[sacd lover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scytheavatar /img/forum/go_quote.gif Contrary to popular belief, not all $1000 headphones are world class phones. I would say that neither the GS1000 nor the D7000 are worth the asking price, when compared to something like the Edition 9.

Agreed .... and the E9 is one of them.

The E9 is not remotely worth its price either .... compared to a good $300 headphone like the Senn 600/650 or Alessandro MS2. I would take either of these headphones over the E9 even if they were the same price.

 

[vvanrij]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeggy /img/forum/go_quote.gif With the $1,000 phones you get to hang with all the cool guys.

Exactly!

 

[vvanrij]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sacd lover /img/forum/go_quote.gif Agreed .... and the E9 is one of them. The E9 is not remotely worth its price either .... compared to a good $300 headphone like the Senn 600/650 or Alessandro MS2. I would take either of these headphones over the E9 even if they were the same price.

Well its just not that simple. If you love the sound of the GS-1000 (like I do), than the price is excellent and well worth it. If you can settle for a HD650, wel good for you, saves you alot. To me the HD650 are very expensive headphones, cause I really dislike their sound, I wouldn't give 150$ for em, K701 same story.

 

[kds5000]

I agree.

Auditioned both the MS-Pro and RS-1 this evening - they're only 10% better than my MS-1, and almost 10 times the price. But I want them. Real Bad.

On a separate note, my non-audiophile friend who accompanied me at that time didn't like them. Had to wipe his jaw from the floor after he heard the price. Go figure.

 

[glitch39]

These are my general concepts :

The last 10 percent of audio nirvana. Only your pocketbook and ears can decide what's good enough for you

It's always as good as your weakest link. Bad iC's can ruin an otherwise good chain, for example

System synergy. Best amp + best hp may not translate to best system

 

[haloxt]

I'd probably never spend $300+ on headphones. It seems like none of the headphone manufacturers are really interested in making good headphones as evidenced by a market for modding and recabling. Maybe headphone manufacturers have no incentive to make headphones that are already so good they won't benefit from modding because then no one would buy new headphones

. But if a "the definitive" headphones ever comes out, I'd make a bank loan to buy it.

 

[nc8000]

Price does not mean better per se. At the moment my main use phone is my recabled and balanced ER4. This is a $150 phone (although be it with a $300 cable) and so far this phone has made me sell a black dragon balanced GS-1000 and is giving me serious thoughts as to the future of my APS balanced L3000.

 

[intoart]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nc8000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Price does not mean better per se. At the moment my main use phone is my recabled and balanced ER4. This is a $150 phone (although be it with a $300 cable) and so far this phone has made me sell a black dragon balanced GS-1000 and is giving me serious thoughts as to the future of my APS balanced L3000.

I am willing to concede that a recable could theoretically make a slight difference (maybe 1% or 2%.) Twice as much for the cable as the phones, though? That's ridiculous!

 

[myk7000]

So the difference between something like the SR225 and the RS1 is probably going to be minimal im guessing,(Yet 500 difference) as would be the difference between the d2000 and the d7000 (600 difference) without the right system backing it up.

 

[vvanrij]

Very true. Some peope only hear a very slight difference between a SR-80 an RS-1, I however hear a huge difference, and think its very worth the money. I on the other hand had the hardest time telling the ALO-780J and ED9 from eachother. Expensive is all relative, to how much its worth to someone.

 

[sadhanaputra]

Yeah, there was a time where I couldn't point out the difference between images from a pocket digital camera and a DSLR..

Not that I'm an expert in that field now, but yeah, I understand the difference now.. A picture is not just a picture..

I guess the same thing also applies to the audio world..

 

[krmathis]

About $700.... At least that's what my calculator display.

Seriously, a lot of things reflects in the price of a product. Like:
* Research and development.
* Materials used.
* Labour cost (hand made/assembled or robot made/assembled).
* Warranty and customer service.
* ...

 

[nc8000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by intoart /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am willing to concede that a recable could theoretically make a slight difference (maybe 1% or 2%.) Twice as much for the cable as the phones, though? That's ridiculous!

Well for me it makes a lot more than 1-2% difference, it elevates the phones to whole new level.

 

[Taikero]

Quote:

Originally Posted by intoart /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am willing to concede that a recable could theoretically make a slight difference (maybe 1% or 2%.) Twice as much for the cable as the phones, though? That's ridiculous!

Certain phones are sold with poor stock cables. The ER4P/S is one of them. Its cable is a spliced together (4+ cable patches put together!) mess. Swap its ridiculous stock cable with something from APureSound or elsewhere, and of course there's going to be an audible difference (as single strand vs. spliced definitely makes a difference, regardless of other thoughts on cabling).

Other phones that are well known for benefiting greatly from recabling are the Denon AH-D2000 and the Ultrasone HFI-780. The D2000 is almost a proof point for recupping/recabling headphones, since the (only) difference between the D2000/D5000 is cups and cable, and it definitely makes a big difference.

Granted, some phones are sold with cables that are just fine, and benefit less from recabling. However, there are certain instances where making changes to the manufacturer's original design can be very beneficial and make more difference than 1-2%.

 

[jonathanjong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tintin47 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Or, for you economists out there, law of diminishing marginal returns on a logarithmic scale.

Dang, beat me to it. I'm not an economist, but I am currently listening to a Gresham College commerce lecture.