recabling my Stax sr-009 to pure copper cable

It's been said that since Stax are largely capacitative devices, low cable capacitance is the most important parameter by far (more so than conductivity). That's why Stax makes the cables flat. And that's why traditional cable design "logic" doesn't fully apply here.

I think the vast majority of experienced Stax lovers are going to tell you that recabling is a bad idea.

And yes, the 009 can sound anywhere from mildly to annoyingly bright out of many drivers...including the BHSE. A KGST or (much better yet) a KGSShv Carbon is a better tonal match for the 009 and the new L700. The BHSE is a great tonal match for the 007. Amps make a HUGE difference in the quality of sound rendered by your 009. Much more so than with dynamic headphones. Much more so than even most speakers.

If you truly believe the silver coated wire is top blame for the brightness (I believe that it's 99% the transducer + amp), then maybe try one of the Stax all-copper extension cables and see what that does to the sound. 

Snibelsnabel:

Certainly the Stax 009 would benefit from a different cable. Perhaps only the Abyss headphones have been optimized by a headphone manufacturer. And I am of the opinion that the silver + copper wire gives you the worst of both worlds.

Modifying the cable may help but you will destroy the resale value.

Another approach is to decrease some of the noise getting to these sensitive headphones. Consider trying a Synergistic  Carbon Headphone Transducer (HOT) . It is a parallel filter that plugs into the headphone jack and then the headphone jack plugs into the HOT unit. It has helped the sound with my Sennheiser 800 and Enigmacoustic headphones.

It is sold with a 30 day trial.

What A/C wall outlet are you using? That Stax unit does not like a ordinary house plug,it will generate a lot of high frequency noise. I would consider a darkish sounding outlet such as the Oyaide R-1. Another consideration would be the Synergistic Research Teslaplex unit. The SR unit are especially nice in that they come with a 30 day trial with refund. The oyaide do show up used on Audiogon.

A Synergistic Research Black fuse in your amo will also help you problem with the Stax Hot sound.

I do think the above three additions to your system would greatly help your headphones.

David Pritchard

 I shun away from band-aids....replace the earphones with a pair to your liking.

I fully support the comment by stringreen. The Stax 009 are great phones (I know, I own them), but if you aren't happy with them, move on. There are any number of headphones available out there, surely one will be to your liking. I strongly advise against defacing the Stax phones as it will make them difficult to sell.