spritzer Posted September 28, 2011 Report Posted September 28, 2011 It's been an interesting last couple of hours comparing the SR-009 to the SR-Sigma/303 I finished today. The Sigmas may be highly colored but they still manage to sound better then most headphones ever made. To which I'll add, the low frequency distortion in both the 007 and 009 were surprisingly low. If there were any large scale excursions then the distortion would be much higher. 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? To me the 4070 is a bit of a compromise and certainly hasn't got any extra detail over a good Lambda and far less than any of the Omegas. The working parts are stock SR-404 but with the 4070 Stax did the same trick as with the SR-X Mk3, cancel out part of the bass by bleeding it away which opens up the upper frequencies. They certainly are a monitor headphones in every sense of the word but still suffer from the same issues as all Lambdas by having the driver just hanging off a piece of aluminum by some not so great double sided adhesive...
Dreadhead Posted September 28, 2011 Report Posted September 28, 2011 Interesting. I've done some experimenting with this kind of thing and will tell you that EQ and voicing can have that effect too. For example through straight up EQ I got at least 2 pairs of untrained ears to hear a background singer that they had not noticed before without me telling them what to listen for. That said I'm not saying that's what's going on here but it I'm pretty sure it's an effect.
n3rdling Posted September 28, 2011 Report Posted September 28, 2011 To me the 4070 is a bit of a compromise and certainly hasn't got any extra detail over a good Lambda and far less than any of the Omegas. The working parts are stock SR-404 but with the 4070 Stax did the same trick as with the SR-X Mk3, cancel out part of the bass by bleeding it away which opens up the upper frequencies. They certainly are a monitor headphones in every sense of the word but still suffer from the same issues as all Lambdas by having the driver just hanging off a piece of aluminum by some not so great double sided adhesive... Ok I'm not the only one I don't think the 4070 is super detailed, certainly less than Omega/Omega2/009 and I'd probably throw the Lambda Sig in there aswell. As for Sigmas, they might not have the best extension but they have the most tonally accurate midrange IMO...the SR009 midrange actually reminds me of the Sigmas.
arnaud Posted September 28, 2011 Report Posted September 28, 2011 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. I see... I would not call the diaphragm in my current simulation loose though: the effective Young's Modulus is something like 5 orders of magnitude higher than the default Nylon value, 2 orders of magnitude higher than steel. If anything, the model is way stiffer than real life so actually figures are north of what I have shown. But really, without further test data (electrical impedance) or possibly SPL test on the driver out of the assembly, I can't be sure of anything... BTW, the force I am using a 1e-6 N uniformly distributed over the whole surface. Is there a quick / rough way to estimate the estat force under normal operation from the specs? I meant to have this discussion in the simulation thread I created on the other site but did not manage to drag your feet there
livewire Posted September 29, 2011 Report Posted September 29, 2011 My SR-009 arrived today! Now if only I had a functioning 'stat amp... Congratz on the new aquisition! I thought you had a KGSS
El_Doug Posted September 29, 2011 Report Posted September 29, 2011 Congratz on the new aquisition! I thought you had a KGSS never had a kgss - was in the middle of a kgsshv build, but the hurricane has put that on hold. I had a WES which I sold. currently, all of my headphone budget is tied up with Justin. I should be hearing these cans with some of the local fellas this weekend, on their equipment I must give yet another shout-out to Andy for getting me these cans!
aross Posted September 29, 2011 Report Posted September 29, 2011 This is my review of the newly released STAX SR 009 headphones.. While the several hundred hours of “break-in” was ongoing, I selected from my library a collection of vocal, solo instrumental, chamber, orchestral, symphonic and jazz of various colors to be used during my audition adventure. All of this music was downloaded from several online “high-resolution” sites. Being experienced with headphone listening since the early 1980s, and exclusively so since the mid 1990s with earlier STAX equipment, I can state that my experience with the STAX SR 009 and the WOO AUDIO WES combination was a “mind blowing” revelatory immersive experience. Prior to receipt of these new headphones from STAX, my system included two SR 007 MKII “phones.” Vocal performances, solo and small instrumental groups (classical or jazz), symphonic and orchestral pieces, the oft-used phrase “you are there” is supremely accurate. The articulation, blending, harmonics, dynamics and presence of each performance are startling. An example of what I am trying to portray is this: Consider that during a live performance you leave your seat for a visit to the rest room. Upon your return to the auditorium, as you open the door and enter, the on-going performance leaps out at you and you are enveloped by an infinity of sonic stimulus. Suddenly there is no longer anything between you and the music. The depth and speed of the bass and the presentation its inner details are extraordinary. The wallop of the tympani and gigantic drum in Aaron Copeland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” may not move your flesh, but it sure will “jiggle” the stuff between your ears. The mid range is smooth and airy and absolutely convincing. In Benjamin Britten’s Simple Symphony (movement #1, “Boisterous Bourree”), the power of the massed strings has earth tremor dimensions. Further, the dynamic keyboard attacks in Minoru Nojima Plays Liszt (Mephisto Waltz #1) have the power of cannon reports. As you progress up into the higher registers the “air” and detail continues and the freedom from congestion of massed strings and chorus of multiple other instruments is breathtaking, and given past experience, unexpected. In sum: Magical! Of course, these references assume that the high-resolution recordings are well recorded and contain the requisite digital information, and that the playback equipment is up to the task.
blubliss Posted September 29, 2011 Report Posted September 29, 2011 Huh, you posted the same exact thing here 2x and did the same at head-fi. Are you a bot or just incredibly needy?
spritzer Posted September 29, 2011 Report Posted September 29, 2011 Screw the playback equipment, how about using an amp that is even somewhat neutral? Ok I'm not the only one I don't think the 4070 is super detailed, certainly less than Omega/Omega2/009 and I'd probably throw the Lambda Sig in there aswell. As for Sigmas, they might not have the best extension but they have the most tonally accurate midrange IMO...the SR009 midrange actually reminds me of the Sigmas. The Sigmas can sound truly odd at times but that midrange is to die for. I see... I would not call the diaphragm in my current simulation loose though: the effective Young's Modulus is something like 5 orders of magnitude higher than the default Nylon value, 2 orders of magnitude higher than steel. If anything, the model is way stiffer than real life so actually figures are north of what I have shown. But really, without further test data (electrical impedance) or possibly SPL test on the driver out of the assembly, I can't be sure of anything... BTW, the force I am using a 1e-6 N uniformly distributed over the whole surface. Is there a quick / rough way to estimate the estat force under normal operation from the specs? I meant to have this discussion in the simulation thread I created on the other site but did not manage to drag your feet there Reading something on HF? You must be mad... While the data we have are just small pieces of a much larger picture we can extrapolate from it and get somewhat plausible results. There is also a way to calculate the force but my brain is just too fried to even contemplate thinking about it...
John Buchanan Posted September 29, 2011 Report Posted September 29, 2011 Birgir, we need the review AND photos of the Sigma/303 (which should be exactly the same as the Sigma/404).
Wmcmanus Posted September 30, 2011 Report Posted September 30, 2011 Nothing like "mind blowing" revelatory experiences, I can tell you that much. Those are always good.
spritzer Posted September 30, 2011 Report Posted September 30, 2011 Birgir, we need the review AND photos of the Sigma/303 (which should be exactly the same as the Sigma/404). I'll do that later on but these should be all but identical to the 404's. The cable is a much better fit to the gray housing though so I think they look a bit nicer. I'm a bit OCD so these are just a little bit special... There are no nasty double sided adhesives used to attache the drivers to the housing, it is all done with polyurethane. I even used it when I attached the metal grill to the other side of the driver (when moving Lambda drivers over to a Sigma chassis they have to be taken apart and the metal grill moved to the other side). Same deal on the SR-Lambda I made from the leftovers....
arnaud Posted September 30, 2011 Report Posted September 30, 2011 Reading something on HF? You must be mad... While the data we have are just small pieces of a much larger picture we can extrapolate from it and get somewhat plausible results. There is also a way to calculate the force but my brain is just too fried to even contemplate thinking about it... Hi Birgir, I got some hints from Bob (Robbo1802) and also referred to Headcase's intro but it's not quite meshing well with the model. Do you have any idea of the typical first resonance frequency of the diaphragm, is it in the range of 50Hz or much higher / lower? For the estat force, do you have any idea of the stator to stator voltage under normal operating conditions and polarizing potential on the diaphragm?
Tyll Hertsens Posted September 30, 2011 Report Posted September 30, 2011 I think that may be the bump at about 50Hz I measured in the FR of the 009 and 007.
spritzer Posted September 30, 2011 Report Posted September 30, 2011 50Hz sounds plausible to me but I have no equipment to measure this stuff and Stax would never release any info on this. As for the voltages, are you referring to just normal levels (70db is what most people seem to be running at) or something much higher like 100db?
arnaud Posted September 30, 2011 Report Posted September 30, 2011 Tyll: ok, looking at the frf closely, it would seem like the 007 you tested was tuned at 50Hz while the 009 is tuned at 65Hz. Since there can't be any acoustic or other mechanical resonance, it must be it! Birgir: i would start with 100dB. I see it translates to 100Vrms on the brochure. Does that mean 280V peak from stator to stator?
luvdunhill Posted September 30, 2011 Report Posted September 30, 2011 Birgir: i would start with 100dB. I see it translates to 100Vrms on the brochure. Does that mean 280V peak from stator to stator? good question in fact.
Jon L Posted October 24, 2011 Author Report Posted October 24, 2011 Well, now that i've actually listened to the SR-009, I hope all you SR-009 owners develop toe fungus (insert jealous green eyes here). I'm sure Spritzer-made BHSE did help a little bit. IMG_6293 by drjlo2, on Flickr IMG_6280 by drjlo2, on Flickr
Nenso Posted November 2, 2011 Report Posted November 2, 2011 Jon, that above setup seems like it could be considered one of the best rigs that money can buy! Looks great, I'm envious. Have you heard anything that you liked more than this?
Jon L Posted November 3, 2011 Author Report Posted November 3, 2011 Jon, that above setup seems like it could be considered one of the best rigs that money can buy! Looks great, I'm envious. Have you heard anything that you liked more than this? It's definitely the most resolved, distortion-free, cleanest, most extended, fastest set of 'phones I've tried Not saying it's better, but I do enjoy my custom high-sensitivity loudspeakers driven by EML 2A3 SET, single-ended distortion and all..
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