Achieved end-game audio experience?

[abheybir]

I'm curious if anyone has amp, dac and headphone experience that has them not wanting to buy anything else. They believe what they currently own is the absolute best for them.

Well happens for like a day or two then brain starts to looking for something shiny again to fill the empty void of the soul. And the vicious circle of upgrade, sidegrade and downgrade beigins!!

 

[Steven31]

Well I have found my endgame headphone. It's the end of the road for me. I have only just joined HeadFi but I have been buying and collecting headphones for well over a decade now, I have to draw the line at some point and I sense that point has arrived with the Fostex TH500RP. This headphone ticks every box for me, regarding sound quality. I use it mostly directly plugged into the headphone output of my Marantz CD player but hope to soon find a suitable dedicated headphone amplifier to use with it, but it is already my endgame headphone. I can think of a few other headphones i've owned that are more technically gifted than the TH500RP,- (comparing the following headphones i've owned to the TH500RP, by my memory of them): The £1,500 Astell & Kern T5P I had a few years ago had better definition and detail than I can hear with the TH500RP, and the Beyerdynamic T70 250 ohm had a darker background and tighter bass, a more audiophile tuning to the TH500RP and even compared to the T5P. The Sennheiser HD700 I had was capable of a more holographic soundstage and imaging compared to the TH500RP but only when used with a high end amp, otherwise the TH500RP is equal to the HD700 in this regard. So I have owned other headphones that do some individual things better than the TH500RP, but none of them have the ability to sound both fun and neutral/analytical at the same time! The TH500RP really has stopped me in my tracks, forced me to question my old beliefs regarding planars v dynamic headphones, and over the last month I have been in denial. For 13 years the headphone that I held in the highest regard, has lost it's appeal to me, thanks to the TH500RP. The AKG K702 had been the champ for 13 years!! every other headphone i've bought has came and gone, the only permanent feature of my collection has been the K702, I swore by it all these years..and yet it sounds rather 2 dimensional, veiled, coloured and not neutral compared to the TH500RP, despite having a slightly higher quality of sub bass. The K702 has finally been dethroned and my new (and probably last) reference headphone, the TH500RP, takes it's place. What a long journey it's been; 2008 - 2021. Adios fella's ! enjoy your headphones

 

[dunring]

I do since
m curious if anyone has amp, dac and headphone experience that has them not wanting to buy anything else. They believe what they currently own is the absolute best for them.

I'm curious if anyone has amp, dac and headphone experience that has them not wanting to buy anything else. They believe what they currently own is the absolute best for them.

I set a budget of $350 and hit a combination that now I don't shop anymore, for the sound I wanted it's perfect.
Drop AAA One amplifier $115 used
Khadas tone board $85 on eBay
Beyerdynamic Gen1 MMX300 with silver dt770 pads $150

I'm just happy how it all works together.

 

[redrich2000]

I never thought I'd reach endgame but I'm close now I think. I currently have Modius > Taurus > Clear/Ether CX. I will eventually upgrade Modius to Bifrost 2. I think at that point it would cost massive amounts to upgrade.