Mr Speakers Electrostatic Ether E

[SeaWolf]

Thanks, I had always assumed because of the look of it on the drivers.

[spritzer]

The SR-Omega cable is indeed detachable but it's not really a connector in the normal sense.  Stax reputably were planning on offering different cables for people to try but that never panned out. 

[Pirx]

5 hours ago, SeaWolf said:

Doesn't the SR-omega have a detachable cable? Did Stax ever comment on why the dropped this in their subsequent headphones. 

In my opinion it has a detachable cable, but it's just an opinion ;-)

[n3rdling]

Heard the prototype a while back and not only was it super inefficient but it sounded about as bad as the early KingSound stuff.  Pretty much everybody there with more than a week of electrostat experience agreed it sounded really bad.  I know Dan improved the efficiency since but I have my doubts the sonics have improved enough to justify even a fraction of his asking price.  We'll see as the impressions roll in, but my price gouging radar is going off.

[spritzer]

One question...did it have these pads?

https://www.mrspeakers.com/shop/accessories/ear-pads/ether-electrostat-ear-pads.html

If so, it is the same crap as the King Sound.  Massive open area in the earpads which creates all kinds of issues. 

[n3rdling]

I've heard them on multiple occasions in several iterations. 

-I know one time was at CJ and he had 2 sets there with different regular Ether pads.  Those have much smaller openings, IIRC one had a square shaped opening and one had a round opening.  The two versions sounded a bit different in the highs, one being more engaging.
-They were at a Wikia meet in the Bay Area at HeadAmp's table alongside the 009.  I know they got pulled off the floor like halfway through the meet; I'm not sure if that's because of the negative rumblings around the meet or because of technical difficulties.  Pretty sure they were still using the old pads at the time, though @TMoney or @velvetx might know for sure.
-Heard them at the Source AV electrostat meet along with the Shangri-La, HE-1 and Stax stuff.  They were using the square shaped opening pads and were outperformed by all the other stat systems pretty easily IMHO.  In fact, I much prefer Dan's own Ether and Ether C to the Ether E.  IIRC the Aeon was there too but had a wonky midrange.  Loved the pad material on those though.
-Heard them at one other meet since then though I'm drawing a blank on which meet that was.  It may have been the big SBAF meet?  Not entirely sure which pads he was using at the time.

 

[spritzer]

Excellent.  You might remember my hatred of the King Sound earpads and I finally found a good match for them with the custom pads for my own design.  Much smaller opening there and more height. 

I saw those "electrostatic" pads advertised on a used Ether on HF and was shocked to see them.  That amount of open area is just going to cause problems... 

[SeaWolf]

They have been selling those pads for some time. I assume that is because they are interchangeable with the rest of their ether  pads.

Maybe these would be a good option.

https://www.mrspeakers.com/shop/accessories/ear-pads/ether-c-angled-ear-pads.html

They also made this comment.' I thought it was the other way around. 

"The efficiency is considerably better than early prototypes, it's now better than the 009 but a bit less than the 007."

[spritzer]

Better than the 009's but a bit less than the 007's?  They are aware that the 009's are the efficient ones...?  Maybe I'm just high from the glue as I was doing some prototype diaphragms...   

[Bjorn]

The fail is strong with this one.

[Forza AudioWorks]

3 hours ago, Bjorn said:

The fail is strong with this one.

Brilliant this one is.

And since KingSound was mentioned here, how you good people here find their headphones these days as far as their price goes? 

[spritzer]

Is there anything new from them?  I have the H03 here which is supposed to be TOTL and well... same shit, different name.  I've heard them all and they all suck.  Some of it is down to the poor driver design but those earpads... fuck...

[Kattefjaes]

Presumably, they're called King Sound because they make people clutch their heads and complain about the awful 'king sound?

[Forza AudioWorks]

39 minutes ago, spritzer said:

Is there anything new from them?  I have the H03 here which is supposed to be TOTL and well... same shit, different name.  I've heard them all and they all suck.  Some of it is down to the poor driver design but those earpads... fuck...

I thought that perhaps later revisions (if there are any) of their already available goods were improved. But this aside, do you think that even in the context of their price they suck big time?

 

[Bjorn]

The Kingsound stuff didnt impress me either. Certainly not a threat even to the lower end STAX 

[spritzer]

My set is fairly recent and yeah, get a SR-207 or a L300.  They aren't competition with the Stax unless you mod them. 

[Pirx]

21 minutes ago, spritzer said:

My set is fairly recent and yeah, get a SR-207 or a L300.  They aren't competition with the Stax unless you mod them. 

I was testing some KingSound - I didn't like them too, dark, flat, lifeless.

Any Stax, even SR-3 are better.

What kind of mods did you make to the KingSound??

[spritzer]

Mostly to do with the earpads and the angle of the drivers/clamping force.  The earpads for these always proved tricky, I tried a pile of them and none never sounded right.  Most helped quite a bit but it wasn't until I tried the custom earpads for my own DIY sets that they clicked into play. The opening is quite small and they are a bit taller than most so it's a combo that works. 

[BrooklynNick]

I have the KS H-03. They are not very good and I use them infrequently, but I can say a couple of positive things about them:

- They are very light and comfortable.
- When driven by my BHSE, the midrange has a very enjoyable quality that reminds me of some speakers driven by SET amps. Too bad the highs and bass are not improved.
- The pads are too shallow. My pads split open (while the headphone was sitting on a shelf). I replaced them with "Dekoni Audio Fostex TH900 Elite Hybrid Replacement Memory Foam Ear Pad Set" from Amazon. The Dekoni pads made a really significant difference. Much better balanced frequency response. Actually, pretty descent headphones with these pads.

[spritzer]

I haven't tried those pads but swapping the pads out in general on the KS does wonders.  The stock ones are abysmal and yet they use the same ones as on the KS-H1's...