Hi all. This is my first post - I've come over from Head Fi where there has been a slightly frustrating discussion of the above (it quickly descends into a flame war). I was hoping some of the technical experts on this forum would be able to offer some insight (I don't have any real technical knowledge myself!)
In essence there is a view that in order to drive electrostatic headphones to their full potential, it is necessary to purchase a huge, super-powered amplifier. There appears to be no upper limit on this - electrostatic fans will have heard of the huge Stax T2 amp which both busted the company and was also prone to busting itself. Stax no longer make amps this powerful but enthusiasts have been making huge and enormously expensive DIY T2s.
Generally speaking the electrostat community appears to take the view that Stax's own amps are under-powered and can be bettered by expensive and powerful third party amps (Mjolnir Audio amps are the main example) but even these amps are bettered by the enormous and super-powerful/ expensive DIY T2 amps.
At the same time, there are counter-claims being made to the effect that sub-£1,000 Stax amps with (i) next to no distortion, and (ii) far less power than the Mjolnir amps, let alone the T2, are perfectly capable of driving the Stax SR-009 (my headphones) and would therefore be indistinguidable from the T2 save at loud listening volumes. Of course, if you search Head Fi you will easily find posts saying that the T2 will give the SR-009 "superpowers" on another level (and the word "superpowers" has been used in some of the more colourful audiophile descriptions).
A summary of what appears to be the technical basis for these claims can be found here:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-stax-thread-iii.677809/page-1204
See in particular:
- Post #18,049
- Post #18,054
- Post #18,059
- Post #18,060
Can any of you good people help to resolve this issue? Some of the third party amps are large and expensive and I would be reluctant to spend money on them without clear evidence that they do actually make a difference.
Please assume that no owner of any of the expensive amps will be prepared to participate in a properly controlled/ double-blind test of their amps.
In essence there is a view that in order to drive electrostatic headphones to their full potential, it is necessary to purchase a huge, super-powered amplifier. There appears to be no upper limit on this - electrostatic fans will have heard of the huge Stax T2 amp which both busted the company and was also prone to busting itself. Stax no longer make amps this powerful but enthusiasts have been making huge and enormously expensive DIY T2s.
Generally speaking the electrostat community appears to take the view that Stax's own amps are under-powered and can be bettered by expensive and powerful third party amps (Mjolnir Audio amps are the main example) but even these amps are bettered by the enormous and super-powerful/ expensive DIY T2 amps.
At the same time, there are counter-claims being made to the effect that sub-£1,000 Stax amps with (i) next to no distortion, and (ii) far less power than the Mjolnir amps, let alone the T2, are perfectly capable of driving the Stax SR-009 (my headphones) and would therefore be indistinguidable from the T2 save at loud listening volumes. Of course, if you search Head Fi you will easily find posts saying that the T2 will give the SR-009 "superpowers" on another level (and the word "superpowers" has been used in some of the more colourful audiophile descriptions).
A summary of what appears to be the technical basis for these claims can be found here:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-stax-thread-iii.677809/page-1204
See in particular:
- Post #18,049
- Post #18,054
- Post #18,059
- Post #18,060
Can any of you good people help to resolve this issue? Some of the third party amps are large and expensive and I would be reluctant to spend money on them without clear evidence that they do actually make a difference.
Please assume that no owner of any of the expensive amps will be prepared to participate in a properly controlled/ double-blind test of their amps.