[drummerman1]

There you go. A microscopic 'lille market research for the new Grell phone (and others).

The majority of serious headphone buffs (the ones that bother joining a forum to that effect, at least) would be willing to spend serious dosh on cans ... $1500+ which, I am sure we can all agree, is a lot even if it can get substantially more punishing.

However, most of those also have less expensive phones they also enjoy, some confirming that no headphone, regardless of cost, does it all. Indeed, one or two saying that if they only could keep one phone it may be one below the maximum choice+ here.

Now where does that leave the lowest tier? A little under represented is the answer. Whilst it is acknowledged that (for example) Drops 6XX is excellent value, choice of good headphones seems limited otherwise, with either sound or build (or both) taking a hit.

The 'middle' ground, let's (very broadly) just call it the $400 to $1500 region, is popular and, at approx 50% taken together (at point of this post), slightly exceeds that of the top tier at time I'm writing this, at least..

Packaging/Accessories, whilst mentioned a number of times don't seem to be too high on the priority list. It matters to some, less to others.

Does this tell us or manufacturers anything valuable? I doubt it . Nothing they/we don't already know or suspected as forum readers.

Still, it's fun and thanks for casting your votes.

Finally, if I were Grell (or others), I would make two products as a minimum, that makes sense. One statement HP over $1500 and an affordable version between $400 to $1500, again very broadly speaking, or around the $800 more specifically. Spend a little on packaging/accessories but don't go overboard.

On the other hand, one of the most sold (enthusiasts) headphones ever is Sennheisers 6 series which, even at full retail comes in at under $800 and the latest packaging is ... very basic, to be kind. Who can compete with the name, history and design though? Grell maybe?

Fun.

Keep voting.

 

[UrAvgPlay3R]

There you go. A microscopic 'lille market research for the new Grell phone (and others).

The majority of serious headphone buffs (the ones that bother joining a forum to that effect, at least) would be willing to spend serious dosh on cans ... $1500+ which, I am sure we can all agree, is a lot even if it can get substantially more punishing.

However, most of those also have less expensive phones they also enjoy, some confirming that no headphone, regardless of cost, does it all. Indeed, one or two saying that if they only could keep one phone it may be one below the maximum choice+ here.

Now where does that leave the lowest tier? A little under represented is the answer. Whilst it is acknowledged that (for example) Drops 6XX is excellent value, choice of good headphones seems limited otherwise, with either sound or build (or both) taking a hit.

The 'middle' ground, let's (very broadly) just call it the $400 to $1500 region, is popular and, at approx 50% taken together (at point of this post), slightly exceeds that of the top tier at time I'm writing this, at least..

Packaging/Accessories, whilst mentioned a number of times don't seem to be too high on the priority list. It matters to some, less to others.

Does this tell us or manufacturers anything valuable? I doubt it . Nothing they/we don't already know or suspected as forum readers.

Still, it's fun and thanks for casting your votes.

Finally, if I were Grell (or others), I would make two products as a minimum, that makes sense. One statement HP over $1500 and an affordable version between $400 to $1500, again very broadly speaking, or around the $800 more specifically. Spend a little on packaging/accessories but don't go overboard.

On the other hand, one of the most sold (enthusiasts) headphones ever is Sennheisers 6 series which, even at full retail comes in at under $800 and the latest packaging is ... very basic, to be kind. Who can compete with the name, history and design though? Grell maybe?

Fun.

Keep voting.

Completely agree that headphones of lower price ranges can also be enjoyable. Personally I think there are two reasons to that (hopefully this contributes):

1. Quick inflation of headphone prices: Most ultra-high end headphones (those 3000+) only appear within around 10 years, before that headphones like Sennheiser HD800, Beyer T1, Audeze LCD-3 and even things like Grado PS series - the 1k to 2k price range headphones are considered top of the line. After all these years, the prices of these has not gone up substantially, but the "definition" of top of the line has gone sky-high because of new players in the field. This menas that, although we think we're not buying TOTL with 1k to 2k, we're actually buying flagships from the past that, in most cases, have not a far performance gap to the TOTL these days (which also translates to the high deminishing return after the "mainstream flagships")

2. Different mentality: I think there's a distinct difference between those who "only have headphones around...$500 let's say", and those who "heard or even own modern TOTL headphones, but pick up $500 headphones occasionally". In my humble opinion (plz don't beat me on this), modern TOTL headphones are so over-the-top that, in most cases, they excelled at most areas that we care about, which makes the difference between them relatively small. This makes people having modern TOTLs (at least me and some of my friends) better appreciate the significant difference that lower range headphones (or the old flagships and legends) brought to the table. To summarize, I think headphones in the "mainstream" price range are something that everyone can appreciate. New players can be amazed by the quality-of-life increase that these headphones brought over their earpods (just an example, again don't beat me), while old players can appreciate the difference (sometimes even history with the old legends from Sennheiser, Beyers, AKG etc.) that headphones in this price range gave.

 

[JackarlTwo]

Not more than $2-3k, unless there's something I know is worth it. Most of the time I don't think headphones are worth more than that. TOTL stuff has been getting increasingly more expensive.

 

[Kerry56]

$400 has been my ceiling on prices for quite a while. I'm perfectly happy in this price range, though buying used will bring some headphones within my budget that retail for more. I bought my Denon AH-D5200 for less than half the retail price.

Everyone has different priorities for their discretionary income, and headphones just aren't at the top of the list for me. Not even close.

I will admit I stick around these forums for information on sets that punch above their weight. There are a fair number of them, and I'm not interested in chasing down that last 5% of sound quality for headphones that cost three to eight times more.

 

[FullBright1]

What is the maximum you are prepared to pay for a headphone only and what accessories and packaging would you expect?

Ive owned nearly every headphone that costs more that $99 USD

The only brand that ive not purchased, regarding nearly all of them.... is Beyer, but ive owned over half of their models.

I can tell you, for a certainty, that you can't spend enough money on a set of headphones, to guarantee that they will sound good , to YOU.

I'll give you a prime example....

About 6 yrs ago, obo, the Mythical Susvara, was this other worldly gear that few had owned.
"its $6000.00 USD, so it has to be the best of the best of the Best".
It was like a DREAM that Audiophile Freaks like me were dreaming about.....as there was this beautiful mythology created about it, that led you to believe that it was the Pot of Sonic Gold at the end of the Frequency Response Rainbow.

"oh, if only i can get one" said the entire audiophile community about 6-7 yrs ago, and that Dream still persists.

So, a lot of us drank the Susy Kool-aid and swallowed the Susy mushoom cloud, and we paid a lot of money, to then find out..

A.) ""It needs The Power of ZEUS to make it sound good.""

B.) "Where is the Bass".

See that $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Rabbit Trail, Reader?

There are a lot of those $$$$$$$$$$$ Trails found.... regarding Headphones...

Another one is... "Keep swapping Pads until you've purchased all our Pads"... and you should be able to find a set that makes our headphones sound good"...

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

What you need to do, is keep the set(s) of headphones that you like to hear most of the time.
Imo, you dont need more then 2-3 expensive sets, as you can only listen to one at a time, last i heard...

The Susvara is a fine sounding headphone. One of the best ever created.
But its not the only one that Hifiman makes...that sounds really good.... should you need to know that..