Biggest soundstage in a closed headphone under $300?

AKG K550

Audio Technica ATH-A900X

Great question. I'm very interested in this too! :)

 

I had the AKG K550 for a brief period of time and some have claimed that it has a soundstage comparable to open headphones. Unfortunately, that was not my experience at all and I sold them off within a week, as I felt my CK10s sounded better in just about every way.

 

If only my CK10s had a larger soundstage, I think I'd be able to call it quits... but alas, the search continues.

Within your rough budget, the Denon D2000 are a good choice. Over your budget, Beyer T70 and Kenwood K1000 are also contenders (T70 = aggressive; K1000 = smooth).

Might try an Ultrasone out at some point too - see if S-LOGIC works for you.

Bose AE1/2 have decent staging as well; lower tier than the above though. So it's a compromise.

k550 and w1000 are the two of the biggest and widest soundstage that i heard in a closed can. youll prolly notice it immediately how big the soundstage of the w1000 as soon as you wear it.

 

note that you can buy a w1000 used and im pretty sure you can get a pair at around 300usd.

My old Ultrasone Proline 750's had a pretty big soundstage. With some songs the S-Logic would sound a little odd, but with most songs, it was really interesting. They had a bigger soundstage than my K601's, I felt.

 

I ultimately had to ditch them since they had pretty recessed mids, but their overall sound was really fun. They worked extremely well for movies and games, too.

 

The Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80's also have pretty big soundstage. They don't have that huge spike to bass and treble that makes the Ultrasones so fun, but their isolation and comfort are much better (they have better mids, too!).

Edited by Kukuk - 5/17/12 at 1:47am

 

I've got to listen to closed headphones much of the time - for a variety of reasons.

So over the last few years I've heard many different closed headphones from

AT, Ultrasone, Sony, AKG, Denon...etc...

 

(No IEM's.)

 

At this point, it seems to me that "closed back" and "massive soundstage"

just don't exist together.  I think some new technology will be needed for

it to happen.  (S Logic isn't it IMO, but the closed back Ultrasones do have

decent soundstage.)

 

The AKG 550 have the biggest soundstage I've yet heard in closed headphones.

They're a good listen, and pretty well made.

But they're big and thus not very portable.

 

I'd like to have a ready answer for the OP - maybe someone else does.

Will be watching this thread with interest.

The Audio Technica ATH-A900X's have the widest soundstage in a closed pair of cans that I've heard.  I've compared it to the Denon D2000's in particular.

Another vote for the DT770's for me. Haven't tried a lot of headphones but of the ones I have tried they have the best soundstage. Not too distant that music gets lost but big enough and very fun. 

AKG K550 as has been stated above.

The Audio Technica ATH-A900 do have a massive soundstage and are very comfortable too.

in my limited experience, ATH A900 is pretty awesome in soundstage. I always listen classical music with those cans and I love 'em. I've compared it to sennheiser HD380 pro and ATH m50. 

soundstage wise, ATH A900 > Sennheiser HD380 pro > ATH M50