I lost interest in headphones eventually, after using DIY nearfield speakers for a while. You can position/angle the drivers however you want, however close/far/high/low you want, playing however loud/quiet you want, with whatever baffle materials you'd like to try. Can design the baffle so you...

One thing I used to do with the HD540II is take the earcups/drivers off the headband, remove the earpads/inner material and hold each driver in the air in front of my ears with music playing at moderate volume. I would move the driver position and alter the driver angle to study how it affected...

Haha, no, but that is the kind of thing I would do. The K1000 with drivers fully angled outwards looked ridiculous to wear but offered fantastic spatial sound. Speakers have to be positioned a bit in front of the face to achieve a genuine stereoscopic effect, where both ears hear both channels...

Glad to see the HD540 models are still receiving attention and providing musical enjoyment. Several years back, I remember comparing HD540II and HD800 side-by-side over many days. The 800 is the better technical performer with deeper bass extension, higher resolution of detail/dynamics, cleaner...

Yes, I initially carefully cut open the middle line. The pads on the 540II in the first two photos are totally velvet (front and back, the strongest and most attractive pad type). Unfortunately, many HD540II come with pads that have a velvet front but a fabric back, covered in a pleather. This...

The HD430 earpads use the same attachment rings as the 540 earpads. So you could transplant those across but you will inevitably destroy the pads to get them out. I used to clean the 540II velours in warm clean water and rubbing with alcohol gel. I soon learned that after taking out the inner...

I never experienced any loose connections with that push-on adapter. For me, it always provided a secure fit. Although, I did buy several new ones of the gold-plated version because many of the 540II came without an adapter. Sometimes I completely replaced the cable as well, so I had to factor...

Yes, I liked the cable/plug in the first photo the most and I tried to make sure all my purchases/sales featured that cable type. The push-on adapter was typically silver coloured. I bought several of the gold-plated variant of it like the old HD600 had, so that all my cables had an adapter. Not...

Oh, I don't like the large plug termination of the steel-litz cable either. The copper cable is a 3.5mm jack with an optional push-on adapter to convert it to 1/4 inch jack, the same as the HD600 had. Copper cables give a more natural sound anyway, helping to avoid excessive treble and listening...

I don't recommend the Ref 1 as readily because it doesn't tend to come with the parts that I prefer. I like the stock oxygen-free copper cable and velvet earpads of the Ref II model. I even like the colour and appearance of the mk2 model more. The mk1 model sometimes comes with a stiffer...

I am glad to see the HD540 Reference II getting some love and praise. I hoarded over 12 of them at one point because I was so enthusiastic about the sound quality, design and comfort and I wanted to restore several to absolutely perfect condition and be confident in my recommendation to others...

HD250 is a sealed headphone. HD540 is an open headphone. There are similarities in the sound frames but they are quite different and certainly not interchangeable. I disassembled several of both models so I am familiar with the internals. I also tried a HD540II with unmatched drivers and the...

To my ears, I always thought HD540II and HD560II sounded almost exactly the same when they had similar headband clamping and similar thickness of earpads. The main difference was the position of the sound; 540 sound image had better placement than the 560II, in my opinion, so was consequently a...

Budget stuff like HD540 can provide a very enjoyable listening experience. I am just fussy. The major thing with MySphere's small driver size is that the moving mass can be very very low so the speed is highly responsive. Starts quickly and stops quickly.