[Bandeira]

Hello,

A friend of mine wanted to have a go in headphones... He is mainly into speakers at the moment... he listens mostly to Jazz and blues, and some classic rock and his budget for headphones can be quite high, if its worth it.

He asked me for recommendations, but I am not used to very expensive stuff... I am used to headphones on a budget, but not very very high end.

He is probably going to drive them from his home theatre equipment.

Hope you guys can help..

Cheers!

 

[catachresis]

Acoustic Jazz and Blues or Electiric Blues and Fusion: I'm sure that your pal is eager to plow in some big bucks so that he can get the best of both worlds. The owners of 'premier' cans will be along in a moment.

The K500 and K501 *are* wonderful for acoustic jazz--indeed for any acoustic music in smaller consortium's, short of Vernon McQueue's Timpani-enhanced Jugtime Band. They have impactful upper-bass registers that deliver smacks but not deep thumps and groans. I find that the K500s are a little more balanced in low to high tonal spectrum. The K501s are slightly more detailed but a little more bright and forward.

The older DT48A is wonderfully rich in mid-timbres and tones, but it has rolled highs and lows and a soundstage flat as a pie-pan. In each track you listen to, the instruments and vocals that were carefully miked sound extremely, delightfully accurate, but any side track that wasn't carefully recorded tends to sound like a nebulous fart. It's very fine if you can keep the music simple. If electric distortion is a basic element of your life, then the DT48As don't have a lust for life.

 

[robert]

I've had the K501 for some years, and was happy with them. Now that I have the K701 (a couple of hundred hours), I'd say it is better. The bottom end is much better, the treble is smoother. Soundstage isn't quite as cavernous. More money, though.

 

[Happy Camper]

The current FOTM on the high end of current production headphones would be the HD-800 and the PS-1000. Both are new releases and both are new design. If you are looking at vintage cans, I'll let experience chime in. The usual suspects would be the K1000, R-10, Qualias, L3000, PS-1, etc.

 

[Uncle Erik]

X2 on the the DT48 and K-501.

The Sennheiser HD-600 can also be wonderful with those genres, however, it isn't as specifically great with acoustic material as the K-501 and DT48 are.

Also the HD-800, obviously, but their price is shocking to those who haven't spent a lot of time here.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif X2 on the the DT48 and K-501. The Sennheiser HD-600 can also be wonderful with those genres, however, it isn't as specifically great with acoustic material as the K-501 and DT48 are. Also the HD-800, obviously, but their price is shocking to those who haven't spent a lot of time here.

Since he's a speaker guy, the HD800 would seem the obvious fit, especially since they are also highly tuned for acoustics.. Maybe on par or bettering the DT48 in that area...