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That's why they call them spirits...I think.

The hobby is fucked, but it also opens up the opportunity for others to come in and sell stuff that isn't bullshit. That's kinda where we see stuff like ES Labs come in (though here in the US the tariffs make it harder, but that's another brand of bullshit). Basically, the old guard can go ahead and price themselves into the stratosphere, but smart people will take advantage of it and outcompete them. Or so I hope. Maybe it's just the booze talking. I'm usually not optimistic.

Not Leno. Leno hates Ferrari. Pretty epic stable whoever it is.

Didn't know Jay Leno was an audiophile.

"a bit of a car guy" Where did you learn such understatement? Would you like a Nice Cup of Tea?

Not yet open but I have one client, and he just happens to be a bit of a car guy. Every time I show up at his garage some new amazing car shows up. Came in today and these showed up. They also arrived with a new 911 Turbo S, but that was at his house.

Only this hobby? I'm at about 32% of my buying power, even though my income has actually increased; on top of a steady pension, i do work for select customers again, complimenting it. And i'm still at 32% of where i was 15 years ago (this in EU). Inflation may be steady in Japan, but prices have skyrocketed everywhere, in everything and impact them too. Was seriously doubting high quality given the MRSP, so this is the one thing i personally won't judge them on. Don't forget it's 2-3 grand in our local currencies, VAT in. In their local currency it's 275 grand. You think folks rush to buy it over there? Brands like Zanden, Kondo, Airtight, Ikeda, they're only for rich Westerners by now.. i'd rather STAX did not follow (no offense to anyone here, most really are high rollers, but the 9000's pricing was an insult to me; nice big middle finger for me to sit on).

RIP to a good one. Such a beautiful tribute by Virginia, who is beautiful herself.

Basically they found ways to make it a cheaper product to produce and are calling it a facelift. Makes sense why they couldn't even bother to make the cable color match. Pathetic. Between this and Audeze deciding to charge $1500 for a space port , this hobby is so fucked.

They are a bit more sensitive than a recent 007A when doing A-B comparisons but seem to be just as power hungry. I'd pick the two ES Lab sets over them at the current state of the set, they are both superior and better made too. I'd rather say the whole driver structure and diaphragm would impact the detail. It's not top end detail or something like that, it's small details which are buried deep in the mix... simply aren't there and readily apparent on the 007A. I could measure them but it's just a pointless exercise and tells just a part of the picture. Right now they are okey with the Kennerton pads and indeed, the difference in quality is staggering compared to the Stax. Thick leather that actually smells like it even though I've had these for years. One part I haven't touched on is the headpad... yeah it isn't great either and I suspect it might be a problem for some users. There is only about 10mm of travel for it until it reaches the arc, and that's after I've been bending it upwards. It's also way too thick and doesn't bend easily to the shape of the head. It also feels very cheap, worse than the 009 and X9000 pads.

That' true, this kind of ultrasonic edge-sealed earpads must be produced in Dongguan. They can be bought on 1688.com for about 100 Chinese yuan, customized earpads are also cheap, but I don’t like these industrially produced earpads, they all don’t sound good. This is indeed the role of kennerton pads, making OG 007 sound less dark and sharpening sound a bit, the Asia region does prefer brighter and sharper sounds, like hifiman and some audio-technica are of this type. But I usually don't change OG 007 pads when listening, cause OG earpads from manufacturers like Stax and Sennheiser are usually designed for specific tuning purposes, I regard them as various brand house styles. The residual value in the second-hand market can show some clues. The transaction price of 007A/mk2 in the second-hand market in China is usually around $1,000 or even lower, which is much cheaper than the price in Europe and US on head-fi. The price of 009 in China is generally $1,600-1,800, which is similar to Europe and US.

Welp. There goes that I guess. Be careful what you wish for. Hopefully it's mostly a pad issue and we'll find something that works eventually. How hard are these to drive compared to the older versions? How do they compare to the two new ES Labs headphones? Seems like that's going to be the closest competition. Also, would the increased acoustic damping, if that's indeed the case here vs the last gen, reduce resolution? Hopefully someone with a squiggle machine can post some squiggles. Technically I have one, but I'm not going to jump on these just yet.

The sound and the smell finally got to me so now they are like this: I believe these are Kennerton earpads and I fitted the dust screens from a set of old 007 pads inside them (as they didn't have anything at all). They are more aggressive now due to the smaller opening but at least the smell isn't killing me. I must say I'm a bit shocked by the stock Stax earpads as they are clearly just made by some Chinese OEM, the look and the feel is exactly like those 20$ pads you can find on Aliexpress. Same elastic material inside as dust cover too and they are not well made at all. The left and right pads don't match up fully with one being about 5mm off. Now knowing Stax these will be sold as replacement parts for 300$...

RIP Michael Madsen. Only 67. Enjoyed him in Quentin Tarantino movies in particular. https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/03/entertainment/michael-madsen-death

I think I'm forced to replace the earpads simply because of the foul stench... but they are clearly an issue. Everything sounds too boomy and hollow.

Thanks. I'm going to guess the larger inner diameter opening vs the 007mk1/A is contributing to the increase in brightness. If it fits, i have a sneaky feeling that putting the 007A earpads on this may get you back a lot closer to the tuning you usually love...worth a shot

The pads are slighly angled, similar to the older 007 ones and they are perfectly circular on the inside. I'm not thrilled with the quality of them (aside from the smell) and that vinyl back lip does point to a specific OEM in China. The pads simply pull off like the older units but are a bit more of a pain to install even though there is no spring as the housing doesn't rotate. That makes the top next to the headband rather annoying to deal with. Still no 009/X9000 in terms annoyance though. I've taken to doing A-B comparisons against the 007A and yeah, the older unit is much smoother and more coherent. Still the bass on the 007S is tuneful and "fun" plus the bright nature isn't overly annoying.

thanks for the early impressions. Are the earpads angled like the 007mk1/A? and is the inner opening circular (unlike the D shaped usual 007 pads openings)?

I don't think this is heat related as they've gone on at least 5 flights to get here and that cools anything right down. They are also factory fresh as they can be so no... this is from the earpads. The smell is bad enough that I've stopped listening to them.

We had that problem in Mark Levinson occasionally*; given STAX's attention to detail (even if it's directed to areas you disapprove of or resulting in outcomes not to your liking), i'd call it heat related. Maybe not where you're located, but shipping transit's a big factor, we do have a heat wave all over right now. * Polymers we were using for multiple years, no issue, would give off odors during heat waves, or when shipping companies fucked up and entire crates were left sitting in harbor a day or two, smack in direct sunlight. You may have a slight depolymerization ongoing. Once initiated.. too many factors to list here, plus folks like Kevin know their chemistry better than i do. Things to do: 1) Never unseal immediately, ideally give it 24hrs in your home's natural environment, so things can settle (too late for that now [oxygen can be a wonderful catalyst!]) 2) Headphone stand, 007s with the CPC-1 on, leave them somewhere airy for a day or two? Small fan would do. Regarding the burn-in, have some news for you, but statistically speaking, those that think it's placebo never get to change their minds, so shall refrain Would welcome further thoughts on the sound. Pension+wive overseeing the finances is a bit disallowing for some folks. Not me of course; nope. And some pad attaching pics please! May one tinker safely or not!

Well, they have arrived: First off, they smell terrible. I don't know what they are using in those new earpads but it smells awful, deep and nasty chemical smell. Might be the foam but yeah... this isn't great. Now for the new arc... ehhh it's alright. The fitment is similar to the old one and it does the job. I have the same problem as with all other 007's though, it's too wide for my rather gigantic head so I'll need to bend it bit to make it taller. Small thing and I'll get to check out how it is to manhandle it a bit. Now for the sound... I'm only a few tracks in but initial impressions were not great. Way too boomy but it settled down when I pressed the top of the drivers towards the head, hence the arc issue I always have. The port is gone though so get the fitment right and the bass should be just fine. In terms of tone they are not as bad as the X9000 or 009S, more forward than the 007A with a port mod though and the excellent depth perception of the older models might be lacking here. Not sure, need to do some listening but the sound is certainly more "in your face" than the older ones. They don't seem to have the resolution of the older one either, this is on my usual Denafrips Terminator and Carbon CC setup, and I have this distinct feeling that something is lacking. Now I know how all of the 007's sound like the back of my hand and detail that should be there... just isn't. It's subtle though. Sound stage is just fine but I have this nagging sensation that it isn't as precise as a nice 007Mk1 or Mk2/A. The sound is also not as smooth and balanced as the older ones. Push it with something demanding (now I'm playing Knopfler - Going Home) and this isn't brilliant. The whole fun bit about this song is to crank it a bit in volume once it gets going and it kinda falls apart, becomes harsh and grading while loosing cohesion. A good 007Mk1 can play this at stupid volume levels on this setup and no problems at all. Sorry for the stream of consciousness but I just wrote what came to mind. Overall... this is a much better effort than the X9000 though and time will tell how I get on with them. Not talking about burn in... that shit doesn't exist. Finally I grabbed the nearest 007 which just happened to be a Mk2.9 007A for comparison: The structure is clearly very different but I'll have to investigate further later on. Finally, that stench from the earpads is driving me fucking nuts!!

Chad Kassem of Acoustic Sounds is on Marc Maron’s winding down WTF podcast today. https://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1657-chad-kassem

(laughs in Clockwork Orange animated gif) LOLnope