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This is what the thread is about. Detroit Style Pizza! With a BIG pepperoni. 🤩

Swapped back to the AT cartridge and did some listening this evening!

I drove past this sight and had to turn around and take pics. Thickest and largest slabs I've ever seen in person. As I drove away, I saw the stump where this big boy came down.

Preparing an old style active battery with LEDs. I've decided to make separate boards to test them separately from the main amplifier. Small changes in the AB: 1. replaced 2SC3381 with HN4C51J - I've measured them and they are very good dual bjts with very close halves. 2. replaced 2SA1486 with 2SA1413. The same transistor with different case. Power dissipation here is close to zero, so I decided to leave 1486 for hotter places 🙂 3. 2SK246 -> 2SK208. The similar situation here with the same transistor in a different package. 4. LEDs are LTL-4221NLC

Homework! The interview I had earlier this week gave me homework, so that's a good sign.

Finished, with minutes to spare a set of these. Kasia asked, of course, why there are two openers on each and the answer, of course, was because this is fucking Head Case. and not that I gave fuck all thought to where screws were coming through the front when laying out the keyholes in the back

I promise to make more photos when my AB test stand will look better. And thanks for your words! It will be soon. I use 2SK208-GR. It is the same as 2SK246-GR, of cource except the thermal parameters. No, the only reason is that I already had them) There is no high voltage around them or high current through them.

Working on party favors for a little headphone/craft beer nerd get together this weekend. Took forever to cut the 3D rendering of the logo but all done and used the new keyhole bit to cut keyholes for mounting on the back. Putting sealer on tonight so I can finish with boat varnish tomorrow. Then just add the bottle openers and done.

I’m going to post this in its own thread as so many people are asking me for X9000 impressions, and it makes sense to have them somewhere where they are easy to find. I was also going to take some pictures to add to this review but I’m just wiped. Might add some later if these ever present storms let up for some good light. I’ve now had the SR-X9000 here for over a week so time for a writeup... as my email inbox is full of people asking for just that. 🙂 First impressions were very promising, the build quality is superb, and those drivers are just a marvel to behold. I do like the new replaceable cables even, though it is a bit of a copy of the King Sound setup, and they really should include a 2.5m cable and a 5m one, the 1.5m makes no sense to me. The earpads might be a tad too big in terms of open area for their own good but they are well made and comfy. That new arc design is also excellent, far better than the 009 mess. The inspiration from the SR-Omega is clear but the build quality here is far, far better. Same loose feeling fit too; they mostly just hang off the head with minimal clamping. I really like how they drew inspiration from them, but I also have some issues with how that was executed… more about that later. The system I’ve been using them in is my main rig, Denafrips Terminator DAC feeding a Carbon CC all being fed from my main PC. Now for the sound, these are clearly voiced in the same direction as the 009/009S but not as horribly colored as those two. They sound open and lively with decent bass and the forward slant is there but far better than the predecessors. I remember thinking… “these are what the 009’s should have been 11 years ago” so yeah, not bad at all. For some recordings they really work but yeah… a few tracks in and the cracks began to show. A bit of a backstory, I’ve likened buying Stax to being in an “abusive relationship” for the last 15 years. Back in 2007 they brought us the 007Mk2’s with all of their issues. Sure, they could be fixed easily enough with some blutac but yeah it was a sign of things to come. At CanJam it was confirmed there was a new version of the 007Mk2’s out and they were even worse (the Mk2.5 as we called them), the blutac helped but could not fix the terrible voicing. Then it was announced a new flagship was incoming and the SR-009 landed in 2011. Now we all remember the clusterfuck that was, drivers failing left and right and forward sound with pitiful bass response… yeah, I’m not a fan. One bright spark was in 2014 when I got a new set of 007Mk2’s and they had clearly been changed for the better. The port finally kind of worked and the voicing was more like the Mk1’s. Then we got the limited edition 009BK (2016?) which I found to be a small improvement over the 009 but still that same sound and finally the 009S is 2018. Less said about them the better, quickest I’ve ever sold one of my flagship phones there… That brings us to the present and since the wait for the SR-X9000 was so long, I had time to bolster my collection to compare against them. I got a used set of 009S just to make sure I didn’t like them (that was still the case), a Voce (not arrived yet due to some shipping snafu’s) and finally the one I really wanted, a SR-Omega with early 007 Mk1 drivers. I had a set a decade or so ago and it’s really the only set of headphones I truly regret selling. I also got my final set of Audeze CRBN’s to compare against the new kid on the block. I had a lot of fun doing so and after a few hours I gravitated to a direct A-B test of the SR-Omega/007 against the X9000. Makes sense as they are a similar idea, put a more modern driver into that same basic housing design. That did reveal the two main issues with the X9000’s, the bright edge to everything which is just borderline annoying and more distracting than anything. Second are the imaging issues… First off, the brightness, with the 009’s they were really intolerable, and I’ve never been able to just sit down and enjoy a listening session with 009’s. It’s not that bad here but it’s always present. Some tracks it just blends in and becomes part of the sound while on others it stands out and takes away from the immersion. What makes it worse is that there is no logic to which tracks have that edge to them, bright ones which I would expect to have it… well it just blends in while darker ones have it. Must be a resonance issue as there is so little damping here. Now with the imaging, I think Stax made a mistake having the outside screen angled like that. On the SR-Omega it is perfectly parallel with the drivers but on the X9K, it is maybe 3mm further out towards the front. This or some part of the driver structure might be the culprit for the odd imaging. Let me clarify, they throw a large soundstage but it’s very much a “three blob affair”. Nothing wrong with that really but it’s the front imaging which sounds off for me. It’s all a bit to distant and boxed in while not being as focused as the 007 soundstage. When you pick up on it, it becomes very apparent and distracting. As comparison, let’s take the SR-Omega and SR-007Mk2. The SR-Omega throws a wide soundstage but it’s all a bit loose and diffused. Now the 007’s (all of them really) have a much tighter, more focused soundstage which also does something unique, there are layers to it. With the SR-X9000 it’s more like the SR-Omega (which makes sense) but more localized to the three blobs and the middle one has that odd boxed in effect while being a bit distant. Now other than these two things, these are well made and high performing sets, but these two things annoy me enough for them to not make my top/best ever list. The SR-007’s are more laid back and “darker” but also more neutral and truer to the original sound. The SR-Omega/007 is a more fun and looser version of that sound but those slight deficiencies just make them a welcome change, doesn’t make them any less neutral. They simply act as a bridge bringing those two sounds together, absolute purity of the 007 with the more warm and loose nature of the SR-Omega. I feel I should also talk a bit about the new kid on the block, the Audeze CRBN. Now I’ve had a few of them here, prototype units to the final production version and it really is the antithesis of the SR-X9000 is terms of fit and sound. The CRBN is snug as it hugs your head with thick and supple earpads. The sound is far more damped so it is darker but still very open and expansive. Now they aren’t perfect, they have that slight issue with the midrange presence due to the heavy damping, but it is minor overall. They are really what the HE90 could have been back in the day, more diffused than the 007’s but with proper bass. Nice way to tie back the 007's were always being compared to the HE90 back in the day. Lastly, how are they to drive. Well… as one would expect with a driver this size, they need a lot of power to behave. That brightness will quickly get out of control, especially at higher volume levels when the headphones don’t have enough power behind them. I’ve only tried them on a couple of amps so far so I’ll need more time with that, but I’d say powerful and neutral amps will suit these just fine. Conclusion/TL; DR These are good but not as good as they could have been. They are too forward sounding though not as bad as the SR-009, 009BK or 009S. I crave neutrality over everything else, the headphones should just present the sound with as little an impact on it as is possible. If they fail to represent a part of the spectrum, that’s fine but if they add something… then I have a problem with it. The brightness and imaging issue does disqualify them due to that, but I will keep them around, nonetheless. With some material they work well and plus I’m in a collecting mood… 😉 I'll probably add to review later on as I spend some more time with them. Finally, I’m going to be a bit cynical and think Stax are doing this sound signature on purpose and not for the obvious reasons. This is exactly the type of sound which grabs you on a quick audition or impresses the useless audio reviewers out there who don’t know any better. Back in 2002 the 007’s got no love at all as they are the definition of “unimpressive at first audition”, let along not many amps around at that time which could drive them. Stax are clearly now trying to make money and not audio purist just trying to make the best product possible, nothing wrong with that, so I’m glad this wasn’t a complete hack job like the 009S.

Thanks, Rinat! PS: That Kester is the same that I use, really nice.

Fair enough, though stating the obvious - we're both four seasons in. 🙂 I suspect our next pretension test will be The Sandman, which will live or die under Gaiman (and us).

Indeed https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/john-oliver-takes-shots-at-new-business-daddy-warner-bros-discovery

^Yes.

The FBI may want to check the artists hard drive for child porn. Just in case.

The Dune Sketchbook (Music from the Soundtrack) Hans Zimmer 2021 https://album.link/i/1580377303 Example: Intense but very good listen.

Tasty Chocolate Tahini Crunch bars and fruits, with the Brits. Accompanied by the smooth jazz stylings of these young whippersnappers

Maybe Steve could move there to "fluff"/boost the average?

So you say.

If you divide AK in half, TX is third, so four biggest?

I've made a simple stand, thanks to Kerry, and all ABs have passed all tests, dropping now silently 740 volts as it shoud be 🙂

A bit of camping and sailing! I even might have some decent footage on my first attempt to mount a video camera..

Went to one of my local dealers today, got to listen to the LX-60's as well as the LSX II's. The 60's are amazingly balanced top to bottom, very smooth yet detailed sounding; the bass is deep yet very tuneful I'd say. Yet at times I thought it was still a little too polite...maybe TOO refined..... The LSX II's were a little more bloomy in the mids; I actually heard more of the room & reverb on a couple recordings. It may not have been as flat as the LS-60's tonally, but it was not glaring, and it sounded quite nice. I think the LSX II's with the KC62 subwoofer (they have a line level output for subs I believe) would be an awesome pairing at about 1/2 the cost of the LS-60's. But damn do those 60's look nice!

Made with double sided bread board. HVPS (LT8365) are on the way from JPN. I planning to divide it into four and stack these in 2 or 4 layers, but I don't think it will be a size that can be called "portable" but I will try...

He got his just deserts. She cut him out of her will. https://radaronline.com/p/nichelle-nichols-star-trek-startrek-last-will-testament-exclusive/

RIP Isabella - what a nice doggy. She had a great life from the pics. But it sure is tough to say goodbye to an animal companion. The difficult kind thing to do. And RIP Nichelle Nichols. Alas boldly gone.

Last Stand at Azovstal: Inside the Siege That Shaped the Ukraine War For 80 days, at a sprawling steelworks, a relentless Russian assault met unyielding Ukrainian resistance. This is how it was for those who fought, and for those trapped beneath the battlefield.

Not directly related to the subject of this thread, but may hint at unusual ways to attack Russia financially. https://www.npr.org/2022/07/16/1111824873/opinion-wicket-bad-bet

Local comic that kills on occasion. This is perfection.

Bah! I prefer the Lambdas myself...

RIP Olivia. Sorry Oz, you're having a tough week.

R.I.P The luminous Olivia Newton-John https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-62472100 and a live tributes timeline ? https://www.bbc.com/news/live/entertainment-arts-62470505 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/olivia-newton-john-dead-grease-1235194880/ https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/08/arts/olivia-newton-john-dead.html https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/olivia-newton-john-dead-obituary-1235123935/ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/olivia-newton-john-dead-grease-1235194880/ R.I.P Olivia

RIP Judith Durham of the Seekers. There will never be another you. This one really hurts.

RIP Isabella! I had a pointer just like her. I miss her dearly and that was 25 years ago

R.I.P. Nichelle Nichols at 89...

R.I.P. Bill Russell at 88...

We had to let Isabella go yesterday. She was declining rapidly this last week so we took her to the vet to get a professional opinion on her condition. She had a good 12+ year run

I try... Stax detective work is a lot of fun. I spent a bit of money and time trying to figure out if there ever was a SR-2 as Stax doesn't even seem to know and it was indeed a production model. Just a word of warning, replacing those pads can be a bitch!! It can be hard to clean up the old glue and you only get one shot at putting the new ones back on.