Please find the excuses for me not to buy Stax 009S headphone


I may had got into rabbit hole of Headphone.

After getting Massdrop Empire Zeus IEm, I had been happy with its dynamics and nuanced details.



But after having gone back to my 2 channel system of Lansche 4.1 speaker driven by Line Magnetic 508 SET amplifier, I want more out of IEM.

My main system plays much more dynamic with deeper bass slam with deeper and more transparent soundstage.
.

After finding some good deal, I am about to pull the trigger for Stax 009 electrostatic headphone and KGSSHV Carbon amplifier for sizable sum of money.

Please find the excuses for me not to buy Stax 009S headphone.
128x128shkong78
I had been happy with my dynamic speaker Lansche 4.1 since 2007.

But I wish to try electrostatic one.

Stax 009S will not be played so loud as to hurt my hearing.

As former Apogee user, I am also attracted to  Raal Requisite SR1a ribbon headphone.

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/raal-requisite-sr-1a.7283/page-4
Empire Zeus IEM(earphone) sound pretty nice overall with nice dynamics and details.

Out of curiosity I pulled the trigger for Stax009s and Carbon amp last Saturday.

But the statement below got me a little bit upset.

Shall I have had tried Rall Sr1a instead of Stax on 14 days return guarantee?

I have to wait until July 9th to find out how Stax009s and Carbon amp will sound with Dave and Mscaler.



MrCypruz

1
2d

I got the SR1a on Friday along with the Vidar and the Performer s800 but did not have a lot of time to do a proper evaluation other than quickly running through @Torq‘s suggested songs. In a nutshell, the SR1a provide the very best sound that I’ve heard to date coming from headphones, period.

The bass response is the most detailed and well textured I’ve ever heard to date. None of the HPs that I own (009S, Utopia & Empyrean) can match its speed, attack, decay. As @Torq stated, the SR1a takes no prisoners, it reveals everything upstream as it is with unparalleled realism and accuracy without any coloration. Neutrality is one of its main personality traits, I guess that’s why it’s very highly regarded in the professional realm for music production.

In less than 2hrs of listening time, the SR1a made me reach a state of audio nirvana for the very first time, therefore I don’t want to go back to anything less than this. I’ll spare my other 3 headphones because I like the looks, comfort and still enjoy their capabilities.
I’m officially done with headphones for now…until the release of the SR2a!!!

https://forum.headphones.com/t/raal...ld-monitor-headphone-official-thread/3220/265


https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMtNSB4H5MbCvLRW_yUOEOl3WRBxcf--Jdo_iBJFwEeTH1i-rg4WsWWn5tp03-W1Q/photo/AF1QipO_LtxteP3OFSd1YopAtfSuuDWFPWgEEsTI_Ubh?key=VjN1SHRiUWYxUGd0dk5qWTVQOEJNNXdMaEZ0RGZB
I guess that Rall SR1a has tighter bass than Stax 009S.

But I am not sure whether SR1a has refined mid range as latter.

I have not got Stax yet.

Probably I will give Stax and Carbon amp more than one month to tune the sound using different power cable and interconnect.

After fully tuning 009S, I will order SR1a to compare with 009S.

Since I have excellent 2 channel system with powerful bass up to 20hz, refined midrange out of headphone is more important to me.

In the meantime I would like to collect information how to get the best sound of Stax 009S and Rall SR1a .

If I find Rall not to have as refined midrange as Stax, then I may return it in within 14 day's of grace period.
Sold lots of STAX stuff in the day.  I find headphones to be pretty uncomfortable after a while and my ears don't like the way they sound after a few songs even though I love LOUD music of any genre.

Even the "open air" lighter Sennheiser ones bothered me after a few songs, and it was not the quality of the sound.

By all means go ahead and get them, but unless you love listening to headphones, realize that you will use them less and less as time goes on unless that is the main way you listen today.

Either way, ENJOY THE MUSIC!

Cheers,

Richard
@ richopp

Hi Richard

I agree with your opinion that it is not easy to listen to headphone or earphone for long time.

Out of curiosity I had pulled trigger for Stax 009S but I do not want to go into rabbit hole.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/sennheiser-he-1.21120/reviews

Oh my god, this headphone and amplifier combination cost 70K$.

I have to stop pretty soon.

Thomas