[ricmiclaw]

Jude Very interesting review, but one BIG QUESTION for A BIG PRICED HEADPHONE.... Didn't they stop production and sales of this model due to finding dust or other contaminant  in between the film and metal plates that caused major problems???  If they did as I'm pretty sure I've read, was there any truth to these complaints?   Then my next question would have to be after paying 5200 bucks for a faulty Pr. of the "BEST EVER CANS" made but with serious problems have you heard how Stax has dealt with these sad buyers or are these people waiting for theirs to be repaired????? I know I would be pretty upset if I forked over that much money with the promise of owning the "BEST" then find out that they were faulty........   To tell you the truth and I don't own any Woo products but from what I've heard from owners is that "He"(Mr.Woo) takes pretty dang gone good care of his paying, repeat buying customers........   What's the old saying, " you make one great product (even a can of beans), and you'll sell a million, One bad product will loose you a WHOLE BUNCH of sales! Any comment....thanks again for showing us your excitement with these new Headphones!  

Fundamentally, you are right about the SR-009 having problems. I have one on order from Jack and received an e-mail from him a while back that Stax had stopped distribution for 60 days or something to that effect. The design was supposed to be fixed and the model reissued. I haven't received mine yet so I don't know what's going on beyond the above. I originally was going with a WES but decided that a fully tricked Woo Audio 5 and a WEE would better meet my overall needs. I'm expecting to hear from Jack most any day now.

 

[ericohgb]

Quote:

Fundamentally, you are right about the SR-009 having problems. I have one on order from Jack and received an e-mail from him a while back that Stax had stopped distribution for 60 days or something to that effect. The design was supposed to be fixed and the model reissued. I haven't received mine yet so I don't know what's going on beyond the above. I originally was going with a WES but decided that a fully tricked Woo Audio 5 and a WEE would better meet my overall needs. I'm expecting to hear from Jack most any day now.

My SR-009 also had the imbalance issue. Still waiting STAX to solve this issue. Regarding the 5K proce, it should not have happened.
Regards,
Erico
 

 

[alv4426]

Do you guys know who is giving the best prices for kidneys right now?
 

 

[n3rdling]

Cool review, they look so pretty

 

[ricmiclaw]

My SR-009 also had the imbalance issue. Still waiting STAX to solve this issue. Regarding the 5K proce, it should not have happened.
Regards,
Erico
 

Fortunately for me, the units Jack received were allocated to other people in front of me in the order queue. Jack said that I was to receive the next unit and I'm still waiting. I don't know if any of the people in front of me actually had problems with their SR-009s. Jack said that the problem affected 12% of the units made to that point. That means nearly 9 of 10 had no problems (or at least not that problem). Still, I consider myself lucky.

Regarding the price, you're right. Headphones at this price and much lower, too, should not fail. Nonetheless, we are all human and failures will occur. If the company treats the affected customers well, then I think the failures can be forgiven, but not if they treat affected customers poorly. We'll see what happens with the SR-009. Remember that Stax had a similar problem with the SR-007 and reissued a redesigned model as the SR-007MK2. I don't know how the affected customers felt about how they were treated by Stax at that time.

 

[NewMACAdress]

I just saw a link to 500 dollard d7k's and i'm crying right now. I feel like a child crying and throwing a fit about it but it hurts so bad.  

 

[dagothur]

So, all I have to do is get three jobs, sell bits of my vital organs and I'll have the best system ever!

 

[Spareribs]

Another great video from Jude. High quality gear is an investment so spending $10,000-$25,000 is normal. Compared to other expensive hobbies, it's within reason. Personally for me, I am not really a fan of the Stax headphones and would not buy one even if it were at a budget price. That being said, I have not heard this new headphone and I may eat my words and be highly impressed.
 
If anyone plans buying it, it is seriously recommended that you audition it. Just because many people love it, does not mean that you will. I do agree with Jude about quality amps. A great headphone or even a mere good quality headphone must have a kick ass amp. The Woo amps are wonderful and I tend to prefer the Woo designs more but again, audition if possible even if you have to fly out to a foreign city to a big Head-fi meet.
 
Lastly, think about your priorities, for that amount of money, you could buy a great speaker system. In my opinion, headphones no matter how great can never really give the joy that speakers give but again, I could be proven wrong and eat my words. Anyway, this is a fun and exciting hobby. The thrill of great gear is where it's at on Head-fi. 

 

[wdahm519]

Wow, nice review.  I really like how these are portrayed.  I need to start getting that Masters engineering salary going so I can afford the SR-009/WES or Blue.  
 
Jude, can you comment on the sound signatures of the WES and Blue Hawaii with the SR-009?

 

[Moostrkraaft]

First post! Weird cuz I feel like I know this place, but I finally have some understanding about high-end headphones (thank you Head-Fi and my new equipment). I can accept that the SR-009 might be the best headphones ever, but would it be better than say having an LCD-2, HD-800, HE-6, and JH-16s all at the same time? I've found in my experience in listening and reading Head-Fi that multiple headphones win over one, simply because one headphone might do well for one song and another might sound better for another song. To me, it seems like multiple dudes ganging up on one, which seems completely unfair. On another note, Jude owns the camera! Thanks for everything!

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

Another great video from Jude. High quality gear is an investment so spending $10,000-$25,000 is normal. Compared to other expensive hobbies, it's within reason.

The bank will give you a loan for that new sports car or boat though.  You've got to drop that 12k in one hit.  Walk in to a bank and tell them you need a loan for your headphone rig and see what kind of stares you get.

 

[milosolo]

Very nice review thank you Jude! It's out of this mid-fier's budget but it's still cool to hear about ultra high-end gear like this. Otoh as someone earlier said this could be a very good value when compared to the Sennheiser Orpheus system. Oh, and don't forget to budget the ~$2k in cables you'll need for it. Seeing this makes it a lot easier for me to justify a nice LCD2/amp system!

 

[Satellite_6]

~$2k in cables. 

 
Even if I had the money I think I'd pass on this. . . I'll stick to solid state amps, dynamic headphones, and lowly stock cables. 

 

[dagothur]

Quote:

~$2k in cables. 

 

Jitter-free purified silver with lambskin sheathing to prevent bass flabbiness, of course.

 

[zero7525]

Oh man, it BEATS the Orpheus? 
I'm impressed, considering the Orpheus set is $20,000 while this only totals to about $10,000