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Need some advice on Stax sr-lambda earspeakers

I just picked up a pair of Stax sr-lambda earspeakers/headphones and a Stax SRD-7 energizer. I bought the combo, in what was my first internet auction, without fully researching them. Probably one of my worst impulse buys in a long time, given that their apparent (?) resale value is significantly lower than what i paid, though at least they seem from the photos and description to be in excellent condition and were purchased from a very reputable ebay source to boot. I actually paid somewhat more as a result of accidentally outbidding myself several times in a row in small increments!

Having paid what was due, I have no choice but to await my first electrostats. Can someone offer any unbiased review comments of this combo and especially of the earspeakers themselves (not the energizer)? What about their used value in excellent condition? As an owner of Sennhesier HD600's with the cardas headphone cable, am I in for sheer disappoint or on the contrary, goosebumps of delight?

My audiophile interests are primarily classical chamber (especially string, piano, and wind quartets, quintets, and trios - in roughly that order), followed by a significant though lesser interest in classic jazz and avant garde/contempory music.

Right now my main source is a Linn Ikemi being fed through Cardas cross interconnects by a Bryston B60 integrated amp, whose headphone out drives the Sennheisers (I also owned a headroom Max in late nineties but it was thefted!). Lately I'm also using a Sony dvp-s9000es player for SACD, and plan to have it modded.

Am I a fool to dream?

What about upgrading the srd-7 to something high end such as a the SRM-007t or Mk II? Will such amps be cost efficient sonic improvements of the sr-lamba?

Owners - past or present - of the sr-lambda (normal bias, not "pro"), please
share your experience listening to acoustic recordings, and please offer any further tips regarding the best and/or most cost effective upgrade path toward sonic I should take right now given a modest budget of *less* than $2000, such path hopefully lead to a great headphone rig that is as musical and harmonically coherent as it is revealing and transparent. I could accept a significant compromise in bass weight as long as critical listening for the music itself were not compromised severely as well.

In anticipation of the several responders who always pop up in threads to remind posters of the availability ample archive material on this subject, or to remind them of places such as head-fi.org, I'll point out that there is very little on the subject of the relative strengths of the the various vintage/heritage 6-pin "Normal Bias" earspeakers (as opposed to the "PRO" bias 5-pin ones), and even less on the subject of how close the more recent Stax SR-404 or sr-404 "signature" models come, to the earspeakers I just purchased, if the sr-lambda are mated with the correct amp and fed by the right source.

All I could find on head-fi and through googling were a handful of mostly off-topic threads describing the pro or lambda signature models, plus one thread on head-fi claiming that the Sr-lambda driven by the srm-007t amp sounds "nearly as good" as the sr-404 driven my the same amp. I believe someone said that the sr-404's so driven sounded "noticeably better than the sr-lambda (again not pro), but not too much better", about the same quality divide as that separating the sennheiser hd600 and the hd600. (he mentioned his "friend" finding the the two electrostats differed by even less.

Are the sr-lamda earpeakers considered for pure acoustic music, than say sr-4, sr-5, or sr-x mentioned in another thread? If so , Please qualify. Even googling for "sr-lamba", or "sr lambda" has yielded reviews and discussions of the sr-lamdo PRO or signature models. Neither "simply stax" nor audiocube.c0m contained many references at all to this particular earpspeaker.

ted
tedd1

Showing 2 responses by plato

plato
1,543 posts
 
As I recall, the SR Lambdas (which I owned for a while in the mid 80's) sounded extended in the treble and anemic in the bass. This gave them a somewhat thin and analytical balance. But I think that pairing them with a warm sounding tube amp (into the SRD-7) could give you a better balanced and more musical sound. Going with a lean-sounding solid-state amp might be the worst-case scenario.

The old SR-X had a bit more bass and a more neutral balance, as I recall; never heard the SR-4; the SR-5's sounded peaky in the lower highs. Another of the older Stax phones I liked quite a bit was a model called the "New SR-3". These had a great midrange and a nice balance but were a little weak in the bass. Highs were non-irritating and pleasing, although not the most revealing.

I'm presently using the Stax 404 phones with the 006t tube amp and like that combo quite a bit although I know the 007t has a bit more dynamic bloom. The 404 phones have better bass extension than the old Lambdas and have nice high frequency detailing without sounding overly analytical.

As far as I know, the going price for a set of the original Lambdas with the SRD-7 Energizer is somewhere around the $300 price point.

I hope this helps.
plato
1,543 posts
 
Hi Ted,

I never compared the Senheiser phones directly to the Stax, so I can't tell you how they compare. All I can say is that I really like the Stax and when I heard the Senheiser HD650s at the recent CES, I was fairly unimpressed -- I also heard the Stax there and liked them.

I don't think you'll need anthing extra for your hookup. My SRD-7 was hardwired for the signal leads and you had to supply your own speaker cables to bypass the Energizer and switch to regular speakers. I used the SRD-7 with a modified Dyna Stereo 70 and that worked pretty well for me.

That said, I have always preferred to listen to my speakers over the headphones. The binaural effect is interesting, but to me it's not that realistic. Plus, with phones, you miss that bass impact and dynamic slam. With good speakers you can feel as well as hear the music.

I recently put together a nice small-room system that I think you'd agree (if you heard it) kills most headphones out there. I have a set of the new Silverline Prelude speakers powered by some small Dignity Audio 300B amps and it's just an amazingly vibrant and musical system. It's also one that is very reasonably priced.

My main caveat with it so far is that I get a fair amount of mechanical hum from the Dignity amps. I have a power conditioner coming that is supposed to address this problem, taking any DC component off the AC line. If it works as hoped, I'll be a very happy camper. The system won't play at LOUD levels with only 8 watts per channel, but at low and moderate levels it is really hard to beat. I just thought I'd throw that in for you to consider.

And yes, let me know how you like the Lambdas once you have a chance to listen.
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