Stax SRS-3100 electrostatic Earspeaker system

Can there be a headphone brand more famous than Stax, and yet one that is more rarely experienced? I must shamefacedly admit that I’ve never before donned Stax headphones. [Our Editor chokes into his coffee at this revelation.]

So now’s my chance. Their fame, of course, in part rests on their electrostatic designs. And electrostatic designs do come with certain idiosyncrasies.

First, they cannot be driven by conventional headphone amplifiers. Rather than dynamic drivers (which use a coil and cone, somewhat like miniature loudspeakers) or planar magnetic drivers (which are a variation on the same theme), electrostatic drivers don’t use magnets at all. They rely on the attraction and repulsion of objects carrying