The Soundstage Head Club

chicolom · Jan 30, 2012 at 3:01 PM

The Soundstage Head Club

This thread is for all the soundstage whores like myself

If you are always searching for the best soundstage this is for you.

I thought we could list the best gear with the best soundstage performance, whether it be headphones (closed or open), IEMS, amps, DACs, etc. Doesn't have to be flagship stuff. You can list things that have a good soundstage for their price bracket.

This is a placeholder post/work in progress. If you want me to add/remove anything let me know I will update it as it goes.

Audio Technica:     CKS1000, CK100Pro
AKG:                     K3003
Aurisonics:     ASG-1 | AS-1, AS-2
Brainwavz:             R3
Denon:                  C710, C751
Earsonics:    SM64 | SM3
Final Audio:    FI-BA-SS
HifiMAN:                RE-262 | RE-400
JVC:                     FX700 | FXC-51 | FXT90 | FXD70/80
InEar:                   Stagediver SD-3
MEElectronics:    M9 | M-DUO
Noble:                   K10
Ocharaku:    Flat-4
Sennheiser:           IE7, IE8, IE80
Sony:                   XBA-H3 | EX510, EX600, MDR-7550\EX800, EX1000 | XBA-40
TFTA:                  1XB, 1V
Phonak Audeo:       PFE 112 | PFE232
Ultimate Ears:        Reference Monitors
Unique Melody:      Merlin | Miracle
Westone:              Westone 2
Xeport: 5010-8
Yamaha:             EPH-100

Yuin: PK1
Sennheiser: MX580
Sunrise SW: Dragon II

iFi:    iCan
AMB:    Beta22
Cavalli Audio: Bijou
Eddie Currenet:    Zana Deux

HRT: Music Streamer II | Music Streamer II+
Twisted Pear Audio: Buffalo 24
Audio Gd Ref. 7.1

Rocoo p
Sony: F886, 887 | ZX1

Links to other sound threads:

The Basshead Club

The Treblehead Club

The Midrangehead Club

The Fun V Shaped Club

The Neutral/Balanced Club

chicolom · Jan 30, 2012 at 3:02 PM

Reserved, just in case....

LithoJazoSphere · Jan 30, 2012 at 4:16 PM

I love closed headphones with large soundstages. I nominate the Denons (D2000, D5000, D7000), Ultrasone Pro 900 (there might be some others worthy in the Pro line), and Beyerdynamic DT-770.

NamelessPFG · Jan 30, 2012 at 4:39 PM

Now this is a club that I know I feel right at home in, for once. I just love a good atmospheric presentation.

The headphones list needs more Stax, though. Soundstage is a very strong suit of the Lambda series, and if you prefer it more in front like the K1000, there's the Sigma series. (All of them are open, of course; in fact, I can't think of a single closed model aside from the Stax 4070.)

francisdemarte · Jan 30, 2012 at 4:57 PM

AT-W1000X for closed large soundstage.

chicolom · Jan 30, 2012 at 9:09 PM

Quote:

namelesspfg said:
Now this is a club that I know I feel right at home in, for once. I just love a good atmospheric presentation.

The headphones list needs more Stax, though. Soundstage is a very strong suit of the Lambda series, and if you prefer it more in front like the K1000, there's the Sigma series. (All of them are open, of course; in fact, I can't think of a single closed model aside from the Stax 4070.)

Nice, any specific models? I don't know my Stax... =\

oqvist · Jan 30, 2012 at 10:48 PM

JVC DX 1000 for best reverb enhanced closed Headphones. Would of course love to try out the R10. those jumbo earcups and teletubby wooden cups really mean sound is outside my head.
Pro 900 for most believable 3D soundstage for closed headphones.

honourable mentiones Audio Technica W1000X and Sony CD 3000.

Sennheiser HD 800 for open followed by T1.

obobskivich · Jan 30, 2012 at 11:59 PM

You already have my knee-jerk reaction responses up there.

Open:

Ultrasone HFI-2400
Koss ESP/10
Koss ESP/950 (this and the one above are both stats)

Closed:

Kenwood KH-K1000 (puts lots of other closed headphones to shame while providing decent-ish isolation)
perhaps Bose AE/AE2 as well (honestly they aren't half bad in this regard; remember they're $150 headphones though)

Some guesses based on stuff I haven't heard:

AT AD1000/2000 and AT W5000
AKG K601 (you have everything else from the series

)

Vonx · Jan 31, 2012 at 2:24 AM

Fischer Audio FA-011! THE best and widest soundstage under $200 that I've heard, and I couldnt really even imagine a headphone creating a larger headspace (since it seems to transcend past the 180 play field and almost surround the head with sexy noises xD

Whats even more amazing, is that is has a fantastic bass response for an open phone, tight and punchy, but also wielding plenty of sub-bass to cure any bass cravings. The highs are airy and beautiful as well

If they had a shop around here, I'd purchase their whole line.

chicolom · Jan 31, 2012 at 2:52 AM

Quote:

vonx said:
Fischer Audio FA-011! THE best and widest soundstage under $200 that I've heard, and I couldnt really even imagine a headphone creating a larger headspace (since it seems to transcend past the 180 play field and almost surround the head with sexy noises xD

Whats even more amazing, is that is has a fantastic bass response for an open phone, tight and punchy, but also wielding plenty of sub-bass to cure any bass cravings. The highs are airy and beautiful as well

If they had a shop around here, I'd purchase their whole line.

I saw your posts on those, you make me want to buy some

I put them on the list.

Do you still stand by what you said in this post about using them with dolby headphone?

Vonx · Jan 31, 2012 at 3:43 AM

Quote:

chicolom said:
I saw your posts on those, you make me want to buy some I put them on the list.

Do you still stand by what you said in this post about using them with dolby headphone?

yes, or atleast for the ax720 dolby headphone decoder box.

I don't know why, but it just doesn't sound right for some reason.

They sound really good right out of a PC jack for PC games tho, just not for xbox 360 (not sure why)

I still use the AX720's for xbox gaming and those do everything perfectly for my needs, but the FA-011 does everything else perfectly, and sounds FAR better for music, which is primarily what I use them for

I think its because of the decoder box that hinders the performance of them, not the headphone

NamelessPFG · Feb 1, 2012 at 5:47 PM

Quote:

chicolom said:
Nice, any specific models? I don't know my Stax... =\

The only ones I've tried directly are the original Normal bias SR-Lambda (albeit modified) and the SR-202, but all Lambda-series models likely provide an equally large soundstage, possibly even larger than the AD700 (going by experience with both), with the main differences being in sound signature.

More experienced listeners here say the soundstage isn't HD800 large, but certainly not small by headphone standards, either. Others say that the SR-007 is a tad smaller than a typical Lambda, and the SR-009 is a tad larger; don't know about the SR-Omega or other models like SR-X/Mk3, SR-5, or SR-3.

Even before the SR-Lambda, there was the SR-Sigma, which instead had the drivers mounted perpendicular to the listener's ears, sort of like the AKG K1000. It looks rather ridiculous with the listener's head being flanked by big boxes like that, but the sound must be truly amazing for it to have the reputation it does.

Huxley · Feb 5, 2012 at 4:58 PM

For iem's i vote yamaha eph-100, they beat even my pro 900's for soundstage.

For amps i vote my p4 warbler, superb little amp.

obobskivich · Feb 5, 2012 at 6:08 PM

No love for the Koss ESP?

chicolom · Feb 5, 2012 at 8:30 PM

Quote:

obobskivich said:
No love for the Koss ESP?

I added them

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