[jvc4ever]

Hello everyone,

I'm new here, so please be kind! lol. I want to buy some new headphones for christams, but I havn't made my mind up on which models. I've currently got some Grado SR60s which are outstanding in every respect (bar comfort perhaps!) and I got them at the start of this year from the Bristol Hi-Fi Show. Before this I used a cheap pair of ipod headphones and their arrival was a revelation! My partnering equipment is an Arcam A32's headphone socket and an Arcam CD73T CD player.

The absolute maximum price, completly is £500. My music tastes span prog-rock, pop and electronica (and the occasional jazz on FM) so a sound neutral or slightly warm is best suited. I'm not a fan of the "lean" sound that has seemed to pleague high-end audio recently.

I would also be interested in buying a better headphone amp, if it will be better than my Arcam's which is superb as far as I can hear through my SR60s.

Oh, and a big factor in the headphones is the comfort of them. I will be wearing them for long periods, so the comfort level is paramount.

I hope you can all suggest viable products for me to buy!

Many thanks,
JVC4ever.

- Doh! Wrong forum part, I guess! I do want a new headphone amp though!

 

[illy2k]

check out the HD650's. You will need a powerful amp to drive those so look into some sort of tube amp. Doing a quick search here on the forum can find you many reviews of 650's with different amps.

Happy hunting.

 

[jvc4ever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by illy2k /img/forum/go_quote.gif check out the HD650's. You will need a powerful amp to drive those so look into some sort of tube amp. Doing a quick search here on the forum can find you many reviews of 650's with different amps. Happy hunting.

I looked at the HD650s, but they didn't impress me particularly - I think I may have narrowed it down to three choices: Denon AH-D5000, Grado RS1 or AKG K701.

 

[Tridacnid]

Considered getting a vintage Stax unit off ebay?

The above 'phones all look like good places to start. The Grado's will still be a little painful for long listens (unless you are one of a few people who don't mind them). I use Headphile C-Pads with my SR325's, and it makes them sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much more comfortable for long periods of time.

 

[Postal_Blue]

Headphones do not get more comfortable than the Denon AH line. I often forget I have headphones on. I think the d5000 would be a great place to start as they will sound great out of your current system and scale very well as you upgrade. Consider a tube amp, My personal favorite with the Denon's is DIY SOHA II.

 

[xxsphshadowxx]

What problem did you have with the HD 650?

 

[jvc4ever]

I'm pretty certain I'm going to go for the Denon...however, in the UK, the Denon headphone dealers are few and far betweeen and I don't know if I can test before I buy! Would they would sound better than my current SR60s?

 

[Oliver :)]

Another vote for taking a look at STAX. The SRS-005A and SRS-2050A systems are well within that budget. The comfort of the 005/003 is a bit of a love/hate issue. If you can have something sitting in your ear you'll be fine, as they are extremely light. Superbly suited to your choice of music, IMVHO.

 

[myinitialsaredac]

As much as I love my 701s for their revealing signature I wouldn't recommend them for being very full, they tend to be a bit bass anemic unless you get some slamming tubes behind them. They are very comfortable and sound great with a variety of music but the bass may or may not put you off, I find it is very articulate bass that extends deep, but is far from overpowering...YMMV.
Dave

 

[jvc4ever]

Okay, thankyou very much - I'll demo the Stax if I can, but in the U.K, Stax dealers are few and far between. As an alternative, should I try the Denon AH-D5000s? I like what people say about the "full sound" and "rich sound" they provide - would they suit? As for a headphone amp, I think I may get the Musical Fidelity X-CANv8 to get a bit of transistor/valve drive behind the cans!

 

[Oliver :)]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jvc4ever /img/forum/go_quote.gif Okay, thankyou very much - I'll demo the Stax if I can, but in the U.K, Stax dealers are few and far between.

The usual pain of the friends of (most) phones. The regular approach is to import them from Japan, cursing over import tax and shipping cost, and in the unlikely event of you hating them to sell them on with hardly any loss.

 

[b17m4p]

I would second the opinion that the K701s would probably give you the lean sound you're not looking for. I'm surprised you didn't like the HD650s, they seem to have what you're describing. I got the zu balanced cable for mine and from an apache fed by the benchmark dac1 they sound really awesome (at least to my ears!).

 

[jvc4ever]

Well, if I'm honest here, I listened to the HD650s in the middle of the Bristol Hi-Fi show...and being open backed and not noise-cancelling, I wasn't giving them their best chance to shine! What I could tell though, was that they were a bit boring - maybe it was the Rotel CD player they were coming off, but they just sounded a bit Arcamy if you know what I mean!

 

[lisnalee]

I would have to recommend a used pair of the jena recabled, markl D5000

, probably the best sounding headphones i have had and very comfortable too.

If i hadn't decided to go down the slippery route of electrostatic's i'd never have sold mine.