[marone]

Hello all,

Take a look at my profile and notice the 10 yo posts.

I have relocated to North America and I am looking for recommendations.

Sources are multiple 50 yo vintage receivers, vintage vinyl test pressings, a few cds, headphone stage of the vintage receivers. Several different dac processing the coax cd output of several cd/DVD players.

1 vintage turntable, phono stages of the receivers or one modern Rega stage.

I have 3 different amp/source/headfi/speaker setups around the house.

No streaming, no SSD/HD/laptop storage of DSD files. Old school vinyl cassette or cd only.

I have owned original gold ring AKG-240s and Beyerdynamic DT-880s.
Those wore out after years of usage. I cannot speak more highly of them. Deserved classics both.

More recently favs are as from 2012:

Superlux 681B, Takstar Pro 80, KSC-75, CAL! Aurvana and JVC HA-S500B round out my stable of preferred budget headphones.

Superlux 681B/Presonus HD7 is my preferred 'style' of sound. Modeled after the AKG-240s from 70s and 80s.
Open ear, tonnes of instrument detail, soundstage.

Takstar Pro 80 closed ear 2nd choice for sq profile.

I am not a basshead so low/no bass is not an issue.

I prefer capacitor coupled vintage receivers with germanium output transistors.

Really really old school!

Budget is $500 USD for each pair. $1k total for 2 pair

Open ear first buy.
Then a pair of closed ear for 2nd set.

That's the goal 'team' of cans I seek.

I am thinking the Sennheuser HD 600 or 650, but admit my tastes and knowledge are far out of date for 2022.

Do not plan for separate headfi amp/dac. Receiver headphone stage is source.

Let the suggestions flow!

Thanks to all in advance.

1) Presonus HD7
2) HyperX Cloud ii/Takstar Pro 80
3) CAL! Aurvana originals
4) Koss KSC-75 ear clipons. (Great sound but odd and uncomfortable)

Looking for 1 open ear and 1 closed ear upgrades.
$500 for each.
Sennheiser HD600 or Superlux 681B sq profile for open ear.

Closed ear no idea yet?

Not a basshead.

 

[pbui44]

Get a Drop Sennheiser HD6xx for open (high gain), Shure SRH1540 for closed (medium gain), and Topping A30 Pro to provide variable power to those two and retrieve from two sources at one time (source RCA-to-XLR amplifier will work, but the other way around will potentially damage something):

https://drop.com/buy/massdrop-sennheiser-hd6xx

https://www.thomannmusic.com/shure_srh1540.htm

https://www.amazon.com/Topping-Headphone-Amplifier-OPA1656-Balanced/dp/B08Y87LK94

 

[pbui44]

The HD6xx is on sale for $219, so I changed the link above from the HD600 at Thomann to the Drop HD6xx. The HD6xx is more geared towards music enjoyment, anyways.

 

[pbui44]

If you want a more current sound tuning from modifications and/or from a new model and really don't think you need that much extra power in a headphone amp to get those micro-details, then you can also get the Focal Clear original (1st gen) and Dekoni Audio Blue for just a little more than your budget, but assume that all of these lower prices are for a limited time:

https://www.headphones.com/products/focal-clear-over-ear-open-back-headphones

https://www.adorama.com/deepzblue.html

 

[marone]

Pbui,

Thanks.

1540 was a closed contender back in 2014 and I see little has changed.

Is HD660 noticeably better than 600 or do 580/600/650/660/6xx all share a similar sound?

 

[pbui44]

After having owned the HD600/650/6XX and owning the HD700 (same drivers as the HD660), here are my impressions of their sound signatures:

HD600: neutral with an emphasis on the mids

HD650: warm neutral with slightly less treble sparkle than the HD600 as a trade-off for more lush mids

HD6XX: same as the HD650, but slightly more bass-to-mids frequencies to increase background tone

HD700: cold (bright) neutral with an emphasis on soundstage

I have never heard the HD660S, but from what I read and what is found above, that the sound is the same as the HD700, but less soundstage to emphasize on the mids more.

 

[marone]

@pbui44
I now have the Mass Drop Senn HD 6xx, strong clamping force that will take some getting used to.

Excellent detail and tonality.
I am partial to a warmer sound so suits me just fine.
Burning them in now with late 18th C 'Classical' CDs
Will update in a few days.

For $199, very hard to do better.
Obvious that a transport/amp/dac upgrade will be needed.

 

[pbui44]

@pbui44
I now have the Mass Drop Senn HD 6xx, strong clamping force that will take some getting used to.

Excellent detail and tonality.
I am partial to a warmer sound so suits me just fine.
Burning them in now with late 18th C 'Classical' CDs
Will update in a few days.

For $199, very hard to do better.
Obvious that a transport/amp/dac upgrade will be needed.

I am glad to hear that you enjoy the HD6XX. If you want a more (trans)portable solution, then the Shanling EC-MINI with a 4.4mm cable for your HD6XX will probably be the cheapest setup that should provide a decent amount HD6XX power:

https://www.amazon.com/SHANLING-Portable-Vehicle-Bluetooth5-0-Support/dp/B0CL9WWJ4S

https://www.amazon.com/Youkamoo-Replacement-Compatible-Sennheiser-Headphones/dp/B0B5PJ4HGR/

If you enjoy this combo, but just want some more power for your HD6XX, then the FiiO Q11 is one of the cheapest routes to add power to the EC-MINI:

https://www.amazon.com/FiiO-JadeAudio-Q11-Headphone-Smartphones/dp/B0BS6NBJ7Y

 

[marone]

After 20 hours burn-in the 6xx have settled down; tonality, timbre, soundstage, are all now more unified.
Even without running my stack from the UPS, tracks "sound more like themselves" as intended placement in the mix is more detailed than with the Presonus HD7 (681 clone), and audible details such as mic choice by engineers are more apparent.

It does give the impression of being a bargain reference can as it feels to be revealing of the source chain upstream. Upgrades to gear will be noticed w/ these HD 6xx.

Obvious why so many of these are sold.
To do significantly better would require a jump to $1700+

Again, thank you so much for the recommendation !