The MJ2 have a wide soundstage for a closed back headphone. They don't have the widest of all headphones. With the right amp the HD600 might win that contest. From the few minutes I heard the HD800, they definetly win. However, the HD800 didn't seem to have the depth of the MJ2. The HD800 also doesn't have the full range from sub bass to ultra highs. This extra range adds to the realism of images in the soundstage. A performer sounds more 3 dimensional. Imho the others sound a little like cardboard cut outs on a wide stage. They also reproduce the bloom of the recording site. Imaging is only one part of sound quality. Learned years ago there are ways to manipulate the soundstage with speakers. This is probably also true of headphones.
Also there are a few things at work here. Replaced the cable with one I built. It is now running in balanced mode. The cable is slightly warmer than the oem cable. I have this hooked to a PonoPlayer. The Pono is one of the best imaging components I have heard, without spending 1000's of dollars. No opamps, no negative feedback, minium ring digital filters, etc. Both the Pono and the MJ headphones have an organic purity. Stats have a purity that I doubt any dynamic driver will ever match.
If you have never heard electrostats of any brand snag a listen. They effortlessly play midrange and highs.There is amazing detail. But that detail is never thrown at you. It is never strained sounding. The M&J do need break in to achieve this. Replace the stock cord.
Ok so with those articles it's basically the same old "soundstage is nice but not AS nice as an open-back". It's like telling someone hey if you put a "raw" pizza in a hot oven it WILL get hot. NO SHEHT! lol It annoys me when reviewers do that. Even if not THE widest, as long as it's wide then that's a plus. I don't like small soundstages. If I wanted that I'd get an Audio-Technica M50x. lol
And those 2 Senns are open-back. But for the MJ2 to have more depth is something to take notice of!
Ok I'll take note to use a different cable, though I've done that before and never noticed a difference. Do you have a cable to suggest off Amazon? I should say that I have NO plans to buy these, as I JUST upgraded from the AKG K551 to the Meze 99 Classics, which I feel are the best headphones I've ever tried yet ($309, though never spent more than $400 on any headphones). The B&O H6 2nd Gen was probably equal to it, but they messed up by not making the earpads large enough (over-ear my foot! lol). Meze's 99Cs were the same but ppl complained and Meze WISELY listened and enlarged them several months ago. I had to come up with my own custom EQ (with a little help) to make the 99Cs hit their true potential, but it was worth it because they are spectacular now! I even wrote a review on them vs. the K551s and included my custom EQ (plus 2 other versions of it with more and less bass). You can see that
here if you like.
That's cool about the Pono. I downloaded a ton of Hi-Res music from the PonoMusic.com quite often until it went under last Fall. Sux b/c I really liked it. 7digital is a close second b/c they are the only OTHER site to let you download individual tracks instead of only full albums (when allowed by the studio that is). Aside from them I often download from Acoustic Sounds and HD Tracks too. I then downsample the songs b/c I came to the realization a while back that it's not really the higher resolution that make 'em sound better, it's that they have better sounding masters. Doing so saves a TON of space on my phone and cloud storage. I play off the HTC 10, which is a
proven audiophile phone. It even matched if not outdid my $299 Oppo HA-2, which was crazy! It's amp is also very strong too. And I use Poweramp as my main player app cuz it's the best IMO.
I imagine then that the MJ2 would offer more detail than the 99C does, but that the 99Cs prob have a wider soundstage as they even beat out my K551s, which is NOT an easy thing to accomplish. I just like to keep a list of headphones out there I can suggest for people (and to keep myself "in the know" too). Also, like the MJ2s have wooden ear cups just like the 99Cs, which is a style I've become more and more interested in in the last several months since seeing the Denon ones (I have a Denon receiver in my living room for my surround sound). I've read that wood ear cups provide better acoustics that metal or plastic, so this further fueled my wanting to own one. I also like that they (like the 99Cs) don't have round ear pads as oval (or in this case, square) are less likely to let sound escape and so provide better sound isolation. Plus you don't have to put the volume up as high to compensate for the sound leakage of circular ear pads.
Maybe one day I will try it out as the technology sounds interesting. It's really cool that you don't need strong amplification to make them sound good like you do with regular electrostatic headphones, and even planar magnetics. I wish like Best Buy's Magnolia dept near me would get these so I could try them out, but I doubt they will. Anyway, thanks so much for all the great info! Much appreciated!!
Elevating the pads is important, IMO, I don't like it when my ears touch the baffles. Otherwise, they don't need anything else.
