[Blasto_Brandino]

I GREATLY prefer speakers (I buy em used to maximize bang for the buck, that and my 2k used Talons will demolish ALL 2k new retail speakers) 
But it varies greatly with me, I have to hear it and balance that with the price. If it's worth it, it's worth it, if it's not, it's not.

 

[Snow_Fox]

I personally don't choose to  really have a "cut off" limit per se.

I view things in an almost entirely situational manner. 

How do the headphones compare to other headphones in their price range?

How do they compare to a set of headphones in one of the lower end markets?

How much difference am I going to notice from _____?

While I do love music... and I would say I am an audiophile more so than the average person.. I am also probably never going to say "cost is no object" in regards to a headphone/audio set up.

I may one day say that about my computer rig... 3 GPU's, a sound card, 6 monitors in 3d, over 9000 dpi mouse, and a mech keyboard...

To me the cutt of point is when I feel there is no longer anything being added to the experience. Why settle for anything less than the absolute limit of the experience?

Right now I can't afford anything more than what I have.. my sennheiser 598's. I love them and will probably run them into the ground before I get a new pair. Once I can afford a new pair I will buy whatever I can afford (ex post sennheisers).. If I find that a pair of 1000$ headphones adds more to my experience than a pair of 800$ ones then I'll go for what I can afford and gives me the better experience.

For now I got my Senn HD 598's for 170$ and feel like I've won the jackpot. 

 

 

[Proglover]

I think my 150 euro headphones have actually better sound then my B&W 603 speakers paired with Marantz mid-end receiver.
It could be that me and the B&W's are just a bad match, but I really enjoy mid-end headphones way more.
 
I've been surprised the last few months that higher end headphones like D7000 (there will even be people discussing if that's a high-end one), HD800, K-1000, really have very noticable differences to many mid-ends. I thought the differences would be smaller, but I perceive them as definite upgrades.
 
I think they're worth the price, because they will be used a lot, many hours a week and because it's my only money consuming hobby.
 
Things like R10, Qualia, Orpheus etc. would be too much money though.

 

[sphinxvc]

Quote:

Many high end cans, namely LCD-2, HD 800, HE-6, STAX, etc. costs $1000+
 
At what point are headphones not justifiable for their price tag because of the small little detail difference offered?
 
For example a $600 headphone is not going to be better two times better than a $300 one, but only minor detail differences(and a different amp requirement which also cost more $). 
 
EDIT: Actually I was asking what's your opinion on what price point are headphones no longer worth it. 

 
I wouldn't look at it that way.  It's the cost of the total rig.  My budget has been pretty flexible and I think I've found my sweet spot with the 5LEs.  I've heard balanced and I've heard the flagships and I can't say I've been convinced yet.  If I was on a really small budget I'd get some 1964-Ts or RE-ZEROs with a used iPod Classic and call it a day.

 

[WarriorAnt]

Quote:

I think you'd might find there are a lot of reluctant headphone users posting here, or more than you might think based on that response.  I far and away prefer speakers but use headphones when quiet is a better option for domestic bliss.  If I did not need to use them occasionally for that reason I would never use them.  I do enjoy music profoundly so I am grateful for headphones for giving me more access to it.  Is that difficult to understand?
 

I am a reluctant user I will admit it.  I prefer to have the music travel through the air to my ears.  I need headphones for late night listening and music composing which always seems to be most inspired during the late hours when my family is sleeping. Having said that I find the LCD's enthralling, engaging, I find that I completely forget I'm using them.  They remind me of my now departed Martin Logan CLS II speakers except on my ears.  So for a guy who doesn't like headphones I really like these and I think that's a testimony in itself.
 
 

 

[sridhar3]

Quote:

I think you'd might find there are a lot of reluctant headphone users posting here, or more than you might think based on that response.  I far and away prefer speakers but use headphones when quiet is a better option for domestic bliss.  If I did not need to use them occasionally for that reason I would never use them.  I do enjoy music profoundly so I am grateful for headphones for giving me more access to it.  Is that difficult to understand?

It's not wrong to have a preference, and furthermore, to prefer speakers over headphones.  I'm all for the "live and let live" philosophy.  It's just interesting, if not a bit ironic, to see a non-enthusiast on an enthusiast website.  I doubt the Candle Power forums have too many members who have a lukewarm attitude towards flashlights.

 

[WarriorAnt]

Quote:

Quote:

It's not wrong to have a preference, and furthermore, to prefer speakers over headphones.  I'm all for the "live and let live" philosophy.  It's just interesting, if not a bit ironic, to see a non-enthusiast on an enthusiast website.  I doubt the Candle Power forums have too many members who have a lukewarm attitude towards flashlights.

Well what better place to find a great pair of headphones if you need a pair then a place where enthusiasts hang out?   Anyway since I've been on this forum I found that nearly 50% of the people using headphones openly state a preference for speakers over cans and the majority of posters never seem to like any of the cans they have and are always buying something new.  That's what's really interesting to me.  Me, I've never owned a pair of headphones before, the LCD's are my first pair and I'm going with them.  I'm not interested in hearing anything else.  I guess that doesn't make me a reliable source of info though.   
 

 

[Proglover]

Quote:

Well what better place to find a great pair of headphones if you need a pair then a place where enthusiasts hang out?   Anyway since I've been on this forum I found that nearly 50% of the people using headphones openly state a preference for speakers over cans and the majority of posters never seem to like any of the cans they have and are always buying something new.  That's what's really interesting to me.  Me, I've never owned a pair of headphones before, the LCD's are my first pair and I'm going with them.  I'm not interested in hearing anything else.  I guess that doesn't make me a reliable source of info though.   
 

I'd disagree with that in bold. Many users are trying to upgrade, sidegrade or at least trying to discover which sound/headphones suits them. Doesn't mean they don't like them, they're trying to get something even better (the so called 'upgradetitis')

 
 

 

[WarriorAnt]

Quote:

I'd disagree with that in bold. Many users are trying to upgrade, sidegrade or at least trying to discover which sound/headphones suits them. Doesn't mean they don't like them, they're trying to get something even better (the so called 'upgradetitis')

 
 

You mean Audiophile Nervosa...
 
 

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

What? Head-Fi member? Posting on forum about headphones? Doesn't like headphones?  Divide by zero?  lolwut?

I love my headphones and use the HD-800 almost daily.

But the reality is that I also listen to speakers, and I think a lot of speakers better headphones. Currently, I'm running the ProAc Response 2.5 clones. The bass those 6.5" woofers put out is remarkable. I've never heard a headphone that compares. But sometimes I like the intimacy and detail of the HD-800.

If you're looking for the most performance for the dollar, speakers beat the most expensive headphones.

Before the $1,000+ überheadphones came out a couple years ago, headphones were a better value. I think headphone manufacturers made a mistake by pricing their top headphones into speaker territory. They should cut their prices by 50% or so to keep a value advantage. We'll see what happens.

 

[polartech]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

What? Head-Fi member? Posting on forum about headphones? Doesn't like headphones?  Divide by zero?  lolwut?

I love my headphones and use the HD-800 almost daily.

But the reality is that I also listen to speakers, and I think a lot of speakers better headphones. Currently, I'm running the ProAc Response 2.5 clones. The bass those 6.5" woofers put out is remarkable. I've never heard a headphone that compares. But sometimes I like the intimacy and detail of the HD-800.

If you're looking for the most performance for the dollar, speakers beat the most expensive headphones.

Before the $1,000+ überheadphones came out a couple years ago, headphones were a better value. I think headphone manufacturers made a mistake by pricing their top headphones into speaker territory. They should cut their prices by 50% or so to keep a value advantage. We'll see what happens.

Totally agree, high end cans are generally quite overpriced. Speakers always trump them, IMHO. A price cut would make sense in the grand scheme of things, although I can't see that happening to be honest.
 

 

[wind016]

As much as we spend on our headphone equipment, we will never reach the highest elite status of speaker audiophiles with our equipment. They mock and jeer us from their treated rooms incasing $300,000+ worth of audio equipment fit for a museum.
 
This is a humble hobby once you get a taste of those guys.

 

[Eric_C]

Quote:

As much as we spend on our headphone equipment, we will never reach the highest elite status of speaker audiophiles with our equipment. They mock and jeer us from their treated rooms incasing $300,000+ worth of audio equipment fit for a museum.
 
This is a humble hobby once you get a taste of those guys.

Jeer us? They can carry on; I'm happy to never spend that much on audio gear. 

 

[milosz]

The quick answer is, if the price of ANYTHING seems to you like "too much" money to pay, then whatever it is probably isn't worth it- either what you've got is good enough or your don't need one in the first place.
 
But perhaps what the OP was asking is actually "do you get a BETTER headphone if you spend more money?"
 
The term "BETTER" here is crying out for some reliable yardstick to tell which is BETTER than what.  Alas, no such yardstick exists.
 
As far as yardsticks go, you can show that in many ways the LCD-2 is the "BEST" headphone -  it has the closest response to "neutral" of any headphone I've ever seen, being ruler flat up to about 1 K then having no significant peaky emphasis above that frequency while extending out to ultrasonics.  What's more, the LCD-2 is damn near perfect in the TIME DOMAIN - look at it's waterfall plot, the most perfect plot I've seen for ANY transducer.  It passes square waves OK, quite a trick. But for all that transducer near-perfection there are folks that don't like 'em. And these are REASONABLE PEOPLE, who just don't like LCD-2's. I LOVE my LCD-2's but I also like my HE-6's HD-800's etc.  I use different headphones depending on what I want to hear. They ALL offer something good. 
 
In general all these top-tier headphones MEASURE BETTER than their lower-cost sibs. But that still doesn't answer the question: ARE THEY WORTH IT.
 
People buy headphones for different reasons.  I buy different pairs because I like to play around with gear, trying different combinations or listening to different setups depending on my mood.  Also, I get bored easily and need wacky levels of stimulation.  Plus I am a geezer and we geezers often have dough, so it's not too much of a strain to buy toys of this type.  Can't afford a Porsche but by God I've got Senheiser HD800's.  That sort of thing.
 
BUT- if you have to be responsible with your money, like if you have a family or what have you, you will have a totally different set of expectations for what a headphone should do for you.  And when it comes to that level of practicality, typically what folks are looking for is something that will sound good- as in sound "high end" offering clean, detailed, textured sound, comfort, durability, and the ability to have all this late at night without waking the family and so on.  Or be able to offer for under $300 what no sub-$300 pair of speakers can hope to offer in terms of sound.  For this type of listener, the answer is NO, spending $1000 more than you'd pay for a set of Beyer DT880's to buy the T1 or the HD800's is NOT WORTH IT.  You're not going to TRIPLE your headphone ecstasy but you WILL triple the amount of spending that you will have to explain to the wife.  Years ago, when I was married, I found it easier to negotiate some nights carousing with my "no-good friends" than it was to explain why I "needed to waste another $1,000 on audio stuff."

 

[Proglover]

 
Quote:

You mean Audiophile Nervosa...
 
 

No, I mean upgrade-titis. The difference: you have a negative approach and I don't think that many head-fiers feel that way. They're enjoying the ride. Not everybody, but most of them do.
 
I absolutely love this hobby, trying new things. Paired with the fact that it's very easy to sell (and buy) on our FS section, it makes it a very positive experience searching for the sounds and cans I want to keep. There's no negative feelings about that.