I've got a set of these on the way.. will be my first time hearing an e-stat.  I'm quite excited.  The HD800 gets most all my 'full sized headphone' listening time, but I hope this will prove to be a nice change-of-pace phone.  Here's hoping the ESP950 doesn't force me to doing shameful, unsavory acts for money so I can fund a Stax rig (sooner rather than later).

Just how similar is the ESP950 to the HE-500?  I had the latter for a good chunk of last year.. and while they were impressive, they ultimately left me feeling unfulfilled (and a little annoyed) due to that thick midrange, midbass centered bass, and treble that rolled off sooner than I would like (contributing to an uncomfortably intimate soundstage).  I get the sense the ESP is lighter, faster, and airy.. but is it as midcentric as the HE-500?

lmswjm, your avatar is awesome:  "Don't fuck with the Jesus' HD800."

Less thick, more open and airy than HE500.  With the right amp and tubes it becomes ridiculously so, more than HD800 even.

Understandable, as HE500 has quite the measurably prominent lower end 'belly', which the Koss does not have. That on top of the relatively slow lower end decay with HE500 means the two sounds are probably night-and-day in terms of thickness.

Yeah, that was on my 'to do' list but I've been occupied w/ the HD800 mod and Leviathan build.  That'll be next though.  Spritzer listed the basics of it somewhere though.  It basically involves removing layered sheets of damping that look like translucent mica till you get the right tune.

I've got a set of these on the way.. will be my first time hearing an e-stat.  I'm quite excited.  The HD800 gets most all my 'full sized headphone' listening time, but I hope this will prove to be a nice change-of-pace phone.  Here's hoping the ESP950 doesn't force me to doing shameful, unsavory acts for money so I can fund a Stax rig (sooner rather than later).

Just how similar is the ESP950 to the HE-500?  I had the latter for a good chunk of last year.. and while they were impressive, they ultimately left me feeling unfulfilled (and a little annoyed) due to that thick midrange, midbass centered bass, and treble that rolled off sooner than I would like (contributing to an uncomfortably intimate soundstage).  I get the sense the ESP is lighter, faster, and airy.. but is it as midcentric as the HE-500?

lmswjm, your avatar is awesome:  "Don't fuck with the Jesus' HD800."

The problem with either is that they need the right amp to come alive. The ESP950 had great synergy with the Electra and 6L6 tubes.

The HE500's one-note indistinct muddy bass goes away with with the right speaker / high-powered amp. Sufficiently amped, there's more air, clarity, width, and articulation with the HE-500.

I thought you said the ESP950 didn't scale that well Purrin? 

ESP950's been puzzling me lately.  I gathered from most impressions that it was warmer and had harder hitting bass than most Stax headphones, except maybe for 007 and 009.

Now Mad Lust Envy on Head-Fi is saying that their bass doesn't hit as hard as the 407.