Still, it’s not like you’ll be wearing them outside of the house anyway – even if you were comfortable being seen with a pair of these, their fragility and openness preclude me from recommending outside use.īuild-wise, what do you want me to say? They’re exactly as no-frills as they look – they’re 100% plastic, and they don’t inspire confidence in their ability to survive a drop. I find the look endearing, but the same can’t be said of most people. Visually, they look like how they do in the pictures – the kind of form-over-function design that characterizes a lot of ‘80s electronics. These boxy plastic rectangles are perhaps an unlikely choice to become one of the most iconic headphone designs ever made – yet, in 2020, the Lambda has edged out most of Stax’s other designs and become their base-model over-ear “earspeaker.”
#Stax phantasmic series
When it comes to signs that someone’s perhaps gone a bit off the audio deep end, there are few that are as obvious as ownership of one of the Stax Lambda series of headphones. The SR-Lambda stretched over a roughly head-sized vase, to show its proportions Design
Electrostatic capacitance: 130 pF, including cord.Take note: that impedance is measured in kilo-Ohms, hence why you can’t use a regular headphone amp to drive these. Since it’s an electrostatic headphone, the specifications will look a little different from most modern dynamic headphones. For this review, I’ve used a Stax SRM-1/Mk-2. This means that it will only be compatible with an electrostatic amplifier with a “normal-bias” output – the currently-produced Stax amps only have “pro-bias” outputs. One thing to note: the SR-Lambda, unlike the current Stax line-up, uses a lower “bias voltage” of 230V. Buying vintage electrostatics is a risk, and readers should be aware of that. Since these have been discontinued for over 20 years, there may be some variances between units that have come into existence after they were sold. Still, I think the Lambdas are something that should be tried, and I think the SR-Lambda is a great place to start – provided you’re unfazed by the prospect of buying 30+-year-old vintage electrostatic headphones.Īs this is a discontinued model, the unit I’m reviewing is my own personal unit.
#Stax phantasmic drivers
Some people perceive them as unrealistically thin-sounding, the drivers as unrealistically fast, and the presentation of music as generally weightless, lacking in body, and unsatisfying. You also hear a lot of grumbling (especially with respect to the Lambda and its descendants) about the timbre of electrostatics.
When it comes to electrostatic, you hear a lot of talk about how it sounds like there’s “nothing between you and the music,” or how “the sound simply materializes out of the air,” etc., etc. Putting on a headphone like the SR-Lambda for the first time can be something of a revelation if you’re coming from a pair of low-fi or mid-fi dynamic or planar headphones. This allows the diaphragm to be ultra-light – “lighter than air,” as the marketing material likes to say – providing a very transparent sound. While ordinary headphones use magnets to move their diaphragms (the sound-producing element), electrostatic use electricity alone to move their diaphragms. If you’re not familiar with electrostatic headphones, I’ll give you the briefest possible rundown here (because I’m unable to give you much more).
Fragile, antiquated build – spare parts scarce.
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