[Yggy]

If you enjoy K1000 and HE6, maybe you can check out another classic headphone from Sennheiser: the 600ohm version HD540/HD250/HD540Gold. They are exceptionally good with 300B headphone amplifiuer like HA-300. They ae not expensive by today standard, but finding a pair in decent condition is not easy.

I’ve taken your advice AK and ordered a pair of Sennheiser HD-540 Reference 600 ohms. 199 Euros plus 50 Euros postage to the UK on eBay Germany.

I’ve copied some photos below. They were described as being in very good condition, rarely used, with original pads.

There is a new old stock pair of HD-250 Linear 2 300 ohm on eBay UK for GBP 300.

 

[Andykong]

I’ve taken your advice AK and ordered a pair of Sennheiser HD-540 Reference 600 ohms. 199 Euros plus 50 Euros postage to the UK on eBay Germany.

I’ve copied some photos below. They were described as being in very good condition, rarely used, with original pads.

There is a new old stock pair of HD-250 Linear 2 300 ohm on eBay UK for GBP 300.

Wow, that's a quick move. Let's see whether you like this can as I predicted.

You are very smart, earpad pay a very important role with these "ancient" headphones.

There is a 600ohm HD250 closed back on eBay, but you need to find a new earpad for this one. Let's see whether you like the HD540 before we try other options. I have collected 600ohm version of HD540Gold, HD540 and HD250. I happen to like the HD250 more then the other two.

 

[Yggy]

The HD-250 was Graham Slee’s favourite headphone, I used to have his Solo Headphone Amp about 15-20 years ago.

I bought my first pair of closed back headphones. Bit of a curve ball, Fostex TH900 Mk2. I got a good used deal with a 4 pin XLR cable and stand included.

I listen to a lot of EDM, rap, and R&B so the TH900 Mk2 should be a fun listen. I figure the HA-300 should tame the brighter treble and reel in some of the over-the-top bass.

The red Urushi lacquer Fostex use is stunning. I’ve attached a photo.

 

[horatiu]

The HD-250 was Graham Slee’s favourite headphone, I used to have his Solo Headphone Amp about 15-20 years ago.

I bought my first pair of closed back headphones. Bit of a curve ball, Fostex TH900 Mk2. I got a good used deal with a 4 pin XLR cable and stand included.

I listen to a lot of EDM, rap, and R&B so the TH900 Mk2 should be a fun listen. I figure the HA-300 should tame the brighter treble and reel in some of the over-the-top bass.

The red Urushi lacquer Fostex use is stunning. I’ve attached a photo.

Graham Slee's Solo headamp got me into this game. Great amp, sweet sound.

 

[Yggy]

My Fostex TH900 Mk2 arrived. It’s a very nice headphone if you listen to bass heavy pop, rap, and rock.

The sound signature is extremely V-shaped, the bass is heavy, treble has bite. Detail and resolution doesn’t match the Susvara, Diana Phi, or HD800s but that can be a blessing with lower quality recordings.

I don’t listen to 80s music on my TOTL headphones, it seems like a waste, a bit like watching Laurel & Hardy on an 8k display. But with the Fostex, Queen, Aerosmith and Def Leppard sound very good. The TH900 Mk2 puts meat on the bones of older recordings and makes the sound thicker and less tinny.

You still get a wow factor with well produced modern pop. For example, Lorde’s Pure Heroine in 24 Bit 192 kHz FLAC is pop ear candy, it’s just slightly more 2D and less detailed than on headphones costing two or three times as much.

The V-shaped sound signature excels at rap. It doesn’t match the HE-6 for bass quality but the energetic treble is the Ying to the Yang of thumping bass. Tracks with a sharper edge to the beat can be a bit fatiguing, even with 300b tubes. Peppy treble and powerful bass in combination works 9 times out of 10.

Classical music is better than I expected it to be given the bass head reputation of the Fostex but you’d still be better off with the HD-800s if that’s what you listen to. The Fostex XLR upgrade cable sounds fine but above the Y splitter, it’s irritatingly microphonic, so not good for fidgeters.

Comfort is very good. It’s not as comfortable as the heavier Susvara, HE1000SE, and Utopia. It has the edge over the HD-800s though and that’s a fairly comfortable headphone, I’m not keen on the edges of the oversized cups of the HD-800s pressing on my neck below my ears.

I’d describe the TH900 Mk2 as a more mid-fi sounding Diana Phi on steroids. It’s the most fun headphone I’ve listened to and pairs well with the HA-300. Not for purists, but Dr Dre would love it.

 

[Yggy]

Wow, that's a quick move. Let's see whether you like this can as I predicted.

You are very smart, earpad pay a very important role with these "ancient" headphones.

They arrived this afternoon. Very nice sound. Wonderful clarity, treble is clear with no harshness, no grunge from the HA-300. They sound a bit like the AKG K1000 but more forceful.

The pads smell like my local snooker club. I think it’s 30-40 year old tobacco smoke ingrained in the pad fabric. Condition is very good and comfort is stellar. They feel half the weight of modern headphones. Amazing performance for the price.

Thank you for the recommendation. Are there any pads currently available that get anywhere near the originals for sound quality?

 

[Palyodgree]

My very first headphone system were the Fostex TH900 mk2 , shortly after I changed the cups , pads and some internal damping rings that came as a package from a Fostex enthusiast. My memory this change made a significant overall difference specifically taming the treble region and extending the sub base a great example off the top of my head was listening to Chesky fabulous recording of Mozart’s Ave Verum ,…

 

[Yggy]

That sounds like the Lawton Tune Up package.

https://www.lawtonaudio.com/fostextune-up.html

 

[Palyodgree]

That sounds like the Lawton Tune Up package.

https://www.lawtonaudio.com/fostextune-up.html

For the life of me I couldn’t remember his name , yes Lawton tune up kits ….

 

[Andykong]

They arrived this afternoon. Very nice sound. Wonderful clarity, treble is clear with no harshness, no grunge from the HA-300. They sound a bit like the AKG K1000 but more forceful.

The pads smell like my local snooker club. I think it’s 30-40 year old tobacco smoke ingrained in the pad fabric. Condition is very good and comfort is stellar. They feel half the weight of modern headphones. Amazing performance for the price.

Thank you for the recommendation. Are there any pads currently available that get anywhere near the originals for sound quality?

That's the magic of old Sennheiser. When we praise the HD600 and HD650 as evergreen tree in headphone hobby, the HD250/HD540/HD540G is an even bigger miracle. All three models use the same driver, the HD540G will match driver during production, the other two won't, but since they have been used for decade, so driver matching don't really matter already. I spend a year to track down a complete set of 300ohm and 600 ohm of all three models, the biggest bottleneck of this game is the earpad. You can try to remove the odd, look for options to treat smelly quilts. I soaked the pad in dilute soap water, hand clean it gently and place it at well ventilated area to dry it slowly (don't expose to sunlight).

Unfortunately, there is no direct replacement earpad for HD540 and HD540G. I have tried 5-6 different replacement earpad, they just didn't sound the same. The nearest I find was REVOX RH3100L (for DT990/DT880)

You should also look for replacement of white cotton ring and black cotton pad, the original Sennheiser replacement should still be available.

 

[Yggy]

Thank you for those photos AK. That’s very helpful. I spoke to the HD-540 eBay seller about the pads and he’s sending me a pair of NOS OEM HD-430 pleather pads. There was another pair on the Sennheiser Amazon UK store so I bought those for spare.

I did some research on pads and found a very helpful post on HD-540 pad replacement by myusernameislove (post 2451). He/she said the HD-430 pad as a HD-540 replacement was fine apart from for bass quantity which I can live with. If I want bass, I’ll listen to my Fostex TH900 Mk2 or Legend Evo IEMs. With the HD-540, my priority is clarity, treble quality, and neutrality which the K1000 excels at.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/wow-sennheiser-hd-540-reference-are-so-good.670255/page-164

I will try what you suggested with the fabric pads and carefully wash and dry them and what myusernameislove suggests and unstitch them, replace the foam with a Hifiman pad, and restitch them.

How are the pads attached to a stock HD-540? When I put my finger inside and underneath the pad, they feel like they are glued on.

 

[steve468]

So I've just joined the club! I've had two nights with it, and so far, of course, I'm loving it. The combination of rich, warm and detailed is really something else.

As a insatiable tube roller, I unfortunately already have the itch to try a few things (you can see Ken-Rads in there warming up - haven't even listened to them yet). The cost of the tubes definitely makes having a wide varieties of combos available a bit too rich for my blood, but does anyone have any favourite tube rolls they'd be willing to share?

My favourite 6sn7 variant in the Crack was a 6f8g, has anyone tried a pair of those? Are they even usable? I did note they weren't listed in the variants section of the manual, but as far as I know the 6f8g is a drop in replacement (w/ adapter) for the 6sn7.

And man, this thing photographs well!

 

[Andykong]

Thank you for those photos AK. That’s very helpful. I spoke to the HD-540 eBay seller about the pads and he’s sending me a pair of NOS OEM HD-430 pleather pads. There was another pair on the Sennheiser Amazon UK store so I bought those for spare.

I did some research on pads and found a very helpful post on HD-540 pad replacement by myusernameislove (post 2451). He/she said the HD-430 pad as a HD-540 replacement was fine apart from for bass quantity which I can live with. If I want bass, I’ll listen to my Fostex TH900 Mk2 or Legend Evo IEMs. With the HD-540, my priority is clarity, treble quality, and neutrality which the K1000 excels at.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/wow-sennheiser-hd-540-reference-are-so-good.670255/page-164

I will try what you suggested with the fabric pads and carefully wash and dry them and what myusernameislove suggests and unstitch them, replace the foam with a Hifiman pad, and restitch them.

How are the pads attached to a stock HD-540? When I put my finger inside and underneath the pad, they feel like they are glued on.

Not a lot of headphone amplifier are optimised for 600ohm loading, when Beyer decided to give up 600ohm option on their T1, that pretty much significant the end of 600 ohme headphone for consumer market. The newer amplifier will optimised for headphone with lower impedance instead, that's what I suggest you to focus at 600 Ohms versoin of these headphone.

You can pull it out gently. There is a plastic ring that fix the earpad to the earcup. The first photo below shows the plastic ring on the earpad, and the second photo shows the plastic ring on the earcup. Even when the earpad is complete damaged, you need to keep this plastic ring. Replacement earpad won't come with this plastic ring, so ou need to use this plastic ring to fit the HD430 earpad to your HD540. I have tried HS430 earpad as well, and I decided to use it for HS250 instead of HD540.

 

[Andykong]

Cayin debuts HA-300MK2 at CanJam Singapore 2022 (2-3 April 2022)

Our Singapore partner Zeppelin will present our flagship DHT vacuum tube amplifier to the Personal Audio community at this important event. The incredible N8ii DAP will also be demonstrated, together with our complete Personal Audio product line. Cayin booth is located at Booth B7-B8, Level 1, Pacific Ballroom of Pan Pacific Singapore at Marina Square.

The Announcement video is available HERE.
https://www.facebook.com/zeppelinandco/videos/320166896788379/

We shall provide a detail explanation with full specfication of the HA-300MK2 here on 31st March 2022 evening, plase stay tuned.

 

[normie610]

Cayin debuts HA-300MK2 at CanJam Singapore 2022 (2-3 April 2022)

Our Singapore partner Zeppplie will present our flagship DHT vacuum tube amplifier to the Personal Audio community at this important event. The incredible N8ii DAP will also be demonstrated, together with our complete Personal Audio product line. Cayin booth is located at Booth B7-B8, Level 1, Pacific Ballroom of Pan Pacific Singapore at Marina Square.

The Announcement video is available HERE.
https://www.facebook.com/zeppelinandco/videos/320166896788379/

We shall provide a detail explanation with full specfication of the HA-300MK2 here on 31st March 2022 evening, plase stay tuned.

It’s really beautiful in black