I was full of doubt, but reached for the tape dispenser and covered the holes. Incredible. It works! I also agree with your observations on the modded OE1. It's distinctly Sennheiser-like. You saved me a hundred bucks: thank you!

Thanks everyone for your views on the XB series on Head-Fi.  I was lurking for a while then ordered the XB500s last night ... only to read that the XB600 & XB800 and more just came out. Oh well.   I don't know if you saw this youtube review of XB600, X10m and XB500: http://youtu.be/GeGd2kFZqco

Quote: Originally Posted by Newkophile A common problem with cheap CD decks, car CD players and hand held CD players is that they're all very unreliable when it comes to playing CD-Rs made using PC software such as Nero or Roxio. So how does the NAD measure up? Hi I just saw this...

Quote: Originally Posted by nin3th i hate it when people think their triports sound better than my a700s. Things is, they could very well believe it does! After many years of semi-audiophilia, I'd give anything to still believe that my 1981 3-way, paper-coned (12" woofer!)...

Quote: Originally Posted by Cry Havoc Either you hear the music or you don't. With a good set of closed headphones, you might not hear everything on the subway or in a loud environment. However, with the Bose, they aren't going to differentiate between frequencies well enough for...

The comfort and fold-up engineering of the Bose On-Ears is better than any commuter-class non-IEM phones I had used. Sound is, well, debatable. But the rickety subway and bus system is a great equalizer. The comfort and hyped bass were actually advantages, in that the cramped and noisy...

I just bought a pair of K81DJs from Larryminator to replace my Bose OE in which the right channel just stopped working (look in the For Sale in the next few days...). Anyway, I agree 100% with your assessment. I used both as headphones for the subway/metro and I can add that the K81's provide...

Let him try your K271s. Most receivers will drive them or any AKG sufficiently. If he likes them, then he likes the AKG house sound. I have K701's the original K240M and do listen to classical. I reckon the K501's, if you can find them, would be a fine choice.

Quote: Originally Posted by unbiased Heh, heh, well I will stand up with you against the wind here and if you are going to get slated (or slaughtered?) for saying it, I will get slated (slaughtered?) with you! I mirror your sentiments and experiences with the Bose OE (= On Ear...

Have you tried the AT M40fs? Also, I liked what I heard recently out of the Roland RH-300 and RH-200; both seemed pretty "neutral". The 300 was nicely built and more comfortable than the 200s.

Congrats on your purchase. I hope you get many years of happy listening from the Grados. Surprised by the largely temperate comments in this thread. I own a pair of Bose OE and they'er excellent for communting on the subway. In your place I would've also have chosen the Grados, especially at...

Aw man, the seller's going be charged a whopping final value fee then go through the hassle of getting it reversed. That's crappy.

Are you looking for studio-monitoring-stye detail? If so, the Sony 7506 are industry standard (V6 is consumer equivalent), though I don't they're quite non-fatiguing. Similar would be the ATH-M40fs. Sorry, I wish I knew the models you refered to in your original post.

You might want to listen to less metal. Sorry, couldn't resist. The K271s have the basic higher end AKG sound and are closed. In addition, the headphone stretch thingy activates a switch, so that when you take off the headphones, all sound to the phones is cut off. It's a headphone meant for...

95% of people here hate them, but the Bose OE (ON EARs) collapse into a flat plain about the size of a CD and 0.75" thick. Easy to stow/comfy to wear/isolating (esp. socially...d'oh!) / non-fatiguing though def "non-reference". I've seen used ones on ebay for less than 100, and new ones around...