[charlieart66]

This time last year I was your everyday music listener who payed very little attention to headphones or bit rate. I liked music and I didn't feel that quality mattered all that much.

My dad then bought some PX100s because he had some £25 ebay voucher, and he wouldn't stop showing them off to me, praising how good they sounded. I listened to them and I immediately saw what all the fuss was about. Not to be outdone I spent £50 on SR60s, which completely blew me away.

However, the jump from everyday phones to the PX100s was bigger than the jump from the PX100s to the SR60s, even though the 'jumps' both cost £25.

My question is, do you think that the more you spend, the less marginal utility (the utility for upgrading to a new pair) you get, effectively making £1000 headphones financially unviable.

I am speaking from never heard anything better than my SR60s, and I am sure that £1000 headphones sound fantastic, but my point is do they sound 20 times better than £50 phones?

Just a thought I had one day.

 

[cegras]

Most people will say no. You're paying 1000% for the last 10%, or something along that line.

Of course, you can always experiment laterally with many other flavours of headphones.

 

[warrior05]

It is the law of diminishing returns. You do get to a point where a lot of money may only yield subtle improvements. Of course "a lot of money" and "subtle improvements" is all very subjective. Meets are a great place to hear high-end gear and see if you think it is worth the money for the improvement in sound. It also takes time to train how you hear to pick up those differences. It is a fun and whacky trip and sometimes seemingly never-ending. You really can get so caught up in this stuff. The main thing is not to lose sight of just enjoying listening to music.

 

[lucky]

For me, it's no longer worth it beyond $300--maybe even beyond $100. I just sold a $300 pair of phones and bought a $30 pair of phones, and there's no way I enjoyed the $300 pair 10x more; in fact, I'd say it's almost 1:1 at the moment. What matters most to me is the music, not the gear. When my expectations from the gear start getting in the way of my enjoyment of the music, it's a sign I've lost the balance. I can't say I'm done buying headphones, but I think it'll be a while before I spend more than $100 on another pair. There are just too many good phones at that price point for me to pour everything into gear several times more costly.

 

[mbd2884]

I can say for me, getting new headphones had nothing to do with getting the last few %.

I just wanted a different sound, something different from what I had and I got it. It just happened to cost $100 more than my previous headphone.

 

[.coco]

Truthfully, a £25 jump in cost is not really going to have a really large difference in this hobby. However, I can tell you that when I compared a set of SR60's to my SR325i's side by side, there was a massive difference. Even the quality difference between the SR225 and SR325i was very noticeable.

Obviously you are never going to find a headphone 20x better than another. I am not even sure what 20x better would even sound like.

 

[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlieart66 /img/forum/go_quote.gif This time last year I was your everyday music listener who payed very little attention to headphones or bit rate. I liked music and I didn't feel that quality mattered all that much. My dad then bought some PX100s because he had some £25 ebay voucher, and he wouldn't stop showing them off to me, praising how good they sounded. I listened to them and I immediately saw what all the fuss was about. Not to be outdone I spent £50 on SR60s, which completely blew me away. However, the jump from everyday phones to the PX100s was bigger than the jump from the PX100s to the SR60s, even though the 'jumps' both cost £25. My question is, do you think that the more you spend, the less marginal utility (the utility for upgrading to a new pair) you get, effectively making £1000 headphones financially unviable. I am speaking from never heard anything better than my SR60s, and I am sure that £1000 headphones sound fantastic, but my point is do they sound 20 times better than £50 phones? Just a thought I had one day.

you've hit the nail on the head, quite frankly

there isn't a solid "yes" or "no" to be given, so you have to ask yourself, after hearing these 1000 pound headphones, are they 20 times better?

 

[David_N]

Well, I can tell somebody has at the very least taken an introductory economics course

But anyways, law of diminishing returns is completely true when it comes to headphones the vast majority of the time.

A $150 set of headphones will likely be 90-95% as good as a $1000 set to an "audiophile" (read: somebody crazy enough to be spending the kind of money that us head-fiers usually do). Of course, to the average person, the law of diminishing returns will likely set in much sooner, and a $50 set of headphones will sound the exact same as a $250 pair. We truly are in an under appreciated and unknown hobby my friend

 

[Kees]

Both the amount of improvement and the amount of money (relative to your income) are subjective.
So: no one can tell but you.
But it is definitely not a linear equation.

 

[antonyfirst]

Yes, they are worth the money, while most low/mid end headphones (especially fashionable ones) are not worth the money.

 

[David_N]

What, you don't think those awesome new Beats by Dr. Dre are awesome or something?

Let's not get started on Skullcandy...



But yeah, to clarify what I was saying, only the consumer can determine whether or not headphones are worth it or not. I've had my GS1000's for less than a day and I'm not regretting it whatsoever, meanwhile my friend thinks his $80 Sony's are over the top for him.

 

[charlieart66]

Quote:

Originally Posted by David_N /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I can tell somebody has at the very least taken an introductory economics course

I got my AS results today actually; I got an A.

Essentially, if you cannot literally afford a new pair you shouldn't buy them?


Whats wrong with Skullcandy?

 

[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlieart66 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I got my AS results today actually; I got an A. Essentially, if you cannot literally afford a new pair you shouldn't buy them?

uh, shouldn't this be true of everything?


Quote:

Whats wrong with Skullcandy?

this one shows some promise, perhaps in time, the Emperor will show you the true nature of the force

 

[Kabeer]

Simply put, depends how much your happy to spend.

 

[obobskivich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kabeer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Simply put, depends how much your happy to spend.

lets see a raise of hands, Stax owners only now, who was happy with the retail price?