[valveman]

Today I bought a pair of Phillips HS490 headphones. These are like a clip type of headphone but the phones actually hang on your ears. Light and comfortable. These are open circumaural type. For the $10 I paid new, I thought what the hell if they sound bad I won't be too disappointed.

Well disappointed I am not! Amazing sound stage and balanced frequency response. For you bass heads, these would not be the phones to get unless you want to EQ in more bass. But if you like a well balanced sound, you would be hard pressed to beat these at this low prices. I would say these are on par dare I say/ exceed the SQ of Koss KSC75.

These are a keeper!
Philips HS490

 

[Wmcmanus]

Wow, that's a good find! I"ll have to give them a try.

Not to be nit picky, but I think you mean KSC-75. I've given these as stocking stuffers for my nieces and nephews as well as several other young people. I've bought at least 15 pairs of them over time (5 at a time when I can find them for $10 per pair). So this will be a good 'mini gift' alternative, not to mention that I ought to have a pair for myself!

 

[EYEdROP]

The JVC HA-G55 is a really good can for 20 bucks. Super light and comfortable with an overall good, clean sound for the price. Ive noticed JVC makes really good stock headphones too.

 

[appophylite]

I wouldn't be surprised that there would be a cheap headphone out there that can surpass the KSC-75. As EYEdROP mentioned, JVC also does a rather good stock headphone and for several years now, has been putting out a good range of headphones for $40 and less that sound really good for the money. The only problem with any of these headphones that I forsee is the fact that the KSC-75/KSC-35 has been so built up at Head-Fi as the Best Bang-For-The-Buck (with good reason too), that any other headphone is going to have a hard time trying to surpass it.

That said, I was hoping I'd be done on the Cheap-Fi side for a while but now I'm gonna have to see if I can find these HS490's that valveman is talking about to try them out.

 

[EYEdROP]

For bassheads, the Coby CV-200 has some serious thump in them. And for 8 bucks, im sure it would be a good stocking stuffer. The mids kinda suck and the highs roll off pretty bad. But it sounds like a big sub on your ears. I certainly liked them when I used to listen to rap.

 

[Sephael]

Too bad you cant get the Philips in UK atm. (couldnt find it

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