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The Headcase Stax thread


thrice

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I've been thinking on those earpads as well (for a different headphone), should improve the comfort to 10/10 for me, although I guess they are not cheap - maybe a group buy? ;)

I've never seen a price listed for them so Stax may be sitting on them, selling only to LE owners. :-\

If there is gonna be a group buy for the LE earpads, count me in. :)

Very busy now, but end of next week, if I can remember it, I'll ask Craig and see what he says about pricing and availability. ;)

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What says HC of the 4070? I head it at CJ and I was really rather impressed. I'm thinking that they may be more neutral than the O2 and I'm not loving the O2's sound leakage.

What's the ruling in these parts?

If I had to go closed the 4070 would be my headphone of choice. I'd tend to say it is more neutral than the O2s in frequency response, but to me the O2s win overall when looking at the bigger picture. The 4070 is the headphone that while out at a party spends the whole night drinking squeezed orange juice. I don't mean that in a bad sense per-se. It's just that it always retains a brutally analytical perspective to the extent that it keeps the music at arms length. It's bass isn't as strong as the O2s, but what's there is very nice and it goes deep. I especially love their midrange performance. I didn't find them especially heavy or awkward on my head, but some do. YMMV I guess.

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I drink orange juice, but I don't keep the music at arm's length. But I understand the analogy, maybe that's the appeal -- because I can appreciate music, even when listened to through an analytical system.

Yes, I don't think it's a bad aspect of the 4070 by any means. I could happily live with them as my primary headphone. I just feel the O2s have the edge when it comes to capturing the energy and excitement of a performance.

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Are the 4070s as brutal to drive as the O2s?

That isn't something I can answer. The 4070s I've heard are Carl's pair and I haven't had the chance to experiment with different system setups. Theoretically their requirements should be similar to the 404s given the drivers are the same although there could be other factors.

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I'm very interested since analytical is what I look for. I saw some tests on lambda pros and they were nutty flat to the diffuse field equalization. I would say the Omegas are overcooking the bass a bit anyway. Too rich for my blood at this point unless I can find a pair to borrow for my electrostatic vs dynamic showdown.

Spritzer: Congrats!

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I listened to Al's 4070 at Canjam on the ES2. It was definately more neutral as in not erring slightly on the side of warmth like the O2s. This is definately a headphone you can gear to your sound preferences as basically source and amplification/interconnect will make the formula for the end sound you want. IMO from a short listen, its not as weighty as the O2s, meaning there was less authority/realism to its sound.

Almost all electrostats sound very holographic to me compared to dynamics. This equates to smooth, effortless portrayal of inner detail but a lack of realism to me. The O2s to me are the only ones in my experience that give me both, but can sound sloppy without powerful amplification which attributes to many negative comments about its sound from various listeners.

However for me the comfort was not on par. My ears, which are close to flush against my head, rubbed against the inside of the phones, and they felt a little heavy on my head. I cannot comment further on their sound but it was a nice listen and quite enjoyable. Would love some more time with them in the future.

Congrats Spritzer!:)

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Single Power ES-1 owners, rejoice! There might be hope after all for the inevitable breakdown! When emailing and calling Colorado with no response becomes tiresome and you decide you've just about had enough of the "luxury Single Power experience", here comes a shining Norse god to the rescue!

I don't think the 4070 is particularly hard to drive. It has a clean and relatively thin type of sound. Tonally, if the O2 is the HD600, the 4070 might be a K701. I think it lacks some refinement and can be a bit bland and colorless. Neutral-sounding? Yes, I guess you could say that.

I placed another order for the Treasure 6CA7, this time three quads. :)

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Cool. I hope this one was the one he made properly without taking all these stupid shortcuts.

What, the magic tuning procedure of serial connecting caps isn't a good way to build amps? Shocked I tell ya!!! :P

Yeah, and the "getting it working" thing, if it's not. (Although it sounds like, from the description that Afrikane gave, that it is.)

I know the amp has been nothing but trouble and even stayed at Casa Mikhail for about a year while being "fixed". Then it came back with just the same issues... :palm: The biasing scheme for the output tubes is flawed so the digital readout could be making things worse or it is simply the over driven tubes (due to the filament-cathode limit being broken) being eaten alive by the amp. I won't know until I open it up and see what's going on.

Single Power ES-1 owners, rejoice! There might be hope after all for the inevitable breakdown! When emailing and calling Colorado with no response becomes tiresome and you decide you've just about had enough of the "luxury Single Power experience", here comes a shining Norse god to the rescue!

:D

I don't think the 4070 is particularly hard to drive. It has a clean and relatively thin type of sound. Tonally, if the O2 is the HD600, the 4070 might be a K701. I think it lacks some refinement and can be a bit bland and colorless. Neutral-sounding? Yes, I guess you could say that.

I concur. The 4070 does benefit from a high power amp (Stax only recommended the 717 for use with the 4070) but sound quite nice on "lesser" units.

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I'm on the verge of getting a Stax setup. Since I don't want to commit major funds for a BHSE/WES/$$$ amp yet, I'm going for Omega II (mk1) + one of the Stax amps. Which of SRM-007TA, SRM-727, SRM-007T is most recommended?

Also, if I get the tube energizers, which tubes are worth checking out?

I'll be using a Stello DA100 DAC. For reference, I like HP-2 and K1000 sound. At this point, I don't know what to expect out of the Omega yet - it may become my main phones or complement my dynamics.

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