Has anyone achieved their end-game setup ?

[MrMan]

Sorry there is no endgame. Once you are on this forum abandon all hope. You may take a rest from the upgrade bug but it is only temporary. I've been at this for 30 years and I still look for the next step in the audio chain. Once bitten by the audio bug only death or complete poverty will resolve this.

Curious. If you had to define what you were looking in a headphones what would it be? Midway into my journey of looking for the perfect setup I tried to define what I was looking for and then what physical aspects of a headphone would aid to this.

Edit: For me it was vocals forward, bass that was impactful but not overpowering. Headphones that were light, didn't heat up. Headphones I liked the looks of and didn't feel "nerdy." Headphones where you could hear the separation of instruments but didn't feel completely disjointed. Nothing about my desire was based on something neutral.

 

[Shane D]

Curious. If you had to define what you were looking in a headphones what would it be? Midway into my journey of looking for the perfect setup I tried to define what I was looking for and then what physical aspects of a headphone would aid to this.

Edit: For me it was vocals forward, bass that was impactful but not overpowering. Headphones that were light, didn't heat up. Headphones I liked the looks of and didn't feel "nerdy." Headphones where you could hear the separation of instruments but didn't feel completely disjointed. Nothing about my desire was based on something neutral.

Sounds like you should look at Focal headphones.

 

[Saberpunch]

Curious. If you had to define what you were looking in a headphones what would it be? Midway into my journey of looking for the perfect setup I tried to define what I was looking for and then what physical aspects of a headphone would aid to this.

Edit: For me it was vocals forward, bass that was impactful but not overpowering. Headphones that were light, didn't heat up. Headphones I liked the looks of and didn't feel "nerdy." Headphones where you could hear the separation of instruments but didn't feel completely disjointed. Nothing about my desire was based on something neutral.

I agree with the Focal choice. Focal headphones look pretty cool. I think I want to add ZMF headphones to the list as well. ZMF looks cool and seems to fit what you're looking for soundwise. As for weight, maybe magnesium might help, but it still might be too heavy for your taste.

 

[FlyingFungus]

Well it depends how you look at it. I am perfectly happy with my Fostex thx00, Schiit Asgard and Audioquest Dragonfly combo which I've had for at least 7-8 years now. Sounds wonderful to my ears and if I never upgraded or got anything different, at the end of the day I'd be ok with that even if there is better. I'd be happy to call it my end game.

But at the moment, I have no end game in sight. I enjoy the journey. I enjoy the hobby. Browsing through these forums, planning what to buy next and then actually buying it. Then sitting down and listening to them (whether it be headphones or a new amp or dac etc).

 

[TWerk]

For me, it was the perception of speed of the drivers which became more and more a factor as I grew in this hobby.

The Hifiman Planars are so incredibly fast, there is no linger.

You can just hear their speed and precision.

I will say some dynamic drivers can do this too but it is more rare.

Some of the Focal headphones I have heard have that sense of precision and raw speed however, I think it is easier for planars.

 

[dynavit]

I have reached my endgame setup with DAC and headphoneamp from https://paltauf.com/, driving a Stax 009 or Mysphere 3.2., but I don't mind playing around with other stuff. It's the right combination, that gives me satisfaction - source, headphone and music.
It is unbeliefable what a high level you can reach today with a few bucks and how much money you can spend for rubbish!

 

[jonathan c]

I agree with the Focal choice. Focal headphones look pretty cool. I think I want to add ZMF headphones to the list as well. ZMF looks cool and seems to fit what you're looking for soundwise. As for weight, maybe magnesium might help, but it still might be too heavy for your taste.

….but the ZMF headband design will alleviate any concerns, distribute headphone weight very effectively: best in the business!

 

[chesebert]

The end game for headphone is when you get yourself a properly sized and positioned speakers that are full range in the room. TBH, TOTL cans are only marginally better than midrange stuff when they are driven and sourced properly. There is only so much you can do with 40-100mm of driver materials.

 

[texx2818]

I have my speaker endgame, an all electrostatic surround sound with 3 amps and an Arcam receiver. I might have endgame for headphones with my Audeze and Schiit stack. We'll see. Don't see myself upgrading my headphones.

 

[bozebuttons]

I have reached my endgame setup at lest a dozen times over the past 20 years,It never ends

 

[jonathan c]

The end game for headphone is when you get yourself a properly sized and positioned speakers that are full range in the room.^^ TBH, TOTL cans are only marginally better than midrange stuff when they are driven and sourced properly. There is only so much you can do with 40-100mm of driver materials.

^^ Is there a purpose for this statement?

 

[Nirvana Woman]

Yeah, I've been with the same four headphones for almost close to a decade by now. There's been some other ones I've checked out but it seems most exciting products are released at the high end and I'm just not interested in spending that kind of money on, what's at the end of the day just a pretty limited tool.

I've been fine with that, the struggle has been more about finding new music I like. It's been a while that I struck gold.

 

[Coolmoose]

End game doesn't exist because people are never fully satisfied. I think to alot of people this hobby isn't about enjoying music, it's more about buying, selling and trading for different gear to try, rinse and repeat. New toy syndrome is a BIG part of this hobby and manufacturers definitely capitalizes on this.

 

[Chefguru]

Yes.
I found myself two end game systems

1) Sr-omega > any well powered amp > R2R dac
2) R10 bass light > playing out of anything

The curse though, is that while I can afford either, I can not afford if it breaks...

 

[XVampireX]

For me It's a combo of what 2 people said here, both about the analogy of end-game in video games, and in the fact that it's actually impossible to stop.

Basically I'm in a very very good place right now even with my current headphones which are the Utopia, though I already have plans for Susvara in the near future.

Afterwards I need a good speaker amp, and afterwards I might start messing around with tube amps. Probable plan for headphones as total end-game is basically: Utopia for Dynamic Headphones, Susvara for Planar Magnetic, SR-X9000 for Estats, or whatever comes when I get there.

But overall I'm in a place where I'm really happy with my setup even without further additions.