In my opinion there is no upgrade at $500 or lower to the HD600. Only side-grades. If you are compelled to experiment, you might look at the Beyer DT880.

You could do a side-grade to the K601 like I did. I prefer the K601 to the HD-600, but not the HD-650...yet.

 

I also think the HD-650 IS an upgrade, but it all comes down to preferences. Some may not like it. Mine is picky about amps.

 

There is also the K702, but again, it's all preferences. It's a hard headphone for some people to like.

 

HD-650 can be had for $329 new (JR). The K601 is just $190. K702 is around $250.

 

$190 for a K601 is a steal, but it's a pain to amp.

IMO, you wont get anything but a different flavour of sound from a different pair of headphones in that price range, so it wont be an upgrade as such. What are you plugging the HD-600s into? It maybe the rest of what you have that might be worth upgrading.

Yeah I agree with Currawong that perhaps you should look to upgrading the rest of your equipment; the HD600 scale quite well. A good amp is a rather obvious choice however a quality DAC will improve your sound quality no matter what headphone you end up with. In fact since upgrading my source I feel I need to hear all the past headphones I've heard again, amps while important change sound signature more so than sound quality IMO.

 

That said if you're really looking for a new headphone I prefer the DT880 over the HD600 for it's energy.

I'm no pro, but from what I read it seems as though the general consensus is that you would need to be in the $1000 range to be at the next level in headphones.

How about the Hifiman HE-4 at $450? I have the HD650 and HE-5LE, and the Hifiman sounds clearly superior to my ears. So is the HE-4 is likewise superior to the HD600? (To be clear, I'm asking for opinions and not offering an informed suggestion.)

 

Either way, I also agree with looking at the amp first. Even if you upgrade to something else from the HD600 it's still going to benefit from a good amp. So might as well do it sooner rather than later.

 

 

 

Good question and I was actually going to mention Stax, but decided against it due to the amping requirements.

 

I actually made the move to Stax a couple of weeks ago myself, after deciding that there was nothing under $1000 that I was interested in with regards to dynamics (honestly there isn't anything above that figure either). I love my HD580s that much.

 

Skylab was generous enough to give me a Sonic Impact T-amp 2 for only the cost of shipping it.   I was trying to figure out what to do with it and since I'd began to think that electrostats would be the next step for me I ordered a Woo Wee and a Stax 404 Signature.  I'll be posting my impressions in the full-size amp forum in the next week or so, I want to really get to know this rig before "going to press".

 

So, to answer your question, there are "adapters" that you can use with a speaker amp to drive Stax.  However, the Wee isn't cheap and many Stax enthusiasts aren't crazy about it because a similar unit can be built for less they say.  But really, that goes for pretty much any amplification device (you can always build it for less).

 

 

Just a quick word about the Stax 404S.  Everything I love about the HD580/HD600 (same driver) I get with the Stax, with slightly less bass impact. But the bass quality and quantity are far and away better that the AKG K701,. which to my ears are sort of a special-purpose hp that is best suited for acoustic/vocal music due to the sharp bass roll off below 80hz. After listening to the Stax 404 for a good stretch and then going back to the HD580 everything just sounds less dynamic and dull.  Plus the speed of the Stax means that resolution is much, much higher. Texture and detail become much more apparent with that kind of speed.

 

Going to electrostatic is still an expensive proposition, but the Wee gives folks another option provided you have a speaker amp available. And you're amp needs to be an integrated amp with a good pre-amp section and volume control.  Yes, you can build a similar product for less but in my opinion spending a little more on a Woo product is never a bad decision.

 

 
 

 

Edited by cswann1 - 4/26/11 at 9:37am

Well that's a whole other can-o-worms lol. Personally my SS amp experience is limited to my Denon receiver. Which does a fine job I think. If I were to buy a SS amp, I think I'd go with a M^3. For around $500 it's pretty much king from all reports. I read one Head-Fier do an A/B with a Betta 22 and he said he couldn't tell the difference audibly. Personally I think tubes are fantastic for headphone listening. The quality tubes bring is hard for me to describe. I'll say this though: When I first set up my new Stax rig with the T-amp 2 I almost boxed the stuff up and shipped them back to Woo Audio. But when I connected my Little Dot MKIVse as a pre-amp, WOW. That's all it needed. LD amps don't get the credit they deserve imo. They were talked about quite a bit a couple of years ago, but seem to have fallen out of fashion. I listened to my MKIVse and HD580s for a long time and never really wanted more.

Depends on the amp being used for the Sennheisers...it takes quite a bit of power to make the HE-4s happy.
 

 

I would upgrade your amp, source, or both. From your profile, it seems like you only have a modest Bravo V1 and a PA2v2 to power your HD600...
The HD600 REALLY improve with better amps.