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High-End Addict Looking Headphone Recommendations!

post #1 of 28
8/7/09 at 8:50am
Thread Starter 
A little long but humor me as I am a serious NEWBIE.

I have been lurking on this site for a week or two. I haven't seriously been into listening to headphones for almost 15 years other than a few high-end portables and Etymotic ear buds (crappy bass but great noise isolation on an airplane) for said portables when I travel.

I am very much into fairly extreme 2-channel high-end audio and currently listen to MBL reference electronics on Focal Grande Utopia EMs so I like full range performance and solid bass extension with serious resolution. I listen to blues, jazz, rock, pop, and a little R&B.

I want to get into a pretty killer headphone rig given what I use as a an audio rig (I don't want to be disappointed). I will probably source it with the digital rig in my big system when I want to listen late night but mostly from my MacBoob/iTunes. I will probably move it around the house now and then so I don't want a boat anchor.

What has caught my eye so far are the following:

Sennheiser HD800s as they are superbly built and seem to push the envelope on the technology side of things.

Headroom "Portable Desktop Amp" $1,100: The Crossfeed circuit looks interesting, USB DAC, and I really like the idea of a battery power supply as it works great on a phono pre so why not on a headphone amp?!

Lehmann BlackCube Linear USB $1,500: I have always liked their phono preamps and I understand that this amp was one of several used during the development of the HD800.

Cary 300 SEI $5,500: Way more than I want to spend, can't move it around, and would require a DAC but I have heard this through Grado phones and it is AWESOME....love that 300B sound but don't want to pay for it.

Lastly in a totally different direction:

Stax SR-007 II/SRM-007T II $4,200: A well matched combo that is easy to move around and combines tubes with stats. Heard a lower end Stax rig years ago and loved it. I am also drawn to this Stax model as they look for more modern than the traditional models in the range.

Advice on the above or anything that I'm missing? Remember that I don't want to get too tweaky. I am also not afraid to spend money but would like to keep it to $2,500 and absolutely no more than $4,200 in the case of the Stax.

BTW, I like resolution, staging, slam, bottom end extension, liquidity on the top (I can't stand brightness), and a little tube midrange probably isn't a bad thing but I am not sure about that on phones as I have limited experience outside of the Cary.

Thanks in advance for helping me buy my "starter rig"!
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post #2 of 28
8/7/09 at 9:44am
Well I would say Headrooms BUDA/UDAC+ DPS with a balanced stock HD 800 but thats just my taste... Guess tube are out in your case.
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post #3 of 28
8/7/09 at 11:41am
You're going to get a lot of different recommendations. Most tend to recommend what they use, or wish that they used. You'll get the most recommendations for the HD-800's, because they are the latest FOTM, but be aware not everyone believes that they live up to the hype (Myself included).

The amps that you list are OK, but I'd hardly list them as top tier.

The Stax rig is absolutely my choice of what you listed. However I do prefer the HeAudio Jade/ Woo Audio GES combination to the Stax rig, but that's just me.

I'm also quite fond of my Denon AH-D7000/Audio-gd Phoenix combination, but since the Phoenix is a two chassis amp it's not easily moved.

Too bad I believe that you just missed a recent meet in Colorado. Actually listening to the equipment is the only way that you can be sure that it's actually what you want. It might be worth your while to wait and travel to one of the larger regional meets (There should be one in NY Long Island late fall). When you are looking at spending as much as 3-4 thousand dollars spending $500 to actually hear what you are considering could be a wise expenditure.


Aside from that, I'd say that since you have heard and liked Stax headphones in the past that the Stax rig is your safe bet.
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post #4 of 28
8/7/09 at 12:23pm
You're missing the JH13 Pro. So you don't have a DAC for your Mac?
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post #5 of 28
8/7/09 at 12:27pm
Can you hold off for a couple of months?

You probably know the RMAF will be in Denver this October, except this year, there's going to be a full CanJam! You'll be able to hear the HD-800, Omega II, and pretty much anything else you care to hear. Also, meets are fun. You'll meet a lot of people and have a great time hanging out after the floor closes.

Suggesting four figure gear is a fun exercise, but when it comes to spending that much, you really should give it a listen first.

To help pass the time, why not pick up something like a Sennheiser HD-600? They're awfully good and should keep you happy for two months. Then, you can really dive in.
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post #6 of 28
8/7/09 at 1:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post
Can you hold off for a couple of months?

You probably know the RMAF will be in Denver this October, except this year, there's going to be a full CanJam! You'll be able to hear the HD-800, Omega II, and pretty much anything else you care to hear. Also, meets are fun. You'll meet a lot of people and have a great time hanging out after the floor closes.

Suggesting four figure gear is a fun exercise, but when it comes to spending that much, you really should give it a listen first.

To help pass the time, why not pick up something like a Sennheiser HD-600? They're awfully good and should keep you happy for two months. Then, you can really dive in.
Wise advice to wait but I do have an itchy trigger finger. I'm sure everyone is all to familiar with that disease. Maybe I should exercise some restraint and get something like a Woo Audio 6 and a pair of AKG-702s as it would be easy to resell after the meet and certain to sound pretty good.

Or maybe just jump off the cliff and get the STAX rig.
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post #7 of 28
8/7/09 at 1:22pm
Uncle Erik gave you the best advice, wait for some time until there's a meet and try out as many things as you can, so you'll know more about your taste for headphone listening (which won't necessarily meet your speaker listening taste), and which combos take you closer to what you want.
Other than that, getting a Stax combo (I'd recommend better the O2 mk1 and 717 amp if you don't mind buying used) you won't go wrong. The HD800 are great phones too, probably the best open dynamics in current production, the "problem" is matching source and amp to make them sound as you like better. They can sound really awful or very good depending on what you use to feed them.
Anyway, if you're deep into quality audio, whatever you get will be just a "first system", I bet you'll try out many more things
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post #8 of 28
8/7/09 at 1:51pm
If you buy a modest amp and headphones USED, you won't take a large hit when you go to resale them.

I totally forgot that there's going to be Headphones at RMAF.
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post #9 of 28
8/7/09 at 3:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yikes View Post
If you buy a modest amp and headphones USED, you won't take a large hit when you go to resale them.

I totally forgot that there's going to be Headphones at RMAF.
Road trip.
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post #10 of 28
8/7/09 at 3:40pm
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f42/fs...-black-438043/
Pick up this amp and some Pro bias Lambdas (ex. Lambda Pro, Lambda Signature, SR-404). This will be a nice treat to keep you happy 'til you go to RMAF and is worth keeping around as relatively smaller second system.

If you feel that's too much for a first system you should take note that SRD adaptors will allow you to use STAX off your speaker amps. You will want a SRD-7Pro or SRD-7MkII to use modern STAX. Expect to pay around $200-$300 for one unless you can wait for a good deal to pop up.

A Lambda Pro in good condition will cost around $250, less for one in poor condition.
A SR-404 will cost anywhere between $350+ used to $580 new from a U.S. retailer. Woo Audio Sound of Excellence Products

The SR-303 and SR-202 are good lower cost alternatives if you don't want to buy used.
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post #11 of 28
8/7/09 at 3:46pm
I know how it is, but you should really hold off on major purchases until RMAF. I promise that whatever you choose based on reading impressions will be different from what you like after listening to a few rigs.

Suppose you read reviews, form an opinion, spend several thousand, and then at RMAF, you get blown away by something you had dismissed because someone said it wasn't good? Would you then sell what you bought - losing hundreds or maybe more - and purchase what you actually like? Is that what you want to do? Because you will change your mind after listening to a bunch of gear. You'll notice that all of the senior members went through quite a bit of gear before figuring out what they really liked.

So, to get you through the next two months, go buy a used HD-600 or HD-650 or something. I know the "top tier" headphones are alluring, but those are truly excellent headphones. They will blow you away. So buy one and enjoy it for two months. Pick up a good used amp here, too. You'll be in ecstasy for eight weeks. No, they're not the "best," but they're so good you're going to be happy.

Then when RMAF comes around, make a list of what you want to hear and take your Sennheisers (or whatever you choose) along for comparison.

That way, you'll be able to make a direct comparison to what you're familiar with and actually hear the headphones you're interested in before buying. You'll make an educated choice. Then you can sell the gear you buy now.
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post #12 of 28
8/7/09 at 4:07pm
I'm sorry, almost everybody's replies are entirely too reasonable. Post the same question in the regular Headphone forum and all you'll get is buy this and buy that, just a bunch of fanboys pushing their favorites.

What it shows is that truly experienced members tend to temper their advice due to the fact that they are experienced enough to realize that there are Different Strokes for Different Folks.

The High End Audio forum seems to provide a bit of a filter from the unwashed masses.
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post #13 of 28
8/7/09 at 4:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik View Post
I know how it is, but you should really hold off on major purchases until RMAF. I promise that whatever you choose based on reading impressions will be different from what you like after listening to a few rigs.

Suppose you read reviews, form an opinion, spend several thousand, and then at RMAF, you get blown away by something you had dismissed because someone said it wasn't good? Would you then sell what you bought - losing hundreds or maybe more - and purchase what you actually like? Is that what you want to do? Because you will change your mind after listening to a bunch of gear. You'll notice that all of the senior members went through quite a bit of gear before figuring out what they really liked.

So, to get you through the next two months, go buy a used HD-600 or HD-650 or something. I know the "top tier" headphones are alluring, but those are truly excellent headphones. They will blow you away. So buy one and enjoy it for two months. Pick up a good used amp here, too. You'll be in ecstasy for eight weeks. No, they're not the "best," but they're so good you're going to be happy.

Then when RMAF comes around, make a list of what you want to hear and take your Sennheisers (or whatever you choose) along for comparison.

That way, you'll be able to make a direct comparison to what you're familiar with and actually hear the headphones you're interested in before buying. You'll make an educated choice. Then you can sell the gear you buy now.
Great advice. This is exactly the path I took. Started with HD 600s and absolutely loved them. Then I went to Head Fest (now CanJam) in San Jose a few years ago and fell in love with Woo amps and Denon headphones after trying a ton of gear at the show.

Picked up a WA6 amp for my 600s immediately after the show, and used that combo for a while before I was able to pick-up the Denons.
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post #14 of 28
8/7/09 at 4:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dinan View Post
anything that I'm missing?
I suggest you include IEM's in your search. You can start out with universal-fit models, and graduate to customs if you like them. And they transition very well between portable & home rigs.
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post #15 of 28
8/8/09 at 3:48am
Dinan - you should come down to Colorado Springs for a little mini-meet sometime, and listen to some of my gear that you missed at the 7/25/09 Denver meet. On the other hand, I sure would love to hear your speaker rig (bad idea since I could never be happy with my Polk SDA CRS speakers again after that).

There are so many good suggestions in this thread, and any one of them could be just what you are looking for.
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