[caracara08]

  BH Crack: (Tung Sol 5998 and Telefunken 12AU7) Highs have a nice shimmer and never get harsh, mids a little forward but nice and smooth with female vocals, lows a little rolled off and sometimes loose.  Best overall sound but it needs good driver and power tube which can get up there in price.
 
Lyr2: (6922 Telefunken) Highs have a little more sparkle than Crack and Ember, mids are slightly recessed, lows are solid and extended, best of the three, sound stage is also widest of the three amps.  Most detailed amp, but you need good tubes, $150-250 a pair
 
Ember: (12AX7 Mullard, mid R setting) Highs are the best of the three, extended and clear, mids are slightly forward, a little more than I like, female vocals are good and about the same as Crack, lows are between the Crack and Lyr2, goes lower than Crack but not as tight or low like the Lyr2.  Sound stage is about the same as the Crack, maybe a little less.  Most versatile amp, easiest to roll tubes.
 
Music used: First Love by Hikaru Utada, My Everything by CSJH-The Grace, Someone Like You by Adele, If I Were A Boy by Beyoncé, Here With You by Cecilio & Kapono, Antarctica by Keiko Matsui, Jamaica Farewell by Bob James, Concerto in E Major - Vivaldi - Spring - Itzhak Perlman, Above the Clouds by Amber, Ostinato by Passport, Heaven Knows by the Corrs, Will I Ever Find A Love by Tower of Power, More Than A Feeling by Boston, Pleasure Victim by Berlin.
 
I will used the amp that I think works best for the genre of the music that I'm listening to at the time.  If you have a few different headphones the Ember would be the most versatile of the three, if you need power for planars then the Lyr2 is your best bet, if you only had the HD-650 I think the Crack is a fairly good match and the cheapest of these three amps, granted it was fun building it.
 
Hope this helps and as all say, YMMV.

 
Linking full quote so that it isnt missed on the last page.  I have had all 3 amps (but the Lyr 1) and his thoughts sound about right for everyone that asked.  Thank you DavidA

 

[ButtUglyJeff]

   
I know why, it's because they're butt ugly, Jeff.

 
But, they're a good kind of ugly...
 
They lost me at the bass adjustment and single entry cable...

 

[whirlwind]

I feel like my HD650 is starting to open up a little bit....it is getting the special treatment with all of this B.B. King burn in 

 

[Solrighal]

  I feel like my HD650 is starting to open up a little bit....it is getting the special treatment with all of this B.B. King burn in 

 
It's only my opinion but the 650 is the only headphone I've ever owned which exhibits definite signs of burn-in. It only gets better.

 

[Fegefeuer]

I listened to them again yesterday, over various booths, some loud and some in a fine rather silent magical corner. Their magic got back to me, now I'm gonna look out for a good deal around EU. 

 

[bocosb]

About my early amp related question, i ended up picking the Bottlehead Crack + Speedball  instead of going the DIY route of building a Darkvoice clone - the price was pretty good also, about 340$ already built, the main "problem" now is that i wont get to listen to it until i get back in the country 2 weeks from now - i expect a big improvement over the Asus Xonar Essence STX amp..

 

[Fegefeuer]

oh, you can bet on that.

 

[i luvmusic 2]

So another CRACK HEAD.............

 

[Krutsch]

  So another CRACK HEAD.............

 
It's a conspiracy 

 

[DDDamian]

The price of tubes just went up again lol - congrats on the Crack - it really is nice.

 

[DavidA]

  The price of tubes just went up again lol - congrats on the Crack - it really is nice.

I already have my tubes

 hope they don't die after I post this, lol

 

[Jakkal]

  I listened to them again yesterday, over various booths, some loud and some in a fine rather silent magical corner. Their magic got back to me, now I'm gonna look out for a good deal around EU. 

Where in EU? In Saturn.de they are 300€. On Amazon.de they were also 300, but now the price strangely is up to 400€, I guess will get down to 300€ again soon.
Or you are looking for second hand?

 

[iancraig10]

£245 in UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-HD650-Reference-Over-Ear-Headphone/dp/B00018MSNI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431980241&sr=8-1&keywords=Hd650

 

[Chris Ihao]

Hmm. Having read about this "new HD650" thing, I'm a bit flabbergasted. I purchased mine just a few days ago, from a well known music- and dj equipment store in my city. The "new" membranes are supposed to look white/silver, arent they? This also seems to show from the outside of the cups in pics I have seen. Mine, on the other hand, seems to have almost purely black membranes. For reference, the packaging they came in was the one in this post.

Now, I can't believe that the store somehow managed to find a really old version which they put on their otherwise up to date shelves, but you never know. Is this "white membrane" issue a thing of the past or what? I don't have the box, or the phones here, as I'm away at work for a few days, but I got a bit worried last night when I discovered previous discussions about this. That said, I think they sound awesome in a natural way, compared to my very bright and wonderful PS1000's (and my basstastic m50's), and that they compliment my other sets well.

Can anyone here shed some light on this?

 

[imackler]

Hmm. Having read about this "new HD650" thing, I'm a bit flabbergasted. I purchased mine just a few days ago, from a well known music- and dj equipment store in my city. The "new" membranes are supposed to look white/silver, arent they? This also seems to show from the outside of the cups in pics I have seen. Mine, on the other hand, seems to have almost purely black membranes. For reference, the packaging they came in was the one in this post.

Now, I can't believe that the store somehow managed to find a really old version which they put on their otherwise up to date shelves, but you never know. Is this "white membrane" issue a thing of the past or what? I don't have the box, or the phones here, as I'm away at work for a few days, but I got a bit worried last night when I discovered previous discussions about this. That said, I think they sound awesome in a natural way, compared to my very bright and wonderful PS1000's (and my basstastic m50's), and that they compliment my other sets well.

Can anyone here shed some light on this?

 
Can you post a picture in the light of the grill? We'll be able to tell you in a second which version it is.