Holy Crap! The New Stax Omega Looks fierce! (Stax SR-009)

[Asr]

I have only one question: when & where is the next meet featuring the SR-009?

[ast]

just noticed that my post last night didn't get through, maybe the website was interrupted?

Want reiterate my thanks to Andy (blubliss) for putting up great effort for this group buy. The delay from STAX was a bit long but the whole process and end result is very positive.

now we have a new pinnacle of headphone world that we can test, debate, mod, .......

[padam]

Q.: Is the SR-009 a power hog like the SR-Omega and SR-007?

Edited September 26, 2011 by padam

[spritzer]

A small comparison here...

SR-X Mk1 and Mk3 PRO hidden in the back and SR-Sigma 303 sidelined while I repaint part of the chassis...

I'm sure my set isn't a lemon since the brightness is tied to volume level same as with the SR-Omega. Many other owners have also reported the same.

As for being a power hog, I've only done limited test but yeah, they do like plenty of power. I prefer to use the KGSS over the BHSE for some reason though...

Edited September 26, 2011 by spritzer

[arnaud]

Spritzer, how about the modded 727 (I know I'm cheap), you still got one around no?

[spritzer]

I unfortunately shipped out the last one a while ago.

[mikeymad]

Q.: Is the SR-009 a power hog like the SR-Omega and SR-007?

I would agree they like lots of power, but I found them more efficient than the 007 and 4070. It was really close to the Omega for output power for same power in.

[mikeymad]

very nice Spritzer

just need more heads...

[nnotis]

mikeymad, would you be willing to post some comments about how the SR-009 and 4070 compare sonically? I understand the 4070 is extremely neutral. Do you find the SR-009 to be even more so? Do you consider the SR-009 to be more detailed?

Edited September 26, 2011 by nnotis

[Voltron]

I'll let Mikey speak for himself but to me the 009 is more resolving than the 4070, which was a surprise, and yet adds an airy openness to the sound in comparison.The clarity of the 009 is that remarkable. The 4070 is probably more flat/neutral than the 009, by a hair, and its sound signature falls somewhere between the 007 and the Omega/009, leaning more toward the latter two.

[mikeymad]

general impressions from my limited time with them.

009's are very neutral in their presentation and that is a very good thing in this case. Nothing was out of place. They were able to handle very complex and powerful passages very well. A giant killer for many systems (RCA-SACD 4th movement - Saint-Saens - Symphony No. 3 In C Minor Op. 78 'Organ'), the 009's from my ES-1 was able to hold everything together - soundstage, detail, bass, air, and power. Was a pleasure to listen to. The only thing that was lower than what I wanted was impact, à la L3000's... but that is a different animal.

I used two tracks for resolution and went against the 4070's.. Nickle Creek - 2002 - This Side - track 3 - "Speak", and track one of Dave Brubeck - 1959 - Time Out - "Blue Rondo à la Turk" both from SACD. As Al says, The 009's have higher resolution. They are very close to the 4070's, which I always considered the resolution king, but the nod would have to go to 009's for me. They both demonstrated the eerie 'notes dissipating into the ether' effect.

The closest can to the 009 is the Omega. Presentation is very close. But the resolution on the 009's are higher and the bass presentation is tighter on the 009's. But it is a worthy Omega alternative in my view. I found the Omega to be a little more midrange forward than the 009's.

009's vs 007's... The only edge that I have for the 007's is they had more impact for me. The notes had more weight, the bass I could feel more. But just about all other aspects the 009's edged it out.

I had to stop myself from wanting to compare the ES-1 to Al's BHse (I get distracted every now and then)...

Side note - all tracks were 'very' well recorded. Did not listen to a run of the mill recording to see if the 009's were forgiving, I don't really want them to be.

Cheers,

[ironbut]

Thanks for the insight guys.

Maybe the impact factor will improve with break in time? I know that plannar speakers bass takes freakin forever to open up when they're new. My WAG is that even though the tension is pretty precise across the membrane when they're stretched, it's less so when during the larger excursions. After a while, the tensions during these larger movements start to stretch the membrane a tiny bit and they even out.

Like I said, just a wild ass guess but no matter what mechanism is involved, the bass on plannars improves significantly in both quantity and quality over several hundred hours.

So, anybody gonna have a pair at RMAF?

[blubliss]

Pretty sure Justin is bringing his pair.

[spritzer]

Given that the diaphragm doesn't move at all (it just vibrates) then I doubt any run it will add to the impact.

Edited September 26, 2011 by spritzer

[arnaud]

Given that the diaphragm doesn't move at all (it just vibrates) then I doubt any run it will add to the impact.

Birgir, I have been wondering for some time now what kind of displacement values were generated for estats. Even though my simulations of the SR009 are still very very preliminary, I am showing below the RMS displacement at the center of the diaphragm in order to generate about 100dB SPL at the base of the earcup. I need to see how this varies with changing the diaphragm properties (since my properties are bogus atm) and earcup cavity absorption but it should not vary by orders of magnitude. I will redo a simulation with finer frequency resolution so we can see the displacements from 20Hz. I suspect it is not that negligible in light of the 0.5mm spacer thickness...

RMS displacement at center of diaphragm:

SPL at base of earcup:

(not to scale) animation of the response at 50Hz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrriaT_tQuk

[Wmcmanus]

...but to me the 009 is more resolving than the 4070, which was a surprise, and yet adds an airy openness to the sound in comparison.The clarity of the 009 is that remarkable.

That really is remarkable because the 4070 is truly amazing in those respects. I won't have the 009 back to Cayman for another month, unfortunately, so the anticipation will just have to keep building.

[El_Doug]

My SR-009 arrived today! Now if only I had a functioning 'stat amp...

[Hopstretch]

Plug them into the mains! Moar powah.

[spritzer]

Birgir, I have been wondering for some time now what kind of displacement values were generated for estats. Even though my simulations of the SR009 are still very very preliminary, I am showing below the RMS displacement at the center of the diaphragm in order to generate about 100dB SPL at the base of the earcup. I need to see how this varies with changing the diaphragm properties (since my properties are bogus atm) and earcup cavity absorption but it should not vary by orders of magnitude. I will redo a simulation with finer frequency resolution so we can see the displacements from 20Hz. I suspect it is not that negligible in light of the 0.5mm spacer thickness...

If the diaphragm was loose-ish then I could see this to be true but once we factor in just how tightly stretched the Omega diaphragms are and the relatively weak force at hand here then any large scale excursion becomes improbable IMHO. Best way to determine this would be via distortion analysis because once you get any large scale excursion in a push-pull driver then the distortion rises quickly.

[Tyll Hertsens]

To which I'll add, the low frequency distortion in both the 007 and 009 were surprisingly low.

[nnotis]

Thanks for the comparisons guys. Do you think it's possible that the SR-009s sound more detailed than the 4070s simply due to being a touch brighter? Or are the 09s really opening up previously obscured information?

[Voltron]

The latter.

[Tyll Hertsens]

+1

An oft used phrase, but not by me for a long, long time: "I heard things I've never heard before."

[mikeymad]

+2

[grawk]

+1

An oft used phrase, but not by me for a long, long time: "I heard things I've never heard before."

Like "That shirt makes you look slim" or "Can you show me the pictures from the stereophile ad shoot?"