The Headcase Stax thread

[Nanoha]

Thanks so much for the input Tom. I'm assuming by Lambda, we're referring to the Lambda Pro?

[Elephas]

I really like the HE60+KGSS, it has a bright and fast sound that's great with electronica or fast pop music. The very slight treble emphasis makes it seem incredibly detailed. Yes, I've been listening to "Rihanna - Umbrella (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Club Mix)" again.

I would say it is a level below the HE90, SR-Omega or SR-007, though, and lacks just a little bit of refinement versus those three.

All four have excellent bass impact and quantity, I don't understand the "electrostatics lack bass" impressions.

Versus the L3000, I also think the HE60 loses in refinement, but it wins in details, air, imaging and speed. The L3000 is better in bass quality and quantity, fullness of body and that undefineable special something it has that nothing else I've heard has. It just oozes with refinement and sophistication. Note that I like the L3000 recabled with APureSound V3 more than the stock L3000.

[Nanoha]

Awesome. Really appreciate the impressions Elephas.

[Elephas]

I don't have a lot of listening time with the HE60, HE90 or SR-Omega yet.

I'll post more about them as I try different types of music with them, thought I think my impressions might not be as useful or interesting without the SinglePower ES-1.

Does anyone else have all four: HE90, HE60, SR-Omega and SR-007?

[purk]

No way! Lambda Pro more amazing than the HE60? I would be very happy to experience that.

I've got a Headphile-modified Lambda Pro that doesn't do too well compared against the HE60. The HE60+KGSS is very clear, fast and detailed.

Aaargh, I also have four 3D21A tubes and adapters sitting in the closet along with a bunch of 6SN7's and Mullard and Telefunken EL34's.

I probably won't receive the ES-1 until May 2008, especially if I tell Mikhail "I want my ES-1 to be better than purk's."

Elephas,

Bare in mind that the tube I have right now might not be optimized for the HE60. Mikhail told me that I need a much warmer tube set for them, and I agree. The lambda pro was not as refined as the HE90 but man, it sure sounds great. I still need a better tube set for my HE-90, waiting for the 12AZ7 and 12BZ7. If you phoned Mikhail and Hirsch, they will tell you that the Lambda is pretty amazing with the ES-1, and I agree. Not to the level of my HE-90+HEV-90/ES-1 or SDS-SE+R10 but it sure sound pretty amazing.

[Elephas]

If you phoned Mikhail...

I don't want to talk to Mikhail, I want to listen to "Umbrella Remix" with the HE90/Omega/SR007/HE60/4070/SR-SC1/Lambda Pro + ES-1!

Hey, this thread is a lot more interesting than that other Stax thread. Who cares about the SR-007 MkII?

[tom_hankins]

So my thoughts about the Lambda Pros wont be misunderstood. they did sound very good. They were not on the level of the HE90 or R10.(IMO Nothing is) They were as much better than the HE60, as the HE90 and R10 were better than them. They are the only Stax I have heard that I came away liking. Purks systems are awesome.

The R10/SDS was sounding the best at the beginng of the night and as good as I have ever heard the R10 sound. After switching the input tubes in the ES-1 to TungSol Roundplates (VT231-6sn7) all the Elec. got better. At that point the HE90/ES-1 was my favorite of the evening.

[Elephas]

I never heard or knew about this song until someone posted about it on HF and said he couldn't stop listening to it.

Now I can't stop listening to it... downloaded mp3's for now, until I receive this:

click thumbnail to view

[spritzer]

A Lambda with a clean midrange? Now I've heard everything!

It's clear that you lot like a hyper euphonic sound and that you are never getting from a Stax headphone or a Stax optimized system. You could with some horrible tube rolling and bad IC choice but the phones are going to fight you every step of the way. It's obvious we come from two totally different schools of thought on this subject.

[boomana]

I don't have much experience with stats, which is a good thing as I'd be wanting them more than I do already (been lurking the the Stax thread on head-fi for well over a year, and now here). The only real listening time I've had has been with the HE-90 with the McAllister, Egmont, Aristaeus, and Woo GES amps. The only Stax I've heard were Thrice's woodied Lambda Pro's, now belonging to my son (who should give them to me on mother's day ) with the Woo, and with both an Equinox SA10 and Exemplar Denon 2900 as sources. I really liked them. Really liked them. It's the first pair of headphones I'd heard at a meet in over a year that I kept thinking about long after the meet was over. I read these threads with too much interest, but without hearing for myself, they don't really mean much. Maybe next year. Right now, I wouldn't even know where I'd start.

[Dusty Chalk]

I never heard or knew about this song until someone posted about it on HF and said he couldn't stop listening to it.

Now I can't stop listening to it... downloaded mp3's for now, until I receive this:

click thumbnail to view

$31?!?!? eBay is god's way of saying you have too damn much money.

And: which remix?

[JBLoudG20]

And: which remix?

Doesn't matter, they are all annoying as hell.

[tom_hankins]

A Lambda with a clean midrange? Now I've heard everything!

It's clear that you lot like a hyper euphonic sound and that you are never getting from a Stax headphone or a Stax optimized system. You could with some horrible tube rolling and bad IC choice but the phones are going to fight you every step of the way. It's obvious we come from two totally different schools of thought on this subject.

If you are reffering to my post i said the Lambdas had a cleaner midrange in comparison to the HE60. They did. We were not trying make them anything at all. As to how I like my music...dont assume to know anything about my tastes. You have no clue.

[dvse]

The Lambda had a better, cleaner, and more realistic midrange than the HE60. The treble was more detailed. The bass was the most noticable of all though. The bass was lacking and loose with the HE60 compared to the Lambda. The one area that I liked better about the HE60 was its had a smoother presentation compared to the Lambda. Of all the phones we listened to the Lambda were the most aggressive.

I must say that this goes against my experience of Lambda Pro and HE60 with a number of amps. I have found the latter to be better in pretty much every aspect.

It is important to keep in mind that with these 15+ years old headphones we could really all be discussing intersample variation arising from storage conditions etc! The alternative of course, is that this is yet another case of otherwise ordinary headphones being brought to 'another level' by an overpriced single power amp! ; p

[Nanoha]

The alternative of course, is that this is yet another case of otherwise ordinary headphones being brought to 'another level' by an overpriced single power amp! ; p

Heh. But how do we explain the Lambda Pro being better on the ES-1 than the HE60? Synergy?

[purk]

I must say that this goes against my experience of Lambda Pro and HE60 with a number of amps. I have found the latter to be better in pretty much every aspect.

It is important to keep in mind that with these 15+ years old headphones we could really all be discussing intersample variation arising from storage conditions etc! The alternative of course, is that this is yet another case of otherwise ordinary headphones being brought to 'another level' by an overpriced single power amp! ; p

Again, the I might don't have the best tube for the HE60, but both Mikhail, Hirsch, and Tom agree with me that the Lamba Pro sounds excellent throught the ES-1.

[Elephas]

The only Stax I've heard were Thrice's woodied Lambda Pro's, now belonging to my son (who should give them to me on mother's day ) with the Woo, and with both an Equinox SA10 and Exemplar Denon 2900 as sources.

But I've already prepared a special "There's Some Ultrasone for Mamma" package!

-

Based on my results with the Lambda Pro and HE60 with the KGSS and SRM-T1W, I doubt the Lambda Pro can elevate past the HE60. But if the Lambda Pro+ES-1 is a similar case to the HD650+SDS-XLR, I'll be very happy. Or maybe purk has a magical Lambda Pro.

The HE60 is very, very good, it can sometimes make the SR-007's treble seem rolled off and too dark and slow.

[Elephas]

$31?!?!? eBay is god's way of saying you have too damn much money.

And: which remix?

I only have the Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit, 208 kbps downloaded mp3 for now.

Err... umm, actually there was also another one...

click thumbnail to view

[Dusty Chalk]

Okay, so now you have two copies of the same CD, one without the cover?

[purk]

But I've already prepared a special "There's Some Ultrasone for Mamma" package!

-

Based on my results with the Lambda Pro and HE60 with the KGSS and SRM-T1W, I doubt the Lambda Pro can elevate past the HE60. But if the Lambda Pro+ES-1 is a similar case to the HD650+SDS-XLR, I'll be very happy. Or maybe purk has a magical Lambda Pro.

The HE60 is very, very good, it can sometimes make the SR-007's treble seem rolled off and too dark and slow.

Again, I was very surprised myself and the Lambda Pro was a highly recommend item by Mikhail, and I now see why. Mikhail also prefer the Lambda Pro to the HE60. I still need a better tube combination for the HE60, but the Tungsol RPs are doing a grea job with the Lambda + HE90.

[pabbi1]

OK, I only have two stats at the moment with the Blue Hawaii... granted I am using Mullard xf3 (on pair of NOS xf2 in the house, just waiting on the other pair), but the Lambda is just change of pace from the HE60. It is a tradeoff, but the HE 60 is the sweeter midrange of the two, and a bit better top end. The Lambda has the bass, so, yeah, for Who, Lane's Addiction, Tool or Hoobastank, the Lambdas are better. For Neil Young, Allison Krause, or anything acoustic or classical, HE60 by a mile.

I have to disclaim the HD600 is MY all time reference, and the HE60 it's nearest stat signature, so, again, this says more about me and my tastes than it does about the phones.

Oh, and this thread contains a McAlister reference - so not worthy, at least not any more.

[spritzer]

Now that I've mostly got rid of this damned flu and me back to 30% brain function we can continue this discussion.

My first point is the different construction of the phones and the simple reason why the Pro's are crippled by design. The HE60 has a open back and completely sealed baffle (if the rubber o-ring has been replaced or fixed otherwise they are severely compromised) while the Lambda Pro's have a partially sealed backwave. The thin layer of faux fiberglass has a huge impact on the sound and was put there by Sennheiser to combat some issues they were having in the bass and HF. The Pro's were the last Lambda to have the backwave diffusion and the difference is profound with it removed.

The only conclusion that I can reach as to why the you think the He60 is inferior is that the ES-1 is punishing the more resolving headphone. This is nothing new in the hi-fi world and the design of the ES-1 does suggest this. This is pretty much the same deal as with the Stax amps as they dull down the sound and makes you draw the wrong conclusions like I prefer the HE90 on my heavily modded T1 over the HE60 but on the much more resolving Blue Hawaii the tables are turned. This holds true with a wide range of sources as I've been using a lot of different CDP's these last few months with my Meridian mostly out of order. You gotta love friends with expensive surplus gear...

[dvse]

The thin layer of faux fiberglass has a huge impact on the sound and was put there by Sennheiser to combat some issues they were having in the bass and HF.

I think you meant 'Stax'!

And what's all this subversive talk about SP not being the best amps ever?

[spritzer]

Of course I meant Stax... \ My brain is really not functioning all that well today

SP is best if you buy into the hype that endless tuberolling will solve anything

[n_maher]

Of course I meant Stax... \ My brain is really not functioning all that well today

Maybe you're wrapped in teflon and it's causing time smearing?