The earcups also feel a little bit loose, and they tend to flop around a bit when the headphone isn’t on your head. The above changes are actually quite noticeable, but they are almost negligible compared to the following.

Stax used to hide the stators of their headphones behind a layer of foam, but I’m glad they’ve stopped – the gold-colored stators, with their hexagonal support structure, are extremely visually striking. Originally, Martha Reeves was hired by Motown as a: secretary. Many modern piano recordings place microphones too close to the open grand piano lid or in some cases, even inside of the piano, both of which exaggerate the sound of the mechanism (and produce a piano image that’s 10 feet wide!). The size of the SRM-007tII is only slightly different in overall dimensions and weight and the front panel layouts of the two are almost identical. Read on to find out why. The dust-proof metal mesh in 009 is concave, and that for 009s is convex. With a personal account, you can read up to 100 articles each month for free. Its polarizing reputation only proves that it boasts the absolute performance to attract a reputation in the first place. Some first round buyer said, the 009s appeared to enhance the fullness of the mid-range vocals, and the high-frequency is no longer sharp. • You find the overall cost of an SR-009 system daunting (recognizing that SR-009-based systems can easily set you back $10k or more, once you factor in the price of an appropriate amp). Isaac Hayes Standing Triumphantly On Stage at Wattstax with Jesse Jackson. This is the standard against which all other top-tier headphones must be compared. Left & Right Identification: "L" and "R" indicated on the arc assembly (inside head spring) Left channel cable is marked with a solid Line. One might be to say, “$5250 is just too much to spend for any headphone; I can get close enough to the sonic mountaintop for a fraction of the SR-009’s price,” which is true. Does the SR-009 deliver the sonic goods? I was also able to compare the Stax setup to the combination of the Headamp GS-X MkII headphone amp driving a pair of Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC phones in the balanced configuration (review in progress). In closing, I’d like to say, that if you enjoy the virtues of electrostatic headphone listening, you’re going to need a good amplifier/energizer for the task. In the next ten years under the direct leadership of Al Bell, Stax became a voice for Black America reflecting both a sense of achievement through the Civil Rights Movement  and righteous anger from the time all of this change was taking. Where some headphones reveal sonic differences between ancillary components in a general way, the SR-009 reveals the impact of system-level changes in much more detailed, explicit, and precise ways. Next comes two 5-pin electrostatic headphone jacks which were, until fairly recently, a Stax proprietary design. But the tricky part is that the underlying sonic “persona” of the SR-009 can and does shift in both subtle and profound ways as you connect these headphones to different amplifiers and source components.

Sample music: Large and small orchestral symphony, vocal music. (That said, I’ll add that the totally uncompromising insight into your music of which the SR-009s is capable is an enlightening and enjoyable experience in and of itself.).

I was not impressed with the sound at the time, and was convinced that digital would never eclipse a good analog tape recorder with half-track heads and a recording speed of 38cm/sec (15ips). Berry Gordy got his start in songwriting by creating material for: Jackie Wilson.

This refers to the ability of the user to bypass the volume control of these amps in case the headphones are being driven by a variable volume control output on one’s system preamp or amplifier. On the front side, the only difference is that the color of the inner plate becomes dark gold. What I do know is that this is one of the best sounding and most approachable jazz recordings I’ve heard.

009 can be the representative of the flagship in the headset market beside for Sennheel Orpheus and hifiman Shangri-La which is too expensive, Now the new upgraded version of 009s is released. Ratings (compared to cost-no-object headphones): • Tonal Balance: 9.5 (some might discern a very slight region of emphasis in the upper midrange, though I am not convinced that this is anything other than the Stax “telling it like it is” regarding flaws commonly found in modern recordings).• Clarity: 10• Dynamics: 10• Comfort/Fit: 9.5• Sensitivity: 9• Noise Isolation: 3 (Frankly, the SR-009’s do virtually nothing to block out external noise—perhaps the price we pay for their terrific transparency?

Still, there are (at least) two ways to look at the issue of pricing. The Abyss AB1266 Phi TC are not ES phones, so they aren’t in the ranking, but they are every bit the equal of the Stax flagship, the SR-009S.

Not flashy like your modern young turks who win piano competitions, but rather he conveys a sense of style, coupled with a reverence for the material and a seriousness of purpose that makes me think of a Rubinstein or a Horowitz). You have to get both parts right for best performance. In short, the SR-009 is the best headphone I’ve yet heard. I also compared the SRM-700T with the SR-009S headphones to the LTA amp with the same SR-009S. They have made everything from amplifiers to CD players to DACs. All of the following are characteristics of "the Stax sound" EXCEPT: tightly harmonized backup vocals the delayed backbeat instrumental introductions featuring horns loose and almost spontaneous vocalizing

Started by the brother and sister team of Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton, Stax Records began humbly enough in Stewart's garage in 1957. The Stax team were appalled at the idea, fearing that the distinctive "Stax sound" would be destroyed. There are certain things that one expects from an electrostatic headphone setup, and indeed one does not expect that any dynamic phones would stand up to the large diaphragm area of the ES phones or the speed, transient response and high-frequency extension, coupled with the low distortion inherent in the ES push-pull drive. Find out how you can become a sponsor here. I was struck by the fact that the SR-009’s were able to show the round, fast-paced, and percussive quality of the harp, complete with luscious tonalities that seemed almost illuminated from within, while at the same time perfectly capturing the knife-edge balance struck between sweetness and incisiveness as the violin explored lines written in its upper registers. Couldn’t be) and many more well known sidemen.

Perhaps transferring it to vinyl tamed the digital gremlins; I don’t know.