Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions

Koss Drop ESP/95X with Dekoni Premium Earpads and STAX SRM-007tA/007tii

more_vert
After endless capacitor changes (SonicCaps) and op-amp rolling (OPA627AU on Brown Dog Adapters), and adding a beefier 9VDC switching power supply, I’d scored a nice STAX 100VAC with North America 120/110VAC Step Down Transformer off of eBay for $500. What a huge step up ! The Koss Plastic box was never loud enough (not enough gain) and certain frequencies/musical passages would hurt my ears. These Cans are extremely resolving and feeding the Koss Box with a PS Audio DirectStream DAC sounded good but nowhere near the Koss/STAX/PS Audio combination. Lots of gain. All the frequencies/musical passages that hurt my ears were now gone. Endless amounts of midrange/treble sweetness on female vocals was achieved. Bass actually improved but don’t expect your face to get vibrations....LOL ! Any Hard Rock especially my 70’s Progressive Rock Torture Tracks played back with ease and never once did it irritate my hearing. When accidentally overdriven, the Amp rolls things off smoothly but better to reduce the level of your DAC. The Dekoni Earpads while an absolute pain to attach was worth the grief. The comfort level far exceeded my expectations, So trash the plastic box and score yourself a nice FET/Tube Hybrid like the STAX used to save yourself some bucks. You’ll never want to listen to your Speakers again !
search

11
12
remove_red_eye
1.5K
Rajugsw
13

search
close
Offramp
76
Jul 31, 2020
Thank you, Drop step up. Give us a true viable electrostatic amp to drive our stuff. I’m talking Woo Audio, Blue Hawaii, KGSSHV carbon cc the Woo I’m talking WES at least. Give the people what they want, a kicking electrostatic amp. I’ll be first in the box just like I was on the Violectric V850. Nuff said.
undrcvrnormi
1
May 23, 2022
OfframpThis. I need. NOW!
Jimmyblues
52
Jul 31, 2020
Not at all surprised to hear this since the ESP 950 headphones have always been outstanding and match up very well with Stax amplification.
DrBiehl
11
Jul 31, 2020
This looks amazing. I never went with the 95x as I managed to score a set of l300's with a 252s for roughly the same price shipped. I am forever in love with electrostatics now. Planning of building a KGSSHV Carbon in the near future as an amp upgrade. It is truly incredible how estats scale with better amplification. How do you feel the tubes have changed the sound presentation, soundstage, and such? Thanks for sharing!
simpleton
3
Jul 31, 2020
DrBiehlIf you're interested in tubes, check out Kevin Gilmore's Grounded Grid design. You can use the same power supply as the KGSSHV Carbon. Although, that said, I'm in love with my KGSSHV Carbon, and my plans to build the Grounded Grid have become delayed. The Carbon definitely is a huge step up from the Stax SRM-252s I have.
DrBiehl
11
Jul 31, 2020
simpletonI ended changing some caps and the power supply and there was some improvement. For the time being I am sourcing the PCB for the Carbon and going over the BOM to estimate costs. I am basically split between building the Carbon or High Amp's Alpha Centauri, which has been compared to the BHSE. Decisions decisions.
aeonsys
10
Jul 31, 2020
That's real cool. I am contemplating doing the same thing with a Stax amp. Noticed you jury rigged a Pro plug onto the Koss cable, I'm trying to source a Stax Pro plug, where did you get yours? Thanks!
DrBiehl
11
Jul 31, 2020
Damn, thats the best price I have seen. Thanks for the reference.
aeonsys
10
Jul 31, 2020
Thank you so much Rajugsw, appreciated, and the price is right too!
Related Posts
Trending Posts in Audiophile