STAX L500 Mk. 2 / L700 Mk. 2 Electrostatic Headphone Review
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- čas přidán 18. 06. 2019
- STAX's 2019 refresh of the popular L500/L700 Lambda e-stat headphones come with welcome improvements.
• Check them out in-store:
L500 www.minidisc.com.au/stax-sr-l...
L700 www.minidisc.com.au/stax-sr-l...
We're Minidisc, Australia and New Zealand's favourite personal audio store. Since 2002 we've been putting smiles on people's faces with headphones, digital audio players, amplifiers and DACs. Visit us in store and online at www.minidisc.com.au/ - Věda a technologie
FINALLY after all those years
Such a big fan of this presentation. On point 👌TY
Great to see you here Lachlan!
they are nice. I want the L700MK2.
Very useful review! I considered picking up the L700MKII, because I've always had a bit of a crush on the Lambda series, though I've never listened to any. But considering that I'm pretty treble sensitive (Had to mod my first gen Beyerdynamic T1's when I had those), I'm starting to think that they sadly wouldn't be for me.
Thank you for the information!
I wish they would make a staxs sr-009s mk2 and a staxs l5100 mk2
I want to try!
Nice sounds like almost all good news! Though I'm thinking of "downgrading" from the L-series to the 003 to save 💰 and also for comfort (I don't like clamp).
You seemed pretty positive in the 002 review from what I remember, so I'm guessing they'd be pretty comparable in SQ, especially since I don't really care for large soundstage and prefer a bit less highs, so hoping is not really a downgrade at all.
I think the 003 is definitely a warmer, thicker sound. Still STAX, but yes definitely a bit less high extension, especially with the closed covers. I'm not sure they are more comfortable though...
I remember demoing an L500 with a D10 for the first time at a mall. It was noisy, so I had to turn the volume up and the distortion was pretty obvious. If you're coughing up the money for a STAX setup, it's probably not worth it to skimp on the driver unit.
I have l300 with the ear piece 3d extensions with much larger pads soft great not sweaty but I've tried the 700 lovely at a price maybe one day
Regarding the mentioned gap and wearing glasses is this a problem?
You are awesome Lachlan, thanks for the review! I am very curious about differences between energizers. I know from your past videos that you did try the 252S and the 353X, do you perceive substantial differences in signature using the flagship T8000? Does it help adding a bit more bass presence and smoothen the sound of the lambdas? I am asking because I own the original L700 with a 353X, and while it is a spectacular setup, I do find the treble to be a bit hard and the bass a little too liquid, not punchy enough and not enough in quantity.
Danilo Bonina , Three things for you to consider, 1) output Voltage, 2) solid state vs tubes and 3) Stax ear speaker all sound different within the line up. Once you’ve settled on the Stax ear speakers you like the general sound of, then mate it up with tubes or ss. as it will make the more discernible difference. As to your direct question, driven within any energizer’s limits, the T8000 will sound no better than any other energizer, this is were V output comes in, harder to drive head speakers will sound like crap with lower voltage energizers.
I didn't know Stax is sold in Minidisc now...
hey I'm thinking of getting my first set of electrostatic headphones! how would the L500 mk2 pair with the SRM D50 dac amp? thinking of getting that because its an all in one and don't have to buy an amplifier and also a separate dac to use
thanks
Thanks !
Good job
I like the somewhat more portable and practical design. I want to get one pair of stax one day - ones that can be lugged around with me if needed and not sitting inside a case forever after a few uses. Convenience, however impractical, is key...
STAX SR003MkIII + D10 is the answer
Hi great video ..and i think you've turned me onto these headphones ....I have a question though is the D10 Volume control able to set L & R at different volumes ? i have hearing loss in my right ear so to get a balanced sound for me i have to have the right channel higher than the leftfor headphones and i have a normal headphone amp that can do that but not for the Stax which i understand is a different kind of amlifyer ..can i do that with the D10 ??
Hi Eazy, only the larger Stax drivers (the ones with two outputs for headphones) have a volume control that lets you change the balance.
@@MinidiscAu thanks for the answer
You know cybermen from doctor who? You looked like one of them 😂 👍
129 $ shouer tape hybrid , I wonder how it compares. Bass wise it will win for sure.
The tape is not a true estat unlike Shure KSE1500 and SR002
Great review ! Do you think Stax SR-L700mk2 + SRM-D50 is a good combo to listen metal and classical music ? I was thinking to buy a HD800S, but i don't know if Stax will be better…
You mentioned exactly the 2 genres that might sound great on stax setups. Typically, for metal people look for headphones that are clear, slightly on the bright side, to have speed and good bite on the distorted instruments (Grado headphones were a typical choice for the genre, but Stax is a totally different level, eats Grado for breakfast). And classical music absolutely shines on Stax, with incredible realism and clarity, and a level of resolution that is off the chart, unthinkable with any dynamic driver headphones. Just keep in mind these are not warm headphones, if you like a lot of bass in the sound they are not for you, or you can equalize them, these drivers have such negligible levels of harmonic distortion that they take eq-ing phenomenally and you can boost the bass to your liking.
So i tested HD800S and Stax SR L700mk2. Stax is much better. :)
Issekinicho , great! what energizer was driving the L700 you heard?
@@daniluzzu Stax D50
Cool.
I don’t think you have reviewed the neumann headphones yet. perhaps in the future you should. I’m looking for good sealing closed-backs that can rival the HD650 and actual studio speakers like the genelec/eve audio/geithain... Although it may not be completely possible without the heavy use of DSP-e.g. sonarworks, TB isone, TB morphit
Studio monitors are just so much convenient if you have the right space and listening room setup/treatments. When I have the option, I almost always prefer speakers now - although still love playing around with different headphones - you could say they are still my first driver design “love” since back in the day.
I heard them briefly in Japan! They are pretty good, and seemed quite Sennheiser-y with the midrange presentation.
@@MinidiscAu very promising to hear that. thanks!
If Zeos was here “they aren’t headphones they are ear speakers”
Are the L700 comfortable when wearing glasses? Can you enjoy them for a longer listening session without your ears starting to hurt from the preassure of the pads? I have that problem with my beloved Grados. Also will wearing glasses affect the sound?
They have large ear pads and usually do not push on people’s ears, but thicker glasses may be uncomfortable with them or break the seal.
I always wear my thinner glasses when wearing stax, although I can bear my thicker ones.
These are more comfortable than any grado I've tried. I have thin-frame glasses.
Hi I have the L700 Mk 1 and I cannot buy new ones just because of the better yokes, but they did break, and the new aluminium yokes won't fit the old Mk 1. Good luck everyone with the Mk2
Website says it does retrofit with the mk1.
@@De132an hi stax japan said i could not use the aluminium
Yoram Diamand Hi, Staxaudio.com. USA says they can be used on the mk1. Maybe it’s different in Japan? I cannot confirm it to be 100% factual as I’m only going from what I read on the Stax website. I have not tried to replace my plastic ones. I would send email to inquire if you are wanting to replace your set. As for me, I won’t bother to replace unless mine had broken, I’m not sure it would make that much of a difference for most people unless you have a rather small or rather large head diameter. Good luck.
L300 mk2 when? 😆
l300 ltd?
😳 thy look massive ...
It's always a pleasure to listen Lachlan. However, the information given about D10 can be misleading here. D10 is a driver unit for the earspeakers which are easy to drive. Using T8000 or D10 wouldn't make a HUGE difference for those models. Almost all kinds of Lambdas, SR003 do pair good with D10. However, the models which follow the old tradition of SR-Ω are relatively harder to drive than Lambdas. I've tried D10 with my 007mkII, the sound quality dropped off to ridiculous levels, the sound quality was at best on par with 100$ headphones. It's just a portable unit, it can't offer huge voltage swings. That said, D10 is an almost no compromise design. They are using a high-tech amplifier chip which is used on Apache helicopters, the DAC inside has one of the best DAC chips in the market. The omegas are just ridiculously hard to drive.(Especially 007) There is NO STAX amp currently made by STAX which can drive 007 or 009 Omegas(yes 009 too) In short, if you have big budget and aim to get Omegas, do not get D10. Or you'll get a veiled, dark sound which is full of distortion & noise eating up all the detail coming from headphones.
Definitely a good point. To be clear, the Omega series is noticeably harder to drive and we generally don’t try to do it with the D10 :P there’s sadly not too much technical information about the D10 out there, may I ask where you got yours?
@@MinidiscAu technical part: Kevin Gilmore(KG amps) & Spritzer(Mjolnir Audio), i've tried D10 to drive my MkII too.
DAC chip: ESS ES9018 DAC
Op amp: TI OPA1642
They got the amplifier chip from: www.apexanalog.com/
Time for another dramatic goodbye
They literally look like a pair of walkie talkies
they are not headphones, they are earspeakers, a name henceforth i shall call all headphones as its a more accurate description of them
Sibilance is a fault from the source!
it looks you tape some walkman on your head....sadsadsadsadsadsadsfdf
Meh. Don't waste money on the L's. Go SR or go home. Having a small soundstage sucks :(
STAX is too expensive! Half the price would be okay ... you can sell as twice as much to compensate! Kill your rivalz with a lower price!
The ugliest design
Estás en el canal equivocado, los auriculares son para escuchar no para que se vean bonitos.