[IhateBEATS]

Thank you for your honest opinion. I was hoping for a vast difference between the sr125 and the sr325 so that i could justify picking up the beautiful phones....But seeing as they have a similar sound style..i'm left more disconcerted than ever! I think what i will do is go to my local hi-fi store and see if im able to audition it. But for classical, i think i've come to the conclusion that the HD650 are the phones to get. What worries me is that they sound too lovely to be true, if this makes sense.  I'm taken aback by all of the VERY positive reviews/impressions hahahah. 

 

[Mad Max]

No love for K701? lol
 
HD6x0 is also a good choice, and instead of Pro2900, consider HFI-2400.  Plentiful bass, soundstage, extension at the extremes, a lot of great stuff about it but it will not be as transparent as K701/601 and HD6x0/580.
If you need a good amp for any of these, a used M-Stage or Dynalo will make you happy.
 
Also, if you give Grados a try, SR235 and be done with it. 

 

[Chris_Himself]

Lol, he said K701.
 
HD650 with an M-Stage I have verified as being an awesome pair.
 
A better Grado is a better GRADO, it's not any different

 

[Uncle Erik]

I agree with the HD-600, HD-650, K-501, and SA5000. I owned all of them for a few years and still have the SA5000. You can't go wrong with any of them.

And in case you don't know already, I do not recommend the K-701.

 

[zomg]

Out of curiosity, why not the k701s? I've always been curious to hear how they perform with this kind of music.

 

[pp312]

Quote:

But for classical, i think i've come to the conclusion that the HD650 are the phones to get. What worries me is that they sound too lovely to be true, if this makes sense.  I'm taken aback by all of the VERY positive reviews/impressions hahahah. 

The 650s aren't faultless; nothing is. There are actually people who hate them, though not with a vengeance. But in my view symphonic/orchestral music is the most demandng genre of all, and its first requirement is low listening fatigue. Other phones like the 601/701 may give you more detail/bigger soundstage etc, but nowhere near as low listener fatigue, and you won't be satisfied in the long run. Ignore the tempting sirens of Grado and AKG calling from the rocks and head straight for the safety of Port Sennheiser HD650.

 

[Chris_Himself]

K701
 
Comfort: Resounding yes
Soundstage: Yes
Treble extension: Yes
Midrange warmth: Yes
Bass Extension: Yes
Bass Impact: No
Midbass: Depends on the music
Detailed: Very Yes
 
Postitives: Most detailed headphone that can provide true analytical sound, you'll hear music the way it was meant to be heard and nothing more. If it wasn't made with instruments, chances are it won't be as exciting.
Negatives: Requires a half decent amp, not the most cost effective headphone, headband can cause discomfort from the bumps. 
 
For that sort of sound signature I prefer DT880 for their brighter treble and bigger yet still as accurate bass impact. K701's sound lifeless to me even though I have a love for Etymotic IEM's. I just don't honestly feel that sound should translate to a 400 dollar headphone plus about 500 dollars worth of headphone equipment. If I wanted this signature, for like 200 dollars the ER4's impress me.
 
I haven't visited it in a few years so who knows my opinions on it now, my tastes in music have changed so who knows.
 
HD650
 
Comfort: Yes
Soundstage: Yes
Treble extension: Not so much
Midrange warmth: OH YEAH.
Bass Extension: Yes
Bass Impact: Yes
Midbass: Yes
Detailed: Not so much
 
Positives: Very lush and warm sound. Only quick way to describe it is the world's most comfortable listening experience sonically. 
Negatives: Treble extension is stripped away. If the accuracy was 100%, some music would hurt so they make the treble "laid-back", you hear this alot. It's neutering some of the treble to make things more comfortable. People who want to hear music as-is won't like that. But most people who listen to the HD650 do like it. K701 is a hit/miss
 
Grado SR325
 
Comfort: Hit/miss, more people find them comfortable than not, but it can be really uncomfortable when worn improperly
Soundstage: Nope
Treble extension: Yes
Midrange warmth: Yes
Bass Extension: Yes
Bass Impact: No
Midbass: Depends on the music
Detailed: Yes
 
Positives: A very hot forward sound with warm mids, even though this is not a neutral headphone and it has hot treble, you get a very accurate headphone which will be able to play any music accurately. Sort of the "fun" way of getting accurate cans
Negatives: Not as comfortable. Build raises eyebrows. Treble too bright for sensitive people. 
 
 
Beyer DT880
 
Comfort: Yes
Soundstage: Yes
Treble extension: Yes
Midrange warmth: Yes
Bass Extension: Yes
Bass Impact: Sort of.
Midbass: Yes
Detailed: Yes
 
 
It's a K701 with some of the life put back in it. I couldn't find any major flaws in it's sound signature although this DOES lean towards analytical for sure, it's got bass if you can live with audiophile bass that is heard, not felt. If you can feel the bass, chances are you might be doing something wrong haha. Remember, they're headphones. I really like 
 
Anybody else feel free to offer their interpretations, I personally took the time to listen to all of these. I will be honest it's been a couple years since the K701, I might want to revisit it if I can get a loaner. I find that I like the Etymotic sound now so maybe things have changed for me.
 
 
 

 

[Mad Max]

K701 does suffer from plasticky resonances because of the seemingly cheap plastic it is partly made of. I posted how I fixed the issue in page 102 of the K701 appreciation thread. Nothing difficult to do, but without it, the resonances do give the headphone fatiguing peaks and dirty the sound. They also give the upper midrange their funky tonality and screw up timbre, to my ears. It retains a coloration to it (timbre-wise? not sure how to describe it), reminds me of TF10. It is a lot of fun with movie soundtracks, classical/orchestral/chamber/etc., electronic, and pretty much anything I throw at it. Its balance is awesome. Its treble lacks some energy versus Sr325, AD700, A2000X, and other hadphones with bright, sparkly treble, to my surprise.

None of the headphones mentioned wil do harmonics right like HD6x0/580 does, partly why those headphones sound so good with classical and jazz, especially. DT880 will offer a more aggressive presentation as well, not as aggressive as Grados, and certainly does get close to as grungy, but female vocals sound artificial, I get bored quickly of the coloration it uses to make them more "exciting" than on the other headphones. T50p pulls this off much better, in my opinion; it boasts this "ephemeral" quality that 880 tries to achieve unsuccessfully.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
Your budget is $400. This makes a Sennheiser HD650 hard pressed, even used, to fit the bill, because it requires amplification.
 
I would say a BeyerDynamic DT880 250ohm to 600ohm would do you right. Excellent sound stage, superior comfort, neutral headphone with everything in all the frequency spectrum.

DT880 600ohm used for $220 shipped (and they're practically new).
 
As an alternative, check this out, Sennheiser HD580 recabled for $250 shipped.
 
This allows your $400 budget to leave room for an amplifier and/or a DAC/AMP to really take advantage of your new headphones.
 
For a DAC/AMP to compliment these headphones to generate a great source signal and give you an amplifier, I can't help but recommend the Matrix Cube DAC. $270 shipped. Does all inputs. Amps 600ohm just fine (I have it, works great for my DT990 600ohms and my HD580's as well). Gorgeous sound for all genres, but especially for classical, orchestral, opera, etc.
 
As an alternative, the humble but powerful FiiO E9 is $100 shipped right now, excellent price for a powerful amp that performs like a $300 amp. Leaves you with plenty of room to get a little DAC, like the E7 or uDAC-2 or HRT Music Streamer II, etc.
 
Very best,

 

[IhateBEATS]

Thanks for all the help guys! I've just ordered the HD650! I will be sitting outside my house waiting...ever patiently 

. And i've also decided that a grado sr-225 will be my next purchase, as soon as the funds come in. There's something about the grados....i hate/love them.  Man, I've only been on head-fi less than a month and i've already started to make outrageous purchases....