[StanD]

 
I don't agree with you. But hey roll with it if that's what you believe.

LOL. However I do hope your conclusions come from trying out multiple amps in various price categories and not based on imagination.

I work in New York City, lived there most of my life and have had the advantage of being able to sample tons of fantastic equipment throughout my life. The place is a fantasy land. I've been exposed to top flight audio equipment since I was a kid which had a hand in my becoming an electrical engineer. Over the years you no longer see as many places that you could just walk in and sample anything you could imagine, but there's still plenty of places left.
When I was a teenager, very long ago, I got a Garrad turntable, Shure V15 type II cartridge and built my own RIAA preamp so I could really listen to LP's, and not use a lousy vinyl destroying ceramic cartridge that didn't even sound decent.

 

[StanD]

   
I recommend listening to very fast, very well-made with a pair of planar headphones in a variety of amps. If there's ever a meet in your area, likely someone will have a pair, so you can try them with a variety of gear. There are numerous meet impressions where people commented on their surprise at how different their music sounded with the same headphones out of different systems. 
 
Very often people like a pair of headphones, such as the HD-800s, but find a small amount of fine-tuning (however they go about that) is the icing on the cake. Also, my experience has been that amps have a varying ability to maintain delivering the fine details of fast-paced music. So maybe it is the ability of the amp to maintain a consistent transient response that is critical. A small difference may be small, but listening to a lot of music, all those small differences add up to a lot over time and are much more noticeable with good recordings.
 
Also with better headphones, unpleasant distortion can be more apparent. Recently I sat and listened with my JH-13s straight out of my iPhone. It was unbearable (despite the iPhone being technically "good enough"). Instruments sounded absolutely grating, even though I hadn't expected them to. Listening again for an hour with a borrowed iDevice DAC/amp, the sound was far better. This is one of MANY experiences I've had which were similar.
 
Now I'm not going to disagree that the chase can be crazy and over-the-top (especially given there is a lot of music I wouldn't bother over it for which I relegate to listening to out of my car stereo or on public transport with cheaper IEMs) but I will say, this is the wrong thread for the argument about it, and the wrong forum too, especially without experiencing things for oneself first.

C'mon, using an iPhone as an example doesn't make much sense to me, it's not a very good amp. It can't even drive low impedance triple or quad balanced armature IEMs or a high impedance can. I have a pair of XBA-3's and it cant handle them. I also have a pair of HE-500's and have tried them with various amps. These days achieving good transient response in an amp isn't that hard. A slew rate of 5 V/uSec is probably overkill for audio, These days there are so many great amps at varying prices, from reasonable to sky high, from more than adequate to complete overkill.
And yes, I've sampled plenty of great equipment over the years, an advantage of living and working in New York City.

 

[StanD]

Just to add a weird twist. I work on wall street. Some of my friends are single and make more money than they know what to do with, They buy the most expensive stuff just because it's expensive and don't know what to do with. You ever see someone with an HE-6 for Stax SR-009 just sitting there, not used, without an adequate amp. I've brought over an amp, enlightened some of their ears and put them in front of their PC's right to Amazon to fix their listening condition,

 

[M-13]

  I work in New York City, lived there most of my life and have had the advantage of being able to sample tons of fantastic equipment throughout my life. The place is a fantasy land. I've been exposed to top flight audio equipment since I was a kid which had a hand in my becoming an electrical engineer. Over the years you no longer see as many places that you could just walk in and sample anything you could imagine, but there's still plenty of places left.
When I was a teenager, very long ago, I got a Garrad turntable, Shure V15 type II cartridge and built my own RIAA preamp so I could really listen to LP's, and not use a lousy vinyl destroying ceramic cartridge that didn't even sound decent.

That sounds like awesome times, what made you change your ways? Are you sure it's not old age degrading your hearing? No offense meant of course. Haha.

 

[StanD]

 
That sounds like awesome times, what made you change your ways? Are you sure it's not old age degrading your hearing? No offense meant of course. Haha.

My hearing might be better than yours, haha. I can still hear over 17 kHz, I have titanium ears and hope that it stays that way. You can get an app for your cellphone that tests your hearing and generates tones, Be careful not to listen to high frequencies at very high levels,

 

[M-13]

  My hearing might be better than yours, haha. I can still hear over 17 kHz, I have titanium ears and hope that it stays that way. You can get an app for your cellphone that tests your hearing and generates tones, Be careful not to listen to high frequencies at very high levels,

Umm... okay. Good for you man.

 

[Austin Morrow]

I agree here. Price colors preception so much. The opinions of the HE-500 vs. HE-6 before price change and post price change is a case study in human psychology. We had people trading HE-500 for HE-6 straight up without any cash compensation before the price change. This wasn't just a few months, it was over a year the HE-500 was part of summit-fi.

Since Currowang is in this thread, watching it like a hawk. I remember reading his initial impression after listening to the HE-5 for the first time (3 years ago?). He said it was about as good as the HD800 maybe better. ROFL. :veryevil:  And honestly? It probably is.

The HE-500 is still (and always will be in the Summit-Fi section). I recently asked Jude and he said that it has never left that section...

 

[M-13]

The HE-500 is still (and always will be in the Summit-Fi section). I recently asked Jude and he said that it has never left that section...

Are we talking about the buyers' guide or the actual thread dedicated to it? I was under the impression the thread was out along with the LCD-2. Maybe I'm wrong? or it was out and now it's back in? I know the HE-500 is summit-fi in the guide though and always has been. I guess it really doesn't matter what people categorize the HE-500 as. I know what it sounds like and it's very summit-fi for me personally.

 

[koiloco]

   
I recommend listening to very fast, very well-made with a pair of planar headphones in a variety of amps. If there's ever a meet in your area, likely someone will have a pair, so you can try them with a variety of gear. There are numerous meet impressions where people commented on their surprise at how different their music sounded with the same headphones out of different systems. 
 
Very often people like a pair of headphones, such as the HD-800s, but find a small amount of fine-tuning (however they go about that) is the icing on the cake. Also, my experience has been that amps have a varying ability to maintain delivering the fine details of fast-paced music. So maybe it is the ability of the amp to maintain a consistent transient response that is critical. A small difference may be small, but listening to a lot of music, all those small differences add up to a lot over time and are much more noticeable with good recordings.
 
Also with better headphones, unpleasant distortion can be more apparent. Recently I sat and listened with my JH-13s straight out of my iPhone. It was unbearable (despite the iPhone being technically "good enough"). Instruments sounded absolutely grating, even though I hadn't expected them to. Listening again for an hour with a borrowed iDevice DAC/amp, the sound was far better. This is one of MANY experiences I've had which were similar.
 

+1.  
I have done this with my HE500 on every amps I could get my hands on, either friend's or vendors' at meet.  I've played the exact same song that I am super familiar with and just listen "positively" for the differences/improvements.
I plan to do the exact same thing with my HD800 next month at the CA bay area meet.

 

[koiloco]

  My hearing might be better than yours, haha. I can still hear over 17 kHz, I have titanium ears and hope that it stays that way. You can get an app for your cellphone that tests your hearing and generates tones, Be careful not to listen to high frequencies at very high levels,

What a confident man!  

  I like it.  I happen to test my hearing quite often using my reference CD.  It's surprising to realize that just in the course of 1 day, your hearing can vary tremendously.

 

[Sonido]

  What a confident man!  

  I like it.  I happen to test my hearing quite often using my reference CD.  It's surprising to realize that just in the course of 1 day, your hearing can vary tremendously.

I hear you. It's 4:40AM here and I'm very tired, and the HD800 is starting to sound more sibilant and harsh lol.

 

[K-Otar]

I have an HE-500 and only auditioned the HD800, to me the HD800 is a lot better.

 

[Blasyrkh]

 
I hear you. It's 4:40AM here and I'm very tired, and the HD800 is starting to sound more sibilant and harsh lol.

 
but do not understimate the quality of the current too...it changes throughout the whole day

 

[Blasyrkh]

  I have an HE-500 and only auditioned the HD800, to me the HD800 is a lot better.

 
I think that this statement means nothing. Not because maybe it isn't true, but because it's not argued at all.

 

[TheDuke990]

But only arguing makes no sense as well because the whole thing depends too much on your own preferences.