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The bass response of the Pro Classic (and of headphones in general) was restricted to that which was fed directly to the ears. This restricted the sensation of real weight that comes from feeling the bass as well as hearing it. The ear is notoriously insensitive to bass—with loudspeakers that have the appropriate extension, there's an important tactile contribution from the skin's reaction to powerful bass wavefronts reverberating through the listening space. Even with modest loudspeakers, there can be more to this than you might expect. This can be a mixed blessing: the listening room's…
Sidebar 1: A Caution
All of the headphones discussed here were comfortable to wear using eyeglasses—at least the eyeglasses I tried. But there are so many varieties of frames that I urge you to try before you buy with your glasses, if you plan to wear them with the headphones.
Similarly, all of these 'phones are of the open-back, circumaural variety: Circumaural means that they surround, rather than sit, on the external ear; open-back means that others sitting in the same general area as the headphone wearer will hear a rather scratchy, bassless rendition of whatever the listener…
Sidebar 2: System
Unless otherwise noted, the Stax headphones auditioned here were driven from the analog output of a Krell Reference 64 D/A processor. The transport was a Krell DT-10, connected to the processor by ST optical link with ST sync lock. The interconnects between the processor and headphone interface units were AudioQuest Lapis Hyperlitz, alternated with TARA Labs RSC where noted.
Comparison products included the Sennheiser Orpheus HE 90, the Koss ESP/950, and Sennheiser's own HD-580 driven by the HeadRoom Supreme dedicated headphone amplifier.—Thomas J. Norton
Sidebar 3: Specifications
Description: Electrostatic headphones with SRM-Xh direct-drive amplifier. Open-back design. Transducer principle: electrostatic, push-pull. Frequency response: 8Hz–35kHz (no tolerance specified). Sensitivity: 108dB/1mW input. THD: 0.001% at 95dB. Bias voltage: 580VDC. Inputs (SRM-Xh): 1 pair, analog.
Weight (headset): 15.1oz.
Serial number of sample tested: 33973.
Price :(SR-Lambda Pro Classic headset and SRM-Xh amplifier), $849.95; headset alone costs $474.95 (1994). Approximate number of dealers: 150.
Manufacturer: Stax, Japan. Web: www.stax.co…
Bushman's Revenge: Jitterbug
Rune Grammofon RCD 2097/RLP 3097 (LP/CD). 2010. Bushman's Revenge, prods.; Hasse Rosbach, prod., eng.; Morton Stendahl, eng. DDA/DDD. TT: 53:39
Performance *****
Sonics ****½
Rune Grammofon RCD 2097/RLP 3097 (LP/CD). 2010. Bushman's Revenge, prods.; Hasse Rosbach, prod., eng.; Morton Stendahl, eng. DDA/DDD. TT: 53:39
Performance *****
Sonics ****½
Bushman's Revenge is, in the purest sense, a power trio: Even Helte Hermansen on guitar, Rune Nergaard on bass, and Gard Nilssen on drums. They are joined on two tracks by Stole Storløkken's Hammond organ. They are from Norway. They crush. As much with the fury of their homeland's black metal as with the angst of 1960s American free jazz, they crush. They play instrumentals.…
The cover is cracked. It is time to rip it off, look directly at the inner workings, and begin to fix things for ourselves.—Matthew B. Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work
Matthew B. Crawford's Shop Class as Soulcraft argues that an intimacy with manual trades may revitalize a connection to the material world that has been lost by those who spend their lives in offices or cubicles, staring at computer screens for eight to twelve hours a day, unable to quantify exactly what it is they do. I'm digging it. It aligns, in many ways, with a philosophy John…
I'm a basically a tube guy, but I've never warmed up to most lower-powered integrated tube amps. Although I quite enjoyed the time I spent with the Cayin A-50T, which I reviewed in the March 2008 issue of Stereophile, over the years I've typically found I'd rather spend time with mid-priced, solid-state integrateds from Creek, Musical Fidelity, or Simaudio than deal with the loss of definition at the frequency extremes that I've heard from many lower-powered tube models. So it was with a bit of trepidation that I approached the VSi60, a 50Wpc integrated amplifier from Audio Research…
The VSi60's ability to reproduce the midrange also made it a natural match for well-recorded albums of acoustic jazz piano. On "Tears Transforming," from the Tord Gustavsen Trio's The Ground (CD, ECM 1892), the pianist's middle register was delicately reproduced, with all of its natural warmth and subtle transient articulations remaining intact.
Further up the audioband, the ARC's clean, extended, detailed reproduction of high frequencies made it a good match for jazz and classical recordings. Miles Davis' trumpet on "If I Were a Bell," from Relaxin' (CD, Prestige VICJ 60125), had…
I then compared two mid-1960s folk-rock albums from the same label and noticed how easily the ARC delineated the differences between the engineering of the voices. On "Morning Morning," from Richie Havens' Mixed Bag (LP, Verve Forecast 3006), Havens' voice is rich, deep, and vibrant, with just the right amount of reverb added to give a touch of syrup to his rusty growl. (I get a kick out of the fact that my favorite mellow ballad on this album is a Fugs tune.) On the other hand, the musically superb "Society's Child," from Janis Ian's eponymous debut album (LP, Verve Folkways 3017), is a…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Tubed integrated amplifier with remote control of volume and source. Tube complement: four 6550C, two 6H30. Overall negative feedback: 7dB. Output power: 50Wpc continuous (17dBW), 20Hz–20kHz. Frequency response: 1Hz–80kHz, –3dB, at 1W. Total harmonic distortion (1kHz): typically 1.5% at 50W, 0.05% at 1W. Input sensitivity: 470mV RMS single-ended, for rated output (32.5dB gain into 8 ohms). Input impedance: 50k ohms, single-ended. Maximum input: 3.5V RMS (any input). Hum and noise: <0.1mV RMS, –106dB ref. rated output (IHF weighted). Power-supply…