[Bigmoney]

Hey guys, I am back. A few weeks ago I posted a thread about a nice rig under 500 dollars for my dorm room when i go away to college. Well I still haven't made up my mind. I am very ambivolous with my purchases mainly because I dont have a lot of money to spare so I want to choose wisely and correctly.

I am seriously looking into the stax 2050a rig, I think a memeber once mentioned you can find it around 370 online from japan but I lost the site. If anyone can provide that for me it would be fantastic.

I also have considered the senneheiser 580, 600, and 650 headphones + a decent amp. I dont mind going used in order to meet my budget. Then there are a few denon and audioo technica models that come to mind.

Of the cans I mentioned could you please tell me which would be best for my tastes. I like pink floyd, phish, allman brothers, david bowie, neil young, pearl jam, dream theater, rush, yes. Pink Floyd is the band I listen to most by far though. What matters to me is separation, soundstaging, and most importantly and out of the head experience. Unlike what many phones give you. Im not a bass head, I just love clarity, speed, and precision especially regarding bass. I hate muddy bass. For me, that is by far the worst coloration.

I am mainly between the Senns and the stax. Clearly the senns seem more comfortable, but I figure I could replace the pads or something on the stax to make them a little better. The stax seem to be no ********, no frills, stricly performace given there specs and the way they look. I also like the idea of the matching amp included with the stax which would be killing two birds with one stone. Please inform me of the differences between the Senns and Stax phones and which cans would be best for my taste. Thanks!

 

[Blackmore]

Here we go PriceJapan.com

Ever thought about AKG hp? For PF I would try AKG K340, but than again, amplifiecation. So you need something like Darkvoice to drive them and then again, budget...
I read some good things about Sennh.HD25 II, but not sure about soundstage.

 

[ClieOS]

Those cans you mentioned are nice, but are you sure you will have an quiet environment to enjoy an opened headphone?

To find your old thread, click on you user name on your post and select the 'Find more posts by...' in the drop down menu. The link should be in one of your old thread.

 

[Bigmoney]

Well, I hadnt really thought about the practicality of an open can. I just have my eyes set on them because I hear the sound quality is far superior to closed cans. Can someone please reccommend which speakers fit my tastes.

 

[Tiemen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigmoney /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I hadnt really thought about the practicality of an open can. I just have my eyes set on them because I hear the sound quality is far superior to closed cans. Can someone please reccommend which speakers fit my tastes.

I wouldn't say that open cans are far superior over open headphones.
There are excellent sounding closed headphones.

 

[krmathis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigmoney /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am seriously looking into the stax 2050a rig, I think a memeber once mentioned you can find it around 370 online from japan but I lost the site. If anyone can provide that for me it would be fantastic.

PriceJapan list the lowest price for the SRS-2050A system to be Yen 40,000. Which equal USD 370.

Some potential stores listed here:
¡Ú³ÚÅ·»Ô¾ì¡ÛSRS-2050A ¤Î¸¡º÷·ë²Ì¡§ÄÌÈΡ¦¥¤¥ó¥¿¡¼¥Í¥Ã¥È¥·¥ç¥Ã¥Ô¥ó¥°
‰¿Ši.com - SRS-2050A ‚ÌŒŸõŒ‹‰Ê

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigmoney /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I hadnt really thought about the practicality of an open can. I just have my eyes set on them because I hear the sound quality is far superior to closed cans.

Then your source of information is not well informed or experienced.
Its true that its easier/cheaper to develop a great sounding open-back headphone, since you don't have to bother that much about reflecting sound waves. But if done properly a closed-back headphone can sound just as great as an open-back one.
Stax 4070, Sony MDR-R10 as a couple of examples.

 

[Bigmoney]

Alright guys I have limited my choices to these three cans. The senn 580, 600, and the stax basic 2050a rig. Like I said Ill be using this set up with my ipod so Ill surely be needing an amp if I go with the senns. Question is, I can get the stax for 370 shipped including the amp but can I get the senns and an amp for under 400. I found the senns new online for 225.00 I hope that is a good going price for them. Now I wouldnt want to just buy an el cheapo amp to stay in my budget if it wouldnt do the senns justice so I need to know.........is there a good headphone amp that will match with good synergy with the senns out there for less than 200, preferably less than 15 or even better 125. Or am I just dreaming. I guess possibly used but people seem to be selling there used stuff with little discount from the new online prices. Im kinda a bargain hunter so if I am buying used it better be 50 percent of what I would pay new. Just me though.

By the way, I spent sometime at my local music store with the new audio technica m50's. If anyone was interested in these let me know and Ill be sure to right up a quickie on how the sounded. I was able to compare them to the slightly less expensive senn hd 280, grado sr 60, and of course my m40fs. Let me know if anyones interested in my findings.

 

[HFat]

About amps: people are going to recommend you fancy and expensive ones but they probably won't be able to justify those prices... ask them. There are very cheap amps integrated into various devices that are good enough to drive Senns for all but the most discerning users. Are you among the picky elite?

I like fancy amps like everybody else but, if money was an issue and I really needed an amp, I'd settle for the most basic one that'd be technically adequate. You could ask a patient person in a pro audio store (those are likely to carry utilitarian headphone amps) for instance although I guess there are people in China that could offer you something better for your use and for the price if you could somehow cut the greedy middlemen.

Note that what those Senns need the most is voltage (the stuff that can make them sound loud). They're not as picky as some other headphones when it comes to output impedance and such which is why they tend to sound decent out of the poor headphone jacks that used to be on most of the nicer integrated amps you used to find in a lot of audio enthusiats' homes.

You're not likely to get a 50% discount on stuff that's not been produced in huge numbers and that's in demand by the way.

 

[Bigmoney]

Alright, made up my mind. I wil bite the bullet and buy the sennheiser hd 600. Can anyone reccomend where i can find the best price on these. Do they pop up for good deals often on say amazon or not really. I found them on bhphotvideo.com for 300- 50 dollars if you send in your headphones with free shipping. That seems like a good deal. Kind of want to buy new. Thanks again guys.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

I would go with the Senns with a good budget tube amp like one from Little Dot, the advantage of that being the ability to tube roll to customize the sound of your system to your exact preference. Besides the 'stat sound isn't for everybody and they sell more Sennheisers for a reason.

- DoA

 

[Bigmoney]

Yea I was thinking the little dot. The stax seemed like theyll be very uncomfortable which is a huge minus for me. Anyone know where I can get the best price for these?

 

[Bigmoney]

Hey guys my senns should be coming in tommorow. From what I hear they will need a great burn in period. I dont have an amp yet, but wil be getting one soon. Can I burn them in with my ipod or would I be better off burning them in with a high quality amp. My question is does what you use to burn your cans in with matter in how they turn out?

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Wearing my Stax Lambda Pro right now and I must say there are the most comfortable headphones I have ever worn, Sennhesier and Grado and AKG included.

Back on topic though, you can burn them however you wish, but with a nice amp, it will have more power and it won't sound so thin.

 

[espire]

No. Either the burn-in will happen or it will not happen. Some burn-in methods are said to be more effective than others; that's only because they accelerate the process, not because they give higher quality results.

 

[Bigmoney]

Ok great. Thanks for the help with the burn in question.
My last question will be regarding the amp I get. My budget is 200 dollars and I am looking for something that can be used with my ipod as well as with my computer via usb. That said it should include a built in dac. Ill probably get a separate dac and amp when funds become available. I was looking at the ibasso d2, it seems to have a dac and be accessible with an ipod. How do you think this unit will pair with my senns. I hear synergy can be very important with higher end cans like the senns so I want to choose wisely. Any other reccommendations??