Looking at jumping up to a real estat system, from my SRS-3100 * experience.
I’m not very familiar with VOCE, not very impressed with L300, and have always heard amazing things about 009, as a broad-stroke look at my impressions on things so far. I don’t really want to go up to 009 cost.
Thanks!
I very recently had a demo day with the L700 and the 007Mkii.
Before going i was all ready to get the L700 as ive had an old pair of Lambda’s for decades but i found the L700 very V shaped and sharp at the top end which was a big surprise and its not as if im not used to the estat brightness. I ended up getting a set of 007Mkii’s…much smoother presentation with no loss in details.
To be honest, the energiser has the biggest influence on the sound.
I have an old srm212 which powered my ancient 202’s but when i tried the 202 on the newer srm252s it was a huge improvement…i have to admit id take the L300 over the L700 based on my listening experience.
By pure chance i found a Mjolnir KGSShv up for sale so i bought it so that now powers my 007’s so its my end game stax (unless i win the lottery in which case i’ll get the X9000)
Fascinating… 007mkii all the way over L700, then!
I found L300 had a small amount of sharpness/shout that was bothersome/painful, but I’m sure that uber budget 252s amp played a part in that. I loved the fit and comfort of it, at least(with L700 pads).
I’d definitely try and get a demo before making a decision, especially the different energizers.
I think you could be better off with the L300 on one of the tube energizers for example. Might take the edge off the top end?
I’d personally be tempted to spend more on the energizer as at least that allows an easier upgrade path.
Yeah, a real energizer should smooth L300 out, but I doubt it’s really gonna sound much better than the mere HD600 upgrade it was for me at the time.
It seems that 007 and 009 both have clearly more detail and bass than VOCE, oddly. So I think 007MKII + something like a ~717/727/007tA is the way.
Would agree with what’s been said, the 007 is the way to go, personally I prefer the 007 mk2.9 (the newest version I think), as it’s least finicky when it comes to just use (some of the older ones had pressure or driver crinkle issues, this one didn’t for me), and I think it’s the most balanced sound that doesn’t lean too warm and rich or also isn’t too wack (some of the 007s in the middle range of their lifespan sounded weird to me)
Also yes the energizer and source is important, the 007 can scale quite well, I’d make sure to not skimp there, the stats are only going to be as good as their energizer and dac/source will allow them to be. You can go all the way up to things like a carbon cc or bhse and others and still have it be worthwhile (assuming you scale your upstream source accordingly). Was also great with a woo 3es elite and top tier t2 build, but I think it was starting to show it’s limitations there vs other estats so don’t know if it was worthwhile there. I think something like the kgsshv or potentially carbon is a great sweet spot, the stax 007tii is another good place to be
VOCE was weird imo, it was comfy and well built, but tonally felt pretty strange and I didn’t think it was all that technical. The 007 (with a good chain) is a clear step up, and 009 again from that (although it’s imo tonally less organic or agreeable as the 007)
It’s looking like it’s gonna be Gungnir + 007tA, unless I have to find a diff energizer. At least I’ll be above 353X and 006t lol.
Sounds like a sweet setup to me, should be pretty awesome
So how about this question - On the non-estat side, what phones might sound better than a 007mkii? I suppose improvements might include: more bass, better treble extension & imaging.
The only HP I’ve heard that can (at least potentially) give any Stax a run for their money was the HE1000 but I heard that through a Bartok so a mega money set up.
But it didn’t have the speed or delicacy of a Stax…EStats are just “different” so hard to compare with other driver tech.
I would personally rate things like a utopia, mysphere (both versions), sr1a, susvara, 1266 tc, and d8000 pro a definite step up in technical ability from the 007, and more on somewhat similar footing trading blows things like an hekse, lcd 24, adx5k, ps2000e, potentially th900, potentially 800s. But it all depends on source gear, it will really change what competes and what doesn’t. And it’s also just preference, some do really love the extreme speed and microdynamics of electrostatics and the more ethereal sound they can provide vs more traditional cans, but they come with their downsides as well
I didn’t know this was for sale anywhere until just now!!
Ah, I forgot about adx5k. 
This one interests me a lot, as a big fan of AD700X/900X.
Pretty sure there’s still stock around for the 24 but don’t know if it’s still actively produced
It’s a pretty sleeper can, but very source gear picky