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electrostatic sound


brat

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In many threads concerning electrostats I come cross opinions that "you must get used to the electrostatic sound" and suchlike...

Now I'm in a process of exploring my new Omegas.

So can anyone explain what are the peculiarities that we must get used to? :)

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They are much more musical (effortless) and transparent (thus ruthlessly revealing) then dynamics though the bass is much drier and mot with much slam unless you use an amp from team boat anchor. Despite that they can (the good ones that is) show much more bass information then any dynamic while having plenty of bass bloom. What you really must get used to is the SR-007 ripping your system a new one and exposing every flaw and taunting you to fix them. They are also cheaper then dynamics to get into as a 2050 system costs about 500$ and that is about the same as a HD650 with some crappy cable and no amp. That being said not all 'stats fall under this "rule" so phones like the He90 sound like a dynamic with all the bass problems they have and the electrets were often so badly made that they sounded like a bad dynamic.

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their awesomeness

well, they don't always have as tactile a bass response (if headphones can even have tactile bass)

they're generally more detailed and effortless in their sound than dynamics

Untill now ( 20-30 hours of burn-in the O2 ) my dynamic setup totally exceeds the Omegas. The electrostats are more detailed and fast but the soundstage and the naturallness of acoustic instruments and vocals are much better at k701, it's overall presentation is much more live-like. I don't know what to think...

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If the newer Lambdas are anything like the SR-404 then I'd say the price of admission to get good Stax sound comes from the vintage line.

The SR-404 is just bad.

The older Lambdas don't have drivers anywhere near as good as the new ones do so the housing is what is bad. Just listen to the 4070 as it is the exact same headphone in a different housing.

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If the newer Lambdas are anything like the SR-404 then I'd say the price of admission to get good Stax sound comes from the vintage line.

The SR-404 is just bad.

Why do you say SR-404 are bad? From what I hear form people that had both SR-303 are very very similar to SR-404. I have SR-303 and SR-Lambda and actually prefer SR-303 over SR-Lambda by a tiny bit. They are both very similar, with Lambda being smoother overall and more midrange centric.

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Why do you say SR-404 are bad? From what I hear SR-303 are very very similar to SR-404. I have SR-303 and SR-Lambda and actually prefer SR-303 over SR-Lambda by a tiny bit. They are both very similar, with Lambda being smoother overall and more midrange centric.

I had an SRM-313 with my SR-404 which might not have been the best amp for them (minya who stopped posting on Headfi told me his KGSS improved the SR-404, but he liked the SRM313/SR-404 so who knows). But I really didn't like the upper midrange emphasis on them. And I didn't think they were very tonally accurate. Also the presentation was just front to back, no depth or layering to the sound. I can accept that though, not a big deal given their cost.

The older Lambdas don't have drivers anywhere near as good as the new ones do so the housing is what is bad. Just listen to the 4070 as it is the exact same headphone in a different housing.

Which is why I'm not too enthusiastic about the 4070, but I'd certainly like to hear them. I wouldn't be going out of my way to hear them given how much I like the SR-007.

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I had an SRM-313 with my SR-404 which might not have been the best amp for them (minya who stopped posting on Headfi told me his KGSS improved the SR-404, but he liked the SRM313/SR-404 so who knows). But I really didn't like the upper midrange emphasis on them. And I didn't think they were very tonally accurate. Also the presentation was just front to back, no depth or layering to the sound. I can accept that though, not a big deal given their cost.

Aha, SR-313 is a bad amp. Sorry to repeat the old "bad amp" mantra. I heard SR-303 with it and it sucked. Bad soundstage, and overall somewhat muddy and harsh at the same time. I like SRM-1 much better, very clean and transparent to the source. Try SR-404 sometimes with a different amp, SRM-717 or T1, I bet you would like them more.

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The 313 is a pretty bad amp and doesn't do any of the Lambdas justice. Try the 404 with a tube amp and are better but I do prefer the Signature to them.

The 4070 is in no way better then the SR-007 but you simply have to hear it. They make the all other phones sound colored as Stax meant it when they put those monitor badges on the earcups. :kitty:

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I didn't like the SR404 either regardless which amp, tube and non-tube. I think I tried a SRM-313, T1, an really old SS amp and that OII tube amp. Agree with deepak about the upper midrange emphasis. The whole headphone sounded a bit sterile.

SR-007 is a great phone though, I've heard it on many occasions and would love to have one someday, preferably with a nice tube amp. I'm also a huge fan of the HE90, had one for a while although I never provided it with the amp it deserved (ran out of money). I would also love to hear the Omega I someday. A lot of people who've had both the HE90 and Omega I for an extended period of time often seemed to prefer the later.

The general impression I got from electrostats is that they're fast, effortless, transparent, well-layered and usually have precise imaging. I wouldn't give up my dynamic headphones in exchange for electrostats though.

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The 313 is a pretty bad amp and doesn't do any of the Lambdas justice. Try the 404 with a tube amp and are better but I do prefer the Signature to them.

The 4070 is in no way better then the SR-007 but you simply have to hear it. They make the all other phones sound colored as Stax meant it when they put those monitor badges on the earcups. :kitty:

Maybe someone will loan me an SR-404 when my Blue Hawaii is done :kitty: x2 :popcorn:

But something tells me the amp is going to be brutal and will slaughter the poor SR-404 >:D >:D

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Maybe someone will loan me an SR-404 when my Blue Hawaii is done :kitty: x2 :popcorn:

But something tells me the amp is going to be brutal and will slaughter the poor SR-404 >:D >:D

shut up, you're getting a blue hawaii?? my man!

The way I got used to the electrostatic sound was I put my Lambdas on my head, played some music through them and went "hell yeah son".

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Yay for Deepak's Blue Hawaii!

Btw, who's building it for you, or is that a secret?

Yup Jay. Hopefully we can work on it together. It started off as researching a KGSS (which I thought sounded dynamite with the SR-007), then I figured might as well forgo upgraditis and go for the dream amp. Plus I <3 big tubes.

spritzer, luvdunhill, pabbi and naamanf have all been a huge help so far.

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