Tompoodie

Thank you for the clarification, Spitzer. FYI, I acted on your comment a few weeks ago about the level of distortion in my SET triode amp I use for a non-Stax pair of cans. I had the manufacturer modify it by adding feedback. Distortion will be about .5%, still more than that of 207s, but much better.

I hope this one works out. From what I have gathered from the experience of others, if you make it without a problem the first couple hundred hours our so with now problem, they will probably be trouble free for the long haul. The Ygg is amazing. Heard it at CanJam here in SoCal last year, and will hear it again in a couple weeks. I am receiving the Bimby Multibit next week and can hardly wait. I listen through 207s and a 323 amp.

Hemisam, was your defective pair purchased recently? It is really disconcerting that the channel mismatch problem has not been solved. My understanding is most defects have been in the 009. It will be interesting to see if the L700 has a similar failure rate, given it is essentially the same driver as the 009.

Spitzer, you are of course absolutely correct about the distortion issue with optical attenuators. My SET amp is rated at 5% distortion, but given the low listening volumes and light load on the amp, I suspect it's probably only 2-3%. Most SETs have distortion of 10% or more and most SET amp manufacturers don't even report their distortion rating! That said, on a transistor amp or low distortion tube amp, with a high quality stepped attenuator, the difference in detail is audible and meaningful in my opinion versus a wiper blade type pot attenuator. The brand I use is well sealed, so dust is not an issue. I suspect there is a market for high end amps for cans, whether electrostat or planar magnetic or dynamic, without a volume control so that a passive control can be used. For those who have digital volume control in their DAC absence of the pot volume attenuator would be a plus also.

Totally agree that such superlative quality amps are wires with gain but... something rarely mentioned is the diode rectification effect of the typical wiper blade type pot degrading the sound. It is rare to see a headphone amp use a stepped attenuator, or optical attenuation of high quality. I use a top quality stepped attenuator ($500, and yet a good value) with 5 watt SET amp with custom capacitor with my planar cans. I am aware that one can turn the volume to 12 oclock on STAX amps and bypass the volume control to use a passive control, but almost no one does that. The degradation from sound is not much talked about in the headphone community. Comments?

I purchased a pair of 207s and a 323 amp and love the combo. I heeded Spitzer's advice not to buy more expensive lambdas; thank you for your posts, Spitzer, which are always informative and frequently funny. The comment that it is smoother on top can be easily verified by looking at the data posted on Innerfidelity. Speaking of that data, with 207s the distortion is so low, and impulse response and square wave so good, with benign frequency curve, other than bigger sound stage and perhaps better bass below 30 Hz, I wonder how much better the L700 could be than 207s even with the 009 drivers. A German amateur reviewer reported a 5-10% increase in detail of the L700 vs the other lambdas. I suspect this is accurate. Can a case be made that the 207, properly amped, is a better value than the L700? Also, as Spitzer has pointed out, it is a new model with unknown failure rate. That is an important point, given how many people have had the dreaded channel mismatch with 009s. Comments?

Spritzer, I am honored that you were the first to respond to my first post ever!! I will give your opinion considerable weight. 207s (smoother treble than 507?) with a 323 could be a relatively cheap interim solution until going for the end game; 009 vs 007 Mk1 vs Mk 2 seems like such a personal decision it has to be made by listening.

Hello. FIrst post ever. I have used AKG 240 for years, to avoid disturbing wife. I now know cans can easily exceed sound of speakers (except tactile bass) costing $20K and up. I want electrostat cans to give me an experience I can't have with my speakers... to feel like the musicians are in the room. I won't ever spend more than $20K on speakers! I have Harbeth Compact7's with REL sub. Source is up to snuff, though not crazy expensive: modified Metrum Octave with Empirical Audio Pace Car reclocker. I believe Stax's exceptional design is likely what would suit me best. I will be at CanJam this year, and will then probably make a Stax purchase. Question: I am trying to decide betwen 407, 507, 007 Mk 1 and 2, and 009. A few users actually prefer the sound of the 507 to the O2's and the 009. I am freaked out by the channel imbalance still happening after 3.5 years the 009's have been on the market. OTOH a majority say 009 is hands down the best, with appropriate amp, generally BHSE or KGSSHV. ASR and Spritzer, whose opinions I respect, are an elite minority who strongly favor O2 Mk1 over the 009. From forums I have concluded: 407 or 507 (depending which fit my head better as sound quality is very close) with the synergy and low cost of the 323 amp may be best value. Consensus seems to be that 507 sound is very close to 007 and 009 (more so than past Lambdas). A few actually prefer the new Lambda sound to the 009. The 507 diaphragm can be fixed DIY. The 507/323 combo is a low enough price that I would buy in US minimizing the PJ/channel imbalance risk. I remain open to 007 MK1 or Mk2 if they are really that much better relative to cost. I listen to rock/singer-songwriter/jazz/classical in equal measure. I would greatly appreciate your collective wisdom and how to use my time at CanJam 3 months to guide me. Tompoodie, Los Angeles, CA