Head-fi is the best hobby i can imagine. I love music and I love gadgets that needs electric power to run. I like to collect things and it was obvious from the beginning, when i brought home all kinds of stones that i found laying around. I was three years old and stones was all i had to collect. Later on i started learning about the different kinds of stones and chose favourites. I started to collect stamps and money from around the world. I collected Donal Duck magazines and other comics. All other hobbies became dull when I started to collect music. First cassettes and later on i had cds laying around everywhere. I loved every step of the process. Going to the record store and talking to people about music and getting recommendations. I played as a DJ and that means i had to get the new singles for the week. When mp3 started and i downloaded music and burned my own cd’s, I had a falling interest in collecting physical music anymore. I made my own mixed cd’s and the convenience won over quality. One of my biggest regrets is that I sold off and partially gave away my cd collection. My other regret in life was selling my old Stax system.
I saved up and bought the SRM007TII together with SR-009 and SR-507, just to sell them off again. There where two issues that made me take the decision. First of, the amplifier could not give the headphones enough power. I went on CanJam and listened to them on Headamp Blue Hawaii, and it was like night and day. Big difference! Don’t get me wrong, they sounded good on SRM007TII, but totally missed the dynamics the Hawaii gave them. The other problem was that i felt locked. It was like buying a MacBook. The prediction of Stax setting the standard for everybody else that made electrostatic headphones didn’t hit me. I used refer to SR-507 like a baby SR-009 and I still do. They are pretty close in my ears in favour to the SR-009 because of the better imaging and a tad more analytical skills. But the SR-507 deserves more praise for what it is. In my mind it’s one of the best lambdas ever made. I bought the SR-507 back and i will never let them go again.
BUILD QUALITY
They use aluminium in the assembly to hold the cups, the rest is plastic like every other lambda. It’s flimsy, plastic fantastic and ugly as can be. The plastic click-assembly to fit different size heads is not looking trustworthy. But the fact is that all my old lambdas doesn’t break and can withstand time surprisingly good. My lambda from 1979 looks fine! I have spent a lot of time on my current SR-507. I think they need some new pads but otherwise they looks solid. Im never worried about Stax and build quality, except for the SR-L700 where the cupholders will break after a while. No IF! They will break!. They sorted that out in the MK2 version. All Lambdas are butt ugly, but why change a recipe that works fine? There’s a charm over the Stax lambdas like nothing else and the sound is what matters in the end anyway.
THE SOUND
I heard people say that the SR-507 is the last old style lambda, and i tend to agree. The SR-507 have the undefined organic quality where you can hear the strings vibrate. The bass drum feel solid and very fast punching. I put on AC/DC – Thunderstruck and the play so damn convincingly good! I sit here and stomp my foot on the floor. The imaging is right on cue and the drums sounds fantastic. I went on with some old school rock, playing Dio – Don’t talk to strangers. The guitars have this organic and airy quality that only electrostatic headphones can produce. In comparison The L700 does not have this lightening fast and organic (real) quality. I went over to Yosi Horikawa – Stars. I must say that the analytical signature of the SR-507 suits these kind of tracks. You will hear everything going on in the recording and then some. The bass is very defined and got great dynamics and presence. The contrabass in Sting – Moon Over Bourbon Street, sounds like it should. If you think SR-009 is a bit bright then the SR-507 is not for you. It’s not intrusive like Beyerdynamic T1 MK1 can be, but still a lot of sparkle on top. The tuning of SR-507 reminds me of the original Mrspeakers Ether or the Hifiman HE560. When i hear the bass on Christian McBride – Getting’ To it, it’s like being there in the room!. Every subtle detail of him picking the strings is there, and the reverb of the room is perfect. That show that this is a great recording. This headphone is about shit in, shit out. It hides nothing! Even hard trance is played with power and glory from top to the deepest bass notes. The treble peak around 8 – 10khz can be bothersome when turning up the volume for that hard dance track. Im not bothered. The fast forward and agile hihats adds definition and space. Imaging is tight and where it should be. That is pretty impressive for a lambda! The stage is a little tight with the feeling of sitting in row one or two, while the airy quality is remarkeble true to the recording. The stage is not tight as the Sennheiser hd600. There is enough room to gain the sense of space and air.
CONCLUSION
Stax really makes some top class headphones. They promote their products as the worlds finest headphones. I can agree with them making one of the finest headphones in the world. There is a lot of new manufacturers of electrostatic headphones popping up like rabbits. The fact is that the new stuff is very good, and one Russian creation even made the ¨IT – List¨. But still, if you want world class sound cheap and already own a decent amp i urge you to try the SR-507. It’s pretty bright sounding, but the bass also keeps up down low that makes this lambda a truly amazing headphone. It is no longer in production, but I would buy a used SR-507 before SR-L700 every day of the week. If you want that fast and organic sound without the light brightness, I would go for the Stax SR-404 Signature. I want to collect them all!.
