Stax unveils SR-007S electrostatic headphones with sheepskin ear pads and electrostatic drivers

Stax has unveiled the SR-007S electrostatic headphones for high-resolution music enthusiasts.

The SR-007S headphones have a frequency response of 6 Hz to 41 kHz with a sensitivity of 101 dB. They are designed for powerful amplifiers given their high impedance of 145 kΩ at 10 kHz and require a DC bias voltage of 580 V to move the high-polymer film diaphragm suspended between the redesigned electrodes. Electrostatic diaphragms have very low mass, enabling fast transient response. They also do not use magnets to drive them, so they are not subject to distortion caused by magnetic hysteresis.

The headphones use a combination of sheepskin for the portion of the earcups that contact the ears and artificial leather for the remainder of the brown covers. The earcups are mounted to a single piece of stainless steel that has been formed into a special arc design to help reduce resonance, and the inside is made of sound-absorbing material. The headband is attached to the stainless steel backbone with rubber mounts.

The SR-007S weigh 450 g (15.9 oz.). They come with a detachable 2.5 m (8.2 ft.), flat 6-wire cable made using HiFC wires. Such wires can be manufactured more easily than pure oxygen free copper (OFC) while retaining desired characteristics such as minimal signal loss, good bending and fatigue properties, and weldability for cable assembly.

This high-performance copper alloy wire is manufactured by Proterial (formerly Hitachi Metals) with trace amounts of titanium added to copper that has a trace amount of oxygen and sulfur. During manufacture, hot rolling of the copper alloy precipitates the sulfur while integrating the titanium as crystals measuring several hundred nanometers in size to give the HiFC wire its desirable properties.

The Stax SR-007S headphones have an MSRP of 275,000 yen (~$2,200) and will be available for sale on June 30 from Stax authorized distributors. They are designed to be powered by Stax driver units only, such as the Stax SRM-T800, to retain warranty coverage.

Readers who are interested in electrostatic headphones at a more affordable price point can try the Koss ESP-950 sold on Amazon.