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NYC J&R store's Wall Of Headphones

post #1 of 14
12/27/06 at 11:09pm
Thread Starter 
Does anyone know what kind of source/amplification drives the "Wall" mentioned in the title?

During my rather extended demo complete w/ note-taking (I think the salespeople were giving weird looks after an hour), I came up with this ranking, based SOLELY on enjoyment of the jazz that was playing at the time: (I listen mainly to jazz, but this comparison probably isn't valid for rockers or hiphopers.)


Grado SR-225: A+
Senn HD650: A
Senn HD580: A-
Audio Technica ATH A700: B+
Grado SR-60: B
Sony MDR-7506: B
Bose Triport: B
Senn HD485: B-
Koss UR40: B-
Senn PX100: B-
Senn HD595: C
Senn PX250: D
Senn HD280: F-


Luckily for me, that area of the store was pretty quiet during my visit, so I was able to get a pretty decent listen to each headphone.

A couple of things really surprised me, (as being different from things I've read on head-fi):

1. The difference between SR-225 and SR-60 is night and day. The bass on the 225 is tight, snappy, impactful, and even thumpy at the same time. It's really the best I've ever heard. In comparison, the HD650 was just impactful thumpy, and the SR-60 was just tight and snappy. Compared to the 225, the SR-60 sounds cheap.

2. HD595's were really plastic sounding. I had high hopes for these after reading tons of praise.

3. Triport's aren't that bad. For the price they're a terrible value, but they would be reasonable at a $60 price point.


But if all the headphones are being driven by some crappy source, then this doesn't mean much does it? Does anyone know the answer to the question at the beginning?
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post #2 of 14
12/28/06 at 1:40am
LOL @ the HD280 grade
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post #3 of 14
12/28/06 at 1:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dizzyorange View Post
Senn HD280: F-
Quote:
Originally Posted by kramer5150 View Post
LOL @ the HD280 grade
Yes, I'm curious to know why you found them so horrible? I think they are great for jazz in particular.

--Chris

P.S. I lived near that store a number of years ago and stopped in a few times. It was always so junky and crowded -- sometimes the cans on that wall were all tangled together even!
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post #4 of 14
12/28/06 at 1:56am
I remember going once and also thinking the Wall was really janky. I remember the sound quality of the source files sucking, and some of the headphones with non-working channels...I know I wouldn't base a purchase decision off that wall. Has it gotten any better?
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post #5 of 14
12/28/06 at 2:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hempcamp View Post
Yes, I'm curious to know why you found them so horrible? I think they are great for jazz in particular.

--Chris

P.S. I lived near that store a number of years ago and stopped in a few times. It was always so junky and crowded -- sometimes the cans on that wall were all tangled together even!
Cuse ' he's a met's fan. Sorry I like the Met's when the Yankees are not winning LOL J/k and poking at you. nice info really. Tnx
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post #6 of 14
12/28/06 at 2:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hempcamp View Post
Yes, I'm curious to know why you found them so horrible? I think they are great for jazz in particular.

--Chris

P.S. I lived near that store a number of years ago and stopped in a few times. It was always so junky and crowded -- sometimes the cans on that wall were all tangled together even!
I mean they are not all together terrible... Just that I found them distant, cold and very sterile. The added treble boost over the distant/lackluster mids gave me tinnitus. Bass impact was very flat, and lacked dynamics. Although the sub-bass extension was very good, same goes for the isolation. People say they are flat and accurate. Spectrally that may be true, dynamically however I found them to be very devoid. I mean... Loud, obnoxious recorded guitar tracks that should JUMP out of the mix, and really draw you into the music sound artificially distant.

To draw a comparison with (what I consider to be) relatively flat cans... I have heard the (sa5k, DT880) that were spectrally fairly flat but dynamically were able to portray what was recorded.

The cracking headband though is probably my biggest beef with the 280.

Well anyways... those are my oppinions.
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post #7 of 14
12/28/06 at 3:08am
Thread Starter 
To me, the HD280 sounded thin and silibant. The bass actually extended pretty low like a subwoofer, but the balance was just off. It was like Team Sennheiser took a balanced sounding pair of headphones and rolled off the mids and bass.

Let's go Mets in 07! The rumors are the Yanks are dealing Randy Johnson so they can sign Zito.. wow now that would really suck.
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post #8 of 14
8/29/07 at 11:23pm
We should all be so lucky to have an opportunity to compare this many headphones at one time in one place! Wish that we would have a place like this here in Southern Cal.
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post #9 of 14
8/29/07 at 11:24pm
Joelongwood has more at his place.


Mitch
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post #10 of 14
8/29/07 at 11:42pm
You can't go by the way J&R has them set up on their wall.....they'll all hooked up to a rather lousy set up and all set at different volumes. When I go to j&r i walk in with my imod and hornet and try out each one. Grados will generally sound better on that wall than Senns because they set all to the same volume and the grados are much louder at the same volume.

Also J&R carries the RS1s and RS2s now and all the AKGs except the discontinued models like the k1000
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post #11 of 14
8/30/07 at 12:02am
The wall sucks. I think it's one source connected to way to many headphones with incorrect impedance matching
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post #12 of 14
8/30/07 at 12:03am
Weird that you've rated the SR-60 and the Bose Tripod the same. I perfer the Grado by far. But that's just me ...
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post #13 of 14
8/30/07 at 1:02am
Quote:
I know I wouldn't base a purchase decision off that wall. Has it gotten any better?
Funny you mention this because I was in J&R about a month ago and noticed that the sound quality of the wall was much better than on previous visits.
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post #14 of 14
8/30/07 at 1:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidMahler View Post
You can't go by the way J&R has them set up on their wall.....they'll all hooked up to a rather lousy set up and all set at different volumes. When I go to j&r i walk in with my imod and hornet and try out each one. Grados will generally sound better on that wall than Senns because they set all to the same volume and the grados are much louder at the same volume.

Also J&R carries the RS1s and RS2s now and all the AKGs except the discontinued models like the k1000

x2!! Volume matching is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL (and often overlooked) when critically comparing headphones A/B. I had no idea how important that was until another member pointed it out to me one time.
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