the music it transports

none

Some years ago I used a Stax SR Lambda Professional wit SMR-1 MK II Professional, which at its time was the best headphone. Compared to the SR-007 with its tube amp SRM-007 t it some kind of "mono". Some other headphones I had before (Beyerdynamic, Yamaha) are not even worth to mention. I use Apogee speakers together with Spectral amplifiers, and you can sit down, relax, and *feel* the bass. This, of course, is not the domain of any headphone. But this is the only drawback. Any other part of the music, bass, mids, highs, width, depth, distortion, and the "music" itself (the fun it transports) is magnitudes better than any speaker. This headphone is simply revealing most of the music I have ever heard in any equipment. If it is Pink Floyd, The Wall on MFSL, contemporary trance/techno/disco, Al Stewart, Camel or Rush - it does not matter. You just do not only listen the music, you "live" it. I would even say it is better than a live gig. Think of sitting at the console in the studio while the music is mixed down. The best quality available with a kind of live character. This position is yours this this kit. If headphones are an alternative for listening for you (some people don´t like headphones at all) the Stax 007 is most likely the best equipment you can get. It is not cheap, but worth any Cent of the money

Similar Products Used:

Stax SR Lambda Professional, Beyerdynamic, several other headphones

Sensationell im Mitteltonbereich, sehr gut im Hochtonbereich. Bei den Tiefen ist es so eine Sache. Wer ihn richtig justieren kann bekommt wohl einen sehr guten Bass. Die Position muss aber genau stimmen zum Ohr. Sonst ist noch herauszuheben, dass der Klang leicht erhöht vor dem Kopf klingend wirkt, was für Kopfhöhrer sehr unüblich ist. Die Solisten tönen direkt vor der Stirne. Somit ist der Klangbild sehr breit, da nicht nur seitlich sondern auch über dem Kopf.

Für Leute mit kleineren Köpfen praktisch unbrauchbar, da Kopfhöhrer dann zu wenig eng aufliegt. ( zu geringe Federung ) Er verrutscht nämlich bei Bewegungen des Kopfes leicht, was sich negativ auf die tiefen Frequenzen auswirkt. Enger einstellen kann man ihn nicht!!!! Kopfhöhrer ist viel zu schweer gebaut,mit der Metallumrandung. Wer mal den Sennheiser HD 600 getragen hat spürt den Unterschied. Stax: " Bitte unbedingt einstellbare Bügel mitgeben, denn es gibt auch kleine schmale Leute! Zudem haben diese Leute auch kleinere Ohren, die kleiner sind als der Hohlraum de Polster!" Für 6800 Franken erwarte ich einen Kopfhöhrer der sitzt! Der Sound ist sehr neutral, aber meiner Ansicht nach könnte er schon noch ein bisschen wärmer sein. Dem Preis für 6800 Franken ist übertrieben, wenn man mit dem Japanpreis verglicht. Ich empfehle Leuten, die auf Preis-Leistungsverhältnis achten, den Stax Signature II/006t zu nehmen.

Mit Freude kaufte ich den Omega II und 007t Röhrenverstärker. Leider bin ich nun nicht sehr zufrieden damit, wobei dies Geschmacksache ist. Zurückbringen kann ich ihn leider nicht. Gründe unten:

Similar Products Used:

Grado RS1, Sennheiser HD 600

Neutrality, relaxed, transparency.

Need more time with it to ascetain.

Having been an owner of the previous Stax Omega 1 headphones for 4 years, I was at first skeptical that the new Omega 2 could be better than its predecessor. But better it is!

The history of Stax headphones seems to be a progression towards more and more relaxed-sounding headphones, without any loss in clarity. The original Omega was much more relaxed-sounding compared to the Lambda Signature, being less etched in the mids and highs than the Lambda. Now the new Omega 2 is even more relaxed-sounding than Omega 1.

They have rather different sonic characters. Omega 1 paints shimmering watercolor-like textures that are perhaps too lively in the midrange. Its upper-midrange brightness paints apparently thrilling reverberant environments. Its tonal signature tricks your ears into believing that it is putting your ears where the microphones were during the recording process (for minimally-miked recordings). For this reason a long-term owner of Omega 1 would be drawn to minimally-miked recordings, as I was, due to its manner of painting such shimmering reveberant recording environments. Whether or not the actual recorded environments were truly as 'lively' as that portrayed by the Omega 1 is not known to me.

Omega 2, however, is less watercolor-like. Less shimmering, but more accurate, I believe. There is more heft and weight to the sounds of various instruments and voices. Due to the absence of upper midrange glare, the Omega 2 sounds more relaxed than its predecessor, although I suspect that its more relaxed sound was also due to its higher resolving capabilities and not just its greater tonal accuracy.

Similar Products Used:

Stax Omega 1, Stax Lambda Signature, Koss ESP 950.

Neutrality

To be ascertained

In re-reading my comments on the Omega 1's "shimmering" upper-mids, I realise that the words "shimmering" and "glare" were too strong, giving the impression that the Omega 1 is a highly colored headphone. Which is far from the truth.

The Omega 1 is a neutral-sounding headphone, and when you first listen to it, you can swear that this is the "correct" sound. So convincing it can be.

My observations of its upper midrange emphasis (and this emphasis is slight) came from 4 years of living with it, and especially from direct comparisons with the Omega 2. I did not realise this weakness of the Omega 1 until I compared it with the Omega 2, although I was aware that I became attracted to certain recordings more than others during the 4 years when I used the Omega 1.

(Sometimes audiophiles, myself included, use words that are too strong.)

The Omega 1 is a great headphone, better than the Sennheiser Orpheus, which I have not owned but have auditioned. The Orpheus has a slight (slightly more than slight) upper treble emphasis which I suspect I may grow tired of over a long period. But the Orpheus's weakness is quite seductive: it gives recordings a very open and airy character.

Similar Products Used:

Stax Omega 1, Stax Lambda Signature, Koss ESP 950

Transparent, transient, details and most accurate bass response.

Ever so slightly warm or dark tonal balance, very slightly, otherwise pristine in music reproduction from top to bottom.

I believe these 'phones were designed with neutrality as the ultimate goal. They have a way of capturing minute nuances in the recording, which make the music performance come alive (ton of ambient info). Being able to extract this kind of detail enable the listener to easily listen deeper into the soundstage, where as other 'phones tend to mask over. While the overall sound can be regarded as somewhat 'laid-back' its midrange is slightly tilted forward. This is more apparent with female vocal's and certain string instrument's.

I have direct compared the RS-1's bass against the Omega II's and found that, while others may prefer the forward bass of the RS-1's, however, it does not exhibit the deepness, tautness, and speed of the Omega II's. In short, the bass performance of the Omega II's is more natural in term of accuracy.

Imaging is state of the art. Ones need not to strain his or her ears to pin-point exactly the location of instrument's emerge in space. Its noise floor is dead silent rendering more brightly lit to the note within the soundstage. As mentioned above, its bass is so deep providing a foundation to the music with immense weight, particularly piano recordings with authoritative focus, precise refinement, and tone solidity you've got to hear to believe.

As a side note: They are the most sensitive 'phones compared to Sennheisers and Grados so careful system matching is a must for Staxes. These 'phones rank with the very best available today. Please do not use mediocre component to compromise its sound. The better the associated equipment the better these 'phones response(cables, CD player, etc.).

Similar Products Used:

HD600s and RS-1s.

TRANSPARENCY! DETAIL! Remarkable dynamic handling, extremely uncolored sound, Vocals seems live!

Not the best bass I have ever heard, compared with Grado RS-1 headphone. Otherwise, its excellent, perfect, superb. Not suitable for the poor recordings.

Used with Meridian 508.24 cd player with the NBS signature interconnect.

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser HD-600, Melos SHA headphone amp, Grado RS-1, Headroom's Max, Stax Omega I, Stax Lamda Nova Signature.

Embracing, warm, very detailed sound when used with reference quality source.
Once properly adjusted, earspeakers are very comfortable.

For its price, too much plastic in construction of earspeakers.
AC Cable provided with amp is non-polarized and non-grounded, but easily fixed.
Amp is difficult to place due to it's shape and size.

Summary:

An outstanding system that, with a reference level source (this is crucial), will provide a class A+ listening experience.

The Hardware:

SR-007

The Omega II earspeakers, with the exception of the cables, look like oversized dynamic headphones. Two metal bands and a leather strap go over the head to hold the unit in place. The leather covered ear pads, while circular on the outside, are "D" shaped on the inside and rotate to allow for forming a semi-airtight seal over the ear. The housings containing the transducers also rotate to allow one to orient them as well. The metal bands are adjustable to provide a proper fit over the head. After fiddling with the various adjustments, the Omega IIs fit very comfortably. Note that properly adjusting the earspeakers is important to not just comfort, but to achieving the best sound as well.

SRM-007t

This unit provides a combination dual FET first stage and twin triode (6FQ7/6CG7) second stage tube amplifiers for each channel for driving Stax earspeakers including the SR-007s. It has two sets of line level inputs, one of which is single-ended (RCA) only, while the other can be switched between single-ended and balanced (XLR) connectors. The amplifier design is balanced, so using corresponding sources and interconnects provides for a cleaner signal path. One oddity is that the XLR connector polarity has the non-inverting signal on pin 3 and inverting on pin 2, opposite of what's found on most American XLR connectors. I tried using phase inversion feature on the ML No. 30.6, but heard little, if any, difference. The SRM-007t has three jacks for connection to Stax earspeakers: 2 "Pro" (580 V bias) and 1 "Normal" (230 V bias). The SR-007 is a "Pro" earspeaker. There is also a quadrupled double-spindle volume control for true balanced attenuation into the first stage amps. The unit takes about 15-30 minutes to reach optimum operating temperature, consumes 55 W, is warm to the touch, and has no fans, so adaquate clearance for cooling is essential. The whole unit weighs over 10 pounds (4.7 kg), and measures 7.7 in. (195 mm) wide, 4 in. (103 mm) high, and 16.5 in. (420 mm) deep. Given its heat dissapation requirements and size/shape, the unit is difficult to place efficiently. It's too deep to stack on anything but a shelf and may present problems in enclosed racks. I ended-up placing mine beside the P300 on a seperate open shelf.

Sound:

The sound out-of-the-box was excellent, but somewhat cold and analyitical, but after breaking it in for a few hours, that began to change. It started to sound warmer and the mid-range accuracy improved. After about 36 hours, the sound was spectactular. The imaging precise, the depth, detail, and feeling of prescence were amazing. The entire audio range was crisp and full. The bass is very solid and its reproduction of mid-range and highs are equally breathtaking. While not quite as open and clear sounding as my Revels powered by Mark Levinson No. 33s, it was nevertheless one of the best reproductions of sound I've heard. I used various CDs including: Rebecca Pidgeon's "The Raven", Suzanne Vega's "Solitude Standing", Tori Amos' "Under the Pink", the MFSL version of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", the MFSL version of Sting's "... Nothing Like the Sun", the MFSL version of U2's "The Joshua Tree", "Koyaanisqatsi" the original soundtrack, various J. S. Bach organ works played by Kevin Bower, and Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte".

Equipment used for review:

Mark Levinson 31.5 Reference CD Transport
Mark Levinson 30.6 Reference Digital Processor
Transparent Balanced Reference XL Interconnects
PS Audio P300 Power Plant

Similar Products Used:

Sennheiser HD600 with HeadRoom Cosmic and Blockhead Amps
Grado RS1 with HeadRoom BlockHead Amp