[bagwell359]

I just got a refurbished pair of 1970s AKG K240 Sextetts, late production version. They cost me all of $68 on eBay. Not recommended for the OP, they are 600 ohms, but they are pretty amazing for the price. Insanely good for metal music. They make a great 3rd or 5th headphone if you have a good amp to drive them. Vali 2 will actually do a good job.

My first decent headphone was a circa 1978 AKG K-240. It finally died in 2014. I used it a lot when I had a tone arm that had adjustable VTA - FR-66. But when I went with a Clearaudio straight tracker in the mid 90's they got put away. I bought a used Stax 303 Classic around '03 - much better, which I barely used because my speakers were legendary: ML CLS IIz (w/ Gradient 57 subs at times)and Verity Parsifals, stacked Pass X-150's, Pass P, Koetsu Signatures - yeah I was liiving large.

I disliked those 240's quite a bit. Very plasticky sounding, with a ridiculous over cooked treble - great for quick VTA adjustments, bad for listening. Mids OK outside of the plastic, bass good for the time.

 

[Slim1970]

I also agree on the Hifiman HE-500's being a worthwhile pickup. The sound is so balanced and it does so many things well. At what you can purchase them for today, they are a steal.

 

[MtnMan307]

I disliked those 240's quite a bit. Very plasticky sounding, with a ridiculous over cooked treble - great for quick VTA adjustments, bad for listening. Mids OK outside of the plastic, bass good for the time.

Were your 240s the Sextett version? They are regarded as the best K240 series headphone ever made. Most people say that the other 240s do not compare for the most part.

 

[SilverEars]

I also agree on the Hifiman HE-500's being a worthwhile pickup. The sound is so balanced and it does so many things well. At what you can purchase them for today, they are a steal.

Somebody on the Sundara thread says the 500 sound mids raised which I can't agree with. I think it's one of the most balanced few Hifimans out there, and it's partly due to it's mids. I found Sundara and 560 to have some recession in the mids.

 

[MtnMan307]

No mention of the LCD-2 either? I picked up a used pair in 2017 I think on eBay. They are $1000 new and I paid 400 for my 2013 pair. It’s not the lightest or most comfortable, but it sounds pretty good. Not sure if I will keep them now that I have the Aeolus though.

 

[Slim1970]

Somebody on the Sundara thread says the 500 sound mids raised which I can't agree with. I think it's one of the most balanced few Hifimans out there, and it's partly due to it's mids. I found Sundara and 560 to have some recession in the mids.

Couldn't agree more @SilverEars. The mids are one of the best things about the HE-500. It's an incredibly balanced headphone from top to bottom. It's one of the reasons I will struggle to let it go.....

 

[SilverEars]

Couldn't agree more @SilverEars. The mids are one of the best things about the HE-500. It's an incredibly balanced headphone from top to bottom. It's one of the reasons I will struggle to let it go.....

It almost seems Fang has his sound preference curve, and I can describe it as not so warm, clear sounding from reducing deep male vocal type sound, and rise in the upper-upper mids where female vocals stands out, and then another rise in the treble area where the cymbals sounds to have more realistic timbre, but also can sound unpleasant, sharp or harshiness there. 500 goes away from his typical convention I think with the fuller mids, the deep male vocal section tending toward more like the Sennheiser HD6 series upper-mids. Tonally, I perfer this type for mids for planars. I usually see planars dip in the 2k or so, and LCD2C for example, takes more of an extreme dip in the female vocal area (in which Hifimans never do).

 

[TWerk]

I'll echo everyone on HE-500. IMO, best bang for buck headphone. I always say, it just sounds like a great pair of speakers, fast - detailed, just all around exceptional. You can see on my profile, I have owned a lot of headphones, and maybe I am just crazy but the HE-500 to me is among the very best I've heard, price barring nothing on that statement. I love them.

Similarly is the HD600/HD6XX. I've got both, because again, these are just so incredibly good for their price I just can't get rid of them. And I shouldn't. I return to them time and time again for their exceptional comfort and excellent sound. To me, these are a little more "headphone sounding" than the "speaker sounding" HE-500, but they are just spot on across the board in terms of frequency. Comfort really does matter and they deliver it.

Time and time again I get something new, and once the fad of its "newness" wears off, I realize I like my Sen more. They destroy the competition for their combo of sound and comfort.

I love the HE-500/HD6XX/HD600 because they deliver exceptional sound quality at affordable prices. You really aren't missing much trying to climb the ladder to find something better. I tried, and I saw it doesn't get that much better. Different, yes. Better? ......

I haven't tried top of the line stuff like LCD4, Abyss, Utopia, ZMF flagships etc, but to get there requires a whole lot more money. Plus, when you go for those you get to worry about the whole chain more, and it just gets not only way more expensive, but also stressful.

You start worrying about matching x w/ y but not z and the enjoyment of the music starts to take a back seat.

I like a few more fun (bassy) cans on the side, (always loved me some Ultrasone bass) but as far as basics, you simply can't go wrong with a classic Sennheiser or the HE-500.

 

[Slim1970]

It almost seems Fang has his sound preference curve, and I can describe it as not so warm, clear sounding from reducing deep male vocal type sound, and rise in the upper-upper mids where female vocals stands out, and then another rise in the treble area where the cymbals sounds to have more realistic timbre, but also can sound unpleasant, sharp or harshiness there. 500 goes away from his typical convention I think with the fuller mids, the deep male vocal section tending toward more like the Sennheiser HD6 series upper-mids. Tonally, I perfer this type for mids for planars. I usually see planars dip in the 2k or so, and LCD2C for example, takes more of an extreme dip in the female vocal area (in which Hifimans never do).

It’s real easy to pick out too. If you listen to Hifiman headphone then listen to an Audeze headphones you can really hear the huge dip in the upper midrange lower treble area. I much prefer Hifiman’s tuning.

 

[bagwell359]

It’s real easy to pick out too. If you listen to Hifiman headphone then listen to an Audeze headphones you can really hear the huge dip in the upper midrange lower treble area. I much prefer Hifiman’s tuning.

In my recent headphone era (2014-now), I started with the HD-600, then the HE-500, then a bunch of cans that just didn't measure up: TH500RP, MD 4XX, MD X00 Mahogany, HE5-LE, and then the LDC2C. The LCD2 was so strange that I got a friend of a friend to lend me his to see if mine were defective... gack. The same sound. Back to the seller - quickly.

I've heard better cans than the first two - HE-6, Voce, etc. but those two refuse to be relegated to the junk heap, and will do so for a long time.

On the HD-600 vs HE-500 contest. Stock the 600 is cleaner, less cruft, but the 500 is warm and sounds less like a headphone. Both of them modded (600 needs less, and less can be done) iMO turns the advantage clearly to the 500. Solo piano has a way of being cleaner on the 600. But 500 bass is now lucid and quick(much more authoratative/air moving then the 600 and nearly as quick), highs nearly as flat (with better cups), mids more layered, bigger soundstage, more transparant. Now some would say that the 500 is happier on the Rag then the 600. The 600 wanting tubes or hybrids. But with a very low cap cable the Rag in XLR seems to do a good job.

 

[SilverEars]

In my recent headphone era (2014-now), I started with the HD-600, then the HE-500, then a bunch of cans that just didn't measure up: TH500RP, MD 4XX, MD X00 Mahogany, HE5-LE, and then the LDC2C. The LCD2 was so strange that I got a friend of a friend to lend me his to see if mine were defective... gack. The same sound. Back to the seller - quickly.

I've heard better cans than the first two - HE-6, Voce, etc. but those two refuse to be relegated to the junk heap, and will do so for a long time.

On the HD-600 vs HE-500 contest. Stock the 600 is cleaner, less cruft, but the 500 is warm and sounds less like a headphone. Both of them modded (600 needs less, and less can be done) iMO turns the advantage clearly to the 500. Solo piano has a way of being cleaner on the 600. But 500 bass is now lucid and quick(much more authoratative/air moving then the 600 and nearly as quick), highs nearly as flat (with better cups), mids more layered, bigger soundstage, more transparant. Now some would say that the 500 is happier on the Rag then the 600. The 600 wanting tubes or hybrids. But with a very low cap cable the Rag in XLR seems to do a good job.

I agree about Rag doing well with planars like the 500, and with Senny dynamics react to tubes and can get some interesting results. And there are quick tube amps, and not warm sounding with the interesting imaging intact. I think best tube amps are ones that sound very tight like solid-state with imaging that solid-states will not provide.

 

[kman1211]

I love it when people who haven't actually heard something try to tell people how it sounds.

Some headphones don’t really sound quite like how you expect them to measurement wise. I personally really like the HD 600(I own one currently) and HD 650 but I’ll take the Amiron Home over either any day. Yes they share some similarities to other Beyers(yes there is some upper treble elevation but it’s treble texture is so soft and smooth it’s not an irritant at all),
It doesn’t have the biting sharpness some other Beyers have. They are definitely distinctly different sounding than other Beyers.

 

[BritaMineral]

Thanks again everyone. Been looking into the LCD2C and the HE500 while watching replies. They both look very cool, but are definitely at the top end of my budget when they don't exceed it. Hopefully I can find a good deal somewhere. Hearing the generalized chorus of "Just get something better" here has quelled my itch to spend anything for the next few weeks in order to get something more substantial when the time comes, which, if nothing else, is a nice feeling.

 

[bagwell359]

I agree about Rag doing well with planars like the 500, and with Senny dynamics react to tubes and can get some interesting results. And there are quick tube amps, and not warm sounding with the interesting imaging intact. I think best tube amps are ones that sound very tight like solid-state with imaging that solid-states will not provide.

Tubes have retubing costs, and changing sound over time issues. Good news is the small tubes in pre-amps and many headphone amps are not brutally expensive and they can have tight bass. Big tube amps that are tight in the bass cost a pile. Tubes also achieve a lot of magic with 2nd order distortion. A lot of transistors sound thin or bright by comparison, which is why for 35 years it's been mostly Class A transistor amps and pre-amps with some hybrid tube pre-amps for me. To me most tubes I have heard, built, or sold are essentially tone controls - good if you like the tone. Bass is too veiled for me in most cases - in bad cases "mallets on rotten tomatoes".

BTW my Rag images nearly as well as the Pass X-150 I owned for 17 years which has outstanding imaging (Rag a bit more narrow - the preamp).

 

[zazex]

Looks like Amiron shares the same traits of other Beyers. Look at the upper-mids dip and then the rise in the treble, or peaks there.

I wonder, though - seriously - hasn't that "signature" FR, especially towards the top,
worked to Beyers' advantage? Despite some (or many, I'm really not sure) protests
about the "Beyer peak", the company enjoys a superb reputation among casual
listeners and audiophiles alike.

And the (relatively) recent release of the 1990's and the Amiron's appears to
have also gone very well in our ultra-competitive headphone marketplace.

Personally I like some Beyer's and dislike others. But it seems to me that
by any objective measure, they're doing a solid job or providing their
customers with what they want.

Disagreements, agreements,or otherwise are entirely welcome.