[ephrank]

I believe Christmas is the best time for shopping, since I'm in the retail business

Anyway, here's my current rig. It's my first serious headphones system.

E-MU 0404 USB | ALO 22G Cryo Mini to Mini | RSA Hornet M | K 701

I am planning for a major upgrade that, hopefully, will increase my knowledge and appreciation of different makes of headphones. I am looking for phones that have vastly different sound signature to K 701. Deep and tight bass. Must be comfortable for long listening sessions (3+ hours).

I'd also like to see if I can push the performance of K 701 to the next level with an even better amp. I'm after a neutral amp that can provide wider soundstage and more details. Much more details

Here's my current shopping list:
- ONE of the following phones
- Sony SA5000
- Senn HD600
- beyer DT 880
- Sony PFR-V1 (will wait until the price come down)
- may be a pair of Audio Technica in similar price range. I'm not familiar with their product lineup

- RSA HR-2

- A pair of good RCA to TS interconnect (0404 USB doesn't do RCA output)

Would love to hear your opinion & suggestions on my upgrade list. Thanks a lot!

p.s. Also looking for 2nd hand of the aforementioned amp and phones. Please PM me.

 

[ephrank]

bump~~~

 

[kamal007]

from the list of headphones, im gonna vote for hd600 and dt880. hd600 is a bit laid back and relaxed while the dt880 is full of details

 

[boomana]

Other than the Sony, which no one to my knowledge has heard, you've picked headphones with more treble energy than bass ooomph, if that's what you're looking for. The 600s are more neutral than trebly. Many people prefer the 650s to the 600s as they have a bit more bottom end. If you're looking to pick up a good complement to the 701s, I think the 600s would offer you that, except for the bass part you mentioned. If I were going to choose a phone to give me a different, but equal in terms of quality, experience, I'd pick either RS1s or HD650. Although I had my issues with the Ultasone Proline 2500's treble, which others do not have, the lower mids and bass were impressive, and would be a nice change from the 701s. I think you'll also find that with an amp upgrade, you'll experience your AKGs in a whole different way (you might want to stop in the amp forum and ask about snergy between the 701s and the HR-2 before you buy, as the 701s are pretty amp dependent), so it will be like having two new headphones. Enjoy!

 

[gz76]

Get yourself along to the coming Sydney meet and listen to lots of gear. This should help immensely, not to mention saving you a few bucks on 'mistake' purchases!

 

[ephrank]

boomana: I believe RS1 is way over my budget. I did some thread search on syngery and the answers are quite positive.

gz76: Yeah I can't wait, only 7 days to go! Would love to try out some other amps in similar price range.

 

[Ichinichi]

i've listened to both 580 and 880 in the same session. 580s had SAA equinox cables w/ all other equipment the same. i did not find the 880s to have more detail at all (this was through a metalbased gz34 wa6). the 880s sounded like fairy dust was sprinkled all over the music, like a dream sequence on some sit-com. the 580s sounded much more real and organic - a more visceral musical experience. needless to say, i stuck with the senns and offloaded the 880s.

now:

sacdmod sony 555es > red line IC > singlepower mpx3 se max > equinox > hd650

 

[Phraxos]

Although I haven't tried too many headphones, I own the Proline 2500s which have impressive bass that goes very low. I'm listening to Cat Empire's "One, Four, Five" on them now and I've got a big, sloppy smile on my face.

Besides that, people around here seem to think that Beyer's DT-990s and Darths are bass monsters.

 

[F107plus5]

Bah; Humbug! The stress and wallet producing trauma of Christmas, just so that we can show "Holiday Spirit" by buying tons of stuff for family, friends and neighbors just to keep the media and their sponsors happy, is really dumb!

...yeah; I know.

But the spending orgies of the holidays are the reason why I gotta wait till next year to be able to buy MY new amp.