The Headcase Stax thread

[Omega_ELS]

7 hours ago, spritzer said:

Looks to be 350KYen... 

Funny they are going back to the silver electrodes and they look identical to the first ones I have sitting on my desk.  The plastic housing has been changed though

I'm more interested in the difference between the MLER 3 and the MLER2, since the stator shape, judging by the photo, is the same.

[spritzer]

I'm calling BS on it being any different, at least from the pics I've seen so far.  The housing clearly is but that has minimal effect on the sound.  

[Omega_ELS]

3 hours ago, spritzer said:

I'm calling BS on it being any different, at least from the pics I've seen so far.  The housing clearly is but that has minimal effect on the sound.  

Yes, but they say in the ad that the sound is different.
Maybe the membrane is different?

The 007 mk1 and mk2 are almost identical in appearance.
But the sound is very different.
Maybe it's the same story here.

[spritzer]

Could very well be but the MLER points specifically to the stators, multi layer electrode rigid, if I remember correctly.  

[spritzer]

They have been officially released now:

https://stax.co.jp/product/sr-009d/

List price is 385KYen with the 10% tax so likely in the 340kYen range for street price.  

[Omega_ELS]

On 11/27/2025 at 3:21 AM, spritzer said:

They have been officially released now:

https://stax.co.jp/product/sr-009d/

List price is 385KYen with the 10% tax so likely in the 340kYen range for street price.  

already on sale for 350k

[Omega_ELS]

On 11/27/2025 at 3:21 AM, spritzer said:

They have been officially released now:

https://stax.co.jp/product/sr-009d/

List price is 385KYen with the 10% tax so likely in the 340kYen range for street price.  

 

[spritzer]

Same OFC cable I can see and rather underwhelming overall.  I didn't bother ordering one but I might if there are any discounts to be had.  

I have my SR-009 with new diaphragms up and running and it is quite interesting just how badly designed those stators are.  Even with new diaphragms tuned to be anything but bright... they are still far too bright.  Still far better than the stock unit and tolerable for most tracks... ohhh and they actually have bass now.  Odd for the 009's...   

[Omega_ELS]

On 12/4/2025 at 7:27 PM, spritzer said:

Same OFC cable I can see and rather underwhelming overall.  I didn't bother ordering one but I might if there are any discounts to be had.  

I have my SR-009 with new diaphragms up and running and it is quite interesting just how badly designed those stators are.  Even with new diaphragms tuned to be anything but bright... they are still far too bright.  Still far better than the stock unit and tolerable for most tracks... ohhh and they actually have bass now.  Odd for the 009's...   

The main problem with the 009 is the driver size.
They're simply smaller than the ES Lab or x9000.
And the detail isn't as good as the x9000.
If the 009D is the same as the 009, only for 2k+, then what's the point of buying it now? It's better to wait.

[spritzer]

Driver size has nothing to do with performance over a certain threshold (say 60mm), I'd even say it makes a lot of parameters much worse.  It's more down to the structure design, stator design and diaphragm properties.   Stax are failing at all of these BTW... it's all bad.  

It seems there is very little interest in the 009D, goes to show with the stupid promotion they have running with them.  Buy a set in December, mail them a registration paper (as in by post) and they will send you a 1.5m cable.  They say it is the silver plated one so why include that and not the OFC as is stock with the phones.  Makes no sense.  

 

[spritzer]

In other Stax news, the SR-009S and SRS-002 are both dead now.  

[Pirx]

5 hours ago, spritzer said:

In other Stax news, the SR-009S and SRS-002 are both dead now.  

Are you talking about yours earspeakers?

Any details, what happened?

[spritzer]

Hehe, I should have been more specific but they have stopped production of them.    No replacement for the SRS-002 as they hope people will use the SR-003Mk2 with the D-10.  That makes 30 years of continued production of the portable system coming to a close.  

[Pirx]

Hahaha, ok, now it’s clear, apparently my neurons decided to slack off for a bit

[spritzer]

I truly don't get why Stax didn't just modernize the SRM-002.  Make it all SMD, add a couple of li-ion cells, a bluetooth receiver and just profit.  Make it in a nice plastic housing with both a 5 pin output and the 002 plug.  No stupid USB input which just complicates everything.  

[catscratch]

Do we know if they discontinued the 002 for good, or are they bringing out another version at some point like with the 007?

The IEM world has gone off the rails in the high end and Stax could do some disruption if they just fix what was wrong with the system, which is mainly comfort. I never tried the 002 but the old 001 mk2 was a torture device with the stock tips. At the same time, it was one of the better sounding Stax headphones at any price, at least in the 003 version. Go figure...

[spritzer]

This is the statement, translated:

Quote

It's sad that the SRS-002 has over 30 years of history, including previous series. From now on, I hope the SR-003MK2 and SRM-D10MK2 will take over that role.

...so I don't think they are going to replace them.  The Shure KSE's are also discontinued with no replacements that I've heard of.  

[naiy8oaY]

Has the metaxas & sins ethereal ever been discussed here?

[Omega_ELS]

On 12/23/2025 at 6:58 PM, naiy8oaY said:

Has the metaxas & sins ethereal ever been discussed here?

Terrible website but it looks like new headphones right?

[naiy8oaY]

On 12/26/2025 at 3:44 PM, Omega_ELS said:

Terrible website but it looks like new headphones right?

No, it's supposed to be an Amplifier for electrostatic headphones, such as Stax. 

[spritzer]

I've been following along with it utter crap springs to mind.  The amplifier is a Stax SRM-1 Mk2 with some cobbled together power supply.  I have no idea what output devices are being used but they look modern so holy Cob batman...  yeah...  

As for the headphones, I've not heard anything good about them.  Going by his speakers, this is amateur hour.  No dust covers, the bias supplies in the speakers are those 3$ modules from China which ring like mad and spew out trash... for what 100k$?  

[spritzer]

Well I've been away and a certain SR-009D showed up in the meantime...  

Sorry for the crap picture but I've only had a couple of hours with them and I should have been in bed an hour ago...  First impressions, I like the color but it's clear that Stax have cheaped out with one of those surface treatments that are so popular in China.  Nothing as nice as the 009BK here, it's that matt but shiny black except in the grove on the back.  It's okey but we are clearly seeing production moving away from Japan here of crucial parts.  

Same is true for the earpads, very different from regular 009 pads and the smell and feel is identical to the various earpads I've been buying from China.  Nothing wrong with that really... if they didn't resell the 10$ pads at 200$.  They are also odd as they don't seem to fit nicely on the headphones but feel nice, much better than the 007S trash pads.  They are similar to the Omega pads in some ways, large opening and pretty thin.  

The headpad seems also different from the older models so likely a new supplier there too.  Same basic thin pad design though but a bit wider overall compared to the L500 part I have on the MA-009 in the picture.  

Same cable as the SR-X1 and the 007S.  I'm not in Japan so I'm not getting the shorter cable as instead of throwing them into the boxes, Stax wants you to send in for them, in Japan only.  Gotta love companies living in the 70's.  

As for the sound... I was expecting to hate them but no... these are the first 009's that aren't way too colored for their own good.  For the most part, they are easy to live with with plenty of bass and presence.  Maybe a tad dull and uninvolving at times but still easy to get long with.   

Now they are not perfect, there is a distinct "bass drum" resonance on many tracks and some certain ranges make them way too shouty in the midrange but it's far from as bad the originals or what the hell the 009S was.  

Nice controlled soundstage with some depth to it, good extension on both ends of the spectrum so yeah... I'm pleasantly surprised.  I haven't detected any of the serious driver resonance issues as with the 007S either.  

Only a couple of hours with them but some volume matched comparisons with the MA-009, I prefer the fuller sound of the latter but it's not a long way off.  I do feel the irony of me finally tackling the long planned project of fixing the 009's, only with Stax releasing a new version which doesn't suck like the older ones at the same time.    Still, this is good move in general and at present I'd recommend these over the 007S and the X9000, let alone the older 009 models.