Stax - foam or cloth?

[manaox2]

Audiocubes II should be fine for pads I would think. They are reputable enough that you won't be ripped off.

[CarlSeibert]

I put on the new pads and cloth screens, and a new headpad, too. The Lambdas are all apiffy new new now.

The new pads feel better and definitely seal better. That surprises me a little since the old ones looked fine to me.

With two variables changing at the same time, I can't say which is causing what, but tonal balance is a little darker. Mids seems a bit more substantial. Bass a bit tighter, with maybe a tad more authority. I might end up preferring the pads without the screens. Or not. Time will tell.

I bought the pads with screens from Yama, Akathsia. The pads are pleather. The cloth inner screen has a thin leather frame and basically just drops in.

[Don Quichotte]

I'm surprised to see a thread dedicated to the Stax old vs. new pads issue. It's a good thing, IMO, because unlike some other users I have a pretty strong preference for the old pads with foam, despite the foam durability issue. So I think people should know that, at least according to these ears:

1. old pads > new pleather pads (foam removed from the old pads, both using the same cloth from the new pads package)

2. foam > cloth

3. and old pads with foam >> new pleather pads with cloth

I posted about these things in detail on the other forum, do a little search if you like because I'm too lazy to do it myself right now. I must add that I did compare the pads a lot, for several weeks, in my home with my phones. At least another user on the aforementioned forum, namely EddieE, confirmed my preference for the old pads with foam, adding that the 507 real leather pads (with cloth as well) sound better than both.

[Craig Sawyers]

^^^

Now that is some serious lurking - 2 1/2 years on the list and two posts.

[Don Quichotte]

Well, I've read that newbie "welcome message", so...

Funny is that 8 years ago when I joined the other forum I had also been lurking for more than a full year before.