[attilais]

I am going to buy CD and headphone (surely without amp) this month, and budget is $400 (my scholarship is rather poor

). I am not familiar with cd-players and don't know what kinds have better output for headphones.
I hear from someone that old versions of philips/sony are rather good for headphones, but not very sure. I have found a Marantz CD6000OSE of $250, does anyone has experience on it?
Also I need some advice on headphones for classical and quite soft rocks. It seems that almost all european headhpones above $100 need an amp.
Really thanks!!

 

[Leporello]

Quote:

Originally posted by attilais It seems that almost all european headhpones above $100 need an amp. Really thanks!!

Hello Attilais,

You might want to give Sennheiser HD600s a try, even without an amplifier. I like them a lot with classical .

I use my HD600s with Corda HA-1 amplifier. Compared to everything else I have tried (an ordinary headphone output of an ordinary cdp, for instance), I prefer the '0 ohm' output of the Corda with its somewhat leaner and more analytical sound. However, while the difference is certainly there, it is not that great. No miraculous 'night-and-day' differences as sometimes reported here.

I have a (not so slight) suspicion that the significance of a dedicated headphone amplifier is often exaggerated.


Regards,

L.

 

[andrzejpw]

Hmm. $400. Where are you located? Is it in the US? If so, you can get a pretty nice system, with amp, put together for $400. . .

Here's how I would do it:
Sony NS500V OR Refurb Denon 370: $150
Cmoy amp built by a head-fier: $100.
Which leaves you $150 for headphones. . . I'd get the sennheiser HD580s. Hmm. For $150. . . you'll have to look around on the FS board, or ebay. Damn. I thought I had this all planned out.

You'd overshoot by about $30. . . if you got them from meier audio.

 

[wasifazim]

Quote:

Originally posted by attilais I am going to buy CD and headphone (surely without amp) this month, and budget is $400 (my scholarship is rather poor ). I am not familiar with cd-players and don't know what kinds have better output for headphones. I hear from someone that old versions of philips/sony are rather good for headphones, but not very sure. I have found a Marantz CD6000OSE of $250, does anyone has experience on it? Also I need some advice on headphones for classical and quite soft rocks. It seems that almost all european headhpones above $100 need an amp. Really thanks!!

The Marantz CD6000OSE is an excellent CD player (a cut above similarly-priced NAD and Cambridge Audio units in my opinion) but its headphone jack cannot adequately drive high-impedance 'phones...

 

[jpelg]

I think that andrzejpw's plan is a good one.

If you cannot sqeeze these items under your budget, you might want to look into the Philips 910 or 890's. Although I have never heard them, they are reported to have similiar (yet each distinctly different) aspects of the Sennheiser sound. If you are in Europe, they would probably present an even better value.

Good luck. It is just the beginning...

 

[MacDEF]

Here's what I would buy:

Sony NS500V ($150)
Beyerdynamic DT250-80 ($150) or Sennheiser HD 580
Order a $100 META headphone amp from one of the Head-Fi people (the NS500V doesn't have a headphone jack -- which is actually a plus since it forces you to get an amp

)

That's about $400 and will give you amazing sound quality. The NS500V has the characteristic Sony sound (analytical, good treble), so the Beyer and Senn headphones, which have less treble brightness than some other headphones, will match very well with it. The META amps are pretty incredible for the price, so for $100 you should be able to get a very good entry-level headphone amp.

 

[andrzejpw]

I've heard OF the $100 metas. I haven't heard ONE yet though. I'm guessing those use 823s?

 

[andrzejpw]

oh, and I'd get the denon 370 if you're strictly playing back redbook. And you get HDCD! With the headphone jack mod, you're also forced to use an amp.

And I'd put it above the ns500v!

 

[Discovery]

If you are interested in the HD580, the cheapest place I found it new was HiFiForLess in Phoenix, AZ. They had a listing on Ebay but I called them directly. I ordered it the first Monday of this August, they shipped that day, and I had them on Thursday. Price was $129 + $10 shipping (to Ohio). I have no affiliation with them-just satisfied with the order.

http://www.hififorless.com -but I didn't see the Sennheisers listed on it when I ordered. Phone # is listed on their site.

 

[attilais]

I am in Singapore now. Price may be a little different from in US, and many articles in eBay are not available here.
It seems the Marantz CDP is too expensive for my budget, since many of you replace it with a cheaper one and an amp. Yesterday I have decided to buy an amp in future It's a very bad start, and I also decided not upgrade my system during my stay in Singapore after the amp, so I will choose the Marantz. Still a little question with headphones: hd580 is fine (600 is toooo expensive here), and how about akg k501? There is not much difference between their price......

Thanks!
attilais