Hi all.
After recently purchasing a Graham Slee Novo amp, I have finally officially joined the audiophile headphone brigade.
Now for the hard part: choosing a good set of headphones to compliment it.
My set up is:
Oppo DV-983 SACD (would a dedicated Marantz CD6002 sound better?)
Novo
Cusat50 interconnect
My music taste is really varied (dance, pop, rock, soul...) but the Novo will mainly be for my chill out sessions with classical, jazz, OSTs and "vocal" artists (i.e. Ray LaMontagne, Nora Jones, Portishead, etc).
Personally, SQ only really matters for my chill out genres (I feel my IEMs (Shure SE530 and Westone 3s) cope "fine" with everything else), but I mean really matters! I want to feel the emotion behind every note the artist sings, behind every chord he plays. I want to feel like I have a front row seat at my own personal concert, to hear everything (instrument, voice, etc) crystal clear and refined with great separation.
What headphones out there will help me achieve this goal? Budget wise, I'd say sub Grado GS1000/Denon D7000 for a decent set? I'm not particularly bothered between open or closed, just the overall package.
My current short-list is the Audio Technica ATH-W1000s, the Denon D5000s, and I'm going to have a demo on the Sennheiser HD650s (more as a midrange reference point). The HD800s have totally caught my eye as well, although I'm not sure whether the rest of my kit will make them shine enough to justify £1,000...
I agree with the "demo first" idea but I don't know where to start (I live in South-East London).
Everyone's help is greatly appreciated.
T
P.S. I will only consider changing my CD player, and that is if I'll get a major improvement so please no complaints about my amp or moans that "valve amps are best". Everyone has their opinion but I only want to hear them about headphones and (if needed) CD players... Thanks.
After recently purchasing a Graham Slee Novo amp, I have finally officially joined the audiophile headphone brigade.
My set up is:
Oppo DV-983 SACD (would a dedicated Marantz CD6002 sound better?)
Novo
Cusat50 interconnect
My music taste is really varied (dance, pop, rock, soul...) but the Novo will mainly be for my chill out sessions with classical, jazz, OSTs and "vocal" artists (i.e. Ray LaMontagne, Nora Jones, Portishead, etc).
Personally, SQ only really matters for my chill out genres (I feel my IEMs (Shure SE530 and Westone 3s) cope "fine" with everything else), but I mean really matters! I want to feel the emotion behind every note the artist sings, behind every chord he plays. I want to feel like I have a front row seat at my own personal concert, to hear everything (instrument, voice, etc) crystal clear and refined with great separation.
What headphones out there will help me achieve this goal? Budget wise, I'd say sub Grado GS1000/Denon D7000 for a decent set? I'm not particularly bothered between open or closed, just the overall package.
My current short-list is the Audio Technica ATH-W1000s, the Denon D5000s, and I'm going to have a demo on the Sennheiser HD650s (more as a midrange reference point). The HD800s have totally caught my eye as well, although I'm not sure whether the rest of my kit will make them shine enough to justify £1,000...
I agree with the "demo first" idea but I don't know where to start (I live in South-East London).
Everyone's help is greatly appreciated.
T
P.S. I will only consider changing my CD player, and that is if I'll get a major improvement so please no complaints about my amp or moans that "valve amps are best". Everyone has their opinion but I only want to hear them about headphones and (if needed) CD players... Thanks.
