I've been digging around in the 009's (both sets) I just wonder why Stax did certain things. Why isn't the housing more substantial? Why is that crummy glued on bit next to the cable entry? Wasn't there some better way to make a baffle than this hackjob?

Bloody Uber...

Yup, might be as the Leaf pings when in reverse but nothing when moving forward.

The silence is where it is at though. Even doing 100km/h and you hit some fresh tarmac...and just silence...

That's one of the reasons why I take those measurements with a grain of salt, you need to trip the drivers up before they show their true colors. I remember when Tyll did his first electrostatic amp comparison and asked me for advise as there just wasn't a lot of difference to him. I simply told him to turn up the volume with more demanding material and that sorts the out right quick. It's not that the differences wouldn't be there lower down but they are harder to discern.

Seriously though I'd be interested if this wasn't a complete dead end. Nothing I can use with it, no other amps or headphones so it is just this. Ditto for the Senn HE-1 though I did ask for an empty shell with just the drivers but I got a solid no!!!

I'll see if I can do that but I'm pretty busy these days.

Indeed, they are just silly in every way. I also love how this was touted as some cheap solution but is a mediocre 5k$ package which nobody buys. Back in the day the market was flooded with cheap electrets and doing something like that now with a simple amp would be far cheaper.

I need to try those but single ended electrostatics will never sound good...

Time for some more musings on the 009S... After a week in NYC I got back to new EP-007's earpads and they are on the phones now. Not the improvement I was looking for to be honest and now the bass issues bother me even more. It's one of those things, when you notice the lack of impact it starts to eat at you. You hear it in every offending track and it really detracts from the listening experience. This is not a seal issue as they are clearly airtight. Over all though, the 009S is an improvement over the 009 but this one part just bothers me a lot.... Interesting to compare the earpads of the 009 to the 009S. The former are about 8mm less tall in the front and much softer. The back is the same height but again, the actual volume of the earpads is clearly different due to how much they compress. Last mod I'm going to try are the 009 earpads on the 009S before they are put away into the collection.

Thanks for that guys and I hope to visit Thailand soon. My GF's uncle lives there half of the year so it is on the todo list.

It was awesome meeting you all.

Thanks for all the well wishes. The heat/humidity in NYC was just too much for me but it was great over the weekend. I'm glad to be back though, very Icelandic welcome with no sun, windy and 9°C... yay summer!!

Hard to compare them directly as we have not yet built the adapter to drive them off normal bias outputs but the KSE1500 is just a tad bright for me. I fixed it with the EQ with a slight dip at 6khz... As for the sound, the KSE1500 is pretty good, much more in line with the neutral tonality of the 007's over the 009's.

Same build quality at 10 times the price...."it sounds better!!!!" ?