THE BEAUTIFUL $7000 BOX OF disappointment & TEARS. STAX X9000 REVIEW.
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- Опубликовано: 3 мар 2024
- The flagship headphone from the Japanese company Stax.
Headphones tested alongside:
Hifiman Susvara, AUDEZE CRBN, Shangri-La, SR, Focal Utopia
Equipment used:
LTA Z10E, Headamp blue Hawaii SE, HoloAudio May KTE, Rockna Wavedream, Warwick Acoustics Aperio
Business enquiries:
ConvinceMeAudio@gmail.com
The CMA “ambush of tigers” Patreon page: www.patreon.com/ConvinceMeAud...
0:00 Chapters
0:01 Stax X9000 Electrostatic headphones hands-on
03:50 The Stax X9000 Accessories
05:00 My X9000 backstory and first listen
05:55 Stax X9000 overall sound
07:50 The Stax X9000 chain and setup
08:40 FR breakdown of the Electrostatic X9000
10:40 Bringing the Hifiman Shangri-La SR into the mix
11:28 The Susvara LCD5 and X9000 chat
13:48 The X9000 from the start and its short comings
14:25 Is the Stax X9000 for you?
15:40 My preference over X9000 & conclusion 
Развлечения
oh man i genuinely love this channel
Really like your clear presentational style. You explain very well why YOU like (or dislike) the gear you're evaluating. I also like the way you compare gear. Keep up the good work!
Excellent review! Having the sus and the x9k, I agree with what you say, and I thoroughly enjoy the way you say it!
Another brilliant review as always! Have a good one and just posting for your algorithm benefits haha! - George
Very much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed it, have a wonderful evening 🐅
Nice review. I liked the comparison to lcd-5 and zmf. Ha! And I listened to Billie Eilish’s No Time to Die, last night. Great performance. And great recording too. Go Hans!
I so appreciate your authenticness and candor in review. The absence of the memeing with snake oil while still being comprehensive is a breathe of fresh air. Copped an atrium open after your review and found your review very accurate - many discussed an overly laid back presentation which is did not experience - thankfully! They are a workhorse of all genres. Everything i wanted.
“ memeing with snake oil” sadly excessively prevalent these days. So many reviewers mainly flatulate pretentious pontifications
Not enough testing gets done with units, specially comparisons and driving transducers to their limit much in a lot of reviews. I find this a service, synergy the calibre of equipment makes a tremendous amount of difference.
Weather for logistic reasons or limited resources it will tend to skew a lot of impressions of things that are actually good, but there are those pieces of equipment that are innately flooring somewhere unfortunately and is definitely there
Great review, thank you.
I think it’s missing the fun and slam of my 2021 LCDX ..but it has a great physical construction …I know they’re not comparable ..but if it’s not ( AT THAT PRICE) outing a smile in your face…it’s a fabulously flawed piece.
Take care .
Putting a smile on your face …damn autocorrect
was toying with these as an upgrade to my 007Mkii (Mjolnir KGSSHV energiser) but im tempted to try the RAAL Magni for a bit less money and ill have another taste of driver.
I'm just wondering what else remains? would love a review of the legendary he-90 and other obscure gems such as that sony headphone from the 2000s ophelia something
Transducer wise very few actually, but there are some exceptional ones left and some new ones that have just been released. I’m going to make a list for you.
Raal triple ribbon, Twitter, flagship, utopia, 20,22, Yamaha flagship, EZEE empy2 liric2 caldera closed bloody hell. Most of those are just this year alone, but the absolute insanity category. There is very little to none left to be fair. I think we covered all of them apart from those obscure ones you’re talking about.
You forgot to give the tigers 🐯
The x9000 is very good but 3 days ago I had the opportunity in Heidelberg to listen to the Raal 1995 Immanis and it was way way better . It even dwarfed the Aperio 🤯🤯🤯
You will completely freak out once you will hear the Immanis over an Envy Tube amp
Have you auditioned any other Raal models? I was that close to doing so recently but ran out of time.
@@TheVeganVicar yes I listened all models. Immanis was by far the best 🙂
What's the price?
@@hemispherecompensation Let's just say you could buy the X9000 and a stax amp for the price of the Immanis alone.
@@user-lo8yz9lk9w it would still sound worse 😅 you need the T2 amp for x9000
My best pair, the best cans ever
@@user-lm9li4ny3j they were so close to being perfect, love how it’s tuned very disappointed with base response so irregular
But this does not mean they are a bad headphone LOL, they are tuned in a God tier form
The Bravura has horrible distortion when played at reasonably loud levels as confirmed by Warwick on the test tracks I mentioned to them (not rock or techno just normal country music).
I’ve had two units in now, the first one I did get that distortion on EDM personally, the second unit not at all across-the-board, but I don’t listen beyond 80 5DB at all and only test at 88 to 80 9DB for a tiny ation because I genuinely can’t tolerate it my ears can’t tolerate it LOL for more than a minute
Yeah I know , be careful with your ears 🙏 I can also confirm that the bravura distorts @@ConvinceMeAudio
@@ConvinceMeAudio, how to measure the sound pressure level of headphones whilst one is listening to them?
@@TheVeganVicar you can get a measurement microphone, it gives you a very good idea beyond that and experience as well, but you can buy a microphone
@@ConvinceMeAudio, I own several microphones, including a measurement microphone, but as I compose this reply, I remember that I own a hand-held audio analyser, so I'll try that first.
Try Eksonic T2... You haven't heard what they can really do.. But 1266 do bass better.. The stage of X9000 isn't the biggest but certainly bigger than LCD 5s...On Feliks Envy Performance and Pathos InpolEar . The weak link of the chain is the amp...I heard the Bravura and LCD5s and they are nowhere near X9000s with T2... I had Stax SRM-700S before and I had the same impressions as you in this review... It is disappointing though that you need a 14K USD amp and investing in tubes to make those headphones show what they can do... I have heard almost all the flagships - Susvara , 1266, LCD5s , Bravura... The only headphones I haven't heard are the HE1, Shangri LA SR and Aperio... From all the headphones I have heard the X9000s on the T2 beat them all... They are amazing... Best bass slam and impact is with 1266 though..
Exactly what I experienced with X9k in the beginning and also what I feel now with T2. X9k is an even more difficult case to drive than 007. But with T2 plus CCa grey tubes its the one to beat.
I feel the same way about electrostats. I tried the Carbon and a few from Stax, but they all felt too 'light' for me lacking bass body and impact. Sure, the speed and detail are impressive, but what is it worth without body and physicality?
Probably best suited to classical music where congestion happens and the physicality is second to detail and imaging. I personally have no interest with atrium open and lcd x serving me everything I need for all genres (for now)
If the bass isn't there I guess I will stick to my Stax 007mk2. I have a Blue Hawaii BJT in the mail, using a Stax 717 amp right now
I love the blue Hawaii SE, it was sensational with Shangri-La senior, but X 9000 on it was just okay as well, I love L 700 incidentally
I think it’s the inconsistency that really bugged me about X 9000. I was very disappointed tonal balance is wonderful.
@@ConvinceMeAudio the BJT I have coming is a different setup then the BHSE. It's still 2 boxes and 4 tubes but the internals are different. Looking forward to trying it
@@nothingelse1520 oh nice, when you get it, feel free to drop back here to this comment if you find it and give us a summary nice one
@@nothingelse1520 So what did you end up thinking about your BJT if i may ask ? Great match for 007mk2 ?
@@random-internet-dude yes it's great. I also got a KGSSHV Carbon 2022 build. They sound very similar. I could have stopped with the Blue Hawaii
Great reviews bro. I still can’t figure out your accent though. :)
South London, touch of RP 😎
😂👍🏼
Being a headphone that was designed and built in Japan, it was probably only intended for shamisen music.
Does the Caldera destroyed X9000 too?
I prefer caldera to the x9000
I still think a well driven 007mk1 is better for most people
I live very near audio Sanctuary
Please review denon d9200 and d7200
Hi genuinely, would love to the impossible to get hold of for review. Sadly it will have to come out of the channel funds and liquid is very tight at the moment.
@@ConvinceMeAudio no need to buy them, maybe if someone sends them to you for a review
@@RX-rd4sc I will certainly not deny the review LOL definitely
You dont really need 45k systems to annihilate most of the competetion with Susvara. Give Susvara 300b like Envy with Elrogs (or even stock lol) and a good dac like may, wavelight or wavedream and only few headphones outthere will be able to touch it musicality, airyness stage and slam. Please be careful with recommending Bravura, while its a great system its ultimately a faulty one with its distortion. And distortion happens not even at really high volume.
Do you honestly believe I’ve not done such testing Already? I do not put my statements lightly on the channel.. because once it’s on video it’s permanent as far as things stand at that moment in time
The unit only distorts at 95 dB in my testing and I’ve used two separate units, and if you’re listening on a regular basis above 90 dB even above ADB you have bigger problems to worry about then the distortion at 95Db 😂😄
@@ConvinceMeAudioIdk mate, I havent done messurements, but all Bravura units I heard to date, started to destort at listening levels that are comortable to me - not with every song but with some. Same is reported by plenty of people in Warwick thread on head-fi. To give an estimate: I usually dont go above -10 on Caldera and +4 on Susvara with my Bliss.
@@amaya897 I am not refuting the fact that it does distort, I had the same issue with EDM on the first unit
The problem is there, but it’s definitely not as severe as some of the comments I’ve seen, it definitely happened above 9490 5DB for me. It was pretty decent in the regions of 80 to 85 with no issues.
So I guess my question is do we deem a product broken if it can’t perform at that level or do we say we shouldn’t be listening at that major Highpoint anyway I guess the decision is you and you will vote with your wallet these are just recommendations at the end of the day you know
@@ConvinceMeAudiowell for me it was the reason not to buy it. And I liked it a lot, for the asked price its potentially a damn good deal.
I am not sure if its only about the volume but about certain frequencies in combination with volume. Since from what I experience the distortion happened at "normal" listening volumes in some tracks. I am sure many people are enjoying Bravura and not considering its being broken, on the other hand I strongly believe that if I paid 6k for a system that would distort some tracks for me - I would be very disappointed. Ultimately its about giving information to potential buyers, not deem the product "broken".
@@amaya897 yes, very succinctly put
It’s value proposition is extremely high, and that can’t be denied,
I have a feeling it’s to do with a DSP correction drivers and quite a few other factors which is disappointing. It could also be the reason why some people get it more than others is drive attention which has a tendency to be very disruptive in the electrostatic category and really can do bad things.
I recently compared these headphones to the HiFiMan Susvara and honestly couldn't decide which I preferred. The sound quality was very similar, though the timbre (specifically the pianoforte timbre) of the Susvara was noticeably more authentic (I am a pianist of sorts).
Upon hearing this review, methinks I'll be getting a Susvara when I can find one at the right price.
Incidentally, according to Stax' website, the headband is genuine leather (so, as a strict VEGAN, I will not buy new).
And, obviously, I don't want any innocent animal to die unnecessarily, let alone a puppy.
🐅😂
@@ConvinceMeAudio, I forgot to mention that the amplifier I used to compare the two aforementioned headphones was the iFi Phantom (which I soon purchased afterwards, and is expected to be here any day now).
@@TheVeganVicar ah I see
Both units X 9000 and SUS have tremendous headroom above the phantom, but it will cost the same as a mortgage downpayment LOL
@@ConvinceMeAudio, indeed, as I mentioned in a comment, in one of your recent videos, the Phantom is about twice the amount I wanted to pay, but after auditioning it a couple of weeks ago, and perusing all its features, I just HAD to get one. And I did!
@@TheVeganVicar it covers everything and will carry you nicely along for awhile, definitely I just need the unit to come here for full review. I only had a short stint with it sadly
But at least you don’t have to worry about electrostatics dynamics, or planar
have you listened to hifiman he1000se?
Certainly, very interesting sounding,
the stealth variant to
I’m waiting to review soon
I think the only two left in this category from hifiman
Says on the website the leather is sheep skin, not fake leather.
@@theterriblepuddle1830 disappointingly fake feeling
@@ConvinceMeAudio you just don't know what sheep feels like
@@theterriblepuddle1830 i’ve never been curious about sheep. I leave that to you, 😂 but be warned the animal rights group will have something to say about beastiality 😂
@@ConvinceMeAudio Oh you're a pervert too
Thank God... I thought they are going to be cheap..... 7k is ok. 🙂
😂😂😂
I just imagined you calmly delivering that statement. LOL. Predominantly this channel concentrates on the flagship to super flagship to. Are you out of your fucking mind category?
I have tried to introduce the lower end products unfortunately view wise due to our audience, the videos never do well sadly
Which makes things even more complicated for us at this
They cost USD$6,200 but you can often get them far cheaper if you don't mind an "OPEN BOX" version.
@@ConvinceMeAudio I appreciate this and I like your channel a lot. I do not mind to watch and enjoy videos with crazy expensive headphones, I like it too. I personally prefer something reasonably priced but totally outperforming the high end competition, something like Tungsten, JM audio XTC, ZMF.... But man, if I spend 7k on something that is lacking bass, I had to be totally insane 😀
@@TheVeganVicar you have to be careful with electrostatics, they tend to lose tension very quickly. I don’t think I would trust an open box one myself personally
Speaking from experience here, the difference could be quite drastic actually
@@ConvinceMeAudio what causes this? Time or usage? I just bought a x9000 and I don't want to lose the best of it before I get time to enjoy it thoroughly
X9000 stood out to me for its resolving quality. Yeah bass is not going to compete with other headphones, but that's an e-stat limitation you have to accept. Hell, Susvara is kinda boring to me and bass is not punchy. If I want bass, I'll take my Final D7000 or Focal Utopia 2020.
All these headphones are meaningless now after I heard the Raal 1995 Immanis
@@x32i77 just did a quick search about the Immanis. For the ask, $6500 USD, $9300 USD, it better blow the socks off everything else here 🤔
@@x32i77i've never heard of it but then again i don't peruse obscure forums and hobbyist or specialist magazines
is it a new thing? or an old out-of-production by RAAL
👻👻👻
not a single bit of data to support the hyperbole.......the susvara has been proven to be technical abomination....either measure or pack up.
ASR might be more to your liking..
The measurements I would want to put into the videos requires 30 K worth of measuring tools and just frequency-Response measurements alone tells absolute bugger all.. in fact, it has a tendency to conflate problems than help to resolve.. the reason why on the channel I review these headphones through extensive testing against other counterparts is to give people a real world experience and not a math lesson..
You are talking about music at the end of the day, such measurements are necessary for DACs amplifiers, not for Headphones so much.. due to the amount of variations that can occur during testing.
In fact what set up you put that headphone on has a tendency to skew the frequency-response by quite a bit due to the delivery, it’s not a linear thing. You are very misunderstood on this topic and I think you need to do a little more research, and I don’t think at the end of the day it will help you too much.. measurements count for 10% of the entire Experience, it’s just a taste and an idea of what it could be.. I try and cover that with comparisons and a language that most people can understand and tolerate
But I do appreciate the comment it helps the algorithm
Very well said!!@@ConvinceMeAudio
"But I do appreciate the comment it helps the algorithm" LMAO @@ConvinceMeAudio
Small sidenote:
It’s not helpful to repeat and regurgitate information, you have heard elsewhere, you know very little about susvara, if you think it’s a poor headphone. It is untouchable in the planar and dynamic space, it only reflects the equipment you put it on
It is very possible to have the experience you are describing, and more often than not. Don’t judge a Ferrari by driving it down to the local shop. That is not how it’s designed to be driven.
CMA is giving us his personal opinions based on his listening tests and experience. We're not here for technical specs, we can find that elsewhere. I find his comparisons to be very valuable.
You seem to be of the flawed view that data can tell you (everything about) how a unit sounds like and if YOU will like it: I've listened to gear with great specs that performed worse than gear with worse specs, and vice versa. Never base your purchase decisions on specs or measurements only.
The whole measurement game has gone out of hand (ASR is a good example of extreme objectivism). I do believe it can have some value (at least for some kind of gear, such as preamps), but not when people base their decisions on numbers only. The final decision should be your ears and how the item SYNERGIZES with the rest of your SYSTEM, not some numbers on a sheet of paper.
Here's a hint for you: Heard about vinyl and tube amps? How do you think that stuff measures vs. digital gear? It must sound like crap, because the numbers tell us so, right? Ever heard about euphonic distortion? Colored sound? It may come as a shock to you, but some people actually enjoy that type of sound. I hope you're getting my point.
Another hint: I don't even like tube/vinyl sound. I prefer digital/solid state. But that doesn't matter, because I'm just trying to illustrate a point.