[John Buchanan]

Meanwhile, Edifier plots from above... Small companies digging themselves out of bankruptcy tend to do what their umbrella saviours signal them to do, no matter how much freedom they claim to have.

I can understand this - in Australia, there seems to be a extraordinarily large number of companies going under at the moment. IMHO, COVID reduced their profitability to near or less than zero and the recovery hasn't seen enough financial stability to save them from debts incurred, which have finally been foreclosed (e.g. Bonza airlines and music festivals).

 

[Chefguru]

Looks like Justin from headamp confirmed that the 007 and L300 are discontinued. If they don’t release a mk3 the mk1/mk2 is about to sky rocket

 

[catscratch]

I've read that the x9000 and 007 are the models that sell. So dumping the 007 makes no sense unless there's something new in the works.

007 is an anachronistic design, the lack of fully articulating earcups and the asinine pad mounting mechanism are two obvious points that need to be fixed. The tuning could also be improved by which I mean make it more 007 mk1-like. The current-gen 007 has strong resonances at 950hz and 1.5khz, and heavily overemphasized treble past 10k. Both things should be fixed.

Yeah, the used market will explode, but fortunately there are lots of them out there, and very few people have the amp it takes to drive them. Both of those things will probably keep prices at least slightly in check.

It's well past time someone else started making estats with both sensible tuning and pricing.

 

[Chefguru]

I've read that the x9000 and 007 are the models that sell. So dumping the 007 makes no sense unless there's something new in the works.

007 is an anachronistic design, the lack of fully articulating earcups and the asinine pad mounting mechanism are two obvious points that need to be fixed. The tuning could also be improved by which I mean make it more 007 mk1-like. The current-gen 007 has strong resonances at 950hz and 1.5khz, and heavily overemphasized treble past 10k. Both things should be fixed.

Yeah, the used market will explode, but fortunately there are lots of them out there, and very few people have the amp it takes to drive them. Both of those things will probably keep prices at least slightly in check.

It's well past time someone else started making estats with both sensible tuning and pricing.

Part of the issue is that the mk2 fixed a structural issue with the mk1's cable (a port), which resulted in a mid-bass hump. Stax may think this is a good trade from an engineering perspective.

I've owned several mk1's and have found that there are very small physical differences between the serials over time - some of which have been identified like the ring size of the pad being different, but for instance, the 712xx I have, has a different material for the dust guard than the 700xx I have. Technically the sz1 mk1 looks to be almost identical to the 71xxx but they sound different (are the sz1 drivers tuned differently?). It all feels very unintentional and thus, unrepeatable.

I would happily welcome a 007 mk3 with the x9000 headband, non-articulating earcups, and detachable cables for $2250-3000. But part of me thinks that Stax would rather trip the 007 as a "lesser" x9k instead of a side-step flagship at a lower price point (which is what it was currently). Kind of frustrating because this is exactly why Stax has been so unique - the 007,009,x9k justify their existence separate from price points/ and are not simply derivatives of the flagship.

 

[catscratch]

Part of the issue is that the mk2 fixed a structural issue with the mk1's cable (a port), which resulted in a mid-bass hump. Stax may think this is a good trade from an engineering perspective.

I've owned several mk1's and have found that there are very small physical differences between the serials over time - some of which have been identified like the ring size of the pad being different, but for instance, the 712xx I have, has a different material for the dust guard than the 700xx I have. Technically the sz1 mk1 looks to be almost identical to the 71xxx but they sound different (are the sz1 drivers tuned differently?). It all feels very unintentional and thus, unrepeatable.

I would happily welcome a 007 mk3 with the x9000 headband, non-articulating earcups, and detachable cables for $2250-3000. But part of me thinks that Stax would rather trip the 007 as a "lesser" x9k instead of a side-step flagship at a lower price point (which is what it was currently). Kind of frustrating because this is exactly why Stax has been so unique - the 007,009,x9k justify their existence separate from price points/ and are not simply derivatives of the flagship.

Yeah, with Stax price was never indicative of performance, and even a lot of their lower-end stuff could give you world-class sound in the right rig. That made them unique, but I also feel like it hasn't stopped being the case up to now. I hope they continue that trend, and I'm not gonna say the sky is falling until I see it hit the ground.

My 71xxx 007 was pretty much the only headphone that sounded completely flat and neutral to me using a sine sweep - not even the hd650 is totally neutral - and it never sounded by ear like a lot of the SZ1 frequency responses you see posted. It was much more linear. Sadly I'm using "was" since after 10 or so years of daily use it got a bit worn out, but hopefully someday I can have it reconditioned, or maybe pick up another one. And before anyone jumps down my throat, this was 15 years ago and it was just another headphone back then. I never would daily something like that now for obvious reasons.

The earlier SR-003 / SR-001 mk2 also sounded very accurate but the comfort was unbearable. The new one by all accounts doesn't sound the same.

They knew how to tune them once upon a time. Sadly those times are gone apparently. But hey, at least we have EQ.

I have some hopes for the SR-X1 but we'll have to wait and see as usual.

 

[number1sixerfan]

Not really tied to the above convo, but still sharing as I'm listening to the 007 before a trip later. I know I've been in many 009 vs. 007 battles in this thread and others in my lifetime lol, but every time I put on the 007 through the T2 (this matters a lot, and I'm not saying with partial favor to the T2, but they are one of few headphones that are actually night and day with more power and ample amplification), there's a smile on face. And I just upgraded my DAC and it just sounds heavenly.

I've realized over the past few years that my biggest gripe is how they fit on my head. Rotating the cups, I can nearly get a full seal, but not entirely full. I've bent the headband and have rotated the cups optimally and still I just can't get 100% full seal. FYI, I have a normal to smallish head. It's really frustrating. Would love if they fixed the fit issue in a future iteration. Also if anyone has any other tips, I'm all ears.

 

[Svperstar]

I've realized over the past few years that my biggest gripe is how they fit on my head. Rotating the cups, I can nearly get a full seal, but not entirely full. I've bent the headband and have rotated the cups optimally and still I just can't get 100% full seal. FYI, I have a normal to smallish head. It's really frustrating. Would love if they fixed the fit issue in a future iteration. Also if anyone has any other tips, I'm all ears.

Get circular flat pads that form a seal. I got some Brainwave, work great for me

 

[number1sixerfan]

Get circular flat pads that form a seal. I got some Brainwave, work great for me

Really appreciate that! I saw people were pad swapping, but it seemed mostly looking for improvement in sound. The seal is also about comfort, so if I can improve that it'll be a bonus, in addition to I'm sure tighter/better bass and sound overall (like the small improvement after bending the frame).

 

[Svperstar]

Really appreciate that! I saw people were pad swapping, but it seemed mostly looking for improvement in sound. The seal is also about comfort, so if I can improve that it'll be a bonus, in addition to I'm sure tighter/better bass and sound overall (like the small improvement after bending the frame).

I got these, they also have cooling gel that actually works too, CRBN feels super hot.

These flats form a seal, Dekoni pads did not for me

Brainwavz Gaming Earpads for Razer Kraken & Other Gaming Headsets & AKG 701 Q701 & Other Headphones (See List, Dimensions & Video), Cooling Gel, Memory Foam, Micro Suede, XL Round Black https://a.co/d/eVthWbR

 

[Chefguru]

Not really tied to the above convo, but still sharing as I'm listening to the 007 before a trip later. I know I've been in many 009 vs. 007 battles in this thread and others in my lifetime lol, but every time I put on the 007 through the T2 (this matters a lot, and I'm not saying with partial favor to the T2, but they are one of few headphones that are actually night and day with more power and ample amplification), there's a smile on face. And I just upgraded my DAC and it just sounds heavenly.

I've realized over the past few years that my biggest gripe is how they fit on my head. Rotating the cups, I can nearly get a full seal, but not entirely full. I've bent the headband and have rotated the cups optimally and still I just can't get 100% full seal. FYI, I have a normal to smallish head. It's really frustrating. Would love if they fixed the fit issue in a future iteration. Also if anyone has any other tips, I'm all ears.

Is your headband loose? I’ve trimmed mine in the past to make sure it’s very tight fit.

I have a better seal if the pads are rotated slightly downward (so seam is like 30* more down tilted) and as the pads heat up they seem to have a strong suction.

 

[icnaiwhimor1975]

007a was discontinued

I just recently bought 007a, now I’ll just wait)

 

[aokman]

Ok so this summarises a few weeks of work which I can share with everyone, long story short I have been pursuing the EDCOR transformers and also pursuing another avenue which is to "team up" 2 Lundahl LL1630PP's to improve low frequency saturation performance. Results seem very good for the Lundahl's so far, EDCOR's im not so sure about, larger transformers seem too have quite a limited bandwidth range and yet to find one that will perform nicely without external resistors and other compensation done to them.

The Lundahl LL1630's are just so well behaved out of the box without any modifications and have a very wide frequency range (if it matters to you outside the audible range). Regardless I have been growing my database of amplifiers tested with the Lundahls, added more information on the saturation point of using 2 x 1630s together and will continue working on it after this video but this exercise is getting costly to say the least and really appreciate working with etc6849 and bouncing things off each other as we test different setups...

As it stands the Lundahl LL1630's are winning in my setup but I would like to try other high end Lundahl offerings once I narrow down what else to try, I'll keep pursuing the EDCOR transformers because I'm stuck with them, but my hopes of having a relatively linear transformer from 10Hz to 30Khz seems very optimistic currently.

I'm trying to be as transparent as possible, testing as many variations as possible to sanity check all my work. Due to the signal chain from source > amplifier > transformer, even small changes in frequency response at the start of the chain can have dramatic effects by the end of the run and that includes using XLR vs RCA... The recent addition of a very nice Audio Analyser has helped me a lot with this...

I will just add that many amplifiers come and go from my possession so things aren't the same every time, currently the NEC A-10X and Yamaha AST-A10 are serving as my bench amplifiers for testing. The NEC A-10X is a massive amplifier that can push through pretty much anything with its high current design and the is reflected in the high frequency results. The Yamaha AST-A10 is a quirky amplifier that is generally more linear but has a sharp cut off at 15hz as shown in graphs

 

[number1sixerfan]

Is your headband loose? I’ve trimmed mine in the past to make sure it’s very tight fit.

I have a better seal if the pads are rotated slightly downward (so seam is like 30* more down tilted) and as the pads heat up they seem to have a strong suction.

Yea, I rotate the pads downward too, it helps a bit. I haven't tried doing anything to the headband, but yea it has always been a bit loose. Will look into a few of these changes and see if I can improve the fit and report back.

 

[gammi]

Ok so this summarises a few weeks of work which I can share with everyone, long story short I have been pursuing the EDCOR transformers and also pursuing another avenue which is to "team up" 2 Lundahl LL1630PP's to improve low frequency saturation performance. Results seem very good for the Lundahl's so far, EDCOR's im not so sure about, larger transformers seem too have quite a limited bandwidth range and yet to find one that will perform nicely without external resistors and other compensation done to them.

Thanks for all your data on this. Much appreciated.

One thing I didn't gather from your video, in the dual configuration, gain is still 14:1 like in single, right?
Also in regards to impedance dropping in the dual config, speaker amps probably like it since it's around 4 Ohm and they're designed for that. Headphone amps not so much though.

 

[Aspirant Audiophile]

I just recently bought 007a, now I’ll just wait)

Two words: futures contract.