Drop has the Dekoni pads listed today for them. I picked them up, but they are a little pricey considering you can get pads direct from Koss at $5/pair. The Koss versions look like pleather, and Iām thinking the velour pads from Drop are contributing to the bass
I shipped them all today. Hope you like them!
The Koss pads are PU leather so the Fenestrated Sheepskin is a huge upgrade, of course in my opinion.
Nice! Iām looking forward to them. The Koss replacement pads do look very cheap. I donāt mind the stock pads to be honest, but they feel like the easiest part of the kit to upgrade and I was happy to see your pads for sale as soon as I got my headphones
Got an email for $100 off on theseā¦I have and love my Hifiman Ananda. Are these different enough to justify buying them?
I would say it depends. Itās a killer deal at 400 bucks
Are they just āreally goodā or are they āspecialā?
Well if you have never heard an estat before, I would say itās a different experience. I donāt think it would be a night and day difference, but it is pretty nice. Itās a mix of both
They are pretty great for $400. At the regular price of $500 things like the build quality would nag at me a little, but at $400 I have a really hard time finding faults. The sound is definitely unique and I enjoy it enough that Iām already considering Stax upgrades just because I want to see what a more capable estat could do. The ācheapā build quality makes them so light that I can leave them on for hours and hours. I bought Empyreans mainly because of their build quality and comfort and I need to take a break from them before I would with these. I havenāt heard the Anandas to compare them to, but I prefer these to a lot of headphones Iāve spent over $500 on
I would say they best most entry level stax systems like the 3100 and l500 with the smaller amp, but the higher end stax are better. They are actually somewhat full sounding with decent timbre which stax estats seem to struggle with. I really like my 007 mk2ās but they are pretty high up
Iāv been looking at the SR-L700s. If Iām going with Stax, I want them to look like a Stax. The 007 and 009 look too much like my other headphones
Lol, but the better sound lol, itās not only looks 
Iām still researching it, but it seems like the 007s take a much more capable amp to show their potential where the 700s beat the 007s on the lower end energizers. Maybe if I ever get a Blue Hawaii or an all in one like the Audiovalve Iāll consider the higher end Stax, but being as the 95x are the extent of my estat experience at the moment, Iām going to hold off on spending that much money on an amp that only works on a couple headphones/earspeakers
I decided to go the iesl route, and I am pretty pleased with the results
Iām still considering that for the driver, but leaning towards the 353x
The 353x is a pretty solid unit as well, so I donāt think that would be bad at all
Do you have a pair of 007 or 009?
I recently got a pair of 007mk2ās
Better than the L700 or different?
IMO better, but with a different signature. Build and comfort is a fair bit better imo on the 007. The l700 has more of the light and airy sound you think of when you think of stax. The 007 actually has pretty good bass and is a bit more spacious. I personally really like the 007 over the l700. Also was looking at the 009s, but I liked the 007 more (and I got a pretty good deal on it from a friend)
I should add that technicality wise the 007mk2 is superior
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For all the owners here I am going to cut and paste a post from Head-Fi and would appreciate any input you could offer:
Just starting to think about these. I wanted to get some input from current owners. Here is what I like:
Preferred Music = Rock, some pop, blues and (horn) jazz. Favourite instruments are vocals, horns and then keyboards.
Preferred Headphones = Grado GH2ās are my favourite. I occasionally goose up the base with my Loki. I admire my T5P.2ās as they really are crystal clear. They lack bass and a bit of soul, to me.
Preferred amps = My long term favourite has been the Burson Fun-Classic. I just got a used Vali 2 and it is really impressing me.
Lastly, I donāt listen loud. All my phones are pretty efficient. I am always in low gain and never go past 12:00.
Am I good candidate for the Koss system?
Thanks!
Shane D