DrBenway
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2007
- Posts
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I searched on several possible terms before posting this, and found nothing. I also haven't noticed any recent posts about the fact that J&R has marked Senn CX300's down to $19.99. B&H lists them on their Website for $22. I'm not really sure what these cans typically sell for, though I know that street prices are well under the MSRP of $89. So I'm not sure if I'm pointing out old news here; please set me straight if I am.
At this price point (I had to pay NYC sales tax, so my total was a little over $21) is there anything else out there as good? I've always been pretty adventurous about trying inexpensive phones, hoping to find a good value. I very rarely do. I can't remember ever hearing anything in the vicinity of 20 bucks that sounded remotely this good. For a second opinion, consider what jgonino wrote about them in a http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/hea...-guide-271258/ he posted in this forum a couple of years ago.
I happened to be at J&R about a week ago, picking up **YET MORE** external drive space and a new keyboard, and I snagged a pair of the CX300s; I was never really interested in them (though somewhat curious) before, but at $20/pair, this was an impulse buy.
Though I'm not usually a fan of earbuds, or of hybrid bud/IEMs like the CX300's, I have really been enjoying these phones! I had been led to believe that they are bass-heavy, which I usually take as a warning to stay away. Far away. But any fears I might have had of sludgy bass were unfounded.
Bass is certainly present, but not as heavy as on some other phones I've tried. In fact I found the bass to be relatively in proportion to the rest of the freq range, though lacking in detail. Bass tends a little bit toward the "one note" variety, with not enough tonal differentiation between say, an acoustic bass and a bass guitar.
Overall, however, these buds sound just great. I've been leaving the PortaPros in my bag (or even on my desk) when I'm outdoors, and the CX300's have really surprised me. Mids are smooth and relatively uncolored, with vocals coming through with admirable clarity and detail, and without the unnatural heaviness I might have expected from phones touted for their bass performance. Highs are good, not spectacular; but also not noticeably cool and dark as they were in the last Senn's I owned, the PX100s (I like the CX300's much better overall.)
But the major selling point for me would have to be the isolation provided by the CX300's. They don't block as much sound as true IEM's, but they do a much, much better job than my PortaPros. This provides me with the obvious advantage of being able to keep volume levels reasonable while still being able to hear what I am listening to reasonably well. With the PortaPros, I constantly found myself inching the volume up to unsafe levels.
No, I don't think that the Senn's sound as good as the PortaPros, but they are more than good enough, and the good isolation seals the deal. I still have to be careful, obviously, but I find myself much less tempted to fry my auditory tract.
Any thoughts? Can anyone suggest $20 phones that sound as good or better?
At this price point (I had to pay NYC sales tax, so my total was a little over $21) is there anything else out there as good? I've always been pretty adventurous about trying inexpensive phones, hoping to find a good value. I very rarely do. I can't remember ever hearing anything in the vicinity of 20 bucks that sounded remotely this good. For a second opinion, consider what jgonino wrote about them in a http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/hea...-guide-271258/ he posted in this forum a couple of years ago.
I happened to be at J&R about a week ago, picking up **YET MORE** external drive space and a new keyboard, and I snagged a pair of the CX300s; I was never really interested in them (though somewhat curious) before, but at $20/pair, this was an impulse buy.
Though I'm not usually a fan of earbuds, or of hybrid bud/IEMs like the CX300's, I have really been enjoying these phones! I had been led to believe that they are bass-heavy, which I usually take as a warning to stay away. Far away. But any fears I might have had of sludgy bass were unfounded.
Bass is certainly present, but not as heavy as on some other phones I've tried. In fact I found the bass to be relatively in proportion to the rest of the freq range, though lacking in detail. Bass tends a little bit toward the "one note" variety, with not enough tonal differentiation between say, an acoustic bass and a bass guitar.
Overall, however, these buds sound just great. I've been leaving the PortaPros in my bag (or even on my desk) when I'm outdoors, and the CX300's have really surprised me. Mids are smooth and relatively uncolored, with vocals coming through with admirable clarity and detail, and without the unnatural heaviness I might have expected from phones touted for their bass performance. Highs are good, not spectacular; but also not noticeably cool and dark as they were in the last Senn's I owned, the PX100s (I like the CX300's much better overall.)
But the major selling point for me would have to be the isolation provided by the CX300's. They don't block as much sound as true IEM's, but they do a much, much better job than my PortaPros. This provides me with the obvious advantage of being able to keep volume levels reasonable while still being able to hear what I am listening to reasonably well. With the PortaPros, I constantly found myself inching the volume up to unsafe levels.
No, I don't think that the Senn's sound as good as the PortaPros, but they are more than good enough, and the good isolation seals the deal. I still have to be careful, obviously, but I find myself much less tempted to fry my auditory tract.
Any thoughts? Can anyone suggest $20 phones that sound as good or better?
