Introduction
After receiving many pms from people asking what the HD580 Jubilees in my profile were, I conducted a search both here on Head-Fi and through Yahoo and found that there really isn’t any hard information on these, more just speculation from those who have only heard about them in passing. After seeing this, I figured it was time for me to try and write a real review on them to try and describe what I'm hearing.
Over the past three months, I've had extensive listening time with the Jubilees and these are the conclusions that I've come to. Please keep in mind that everything is in my opinion and in my experience so ymmv. I’m also a far cry from a golden eared audiophile, just another Head-Fier enjoying the music.
What are the Jubilees?
The HD580 Jubilees were a "limited edition" run of about 4000 pairs and were manufactured for worldwide sales in 1995. They were produced by Sennheiser as a commemorative product to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Stemming from the original and highly acclaimed HD580 Precisions, the Jubilees one upped the Precisions by having the entire body made out of thermoplastic carbon fiber to help keep structural resonance to an absolute minimum, computer tuned drivers were employed, and steel grills were used as opposed to the original's plastic grills. The Jubilees of course then gave birth to the HD600s after supply of the Jubilees were exhausted.
When looking at the Jubilees and the HD600s, the most noticeable difference is of course the carbon fiber effect overlay that was later replaced by the HD600’s blue marble finish. Other differences between the Jubilees and the HD600s include, closer matched drivers (According to Sennheiser USA) and the special 50th Anniversary box and documents. Like all models from the HD580-6X0 line, the Jubilee's drivers have a resistance of 300 ohms and require a fair amount of power to drive them properly.
Associated Gear
Source: NAD C521BEE. Sony SCD-CE595
Amp: Meier Audio Corda Head-Five
Cables: Analog Research Silver Raincoat, Emily Labs Grace, Prelude Audio Rhapsody
Headphone modifications: HD650 cable upgrade, De-foamed drivers, Beyerdynamic DT770 headband pad
Music:
-The Beach Boys, Sound of Summer
-Keane, Under the Iron Sea
-Keane Hopes and Fears
-Savage Garden, Affirmation
-The Lost Prophets, Start Something
-Benoit Freeman Project
-Baroque Festival
-Kalapana, Best of
-Dennis Pavao, All Hawai'i Stand Together
-Antonio Vivaldi, Le Quattro Stagioni
Build Quality
Build quality like the rest of the HD580-6X0 line is pretty bullet proof. Construction is very solid and the headphones have a quality feel in your hand however, it does feel a tad too chintzy considering these originally retailed for $450. Every part can be user replaced though and this also allows parts swapping between the HD580s, HD600s, and the HD650s. I have not run into any issues of frame squeaking but according to Stereophile, some models ran into this issue so if you're in the market for one, you might want to make sure this is not an issue.
Comfort
I have always been a fan of the comfort of this line, in my opinion Sennheiser makes some of the comfiest cans on the market right now. The headband is tight enough to keep the headphone firmly in place but unlike some headphones, these do not put too much pressure on my temples and can easily be worn for hours and hours on end. One issue where the Jubilees and HD600s fail though, is with the headband padding. Not only is it not as comfortable as the padding on the HD650 but it is also much less durable. On the plus side though, the Beyerdynamic DT770 headband pad fits perfectly over the top, looks great, and is much more comfortable as well.
Aesthetics
In my time here, I've seen a lot of headphones but I still think that these are one of the better looking headphones ever produced. It doesn't have the elegance of the Audio Technica woodies, nor the retro sheek appeal of the Grados and Allesandros, nor the absolute beauty of the HE90s, but what it does have, is an air of Darth Vader to it, a sense of presence and occasion. If you've ever seen a pitch black 300C rolling down the street, dropped and chromed, you would understand the sheer evilness this thing evokes (Think Kramer's Darth Senns).
The fact that Sennheiser has been using the same shape for the past 13 years is also a testament to how ahead of its time this design was.
Sound
Highs
Every Sennheiser I've heard in the Hd580-6X0 line has greatly benefited in the upper registries with the removal of the foam between the ear pads and drivers, the Jubilees were no different. After removing the thick foams, the highs immediately sprung to life. What was once muddy now became crystal clear. They are still lacking that characteristic top end sparkle of the Grado RS1s and SR225s but they extend very high without leaving the listener fatigued. The highs are very airy and give a wonderful sense of immediacy. I was listening to the Beach Boy's
In My Room and the beginning note had an amazing crispness to it. It was like the cymbal (Not good with naming instruments other than guitars, sorry don't know what else to call it) was being played right in front of me. I try not to use the word incredible too often when describing sound but when I inserted Vivaldi's
Four Seasons, there's no other word for it. I haven't heard those violins sound that good since I heard it played live by the symphony.
On albums that aren't mastered perfectly though, the Jubilees just tear them apart. On Keane's
Crystal Ball every digitally synthesized note could be heard and with the Jubilees, and the flaws of the recording and high levels of compression are readily apparent. When playing the Beach Boy's hit
Surfer Girl, there is a touch of sibilance running throughout the song. I believe though, that this was more a result of the recording than the headphones since this sibilance was only noticeable on a very small number of tracks. Even if it is inherent of the Jubilees however, I would not want to trade off the clarity and detail you get from the Jubilees just to get rid of that touch of sibilance. Out of all the headphones I've
owned, these imo have the highest amount of clarity, and they resolve macro detail very well without bringing too much focus on it and making you lose interest in the rest of the song's composition (Ala K1000 + SR325 in my experience). The detail is there if you want to hear it but by the same token, it is also just as easy to forget about this and just groove to the music.
Mids
While the Jubilees exhibit the least amount of that infamous Sennheiser "veil" I've heard so far, they do have the slight recession and hollowness that I hate. It's this reason that keeps from absolutely loving these headphones. I actually found the mid-range on these quite comparable to my Klipsch bookshelfs and floorstanders. I don't know whether Klipsch and Sennheiser voice their speakers and headphones to sound like this or whether the sound is a product of the drivers used but in this area, the Jubilees are flawed. On Classical, Jazz, and Orchestrals, the mid range recession isn't really as noticeable but when playing Indy, Rock, and Hawaiian, it does become noticeable and begins to interfere with my enjoyment of the music.
When I stuck in the Sounds of Summer, I was surprised that the mid range recession wasn't that apparent. Perhaps I had just imagined this so called veil? I called up
Don't Worry Baby again and nope, the veil wasn't really that noticeable. Maybe I'm just crazy??
After this I decided to swap in something a little more difficult, so in went Rocky Votolato's new album,
Makers. Sure enough, Votolato's low, raspy voice caught out the Jubilees. On the track
Portland is Leaving, I felt like there was a blanket over the music. I can't really explain the veil better than just saying that if you imagine that the singer is singing with a hand towel over the mic, you can kind of understand what I'm hearing. Some might say that it was the particular album but nope, that wasn't the case. I stuck in Phantom Planet's album
The Guest, and it was the same story, same slightly recessed mid-range. Thinking I might have just picked out two dud albums, I plugged the HF-1s in and prepared myself for the worst. What happened? Nothing surprising actually, the HF-1s beautifully voiced mid range translated the signal into great sounding music. No mid-range recession here.
Bass
No Sennheiser review would be complete without describing the bass that you not only hear but feel. For this particular test I chose a rather odd album, Savage Garden's
Affirmation. You might remember them from about seven years ago before they completely disappeared off the radars. If you've heard some of their other albums, you might think that it's an odd test for bass, but there is reason to the madness, the track I chose off this album was
Gunning Down Romance. I have heard this song about a million times and everytime the tightness of the recording just blows my mind, if you want visceral impact, buy this song, turn it up, and prepare to have your brains blown out at around the twenty second mark. The song starts off slow but takes a sharp left turn at that point. In my experience, not many headphones can get that texture and impact down just the way I like it, but the Jubilees did not disapoint. The impact from these drivers makes you feel like you were just hit in the chest...with a 60mm tank shell. No bass bloat, no flabby one noters here, just gobs and gobs of tight bass. How tight? Think...err, never mind.
Just take my word for it, the low end reproduction on these cans is great. To wrap up the bass section, I queued up Gregory Isaacs infamous
Night Nurse as well as a dub version of it. This track is really a timeless classic and was a real joy to hear out of the Jubilees. On a side note, if you really like bass, listen to Lil' Wayne's
Stuntin' Like My Daddy. It's not a great song but it is a fun listen.
Soundstaging and Imaging
Since speakers make up about 90% of my listening, it's hard to talk about the soundstage of headphones in a positive way since I've never encountered a headphone that can actually throw a soundstage expansive enough to really satisfy me but for what it is, the soundstaging really is quite decent. If the CD3000s are 20 rows back and Grados are right up there at the front, I would say the Jubilees put you at around row 13 or 14. It does suffer slightly from the "three blob" imaging problem of the Senns but it really isn't that noticeable unless you're a gamer. When listening to classical, you can still imagine where all the instruments are located in the concert hall and when you're listening to rock, you can still kind of make out where the lead guitarist is and where the drummer is, etc. However, if you're looking for a headphone that can allow you to hear a twig snap a hundred yards behind you and 27.008 feet to the left of that oak tree while playing a FPS, you might want to look elsewhere.
Conclusions
After my testing, it is obvious that my system is not doing these headphones justice. Each upgrade in source, going from my E-MU to my CE595 to the NAD resulted in an even greater amount of musical enjoyment. And I know my amplifier isn't powering these 300 ohm monsters to their fullest potential but I'm not so sure if it's worth scaling up a system to get that extra bit of oomph out. My system is barely making the cut even for low-fi right now but that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy the sound it's producing. The Jubilees may not be the last word in sound but in my opinion, it is one of the best all rounders available. Whether you're listening to Marcello's Oboe Concerto or plopped down on the couch watching some late night football, and whether you have a $15000 rig or a $150 rig, you will not be disappointed with the performance of the Jubilees. Regardless of price, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better can for everyday
and "audiophile" use but for the street price these are going for nowadays, they are an absolute steal.
Review: Sennheiser HD580 Jubilee
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