[fyrfytrhoges]

i love watching movies and listening to music with my headphones, but i have a couple of questions. first a little background, i use sennheiser hd590's run through a pioneer elite vsx-26tx receiver, or run directly through a sony dvp s550d dvd/cd player. 2 questions: i have been thinking of upgrading to grado top of the line headphones, are they worth the huge pricetag, and are they equally good for movies and music. and number 2, do i really need a headphone amp or is my receiver powerful enough, i really don't know what else the amp is going to do for me. thanks.

 

[Polygon]

Does the sound ever become distorted at high volume? If so you may want to look at a headphone amp, though I don't know too much about headphones or peripherals since I really don't use them that much, I have cheap headphones "compared to most of you in here." I prefer to concentrate on other things. But I would say that if you aren't getting distortion at higher volumes than your wouldn't need an extra amp. But maybe someone else has a better answer for this.

Also, shouldn't this be in the Headphone section, it would get more coverage and answers there.

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

thanks polygon!

 

[eric343]

Regarding the Grados, you will DEFINITELY need to audition these first before buying them. Grados have a pretty unique sound- that some people swear by and others swear at. Also, the Grados can be quite uncomfortable if you use pads that make them sound their best...
Blowing $600+ on headphones that you may find unlistenable only makes sense if you're getting them from HeadRoom, whose return policy will let you swap around headphones until you find the right ones.

Regarding an amplifier, GET ONE. If you're willing to pay for the Grado RS-1 (or RS-2), then you'll probably not have any troube contacting the Head-Fi member JMT and having him build an amp for you, especially since he's *very* reputable and charges very reasonable rates (IIRC somewhere in the $70-$150 range, although I might be wrong) for amps that perform really well. Getting an amp will (especially for your source!) give you many more times the performance increase for the money than spending that much more on headphones.

 

[andrzejpw]

second the grado recommendation. AUDITION FIRST. They have a very specific sound. Who knows if you will like it?

 

[fyrfytrhoges]

thanks for the advice people!!!

 

[andrzejpw]

so, whats your decision?