[ken6217]

Help me pick some worthy full size headphones.
 
I have an ALO Rx Mk3 amp and CLASS dac. I am currently using Senn HD-25-1 ll headphones. I like them but want more.
 
I had purchased the Audeze LCD-2's. I like the openness and soundstage, but not in love with these. Especially not for a grand. I thought about the LCD-3's but I know at best, the sound will not be significantly better and so LCD-2's are going back.
 
Someone had mentioned Fostex TH-900 but that is an extreme amount of money. Also I can't justify that kind of purchase when doing a google search on them, there is no mention of them anywhere on the net but Head-Fi.
 
So any ideas? I see that HifiMan HE-6 seems popular. Can my amp drive them? What kind of sound do these produce?
Anythign from Sennheiser or AKG?
 
I'm looking for good soundstage, imaging, excellent strong tight bass, nice highs, but not bright.
 
Thanks in advance.
Ken

 

[devhen]

You might get better answers if you post in the Summit-Fi forum though you'll probably get some recommendations here as well. Unfortunately I can't help much because the most expensive headphones I've tried are the HD600. You may want to look at the HD700 and HD800 and the Beyerdynamic T1, they are quite popular.

 

[valerianaoff]

Same story here...haven't tried anything for that price. Hifimans are suppose to be awesome.

 

[WiR3D]

Same, cant comment much
 
A Lawton modded D7000 may be up your alley for musicality (mainly just stage 1, stage 2 if you can, screw stage 3) and the works, in stock form the recessed mids is just too annoying. 
 
The Hifimans are a good rec, but you won't be able to power them AFAIK.

 

[steve2151]

The HE-6 is my all-rounder for this price range. It has nonexistent grain with excellent speed and weight. Not as much bass weight as your LCD-2, but more detailed. Mike over at Headfonia thinks that the Rx Mk3 can drive the HE-6 decently, but you'd probably be better served with a cheap speaker amp and a speaker tap to 4 pin XLR adapter. You might also be better off with HE-500, which is not as detailed, but much easier to drive.
 
The HD 800 is even faster than the HE-6 and has superior soundstaging and instrument separation. It's also much lighter and has nonexistent clamp. Only reason it splits head time with the HE-6 is that it sounds thin and heavily treble-tilted with bad recordings and is a little too polite for modern pop music. 
 
I liked the LCD-2, when I auditioned it, but the HE-6 won out due to what I consider a better frequency balance and more air. I've never heard the T1, so I can't help you there.