[SHAMuuu]

Yep...Senns, Beyers, AKGs, HiFiMan, etc. can all be had for great prices...many others as well.

David Mahler bargain choices = win win

 

[DivaFonda]

Old or "vintage" as in collectable? Simple old cars are an absolute pain to maintain. You'll regret most old car purchases unless you like to tinker and/or have the funds to maintain them. Ask my friends who insist on old cars but are also making their mechanics rich. Plus old cars don't even have things considered basic now. Like audio out jack, so forget listening to your own music, since almost no one takes tapes or CDs in the car anymore. Car charging port is so cramped on one, you have to search for a tiny charger to fit; standard won't cut it. The cup holders are ridiculous. I could go on but seeing my friend's problems have convinced me to never buy anything older than five to seven years. And seven is pushing it.

Vintage collectable cars on the other hand, can be fun as long as they aren't your main car. Because they aren't very efficient or even safe sometimes. And you should live in a climate that's good for them, which can be hard. I knew someone who complained salt air eroded their cars within two years(California beach community). In the Midwest, forget vintage cars in the winter.

Back on topic: I refuse to pay for anything without a decent build quality and a pleasing aesthetic(yes that matters to me). Some audiophile top rated headphones are well built but look like large, heavy and unwieldy Franken-monstrosities to me, so I'm avoiding them no matter how good they sound. That Diana actually looks decent enough to me, although I don't think $3K worth. It appears way too lightweight to cost that much. I'm not seeing premium build quality. Can't pay for looks alone. I'll pay for sound quality, but the whole package doesn't seem $3K worth at first glance.

 

[SHAMuuu]

Back on topic: I refuse to pay for anything without a decent build quality and a pleasing aesthetic(yes that matters to me). Some audiophile top rated headphones are well built but look like large, heavy and unwieldy Franken-monstrosities to me, so I'm avoiding them no matter how good they sound. That Diana actually looks decent enough to me, although I don't think $3K worth. It appears way too lightweight to cost that much. I'm not seeing premium build quality. Can't pay for looks alone. I'll pay for sound quality, but the whole package doesn't seem $3K worth at first glance.

Looks/comfort matter big time especially with a missus around. When they see you like that, chances are, they will be turned off. And that isn't good. And for who say that it doesn't matter because no one sees, kidding me? I'm not bolting myself in a cave

 

[Dobrescu George]

Old or "vintage" as in collectable? Simple old cars are an absolute pain to maintain. You'll regret most old car purchases unless you like to tinker and/or have the funds to maintain them. Ask my friends who insist on old cars but are also making their mechanics rich. Plus old cars don't even have things considered basic now. Like audio out jack, so forget listening to your own music, since almost no one takes tapes or CDs in the car anymore. Car charging port is so cramped on one, you have to search for a tiny charger to fit; standard won't cut it. The cup holders are ridiculous. I could go on but seeing my friend's problems have convinced me to never buy anything older than five to seven years. And seven is pushing it.

Vintage collectable cars on the other hand, can be fun as long as they aren't your main car. Because they aren't very efficient or even safe sometimes. And you should live in a climate that's good for them, which can be hard. I knew someone who complained salt air eroded their cars within two years(California beach community). In the Midwest, forget vintage cars in the winter.

Back on topic: I refuse to pay for anything without a decent build quality and a pleasing aesthetic(yes that matters to me). Some audiophile top rated headphones are well built but look like large, heavy and unwieldy Franken-monstrosities to me, so I'm avoiding them no matter how good they sound. That Diana actually looks decent enough to me, although I don't think $3K worth. It appears way too lightweight to cost that much. I'm not seeing premium build quality. Can't pay for looks alone. I'll pay for sound quality, but the whole package doesn't seem $3K worth at first glance.

I always mention this, but I think that people should mind the aspect of headphones and IEMs as well when designing them, to some users, it really matters.

A for cars, I don't really know. I would never in my life purchase anything other than newly released cars, new or second hand, just newly released.

I think that HD800S is pretty sexy as a headphone, for example, and it is extremely comfortable, but the thick and long cables aren't practical, and I think that aftermarket cables are good for them. Audioquest and Meze have nice-looking headphones. Ultrasone has some models that are really cool - looking.

 

[Metalsludge]

My old Porsche was fun and actually pretty reliable. But some interior bits got old and would have been very expensive to replace. In the end, I sold it recently. But while I had it, it was a good example of what is being talked about here - a car that hugs the road like a go-kart with lots of feedback for the driver in a way that modern cars don't generally replicate.

It was my only car for a long while, so when I first drove a modern car, it felt all floaty with the much stronger power steering and felt like I was driving on marshmallows. I didn't like it at first, but got used to it. It was better in some ways...and not as good in others.

My Grado pair reminds me of that - not as sophisticated or high-tech as a more modern headphone, but with its own kind of dynamic approach that not just any cans have.

 

[Dobrescu George]

My old Porsche was fun and actually pretty reliable. But some interior bits got old and would have been very expensive to replace. In the end, I sold it recently. But while I had it, it was a good example of what is being talked about here - a car that hugs the road like a go-kart with lots of feedback for the driver in a way that modern cars don't generally replicate.

It was my only car for a long while, so when I first drove a modern car, it felt all floaty with the much stronger power steering and felt like I was driving on marshmallows. I didn't like it at first, but got used to it. It was better in some ways...and not as good in others.

My Grado pair reminds me of that - not as sophisticated or high-tech as a more modern headphone, but with its own kind of dynamic approach that not just any cans have.

About Grado - if the comfort is good for you, then they are nice.

About cars - The newer ones are made for the comfort of the driver after all. It used to take me a lot of force to turn the wheel of my car back when it was all analogue. Like real force, straining a 1.80 , ~90 KG, muscular man. It had its charm though. I'd fix it if I was able to locate spare parts, just for the fun of it...

Newer cars were much less straining to drive and I can drive them for much longer with no fatigue and better precision, so... They are better at what they do.

 

[FlyingWing]

And the lowly-non-hypercarcinogenic TPE-membrane-utilising HD800 for less than $0.7k.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Well Audeze just announced $600 LCD2 "classics" with the pre fazor design.
MrSpeakers has the new $800 Aeon Flow open which is supposed to be almost essentially an Ether Flow.
looks like the sub $1000 range just got some hot competition.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Well Audeze just announced $600 LCD2 "classics" with the pre fazor design.
MrSpeakers has the new $800 Aeon Flow open which is supposed to be almost essentially an Ether Flow.
looks like the sub $1000 range just got some hot competition.

That is really nice! IF they keep coming, the sub 1000$ area will get really competitive!

 

[FlyingWing]

It's great, really. No matter if you prefer planars, dynamics, electrostatics or plain iems, there is lots of greatness nowadays sub 1k$.
Now we only need HD 900 and SR-10; then soon the HD 800 is as abundant as HD 650 and an Sr-009 as cheap as you can now get a Stax Lambda-Variation.

 

[knopi]

Good points Nitoni, very agree. High-end is big bubble. What actually high-end is? In vast majority definitely not high fidelity sound! And that's it. High end are mostly very expensive beauty looking pieces with attract attention different colourfull sound, also smart marketing on certain group of people. Good example again speaker business. Unfortunatelly headphones market infected too and it is shame. I also think that we will see more difficult in future latest newest techs in normal price range, I will not support it.

But as many people told there are still good options to $1,5K and another options second hand.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I have seen people spend thousands on a setup, only to end up with a detailed yet thin sound that they don't even enjoy. To be honest, some of my "only" mid-tier cans have given me more pleasure than some of my most expensive ones.

But a lot of people new to the hobby pursue holy grail levels of expensive detail retrieval and/or low distortion alone, because they haven't learned about their own tonal tastes yet, and assume that's all there is to pursue in audio.

Those folks who became lost in detail retrieval are most of the time simply one more purchase away from finding their sound. I was at that point once in 2008 where I could hear every detail but the system was not musical. Finding darker headphones helped me out.

Still though much of this hobby is going from one sound signature to the next each time self delusion sets you up for a new purchase saying it's the last that your home finally.

And manufacturers know if stuff isn't priced high it will not be looked at as worth buying as only good stuff is expensive.


The truth I've come to realise was I had my endgame system in 1982, and all these years has simply been new and different flavors.

Placebo is strong and the higher the price the more powerful the placebo, though we tell ourselves it's clarity and detail.

 

[Dobrescu George]

Those folks who became lost in detail retrieval are most of the time simply one more purchase away from finding their sound. I was at that point once in 2008 where I could hear every detail but the system was not musical. Finding darker headphones helped me out.

Still though much of this hobby is going from one sound signature to the next each time self delusion sets you up for a new purchase saying it's the last that your home finally.

And manufacturers know if stuff isn't priced high it will not be looked at as worth buying as only good stuff is expensive.


The truth I've come to realise was I had my endgame system in 1982, and all these years has simply been new and different flavors.

Placebo is strong and the higher the price the more powerful the placebo, though we tell ourselves it's clarity and detail.

I'm actually experiencing something with a pair of headphones named MOOH-BE00BT, which are about 130$ on Amazon.

I listened to them without having any idea about their price, and I really enjoyed them. Extremely detailed and musical. I had no idea what they cost. Finding what they cost made me think that they are a realy jewel with their sound. I think there are extremely good options at cheaper price points as well, and that we shouldn't overlook something only because it is inexpensive.

Also, I agree about the detail, but I'm in another point, I try to find what has both the detail and the musicality I need. Happily, my ears detect musicality in brightness as well, as long as the guitars have a somewhat natural and sweet sound, like ie800 plays them guitars. On the other hand, HIFIMAN RE2000 is quite dangerously close to reaching the end of the journey of searching for both musicality and detail...

 

[Redcarmoose]

I find it fascinating that we can't simply leave stuff alone. And I've gone years with the same amp and headphones. Actually I was maybe happiest with somehow settling down and saying this is my amp and these are my headphones.

I truly believe there is a psychological thing that happens if you have one set of headphones and one amp. What ever the flaws are your mind does a work around to keep you in the music zone. It was only years later that I learned later the possibility of why I was happy with the system for so many years ( it was also the style of amp and headphones I was using). Still a lot of keeping the same system was concentrating on acquiring music, not over analysing the system.

Part of it comes from how much importance you put on the headphone system. People who have home recording studios don't upgrade their headphone amps and headphones every two months. It's a tool and it's actually a detriment to change to a different sound. They need to get a baseline and get to know it.


I have both expensive gear and low cost gear. I did a review here at Head-Fi on a pair of $10 IEMs I simply love. I still use them today and the review has been read by about 7000 people. I hope some of those folks purchased the Remax 610D IEMs as they are a bargain!
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/de...s-tablets-mp3-mp4-players-black.21622/reviews

 

[FastAndClean]

Listen to your micro details, I am going to listen to some good music