Article: Review: Stax SR-L300 Electrostatic Headphones

[Sonis]

View full article

[The Computer Audiophile]

Thanks for the review Sonis. I love to see these "bottom of the line" headphones knock it out of the park. Good stuff. 

[bluesman]

Great piece!  FWIW, Stax cushions have always seemed a bit thinner & more fragile in feel than most others. They actually glued themselves together on my SRX Mk 3s after being left unused for a few months when we built our house & moved.

 

Thanks for the info & its articulate presentation!

[davide256]

Are they able to handle full  dynamic range? The Stax headphones I've listened to didn't do better than "polite" volume, weren't a good choice for full orchestra and

Wagnerian opera

[Mercman]

Thanks for an enjoyable review of the SR-L300. I have always found that Stax headphones provide a special musical experience.

[KDinsmore]

Excellent review. Thank you

[Sonis]

3 hours ago, davide256 said:

Are they able to handle full  dynamic range? The Stax headphones I've listened to didn't do better than "polite" volume, weren't a good choice for full orchestra and

Wagnerian opera

Even if you like your hearing damaged, the SR-L300 will do it for you! Of course, this has a lot to do with what amplifier/energizer one uses. For instance, the HiFiMan Jade2 amp won’t drive the phones as loudly as will Stax’s own, new, SRM-700T amp, but still, the HiFIMan amp will certainly drive them as loudly as I would ever want to drive them.

[Norton]

Great review, thanks.

 

Look like the entry level SR-L300 and SRM-252S combo is imported into the UK and available from bricks and mortar dealers for £795.

[Sonis]

Good News! Stax informed me, just this AM, that the Stax SRS-3100 system (a pair of SR-L300 phones bundled with a dedicated SRM-252S amplifier/energizer) will be available for sale here in the USA in the second half of this year for around US$800. This means that one will no longer have to buy this combination “gray-market” from Japan through Amazon/AmazingJapan, or various overseas E-bay resellers.

[Danny Kaey]

Very cool. Stax is classic HiFi. You can't go wrong with any of their stuff!!!

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 hours ago, Mercman said:

I have always found that Stax headphones provide a special musical experience.

As have I.

 

I consider Stax the Leica of audio. Special and magical in every way.

[WAM]

Thanks for your review! Enjoyed reading it (but I am slightly biased... I'm addicted to my SR 507/SRM oo6ts combi...).

 

And indeed, Stax is classic, I lusted for them decades before I could afford a pair. What also strikes me: in many reviews of headphones the name "Stax"  pops up.. there has to be a reason for this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[k-man]

3 hours ago, Norton said:

Look like the entry level SR-L300 and SRM-252S combo is imported into the UK and available from bricks and mortar dealers for £795.

And since 2017, from this review (giving details of the UK distributor). When where these made?

[Sonis]

2 hours ago, k-man said:

And since 2017, from this review (giving details of the UK distributor). When where these made?

The phones and the amp/energizer are still being made. They simply don’t sell them, at the moment, in North America. So your question is somewhat puzzling. There’s no way to tell exactly when they were made. But I guess they get new stock when the GB importer/distributor runs low....

I read the Hi-Fi+ article you referenced. I need to make it clear that my experience is with the SR-L300 using the new Stax SRM-700T (for Tube) amplifier/energizer, and the HiFiMan Jade 2 amplifier/energizer. I have no experience with the SRS-252S amp/energizer at all. I’ve never even seen one, much less heard one. But the choice of amplifier/energizer has an awful lot to do with how these phones sound. The new $3400 SRM-700T definitely make these (and indeed, any ES phones) sit up and do tricks. And while the HiFiMan Jade 2 amp/energizer sounds very good, the SR-L300s don’t play as loudly through it as through the Stax amp, and the Stax amp has slightly better bass. So, what I’m saying is that really one has to view any ES phone set-up as a system. You have to get both parts right for best performance. When Stax re-introduces the SRS-252S to the US market later this year, they are going to send me one, and I will revisit the amp/phone interface at that time. So, Stay tuned.

[Sonis]

9 hours ago, bluesman said:

Great piece!  FWIW, Stax cushions have always seemed a bit thinner & more fragile in feel than most others. They actually glued themselves together on my SRX Mk 3s after being left unused for a few months when we built our house & moved.

 

Thanks for the info & its articulate presentation!

I’m given to understand that replacing the SR-L300’s included ear pads with those from the SR-L700, or an aftermarket thicker and better pad will increase the bass response of these phones by a goodly amount. Haven’t tried it myself, however.

[ednaz]

Right out of films about 2040 that were made in 1980.

[Sonis]

1 hour ago, ednaz said:

Right out of films about 2040 that were made in 1980.

?????????!!!!!

[davide256]

mm

4 hours ago, Sonis said:

The phones and the amp/energizer are still being made. They simply don’t sell them, at the moment, in North America. So your question is somewhat puzzling. There’s no way to tell exactly when they were made. But I guess they get new stock when the GB importer/distributor runs low....

I read the Hi-Fi+ article you referenced. I need to make it clear that my experience is with the SR-L300 using the new Stax SRM-700T (for Tube) amplifier/energizer, and the HiFiMan Jade 2 amplifier/energizer. I have no experience with the SRS-252S amp/energizer at all. I’ve never even seen one, much less heard one. But the choice of amplifier/energizer has an awful lot to do with how these phones sound. The new $3400 SRM-700T definitely make these (and indeed, any ES phones) sit up and do tricks. And while the HiFiMan Jade 2 amp/energizer sounds very good, the SR-L300s don’t play as loudly through it as through the Stax amp, and the Stax amp has slightly better bass. So, what I’m saying is that really one has to view any ES phone set-up as a system. You have to get both parts right for best performance. When Stax re-introduces the SRS-252S to the US market later this year, they are going to send me one, and I will revisit the amp/phone interface at that time. So, Stay tuned.

I like the fact that the SRM-252 energizer is 12Vdc/4W, means one can power it with a JS-2.

[Sonis]

1 hour ago, davide256 said:

mm

I like the fact that the SRM-252 energizer is 12Vdc/4W, means one can power it with a JS-2.

That’s a legitimate reason to be interested in that solution, I suspect. 

[David Purton]

I have a pair of Stax Lamda Signatures and an "original" energiser, srm-xr from the 80's I imagine. The headset looks identical and the only change they made in later models is to use a thinner membrane for more efficiency and extended "delicate" hf.

 

Always been "state of art" as an electrostatic design enjoying all the performance expected of a single full range planar virtually massless diaphragm.

 

One quibble is the cushions with an integral foam sheet over the diaphragm area ...the foam disintegrates over time, and the cushions are stuck on with double sided tape which can get sticky.

 

Another is the extreme hf is a little hot on my ancient pair, and this may have been dealt with in later versions or by more advanced energisers.

 

But otherwise the very best open back design ever, regardless of silly priced "high end" alternatives.

 

Driven from the right source they can go loud enough to give you permanent hearing loss. They also don't "sound" like closed back phones and therefore not the first choice of recording engineers in the same way they will mix on monopole monitors, but may have dipoles in the chill room for an expansive musical experience..

 

Why re-invent the wheel,  Stax phones have remained virtually unchanged for 50 years because a full range electrostatic is exactly that with one caveat...their transparency to the source.

 

Give them a quality source and they will produce for you a musical experience unmatched by virtually any other design.

[4est]

7 hours ago, davide256 said:

mm

I like the fact that the SRM-252 energizer is 12Vdc/4W, means one can power it with a JS-2.

I'd not be looking at it that way even though I am sure it would help. Their products tier appropriately from what I have seen. You'd be better off buying one of their better ones. My SRM-1 mk II isn't still their best one, but it is reasonable, built really well and can power just about any ES hp out there. There are many used ones on the market, that is one of the nice things about Stax. I am quite curious as to how the iFi would stack up against it though.

[bobfa]

21 hours ago, Mercman said:

Thanks for an enjoyable review of the SR-L300. I have always found that Stax headphones provide a special musical experience.

 

18 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

As have I.

 

I consider Stax the Leica of audio. Special and magical in every way.

Now I can picture that.  Leica that is!

 

While I have been concentrating on my speaker system I have a fascination for headphones.  This looks like a neat way to get an intro into these.  All the same front end principals apply.  Sill picking the right amplifier here seems like that is a larger variable.    I could see using my USBridge and Hugo 2 then line out into the amp....

 

hmmm.........

 

Thank you all very much.

[ednaz]

15 hours ago, Sonis said:

?????????!!!!!

Design.

[Sonis]

1 hour ago, ednaz said:

Design.

You mean the shape? Well, both the older Sigma series Stax phones (with the angled ES elements) and the Lambda series (like the SR-L300) use the rectangular ear cups. While I agree that they might look clumsy, they are functional and quite comfortable.

[diw]

In addition to the companies you mentioned, Mjolnir Audio in Iceland is a highly dedicated one-man band called Spritzer ( on the forums ) who works with Kevin Gilmore to produce a range of tube and solid state amps for electrostatics at various price points. Also a great source for pre-owned amps, headphones and accessories, as well as a great read