Stax Omega 2

[tkam]

The Stax Omega 2's are headphones I've been interested in for a long time, and lately I've been getting the urge to buy a pair. Thanks to pricejapan a new pair would only cost about $1500 which is far cheaper they are from US Stax dealers. A few things are holding me back from pulling the trigger: 1) I'm perfectly happy with my current L3000 based rig, at most an O2 rig would be complimentary 2) The reported lack of bass impact compared to dynamic phones has always been a concern.

I'd like to hear peoples opinions on the O2's and any comparisons to your favorite dynamic phones would be very helpful.

[Dusty Chalk]

I never heard the lack of bass that Hirsch heard, but it's definitely not L3000 bass. I think it would make a nice complement, and you should go for it. I eventually plan on getting a pair of the 4070 Stax (closed high-end) to complement my L3000 setup.

[Dusty Chalk]

I should add that it does need to be properly amplified and biased. If it's not "woken up", it sounds like carp.

[tkam]

Yes thats another concern, something like an ES-1 is well outside the amount of money I'm willing to spend. I'd be looking at the 007t or one of the McAlister amps.

[humanflyz]

I should add that it does need to be properly amplified and biased. If it's not "woken up", it sounds like carp.

Well, an ES-1 is out of my budget, but do you consider a KGSS "proper" amplification?

[Iron_Dreamer]

Skip the 007T, it's good for the SR404 or HE60, but a snooze-fest with the O2 (at least with the stock tubes). The KGSS on the other hand...

[Dusty Chalk]

The KGSS is one of the best amps I've ever heard with the O2.

[humanflyz]

Sweet, now if only Justin can reply to my email

[PATB]

I had an o2 for quite some time. I paired it with a blackgated KGSS, which I thought had synergy with the O2. The O2 has prodigious amounts of bass, but does not hit hard (not much impact). I say the sound is similar to the HD650 with Zu Mobius, except airier and much faster. Killer with clasiscal music!

Gotta go.

[PATB]

Well, an ES-1 is out of my budget, but do you consider a KGSS "proper" amplification?

YES.

[PsychoZX]

How much does a KGSS typically go for?

[Dusty Chalk]

New, it's US$1500.

[humanflyz]

I just had an email exchange with Justin today, so people who are curious about the various upgrade options, here are the prices.

1) Silvier-wiring: +$175

2) Always-on bias supply: +$150

3) Blackgates: +$650

4) HE90 jack: +$100

5) Additional Stax jack: +$75

Current lead-time is about 4 to 6 weeks.

[philodox]

Yikes.

[tkam]

$1500 isn't that bad and those options aren't terribly priced either. Though I think the only one I would want is the always-on bias supply.

[philodox]

and those options aren't terribly priced either.

The silver wiring upgrade is insanely high priced. I'm not sure how many BlackGates are in there, but $650 seems a little overboard. I don't really have any issue with the base price as Justin does do great work.

As for the jacks... if the upgrade costs that much, whoever is supplying the jacks is absolutely reaming people on them.

[tkam]

If they were included as part of the standard amp and added those same costs to it I'd probably complain. But hell they are just options if you don't like the prices don't get them

[PATB]

I think the prices are very reasonable, especially considering the performance. You don't need any of the options (you don't need expensive headphones either ). The always ON bias is not needed as I find that keeping the entire amp ON all the time was the way to go anyways.

[humanflyz]

When I talked to Justin, I asked what he honestly thought the upgrades were worth, and he told me that in his opinion, none of them are worth the money, so take that FWIW.

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, I probably heard the upgraded version (with Black Gates, etc.) -- I was thinking US$1.5K was severely underpriced. I'd probably get a Koss jack and a Stax jack, as my intended set of electrostatics will be the 4070 and the ESP-950.

[justin]

The silver wiring upgrade is insanely high priced. I'm not sure how many BlackGates are in there, but $650 seems a little overboard. I don't really have any issue with the base price as Justin does do great work.

As for the jacks... if the upgrade costs that much, whoever is supplying the jacks is absolutely reaming people on them.

I'm getting the silver wiring from Vampire, and it's $5 a foot. I know they're just getting it from China for probably <50 cents a foot, but I can't be bothered with that. There's about 15 feet in wiring a KGSS. Then I'm just charging twice the cost of the wire for the upgrade. Considering interconnects are sold for hundreds, or even thousands, I don't think that's so bad.

There are four Black Gates costing $108 a piece plus shipping. Then they have to be mounted in the box and wired instead of just soldered to the PCB. This is a really small margin on that upgrade, so small that I'd rather not even do it. It's well below what the industry standard would be for such an option.

[tiberian]

I'm getting the silver wiring from Vampire, and it's $5 a foot. I know they're just getting it from China for probably <50 cents a foot, but I can't be bothered with that. There's about 15 feet in wiring a KGSS. Then I'm just charging twice the cost of the wire for the upgrade. Considering interconnects are sold for hundreds, or even thousands, I don't think that's so bad.

There are four Black Gates costing $108 a piece plus shipping. Then they have to be mounted in the box and wired instead of just soldered to the PCB. This is a really small margin on that upgrade, so small that I'd rather not even do it. It's well below what the industry standard would be for such an option.

wow. homegrown sells 22awg teflon coated silver wire for $2.38/ft when you buy 100+ ft (like moon audio).

[philodox]

I'm getting the silver wiring from Vampire, and it's $5 a foot. I know they're just getting it from China for probably <50 cents a foot, but I can't be bothered with that. There's about 15 feet in wiring a KGSS. Then I'm just charging twice the cost of the wire for the upgrade. Considering interconnects are sold for hundreds, or even thousands, I don't think that's so bad.

I figured as much. I wasn't really meaning that you were overcharging your customers... more that this stuff shouldn't cost that much.

There are four Black Gates costing $108 a piece plus shipping. Then they have to be mounted in the box and wired instead of just soldered to the PCB. This is a really small margin on that upgrade, so small that I'd rather not even do it. It's well below what the industry standard would be for such an option.

WOW

I knew Black Gates were expensive... but that is insane.

[thrice]

Well, the electrolytics in the KGSS power supply are probably somewhere around the 450V/330uF area for value (at least that's what is listed on the schematic at Headwize).

All things considered that's a pretty good price for that kind of cap. I'm sure one could find "audiophile" caps with that value that are higher in cost. Granted if you go for a Panasonic or some other brand that's readily available from Digikey or Mouser, you're going to pay like $8-15 per cap so yeah it's expensive when compared to that.

[deepak]

KGSS + O2 is a good setup, I only heard one briefly. I would say it's killer for classical music, but not great for rock.