[Lunatique]

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Just get the O2mk1 with the SRM-717 Simple.
 
As much as people like to fap over amps, it reallllllly is the last 1% in the equation. If you hear the headphones on a decent amp, and dont like them a really good amp wont help. If the amp is poopy, a better amp *may* help, but the 717 isnt that bad at all.

The 007mkII I heard was powered by the 717 and it sounded great, except the treble being a bit on the darker side of neutral it seemed. Others have told me this is because the amp is underpowered and if I got something like the KGSS, it would be much better than the 717.
 
I have read that 02mk1 has less bass than mk2, and I thought mk2's bass sounded great, which means I might find mk1's bass a bit less than satisfying?

 

[swbf2cheater]

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yes this was a "best audio quality" poll which is why I placed it in the high end forum.  That being said, I don't know if I agree that none of the inclusions are a fantastic value.  By that definition it is possible that no headphone exceeding 200 bucks could ever be deemed a fantastic value.  I think that there are a few headphones on the list which compete with the best headphones ever made and headphones which currently sell for more than 6 times the price.  The LCD2 for instance if it were slightly more comfortable I think would the ultimate headphone.  I'm thinking with a bit more breakin, I could eventually call it that.  The HD800 and T1 compete quite well with the world's top dynamic headphones, at this point they are probably considered the world's top dynamic alongside the K1000, R10 and Qualias.  But I think the LCD2 at the $945 price makes the headphone the best value on the market if you can afford to amp it well.. 

 
There are other much cheaper sets that do a much better job for the money than the HD800 and T1.  Overall better values can be found all over.  
 
however, in terms of sheer audio quality, this is a really tough one but the HD800 beats them all in clarity.  I havent used the jerry harveys, actually ive never heard of them so i cannot speak for that at all, but ya...HD800 ftw bar none.
 

 

[nikongod]

 
Quote:

The 007mkII I heard was powered by the 717 and it sounded great, except the treble being a bit on the darker side of neutral it seemed. Others have told me this is because the amp is underpowered and if I got something like the KGSS, it would be much better than the 717.
 
I have read that 02mk1 has less bass than mk2, and I thought mk2's bass sounded great, which means I might find mk1's bass a bit less than satisfying?

I would agree that the O2 has less treble than many other headphones. The flip side is: what does neutral mean neutral to who? neutral=measures flat, or sounds flat with white noise? Most people reference neutral to a measurement microphone, which IME dosnt work. Sounds flat with white noise is a billion times better IMO.
 
The thing I always liked about the O2 was that they portrayed 3d recordings as being very 3d and most importantly kept the instruments locked together. A very good example is in a recording where the drum-kit is behind the singer you have the snare and cymbals behind the singer with the O2. I have heard quite a few "neutral" headphones (AKG K701 is great for this) where the drummer picks up the cymbal, carries it out in front of the singer, and whacks you in the head with it. That dosnt work, but thats what headphones that measure flat sound like to me anyways.
 
I would read Darth-nut's omega 2 review. Their strength has always been for very cohesive image placements: the sound does not bleed all over the place. Very few headphones can make this claim. 
 
I should note that I have not payed too much attention to the differences between the O2 Mk1/Mk2. 

 

[majkel]

The O2 MkI have two different flavors - older with brown earpads and newer with black. Add the SR-007A to the mix and we have three different headphones. I like the brown leather SR-007 the most. It's the best all-rounder. The black/gold SR-007 is kind of sweet and sometimes it's too much of it. The SR-007A suits rock best amongst the three. I tested these with the SRM-727A, the SRM-007tII and the Sennheiser HEV90 acting as the signal delivery while the SRM-007tII remained the bias source. My friend prepared a special cable for this purpose.

 

[spritzer]

I must say that I've never heard any difference between normal and BL mk1's and that is with a sample group of dozens and dozens of units.  If you heard any difference and with just two sets then there might be some explanation, earpad wear, angle of attack of the drivers etc.  There are how ever clearly two versions of the Mk2/A floating around out there.  The first units made sound very different to the later ones since Stax apparently saw the error of their ways and fixed what they shouldn't have tinkered with in the first place. 
 
As for amps, the 717 is a very good design with some issues.  Cheap PSU design is it's most obvious fault but Stax also deliberately altered the design to engineer a coloration which does sound pleasing but it is always there.  The 727 is over all similar yet a better design.  It fixes what few issues 717 has (ccs loading for the 3rd stage is the biggest one) but then Stax went and did something stupid and cut the feedback loop short.  It isn't hard to fix though and for around 1k$ used you get a lot of amp for your money. 

 

[markmaxx]

We are getting way off track, but the problem with the Stax is the amps,,I would jump all over a set of 02MK1 for the $2400.00 and be happy to spend $5000.00 on a KGBH SE. its the 2 year wait. 

 
I totally agree if you have the cash sitting in the bank getting .03% interest. You can get into and out of hi end audio with just some shipping fees.
 

 
Quote:

 

Just get the O2mk1 with the SRM-717 Simple. Find a pristine set second hand for $2400 or better and buy them. Own them for as long as you want to own them, and sell them for (drumroll please....) exactly what you payed when your done with them. Its amazingly easy to own a world class system for the cost of shipping if you have cash and buy it second hand. A very convincing argument could be made that its actually less expensive to buy the world class headphones you want rather than mucking about with every mid-tier FOTM (not to call the Audeez FOTM, but other headphones have stood the test of time and sell for exactly as much as you payed 2 years ago today...) Considering shipping costs, depreciation for buying new, and the fact that the prices of FOTMs fluctuates like whoa its a very easy argument to make.
 
As much as people like to fap over amps, it reallllllly is the last 1% in the equation. If you hear the headphones on a decent amp, and dont like them a really good amp wont help. If the amp is poopy, a better amp *may* help, but the 717 isnt that bad at all.

 

[Uncle Erik]

markmaxx, I agree about the 'stat amping issues. I've had an O2 Mk. 1 sitting around for awhile, but haven't made any progress on the AC-coupled all-triode Gilmore amp and the SS Exstata I have in pieces. I know they're not ideal, but I'll piece them together. Soon, hopefully, as I'm moving to Arizona on Friday and should have a shop together in a couple of months. After getting through several other sidelined projects, I'm also thinking about tackling a more ambitious 'stat amp - Gilmore has a new design, but I might hit up Frank Cooter for suggestions, too.

 

[markmaxx]

Good luck with your move.. 

 

[charliex]

HE Audio JADE'S .....just arrived today and like WOW!

 

[sachu]

Audez'e LCD-2 and Smeggy Fostex Thunderpants for me.

 

[MacedonianHero]

I'm going to say LCD-2, T1 and HD800 (in no particular order).

 

[DavidMahler]

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I'm going to say LCD-2, T1 and HD800 (in no particular order).

I tried the PS1000 today at a local store.  Listen for about an hour on 2 different amps.  And I own the Ed8, have owned the HE5 (not LE), have never heard the D7000, but have owned the D5000 for a while, never heard the limited stax, never heard the JH products because I don't find custom fit IEMs comfortable at all.  I'm intrigued to hear the ThunderPants......but now that I've added the PS1000 to my own equation, I can confirm that the 3 you mention as the top players are in fact the top players.  The PS1000 for me is the most overpriced piece of audiogear on the planet, but I won't go bashing it (too much) as I know people love it.  I truly found it very comfortable, almost as much as the HD800 and more than the LCD2 or T1, but the sound quality was just embarrassing.  I felt actually embarrassed when the salesman with a degree from God knows where audio school looked at me in the face and told me these were the world's best headphones.  I understand sound is all opinion, but the midrange on the PS1000 sounded to me as if the engineer who designed them has experienced odd hearing loss.  The reproduction was incredibly U-shaped.  This lent itself well to Classical music in my opinion, but the soundstage was lacking compared to other contenders.  For rock, which is primarilly what I'd be interested in a Grado for, I thought the sound was hollowed, and ultra sibilant.  The one thing I will say is that the PS1000 were ultra-detailed and the decay felt realistic, but tonally this headphone was off the mark by a large margin for me.  I actually think I prefer some low-grade Sennheisers to the PS1000, like the 595, I never compared them back to back and haven't heard the 595 in years, but I found the siblance of the PS1000 enough of a pain to listen to, to even make the detail something that was worth while to me.
 
By the way Peter, I think the order you put them in is about right......I think the T1 and HD800 are tied for second, but the LCD2 is in a class by itself in terms of new headphones, and its a class I've only heard matched by the R10.  I still use HD800 over all other phones for classical.  But as an all-rounder the LCD2 and R10 are where its at.  I heard the Omega 2 MKii recently and thought it had the potential, had it been a better rig and had I had more time with it, to be in the same class as the LCD2 and R10.  The K1000 are very interesting, and I recently bought a pair but I don't think anything has taken my breath away on first listen as much as the LCD2

 

[Anaxilus]

Thx for the honest impression of the K1000.  I know synergy and rigs matter but I've often wondered.

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

Thx for the honest impression of the K1000.  I know synergy and rigs matter but I've often wondered.

My experience with the K1000 is extremely limited despite the fact that I own one.  I literally bought one last week and it had some glue issues and needed to be resoldered at the cable termination.  So I only had a few hours with it.  I still got the gist, but if you would like a more detailed honest impression I'll be doing one in about a month when I was planning to compare all my currently-owned top full size headphones
 

1. K1000 (bass heavy)
2. HD800
3. T1
4. LCD2
5. Edition 8
6. HD600 (see HD650 description)
7. HD650 (i still believe these two are contenders for best headphone of the second tier)
8. R10 (bass heavy)
9. SA5000

I may throw in the UE10 into the equation just for fun because they were once my favorite in terms of frequency response.
 
Other headphones which I may reference but don't own anymore.....

1. DT880
2. HE-5
3. D5000
4. Bass Light R10
5. K701

 
Other headphones which I have only listened to but never owned

1. Omega II MK2
2. PS1000

 
the rest of the headphones which I own and have owned I consider not comparable by any assessment, and I don't really think the K701 really belong there but I'll include it because I know some people consider it on par, however foolish these people are, just because AKG hasn't delivered since its release.
 
Anyway, I will have my K1000 back in about 2 weeks and I'll start doing my big thread then.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

I tried the PS1000 today at a local store.  Listen for about an hour on 2 different amps.  And I own the Ed8, have owned the HE5 (not LE), have never heard the D7000, but have owned the D5000 for a while, never heard the limited stax, never heard the JH products because I don't find custom fit IEMs comfortable at all.  I'm intrigued to hear the ThunderPants......but now that I've added the PS1000 to my own equation, I can confirm that the 3 you mention as the top players are in fact the top players.  The PS1000 for me is the most overpriced piece of audiogear on the planet, but I won't go bashing it (too much) as I know people love it.  I truly found it very comfortable, almost as much as the HD800 and more than the LCD2 or T1, but the sound quality was just embarrassing.  I felt actually embarrassed when the salesman with a degree from God knows where audio school looked at me in the face and told me these were the world's best headphones.  I understand sound is all opinion, but the midrange on the PS1000 sounded to me as if the engineer who designed them has experienced odd hearing loss.  The reproduction was incredibly U-shaped.  This lent itself well to Classical music in my opinion, but the soundstage was lacking compared to other contenders.  For rock, which is primarilly what I'd be interested in a Grado for, I thought the sound was hollowed, and ultra sibilant.  The one thing I will say is that the PS1000 were ultra-detailed and the decay felt realistic, but tonally this headphone was off the mark by a large margin for me.  I actually think I prefer some low-grade Sennheisers to the PS1000, like the 595, I never compared them back to back and haven't heard the 595 in years, but I found the siblance of the PS1000 enough of a pain to listen to, to even make the detail something that was worth while to me.
 
By the way Peter, I think the order you put them in is about right......I think the T1 and HD800 are tied for second, but the LCD2 is in a class by itself in terms of new headphones, and its a class I've only heard matched by the R10.  I still use HD800 over all other phones for classical.  But as an all-rounder the LCD2 and R10 are where its at.  I heard the Omega 2 MKii recently and thought it had the potential, had it been a better rig and had I had more time with it, to be in the same class as the LCD2 and R10.  The K1000 are very interesting, and I recently bought a pair but I don't think anything has taken my breath away on first listen as much as the LCD2

Dave, can't say that I disagree with your PS1000 findings either (I did leave them off my list for a reason

). I've listened to them 3 or 4 separate times and agree with your comments. For me, the top headphone currently in production for Grado is the RS1i. As much as the PS1000 wasn't to my liking, the GS1000 was even worse.
 
I haven't fully made up my mind on where to rank the LCD-2/T1/HD800 yet, but they all have their strengths and shortcomings. I would also give an honourable mention to the Denon D7000s for a very fun headphone that is great with rock/metal/jazz. Heck, I liked them so much, I bought them twice.

But they do just come up a bit short with the other three.
 
If the LCD-2's had more of a sense of "air" and slightly more treble energy, then I would be prepared to say that they are my absolute favourites. But they don't hit that target well enough to my liking in those 2 areas for me to pass final judgment today. We'll see how Week 2 with the LCD-2s goes...