These were my first ever "High end" headphones. I had to decide between these, the SR60, or the SR80. I decided to go with these as they were the same price of the SR80, but most people claimed for them to sound like the SR 125.  First listen was slightly disappointing. I overestimated the sound quality, coming from Bose AE2's. However, given several, maybe 50 hours of burn in, these cans really opened up. The soundstage was bigger than I imagined, and it really helps if you picture yourself at a concert. Instrument separation was great on this...