avrosse
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2012
- Posts
- 29
- Likes
- 26
Hi folks,
I'd love to expand my stereo speaker system to include headphones. My current system looks like this:
Densen B-410 cd player / Oppo BDP-95 blu-ray player -> Densen B-110 integrated amplifier -> Verity Rienzi loudspeakers
As mentioned in the title, I'm looking for a headphone setup to listen to classical music, especially opera. The Densen cd player would serve as the primary source for my headphones setup. My budget is $2000-2500 for the headphones/amp combo ( ~1000 for each of the two components). After having studied David Mahler's battle of the flagships and a bunch of forum threads, the following headphones have piqued my interest:
Sennheiser HD 800
Beyerdynamic T1
Hifiman HE-6 or HE-500
Grado RS1
Any comments on these? Other suggestions?
An issue that I'm particularly concerned about is a headphones' ability to deal with non-ideal recordings. I'd say about half of my cds are recordings from the 50s, 60s and 70s by great artists like Callas, Bjorling, etc. I need a headphone setup that will be able to bring out the beauty of these recordings, so I can focus on the performances, and not be continually reminded of the inferior quality of the recordings. Some people seem to think that the HD 800s sound pretty bad without a great recording. Is this true?
Concerning amps, I haven't really been able to identify any frontrunners. I live in Europe, so it would be difficult for me to get certain brands like Woo Audio (the WA2 seems to go very well together with the Beyerdynamic T1). Lehmann amps appear to be very popular around here. The SPL auditor would also be an option. I'm open to both SS and tube amps. Suggestions?
I should probably also mention that I always listen to music lying down on a sofa. Any headphones I get should be able to accommodate that fact.
tl;dr
I'm looking for a headphones/amp combo for around $2000-2500. I listen to classical music, especially opera. My source is a Densen B-410 cd player. The headphones setup has to be able to deal with my collection of old opera recordings (50s, 60s, 70s). I live in Europe.
Thanks so much,
Joel
I'd love to expand my stereo speaker system to include headphones. My current system looks like this:
Densen B-410 cd player / Oppo BDP-95 blu-ray player -> Densen B-110 integrated amplifier -> Verity Rienzi loudspeakers
As mentioned in the title, I'm looking for a headphone setup to listen to classical music, especially opera. The Densen cd player would serve as the primary source for my headphones setup. My budget is $2000-2500 for the headphones/amp combo ( ~1000 for each of the two components). After having studied David Mahler's battle of the flagships and a bunch of forum threads, the following headphones have piqued my interest:
Sennheiser HD 800
Beyerdynamic T1
Hifiman HE-6 or HE-500
Grado RS1
Any comments on these? Other suggestions?
An issue that I'm particularly concerned about is a headphones' ability to deal with non-ideal recordings. I'd say about half of my cds are recordings from the 50s, 60s and 70s by great artists like Callas, Bjorling, etc. I need a headphone setup that will be able to bring out the beauty of these recordings, so I can focus on the performances, and not be continually reminded of the inferior quality of the recordings. Some people seem to think that the HD 800s sound pretty bad without a great recording. Is this true?
Concerning amps, I haven't really been able to identify any frontrunners. I live in Europe, so it would be difficult for me to get certain brands like Woo Audio (the WA2 seems to go very well together with the Beyerdynamic T1). Lehmann amps appear to be very popular around here. The SPL auditor would also be an option. I'm open to both SS and tube amps. Suggestions?
I should probably also mention that I always listen to music lying down on a sofa. Any headphones I get should be able to accommodate that fact.
tl;dr
I'm looking for a headphones/amp combo for around $2000-2500. I listen to classical music, especially opera. My source is a Densen B-410 cd player. The headphones setup has to be able to deal with my collection of old opera recordings (50s, 60s, 70s). I live in Europe.
Thanks so much,
Joel