Stax SR-X9000 Headphones: Yes, They ARE Better Than the SR-009S!

tmallin

WBF Technical Expert
May 19, 2010
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I just swapped out my Stax SR-009S headphones from my Computer Desktop System for the new Stax flagship, the SR-X9000. It's only Day One, but the change was immediately and clearly audible and not very subtle. Everything else about the system remained the same. Not only was the sound obviously different, it was also obviously better:

-The midrange is even smoother and less colored on voices.
-The overall sound is yet clearer and cleaner, but this has not been purchased with additional brightness or exaggeration of the highs.
-The midbass through lower midrange has greater warmth and body.
-The bass is more extended at the bottom and has greater power and punch.
-And, yes, the presentation is yet "larger" and more "open" in all dimensions.

As very fine as the prior Stax flagship SR-009S headphones sound, the new SR-X9000 phones sound yet finer and not in a subtle way. If I had not heard it, I would not have believed that the new flagship could be so obviously superior. The SR-009S in my system was already at least the overall equal of any other headphones I've heard, including the best of the other modern electrostatics and planar ribbon models I heard at this year's AXPONA.

As remarkable as the SR-X9000 is sonically, the physical improvements are even more obvious and inviting:

-The headphone cable is now detachable. Two different Stax cables come in the box with the headphones. a 1.5 meter and a 2.5 meter. Since I sit at a desk with my headphone amp nearby, I'm using the 1.5 meter cable.
-The new headphones officially are just a few grams lighter than the old ones. But in my hands and on my head they feel MUCH lighter. The new flagship headset also looks quite a bit more compact than the prior one, despite the fact that the earcups are at least as large and the drivers are larger.
-The SR-X9000 looks and feels sturdier and better made.
-The headphone band's range of adjustment is much more reasonable. My headsize is now right in the middle of the adjustment range where before I needed to move it to the next to smallest notch to fit.
-The headphones are more comfortable on my head. The center of gravity of the headset is now much lower, as it should be, and feels close to the earcups. The SR-009S had a much more massive supportive metal band much further above the headband than does the SR-X9000. The supportive arch on the new phones is thin bands of stainless steel and it is positioned much closer down toward the leather headband, keeping the center of gravity lower.
-The old phones tended to flop around a lot when placed casually on a desk. In my installation, if I set the phones on the desk for a bit, rather than placing them on the stand, the place where I set them is near the edge of the desk. With the SR-009S I had to be careful since the earcups seemed to have a life of their own when the headset was set down on the desk, tending to flop around rather a lot, threatening to send the headset off the edge of the desk unless I was careful. The new SR-X9000, when set down on the desk, keep their composure. The earcups do not move around and stay facing one other, and thus this new headset, like my other headphones (the NAD Viso HP-50 and Apple AirPods Max) is quite stable when set down casually in the desk.

As before, the Stax headphone cable is unique in my experience in being absolutely noiseless in terms of not being able to hear it through the earphones rustling against my clothing or body.

Like many things these days, Stax headphones are in short supply. If you want them, you'll probably need to get on a waiting list. I waited over six months for my new SR-X9000.
 
It’s simple the stax line up
has chosen to move away from sterile sound to more weighted sound to be for some more musical.
i played 3 models for a good while over 3 days at axpona
I own the 009 the moment I put the 009 s
on my head I heard more body
same when I moved to the new x9000.
less stat sound more planner but faster
now whats interesting to me is the planners have moved closer to stats in speed
 
I recently purchased the 9000’s to partner my 8000 energizer and as the aforementioned comments, noticed an immediate uplift in sound quality including dynamics and imaging. Sadly, I’ve had to box my entire system up pending a house move that is taking forever to complete.
 
In a surprising-for-me turn of events, I ended up selling my Stax current flagship SR-X9000 headphones. In the end, they proved to have too much emphasis in the high frequency part of the spectrum for my long-term listening satisfaction.

I'm now listening via two vintage Stax models instead. See this post and this one. My main Stax set is now a circa 1999 set of Stax SR-007 Mk1 electrostatic headphones. From the same source, I have also acquired a few-years-old pair of Stax SR-007 Mk2.9. Both had the port mod performed by the seller. The highs on the newer pair are a bit more prominent and sound a bit more open than the older ones. Both are far more natural sounding, I've concluded, than the current flagship of the Stax line, at least to my ears in my current computer desktop system.

As my seller, Birgir Gudjonsson (aka Spritzer online) of Mjolnir Audio, said in email correspondence to me, comparing the Mk1 and Mk2.9:

"The Mk2.9’s are a bit more open in the top end and more lively than the Mk1’s. They are also more robust as Stax finally made the cable entry make sense. I do like the Mk2.9’s a lot, they are a nice step up from those who thing the Mk1’s are a bit closed in sounding and a bit dark."

As to the earlier Stax SR-007 Mk1, Birgir told me:

"For me the 007Mk1’s are still the best headphones in the world and the Carbon is ideal for driving them. It is my favorite combo and I always have a set of 007’s in my main rig. With the Carbon I designed it to have more power to the top end which helps the new models but also works well with the 007’s."

I have been using the Mjolnir Audio Carbon amp to drive all my Stax headphones.
 
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Tom, good afternoon and hello from Australia. I have been a long time Stax owner with an original Lambda set and a pair of Lambda Signature Pro's, a pair of SRL700 MK2 and just bought a pair of SR-X9000 as well with various Stax drivers. I assume your supplier is well versed in the world of Stax? Ask him if he has a Stax ED-1 you can listen to with your various sets I guarantee it will be a revelation, I managed to purchase one of these back in the late 80's and have never seen another. I would be interested in your thoughts if you can find one I spoke with the AU distributor only last week he has heard of them but never seen or heard one very rare.
 
I have never seen a Stax ED-1, much less used one. As you say, this is a very old model made to provide EQ and amplification for the Lambda series. I have never owned a Stax electrostatic headphone amp. In this part of the world other amps are viewed as superior for Stax headphones. I now only own the SR007 Mk1 and still drive them from the Mjolnir Audio Carbon amp mentioned in post #5 above.

However, I really don't listen to music via my electrostatic headphones or any other headphones much anymore. In the last couple of years I've discovered speakers (the Graham Audio LS8/1 and Watkins Generation 4) which are transparent enough to not make me long for that characteristic of good electrostatic headphones and which image and stage far better than any headphones. Barring special processing, headphone spatiality is just quite unnatural compared to excellent speakers set up well. Yes, good headphones can give you smoother bass than speakers in a room, but a good room correction system like Room Perfect as executed in my Lyngdorf TDAI 3400 makes the bass quite smooth enough not to miss that quality of headphones either.

These days I mostly use headphones only for watching movies late at night or at other times so as not to bother my spouse. For that purpose I usually use Apple or Bose wireless headphones. I know: ickkkkk! But for A/V use, for me those are quite good enough for that purpose, especially since the advent of various modes of spatialized audio allows these headphones to image out in front of one's head, as if the sound is coming from the video screen or around it.
 

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