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Having owned a fairly extensive list of many very end-game worthy headphones, LCD5, SR1A, Diana TC, 1266TC, susvara, sr009s and bravura, I didn't think there's anything that can be a "end-all" headphone that so much better than my previous 009s - 1266TC swap set-up, but the x9000 did it.

It's been quite a few days since I received the x9000, and it was not immediately obvious what the strengths of it were, but nonetheless it was a very spectacular performer without comparison, but after some time with it, it's clear that the sense of naturalness is superior than everything I've owned previously, with no compromise in detail and speed whatsoever.

While the 1266 being the only one that to me still holds some ground against x9000, the immense unnaturalness becomes very apparent when I compare them, where my Diana TC and 009s merely sounds flawed compared to either.

In the case of x9000 vs 009s, like many others have pointed out the x9000 does have a rather more laid back sound to it compared to the 009s, and things sound further away, yet with such width and separation it doesn't detour the center image of say like a vocalist, and doesn't leave me wanting more intimacy from it often.

Compared to 009s, which I considered to be very natural sounding to begin with, the vocal naturalness and imaging/stage sounds much more correct and well placed to me on the x9000, and it's also slightly more resolving sounding but unclear whether there are more details from x9000.

Diana TC vs x9000 is pretty disappointing on the TC side, imo a tamed version of 1266, better for lower quality recordings, but other than that not particularly notable.

Ab1266 vs x9000 is rather interesting, after being used to the bass quantity on the x9000, the 1266 does sound a little boomy in comparison, but because the tuning for mids and highs are pretty agressive it helps them to not be drowned by the bass. That was never my experience the 1266 until having being used to the x9000, but compared to the very very smooth sounding bass mid and highs on the x9000 the peaks and tuning signature of 1266 sounds much more prominent in comparison. However while the tuning is unnatural on the 1266, for the genres I listen to it is still very good at making things sound good, still very enjoyable. X9000 sounds extremely soft and smooth compared to the 1266 that sounds hyper dynamic, punchy, and uneven, and it's clear which one is much more fun sounding.

Generally speaking x9000 once getting used to is very close to the all in 1 solution for all genres that I thought couldn't exist, for now the 1266 still has its place, but the 009s is beaten by the x9000 in like almost every regard, and simply sounds some what out of tune compared to x9000.

Chain for x9k/009s: XIAUDIO sagra dac -> KGST Chain for DianaTC/1266TC: sagra dac -> formulaS

1266TC EQed -7db at 12800khz.

Few final words on fit and finish, better than 009s, bigger cups, very comfortable for up to around 6-8 hours then the clamp gets to me a little bit, but unit seems extremely new so probably comfort will improve as I wear them more. I also do prefer the looks of them by far over the 009s, the machining and chassis is very stunning to me. Flawless, luxurious look and feel, cable still bulky like every other stax but at least it's removable...

the improvement in headband build is quite welcome

Went to CanJam in the interest to finally try estats for the 1st time. This is one of the two that actually has bass, at least familiar enough to me. The other one is the Hifiman Shangri La

Yeah, Warwick bravura also has bass, like a lot, which are also estats.

x9000's bass is fairly neutral, maybe on the light side, but doesn't super depleted.

Gorgeous piece

Well they didnt show up to London CanJam which is odd when SoCal

Nice! I tried it at Capitol Audiofest the other month but wasn't blown away by it. It was in a noisy environment so I reckon the things that made it special got drowned out by the ambient noise. Also, I believe you can't properly judge a transducer until you've spent at least 3 or 4 hours with it.

• How does it compare to the LCD-5 you own? And do you EQ?
• What energizer are you using?

Happy listening!

KGST for amp, I don't EQ the x9000 nor LCD5.

I think the x9000 is very soft sounding compared to almost everything else and that in particular is not very "blown away" kind of sound, so it's definitely not immediately obvious what it's capable.

Also to some degree it's so natural and laid back that it doesn't sound very impressive just from pure reaction compared to most other flagships that shoves things into your face. And yeah the noisy floor definitely doesn't help either.

I think x9000 vs LCD 5 would be somewhat similar to comparison between it and 1266, so lcd5 being quite a bit more dynamic sounding, but lcd5's soundstage is very small compared to x9k I believe, and imaging while good still sound unnatural. Many things would sound unnatural compared to x9000, but lcd5 does Excel at male vocal imo, and percussive instruments it does really well, but lacks in acoustic instruments and the mids gets pretty shouty sometimes, where x9000 is very neutral instead, and one of the less shouty flagships since things are pushed back a little bit. But at the same time it's definitely more detailed than LCD5

The more i read in this sub the more i want to leave because i found my happy place with ndh 30 and m1st. I fear wanting too much

Ignorant is a bliss, but tbh I always tell people as long as you buy used at the right price, as long as you don't break them they retain value pretty well so... Basically renting ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Awesome! Thank you for the comparison

The Nectar Hive X's have good bass as well.

I tried some SR-L300s at a cafe once and if that’s the entry level, I’m avoiding the entire brand. It was one of the most pleasant listening experiences I’ve ever had

I don't know about sound or build quality, but I like the look of the new X9000 much better than older Stax models.

ignorance is bliss*

Yeah I also figured that reddit and headfi are basically most dangerous places which influence people into buying stuff they don't need. Facebook and google are little children in comparison to the discussions about high end gear.

that’s stax for you

SR-X9000 is the first headphone I’ve really liked more than my 1266TCs in enough areas to make me want to switch. The staging is just so natural! I’ll probably just get the 9k and use both, but this hobby is getting expensive. TCs are still the most visceral experience in headphones and have their place like you said.

You need to hear the 9k on Headamp’s new Grand Cayman or the Kerry T2 if you haven’t. T2 makes it more tactile and slammy, less soft but still very natural. Grand Cayman makes the staging even more natural and speaker like! They’re both unbelievable pairings natural (these comparisons are vs BHSE). I haven’t had the chance to A/B the T2 and Grand Cayman directly like I have for each vs BHSE, but that’s the next step along with hearing the MSB Select and Viva Egoista STX.

The Shangri-La (Sr) is worth hearing on the T2 as well. Much better than the HFM amp. But I’d have trouble justifying that sort of spending on anything from HFM.

The new Yamaha headphone also looks interesting.

What's the right place to order Stax in the US, https://staxaudio.com/ ?

With its use of metals, the build quality of the X9000 is a clear step above the SR-009 and SR-007. The build of the X9000 makes the others look like Fisher Price plastic toys.

Better than the bruvara system?

There are several authorized retailers. Staxaudio.com is a storefront for Woo Audio. There's also Audio46, HeadAmp, and The Source AV.

anyone know how these compare to the HE 1? if the HE 1 was a 100/100 and the HD6XX was a 0/100, what score would these have?

Wow I'm impressed.

Not only a stax that isn't butt ugly, it's actually quite handsome!

I love the look and build of these.

Yes and you can also get the at staxheadphones.com which is the brand itself.

Same, man. They say once you upgrade, the old shit is basically obsolete. I stay cheap :/

> In the case of x9000 vs 009s, like many others have pointed out the x9000 does have a rather more laid back sound to it compared to the 009s, and things sound further away, yet with such width and separation it doesn't detour the center image of say like a vocalist, and doesn't leave me wanting more intimacy from it often.

> Compared to 009s, which I considered to be very natural sounding to begin with, the vocal naturalness and imaging/stage sounds much more correct and well placed to me on the x9000, and it's also slightly more resolving sounding but unclear whether there are more details from x9000.

Geez. I already thought the 009 sounded like every instrument was COVID social distance apart and I was standing at the other side of an arena listening in. I wished it had more intimacy, maybe like halfway to the LCDs which sound like everyone's playing an instrument while they hug you.

I'd say so. Although both are extremely soft systems, the x9000 sounds natural and tasteful while the bravura literally sounded like your ears haven't popped from a pressure change.

Yeah, you just have to realize that after a point, and that point depends entirely on each individual, you get to where you see huge diminishing returned after a certain price point. If you already have a ndh 30, I would imagine you are pretty much there. If you are happy where you are at then stay there. If not you might need to look at where in the line you can improve things, like whatever headphone amp you have. Throwing thousands of dollars on headphones is something I know I can't afford... I wish I could though, lol.

head-fi and specialized reddit groups like this and facebook are different beasts. Facebook you get spieled on cheap chinese crap, here you get spieled on extravagant headphone setups that most people would never be able to afford.

Generally speaking according to what I've heard these are the closest to ShangriLa and Orpheus than anything else, and probably he1?

LOL, yeah bravura was good but I canthandl the comfort, and it image and stage nothing like the x9000, also aren't all that natural compared to even 009s, and nowhere near x9k.

I think you’ll enjoy the 9k. Staging isn’t more intimate or closer on the 9k (actually a bit further) vs the 009, but it’s much more natural and coherent. Not as artificially airy between instruments. HE-1 takes the crown for me for a more intimately staged experience, but for that money I’d rather build systems around other headphones.

Yeah man, I'm generally curious about BHSE or T2 and SRL as well, but honestly don't have any plans to get them anytime soon from budget restraints lol, KGST so far has been quite good and maybe I'll look into trying out T2 when I sell some of my other headphones.

Also yeah I didn't think 1266 can be beaten really, and even now if I get used to 1266 and switch back to x9k, x9k end up sounding very very "flat and boring" until I get adjusted to the soft sound. But once I do, and switching to the 1266 sounds way too boomy.

The BHSE has been surpassed IMO. Try the Grand Cayman if you get the chance. I think it’ll end up priced right around the Kerry T2.

If someone could make a headphone that sounds as natural as the 9k and stages as naturally as the 9k but with the visceral physicality of the 1266, that’d cover the bases for me. With the T2 the 9k gets a taste of that, so that could really be endgame, but it isn’t the same as the 1266 of course. I have the same experience switching between the two. 1266 sounds unnatural, recessed in the mids, and boomy when going from 9k to 1266, and the 9k sounds totally flat and boring going the other direction, but it doesn’t take long for me to adjust, and the 9k’s natural staging is starting to win me over. Both headphones are absolutely the top tier performance you can get from a head-fi system, so I hope my comments aren’t taken as otherwise.

And if you go down the speaker rabbit hole, if you haven’t already, check out Kharma speakers. It’s the first experience I’ve had that I felt surpassed Magico M Series and Rockport Lyra. I’d have to do some A/Bing to confirm, but my most recent experience with Kharma was one of the best experiences I’ve had in audio.

Also heard very good things about z10e, not sure how that compared to the cayman and t2.

Also yeah funny we have the same experience switching between the two, but I can see me enjoying both still, 1266 is just a fun boom cannon, and going back to x9k after adjusting it sounds the most correct to me.

009s is fairly intimate to me, like it's less than say LCD 5 but with sufficient volume it's very close and center imaged, and it has some peaks, compared to the x9000, so comparatively it sounds like there's a lot of artificial forwardness in the 009s.

When I got the 009s to begin with I was hoping for a relaxed sound to compliment 1266 but it wasn't at all.

I’m not a huge fan of the z10e personally, especially with the 9k, but plenty of people disagree with me there.

And totally. They’re perfect as complementary headphones.

Yeah for real, x9000 is built and designed with such elegance, and a good throwback to omega as well. Really like the looks

I just noticed the 1266 laying on its side in the background. It looks ridiculous, especially with that cable hanging off of its earcup.

Anyways, I am quite interested in the X9000, though with a move mostly likely coming up in the next year, I don't want to buy anything yet to avoid the hassle of moving it. I've read that it's a tangible upgrade from what I have, but that its softer presentation isn't for everyone. It appears it's perfect for you though, so that's good news! I'll just have to find a place to demo it myself.

This is probably the direction I will go in eventually, pretty happy with all my current cans tho. Congrats on a killer set of headphones!

>from budget restraints lol

Wait, you have budget restraints?

jk, I'm super happy for you. Enjoy your 9k's and happy new year!

Lmao yeah surprising I know, I'm still waiting for quite a few of my cans to sell, and probably will look to selling my 009s as well. X9000 I only got because there was a good deal for it and I simply couldn't watch it slip :p

But happy new year to you as well

u/jurassicpork56

I can’t tell whether you have tiny hands or enormous headphones

Oh I hear ya. I’m in pretty deep myself. Not quite as deep as you, but most of my friends think I’m out of my fucking mind

Pretty average hand, these do have gigantic cups, like far from touching my ears

Yeah it be like that, at least I have a few friends that's in the same boat as me :)

How about the Abyss in the background?? :-)

Did talk ab it lol

I think the 1266 TC isn't suited for EQ due to the high distortion