Article: Review of Stax SR-009S: An Endgame in 2021?

[Sajid Amit]

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[The Computer Audiophile]

Great write-up and images Sajid. Thanks!

[HH_miller]

Very nice read! Thx Sajid

[Sajid Amit]

41 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Great write-up and images Sajid. Thanks!

My pleasure! 🙂

[Sajid Amit]

10 minutes ago, HH_miller said:

Very nice read! Thx Sajid

Your welcome and thank you for reading!

[PeterG]

Hi Sajid--Great review!  I write while listening to The White Album on my SR-009s's and you absolutely nailed it.   I might add the other +/- of the Stax (depending on your mood) is that they demand attention--multitasking is difficult because the listener is sucked into the music.

 

Great comparisons too.  I can't quite imagine switching from Stax, but it's wonderful that there are a handful of magnificent headphones vying to be #1, competing with speakers that are 10X their price.

 

Have you heard the SRM 700T amp?  Any thoughts on how it might compare?  One irony of the Stax is that I love them so much, I am dying to hear the X9000, and may upgrade from my 700T at the same time.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

[AudioDoctor]

I enjoyed reading this and it made me want to try these headphones out. I currently have the Susvara's amped with a Pass Labs XA30.8. I tried a lot of amps and spent a lot of money and I wish I had just done this first.

[Mercman]

Thanks for your excellent impressions of the SR-009S. I’ve enjoyed mine for 2 years now and find your insights on the 009S sonic characteristics to be very accurate.

 

 

[Sonic77]

Great review! Loved the comparisons.

[TheoJM]

009S sooundstage too small and sound very condensed for orchestra work . X9000 will be a better selection. 

[TesarPa]

Nice review! I appreciate mainly several comparisons with other flagships, that's really important. But I miss the pricing of reviewed item. Generally, I'm usually quite annoyed when I have to search the price of an item in the middle of an article, or at the end. Even worse, when it is not there at all. My opinion (and suggestion) is to put the price in first paragraph of the article. Always, as the rule.

[Sajid Amit]

11 hours ago, Mercman said:

Thanks for your excellent impressions of the SR-009S. I’ve enjoyed mine for 2 years now and find your insights on the 009S sonic characteristics to be very accurate.

 

 

 

Thanks for reading. Glad you find my impressions to be accurate!

[Sajid Amit]

8 minutes ago, TesarPa said:

Nice review! I appreciate mainly several comparisons with other flagships, that's really important. But I miss the pricing of reviewed item. Generally, I'm usually quite annoyed when I have to search the price of an item in the middle of an article, or at the end. Even worse, when it is not there at all. My opinion (and suggestion) is to put the price in first paragraph of the article. Always, as the rule.

 

Yes, absolutely. Excellent and helpful suggestion. I will make sure to include the price in my next review of the Focal Stellia!

[Sajid Amit]

1 hour ago, TheoJM said:

009S sooundstage too small and sound very condensed for orchestra work . X9000 will be a better selection. 

Would love to hear the X9000. Have you by any chance?

[Sajid Amit]

8 hours ago, Sonic77 said:

Great review! Loved the comparisons.

Thanks. Glad you liked!

[Sajid Amit]

11 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

I enjoyed reading this and it made me want to try these headphones out. I currently have the Susvara's amped with a Pass Labs XA30.8. I tried a lot of amps and spent a lot of money and I wish I had just done this first.

I loved my Susvara of the XA25. I am sure they sound incredible off the XA30.8. I will be doing a Susvara vs TC review and comparison in the future. Hope that will be of interest. 

[Sajid Amit]

13 hours ago, PeterG said:

Hi Sajid--Great review!  I write while listening to The White Album on my SR-009s's and you absolutely nailed it.   I might add the other +/- of the Stax (depending on your mood) is that they demand attention--multitasking is difficult because the listener is sucked into the music.

 

Great comparisons too.  I can't quite imagine switching from Stax, but it's wonderful that there are a handful of magnificent headphones vying to be #1, competing with speakers that are 10X their price.

 

Have you heard the SRM 700T amp?  Any thoughts on how it might compare?  One irony of the Stax is that I love them so much, I am dying to hear the X9000, and may upgrade from my 700T at the same time.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the kind words. Glad you found it useful.

 

I have indeed heard the SRM 700T. Great amp! In my experience, the KGSSHV Carbon sounds a tad warmer and fuller, with slightly more energetic bass! 

[Mercman]

16 hours ago, PeterG said:

Hi Sajid--Great review!  I write while listening to The White Album on my SR-009s's and you absolutely nailed it.   I might add the other +/- of the Stax (depending on your mood) is that they demand attention--multitasking is difficult because the listener is sucked into the music.

 

Great comparisons too.  I can't quite imagine switching from Stax, but it's wonderful that there are a handful of magnificent headphones vying to be #1, competing with speakers that are 10X their price.

 

Have you heard the SRM 700T amp?  Any thoughts on how it might compare?  One irony of the Stax is that I love them so much, I am dying to hear the X9000, and may upgrade from my 700T at the same time.

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

I guess I'm not as enthusiastic about the SRM 700T amp driving the SR-009S. It sounds lifeless and doesn't have the "juice" to drive the 009S or the 007 MK1 adequately.

[PeterG]

2 hours ago, Mercman said:

I guess I'm not as enthusiastic about the SRM 700T amp driving the SR-009S. It sounds lifeless and doesn't have the "juice" to drive the 009S or the 007 MK1 adequately.

Ooo--I will file this under good news.  As in--the set up that has been great for me could be much better.  The SRM 700T is the only Stax driver I have heard.  I just checked your profile, but you do not have headphones listed.  Please advise on better electrostatic amps you've heard.  Thanks

[Mercman]

47 minutes ago, PeterG said:

Ooo--I will file this under good news.  As in--the set up that has been great for me could be much better.  The SRM 700T is the only Stax driver I have heard.  I just checked your profile, but you do not have headphones listed.  Please advise on better electrostatic amps you've heard.  Thanks

It's not that I feel the SRM 700T is a bad amp; it reminds me of my SRM-007tII.  But there are better amps for the Stax 009,  007, and most likely, the X9000 phones.

 

I have a Headamp Blue Hawaii SE that I really like on my 009S and 007 MK1.  I have listened to the Stax SRM-T8000 and liked it better with the 007 and 009S than the 700T.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Josh Mound]

Excellent review!

[Bones13]

Wonderful review, thanks for the hard work! I love my SR009, and Dan Clark Voce, headphones on a BHSE. Endgame, for me. 
 

have you compared the 009S to either of these?

[Sajid Amit]

5 hours ago, JoshM said:

Excellent review!

Thank you 😊 

[Sajid Amit]

I have indeed compared the 009 to the 009S. While the 009 is wonderful and has an advantage in midrange, the 009S treble is more polite and bass hits a bit harder. Some say the S is more resolving, but even if it is, it’s not a night and day difference. 

[jamesjames]

Many thanks for the review.  I've owned the SR-009S for some years, and remain captivated by it.  I thought I would mention one or two points that might be of interest to others who share my tastes.  First, I wanted to say that the Stax hasn't altogether displaced my Sennheiser HD800S phones.  I listen exclusively to classical music, much of it hi-res, and exclusively on phones - the Stax and Sennheisers.  I use a Moon 430HA amp for both, with the addition of an iFi Pro iESL e-stat energiser in the case of the Stax.  Having used many of the most highly regarded conventional e-stat drivers, I must say the less conventional Moon/iFi combination appeals to me more than any other arrangement.  I also find the Moon a perfect match for the HD800S.  But a particular advantage of the Moon in both cases for me is that it includes an excellent analogue crossfeed circuit.  I've come to regard well-implemented analogue crossfeed as crucial to getting the best out of highly revealing phones like these - I really can't go back.  With these phones, the promise of crossfeed seems to be fully realised - with a wonderful recreation of the sound-stage apparently at some distance in front of me.  I'm sure this sounds like hyperbole, but I find it simply transports me every time with good recordings.  I had long thought the HD800S was particularly effective with crossfeed (and still do), but the Stax phones are also enthralling.  I find the HD800S has a wonderful directness sometimes missing with the Stax, and sometimes a more convincing timbre.  But I love them both.

Regards

James