The Headcase Stax thread

[Whitigir]

How many unit of 009Bk are there ?

[padam]

180

[Mach3]

Mine are number 103. Paid like on 28th October.

[spritzer]

I'm tempted but... even I'm not crazy enough to buy one of those.   

[padam]

Considering its rarity it is a reasonable 45,000 yen premium compared to a new SR-009 (but of course you can get one for a lot less now used)

I wonder if they took a leaf out of Leica's book.

Because Japanese people also have the option of an old-new Leica lens in black, which funnily enough, carries the exact same price and also the exact same amount of premium compared to silver (limited to 50 pieces, so I guess it is sold out)

[spritzer]

Might be but I for one just don't care about the 009's anymore.  I would have swapped out my 009S for a new one but not the 009's.... 

 

[Hi-Fi-Anatomia]

19 hours ago, spritzer said:

Might be but I for one just don't care about the 009's anymore.  I would have swapped out my 009S for a new one but not the 009's.... 

 

I really have no clue what stax was thinking. Why would their limited model be their old flagship? It just doesn't jive well with me.

[gepardcv]

On 12/20/2018 at 4:17 AM, padam said:

an old-new Leica lens in black

Over 3k USD for a slow-ass f/5.6 lens? I’ve had good luck with Leica glass and enjoyed rangefinders in the past, but that’s just silly.

[SeaWolf]

On 12/21/2018 at 2:19 AM, Hi-Fi-Anatomia said:

I really have no clue what stax was thinking. Why would their limited model be their old flagship? It just doesn't jive well with me.

Didn't they say at some point that they feel the 009 is still the flagship? And that the 009S was for people who don't like the 009?

Presumedly because no one is pushing them, stagnation at the top of their line dictates they release something.

[padam]

3 hours ago, gepardcv said:

Over 3k USD for a slow-ass f/5.6 lens? I’ve had good luck with Leica glass and enjoyed rangefinders in the past, but that’s just silly.

Yep, it is, but there is demand, so they make all sorts of silly editions. And Japanese Leica prices are insane to start with.

I have the old version, which is almost identical, great little lens. Paid less than 700$ though.

[Hi-Fi-Anatomia]

13 hours ago, SeaWolf said:

Didn't they say at some point that they feel the 009 is still the flagship? And that the 009S was for people who don't like the 009?

Presumedly because no one is pushing them, stagnation at the top of their line dictates they release something.

Oof if this is true Id like to see the source. That's pretty interesting to me since the 009S was definitely still an 009 albeit more refined when I heard it. Could just be recency bias though as there was no OG 009 there to A/B compare.

[spritzer]

Stax do claim that as the 009S stands for "special" so for us who didn't quite drink the cool-aid. 

[padam]

3 hours ago, Hi-Fi-Anatomia said:

Oof if this is true Id like to see the source. That's pretty interesting to me since the 009S was definitely still an 009 albeit more refined when I heard it. Could just be recency bias though as there was no OG 009 there to A/B compare.

The SR-009S is the new flagship and they said they are evaluating if it is better continue with the SR-009 production or let the SR-009S take its place (and just sell the available stock). This limited edition model can be considered as an 'experiment' whether they can sell more from the original SR-009 and it seems that they certainly can so it will be staying for a while.

P.S.: video review is up at the other place.

Edited December 23, 2018 by padam

[Scgorg]

Calling it a review is probably a stretch, advertisement is probably closer to the truth.

[padam]

Only partially. If it was a 'full-on' ad, it would be the usual, 'best I've heard, worth every penny, you must upgrade now' rather than 'I think I prefer the SR-007 Mk2 now'.

Speaking of which, in this shop, both the SR-007 Mk2 and the stock SRM-727II (as well as the SR-L700) are available at a significant discont (weirdly, the set price is not discounted), although I don't have any experience with them but these are a lot better than the usual EU prices.

[Hi-Fi-Anatomia]

So is the general consensus that 009S is worse than 009? Or vice versa? I in general like the 009 and L700 (currently have L700) and It would be a real shame if I got 009S and it was a step back from 009

[spritzer]

For me the 009S is a clear upgrade as it fixes the skewed tonal balance of the original but it's not perfect.  While they fixed that skew it exposes the other issues the 009's had, most prominent the bass suckout and limited bloom. 

[Spychedelic Whale]

48 minutes ago, spritzer said:

For me the 009S is a clear upgrade as it fixes the skewed tonal balance of the original but it's not perfect.  While they fixed that skew it exposes the other issues the 009's had, most prominent the bass suckout and limited bloom. 

Still find the 007 the superior one? 

[spritzer]

To me there is no comparison.  The 009's don't sound real to me and while the 009S is an improvement, you can hear a large chunk of the sound just missing so yeah, the 007's walk all over them.  Over the last 7 years I've categorized the 009's as the "hifi" sound, they initially impress and it might work with some material but push them and...well they crumble. 

[SeaWolf]

My question is: have we hit a wall and a dramatic innovation is needed for progress or is this the effect of complacency?

I do have to give a nod to Sennheiser, they made an honest attempt at a new approach. Regardless of ones option on the price or result.

[spritzer]

No, I don't think so.  There are new avenues to go down but I think current Stax just don't "get it" in the sense that they did back in the day.  Now old Stax did a number of missteps when we look back but there was constant innovation and they never shipped something like the 507's which just sounded vile.  Some were bright, some a bit dull, some had other issues but the tonality was never way off.  Stax now are trying new things and refining the old designs but I don't see any true innovation at all. 

I don't really agree wrt Sennheiser as the HE-1 is just a rehash of the HE90 with no real progress and so much of the system is just purely there for the wank factor.  It is certainly a better packaged system and in terms of industrial production Sennheiser never cease to impress but the sound...yeah leaves a lot to be desired.  I really, really wanted one until I heard it but now I don't really care for them unless I can buy a set of the phones solo and rip out the amps. 

I must admit though that the resurgence in electrostatics is enjoyable though they aren't all great.  The Monoprice one gets a bit tiresome after a while given it's massive bass deficiency but they are nice and comfy.  I'm running the Voce now on Ether2 pads I think (the ones with the square opening) and they are an improvement over the stock ones but having just swapped over to the 007Mk2's...the difference is startling.  How anybody could give the Voce "best headphones of the year" award just goes to show how useless and clueless the industry media is.  Anyway, the Shangri-La was a surprise too as it sounds decent, horrible build quality but at least they sound ok,  I've already bought the Jade II with the amp but I'm not sure when they are shipping out to me.  If they sound similar then throw on them a new cable and it could be a decent set. 

 

[Hi-Fi-Anatomia]

11 hours ago, spritzer said:

No, I don't think so.  There are new avenues to go down but I think current Stax just don't "get it" in the sense that they did back in the day.  Now old Stax did a number of missteps when we look back but there was constant innovation and they never shipped something like the 507's which just sounded vile.  Some were bright, some a bit dull, some had other issues but the tonality was never way off.  Stax now are trying new things and refining the old designs but I don't see any true innovation at all. 

I don't really agree wrt Sennheiser as the HE-1 is just a rehash of the HE90 with no real progress and so much of the system is just purely there for the wank factor.  It is certainly a better packaged system and in terms of industrial production Sennheiser never cease to impress but the sound...yeah leaves a lot to be desired.  I really, really wanted one until I heard it but now I don't really care for them unless I can buy a set of the phones solo and rip out the amps. 

I must admit though that the resurgence in electrostatics is enjoyable though they aren't all great.  The Monoprice one gets a bit tiresome after a while given it's massive bass deficiency but they are nice and comfy.  I'm running the Voce now on Ether2 pads I think (the ones with the square opening) and they are an improvement over the stock ones but having just swapped over to the 007Mk2's...the difference is startling.  How anybody could give the Voce "best headphones of the year" award just goes to show how useless and clueless the industry media is.  Anyway, the Shangri-La was a surprise too as it sounds decent, horrible build quality but at least they sound ok,  I've already bought the Jade II with the amp but I'm not sure when they are shipping out to me.  If they sound similar then throw on them a new cable and it could be a decent set. 

  

I'm just going to warn you that the Jade II at-least when I heard it was smeared and very dull sounding. Also completely lacking in dynamics it was pretty much the exact definition of all the bad electrostatic tropes. For the record I thought the La Jr was pretty nice as well so who knows.

[spritzer]

Yeah people haven't been too kind with the impressions (when we leave out the HF and media BS) but I had to take one for the team...   

[complin]

On 12/7/2018 at 11:26 AM, spritzer said:

Who knows what the oldest 007's fetch these days.  I for one wouldn't overpay for one as the newest units are the best 007's IMO. 

As for the KSE1500...well no.  There is one pin which senses the headphones being there or not but I haven't looked into what's in there.  The biasing is also not really compatible with the Normal bias standard...

@spritzer I know you have said before that trying to use Stax serial numbers to determine when the headphones were produced is unreliable. I think you said previously its the 007's with the latest diaphragms which you now rate as the best iteration of  this model.

Is there any easy way or external distinguishing features that enables one to say a particular 007 is fitted with the preferred drivers?

[spritzer]

Nope, nothing aside from the purchase date and even that can be unreliable as dealers might have old stock sitting around.