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I really like my Toxic Cables for the HD650's. I am still satisfied with the default cables on the HD25's....Hard to go for custom cables on a $200 pair of headphones...At what price point do you exceed your value proposition?
I have heard this argument thrown around before . . . sometimes at me. Obviously, the buyer establishes whatever value their custom cables are worth for his|her given situation. In my particular case, if you can share a custom cable with a higher grade Senn phone, the cost for the custom cable is much more reasonable.
I have HD25-1 phones and use two "expensive" custom cables with them. I bought my HD25's used with the standard steel cable, which provided an unsatisfying sound. I replaced the old ear pads, which significantly upgraded the sound, especially the bass. However, knowing I was planning to buy higher grade Sennheiser phones later that could share the same cable as the HD25's, I shelled out money for a Headphile BlackSilver cable that provided clearly superior sound over the standard cable.
This is where I was questioned by some members here, using your implied argument of the value of using custom cables for a $200 (actually more like $120 used) phones. There are many members here with much more phones than I have as they search for their ultimate sound or establish their private collection of custom 'headphone sounds' for their various moods or whatever. However, my needs were very well defined from early on: I love accurate phones with great balance throughout the entire frequency range that were also physically robust. In other words, my needs are effectively filled with a small niche of the headphone world - namely,
headphones designed for recording engineers, whether for studio or for location work.
The HD25's fall into that cast of phones designed for location work. I suppose the standard cables get the job done, but they sound so much more clear and expressive to me with the right custom cable. I upgraded my Headphile BlackSilver cable to a BlackGold version, a copper/silver wire concoction which added low frequency oomph to the silver wire's crystal clear miss and highs.
The initial intention was to share these cables with a HD600/650 phone. However, I discovered another Sennheiser phone that was superior to both. This was the now discontinued HD250 Linear II, a studio phone which boasts the deepest lows of any phone I have ever heard and still carries a balanced frequency range all the way to scintillating highs. One of the basic differences between headphones and speakers is the latter's ability to deliver visceral bass.
The HD250 is the only phone I know that truly delivers visceral bass! I also added my second custom cable, an Oyaide cable with Sennheiser phone plugs that seems to etch out even more detail over the already outstanding BlackGold cable.
The only hitch with the Oyaide cable is that it uses the old fashion Senn phone plugs rather than the newer Senn V2 plugs. The old fashion plugs are not as snug as the V2's on my BlackGold and tend to fall out of HD25/250 female ports fairly easily. As I do not trust my soldering inexperience with an expensive Oyaide cable, I'm going to have to find someone who can masterfully solder high grade V2's plugs to my Oyaide to provide optimal killer acoustics.
The HD25 with either the BlackGold or Oyaide is my optimal choice for a portable phone. The HD250, with that incredible deep bass and balanced frequency range, is the ultimate all-rounder for home usage. In the future I will probably add the the hyper detailed, hyper crystal clear Beyer DT48A to round out my headphone collection. The Beyer DT48A was designed for audiometric measurements. I have a low cost (~ $60) IEM that, while crystal clear, is not nearly as satisfying on the bass end. IEM's are the ultimate in portability, but I will probably have to spend over $1000 for sound superior to my HD25 with a custom cable. For now, the HD25/250 duo and the projected Beyer DT48A will be my essential headphone collection.
