The STAX SR-L500 MK2 is the new midrange model in STAX’s L-series and offers the same removable cable and upgraded headband of its cousin the SR-L700 MK2. The SR-L500 MK2 uses a well-balanced driver, with the open, airy sound you expect from a STAX headphone.
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The SR-L500MK2 models have adopted the cable-exchangeable structure as well as the case holder made from aluminum aiming at user-friendliness and wearing comfort when listening to music.
The exchangeable cable structure of recent trend for high-quality headphone has been employed. This enables the prospective correspondence to a high-definition cable, and the easy maintenance to sudden disconnection, thus improving the user-friendliness of earspeaker.
To the SR-L500MK2 the parallel 6-strand low-capacity HiFC* wide cable is supplied as an accessory. This copper conductor with very small quantity of titanium added features not only superior transmission characteristic, but also excels in softening effect for easy handling.
The change of material has enabled the mechanism design with more high flexibility. In the SR-L500 MK2 models, changing the case holder design from conventional linear style into moderate curve form produces the effect that ear pads fit more naturally on both-sides-of-the-head part. Moreover, the curve form gives high rigidity and prevents from generating unnecessary distortion or twist at the time of wearing, resulting in the great improvement of fit feeling. In an open-air type earspeaker, the degree rise of adhesion at the time of wearing greatly contributes to the improvement of low-frequency reproduction.
● Type: push-pull electrostatic, oval sound element, rear open-air type enclosure
● Frequency response: 7 – 41,000Hz
● Electrostatic capacitance: 110pF (including attached cable)
● Impedance: 145kΩ (including attached cable, at 10kHz)
● Sound pressure sensitivity: 101dB / input 100Vr.m.s. / 1kHz
● Maximum sound pressure level: 118dB / 400Hz
● Bias voltage: 580V DC
● Ear pad: real sheep’s leather (skin-touching portion), high-class artificial leather (surrounding portion)
● Cable: parallel 6-strand, 2.5m full length, low-capacity special wide cable
● Cable conductor: 6N (99.9999%) annealed OFC with silver coating
● Weight: 471g (including attached cable), 351g (without cable)
Overall rating: 4.75 / 5 from 4 reviews.
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"Here’s a shorter version with the transaction highlighted: Stax SR-L500MK2: I’m blown away the headphones — the clarity is unreal, imagine is pinpoint accurate, the soundstage is wide . As with all electrostatic headphones the bass is rolled off but was easily addressed with EQ. The transaction was absolutely excellent, making the whole experience even better."
"These L500mk2's are essentially L300's with a better headband, thicker pads and replaceable cables: which is okay as I love L300's! I switched pads and also put spare L500 pads on my L300's and compared side by side with these L500mkii's and they sound the same. L300 pads do sound a bit flatter out of the box, but I'd always suggest EQ with headphones anyways. With Eq, both sets of pads sound amazing and have amazing bass that I prefer over any planar or dynamic at any price. As a musician: I'd say the one thing I regret was not buying Stax when I first started as they are probably the best music-related thing I've ever bought. I'd definitely mix an album only using these."
"Stax L500 MK2 ear speakers are a very comfortable fit over your ears. Listening through the unit for a couple of hours is not a problem with the weight . The bass response is tight, smooth and undistorted, midrange sounds are produced correctly ,the highs are reproduced crisp and clean. Very accurate head phones. As a professional musician and artist, I give these head phones (ear speakers) a 5 star rating."
"I purchased this pair as an upgrade to my L300s after a comparison between the L700 and L500. I opted for the MK2 model because the yokes are made of metal instead of plastic and the cost is about the same. If you haven't used electrostats, I advise you to try them out if you can. STAX are the best headphones I have ever used, there is zero audible distortion and immense detail. You don't have lot of resonance that leads to slow and sloppy bass response, and the midrange is simply beautiful. STAX house sound tends to be on the brighter end, without being painful or fatiguing to listen to. The L700 is a little better in all these regards but not twice the price better, I would advise to purchase these unless you really want to get everything you can out of your music. My only gripe is that the pads are not sealed to the frame like some older lambdas or the L700, but this is easily rectified with different pads or a more low tech method such as neoprene tubing/sticky tac."
