[bismack]

Hi, I am new here!
I am looking for a headphone around $100 for classical music without using an amplifier.
I am using a Sony D-E885 discman and a campaq laptop as sources.
I heard beryer dxt 900, senn HD497, Grade SR60, and AKG 240S are good.
Thanks in advance!

 

[phergus_25]

If you hadent said without an amp i woud point you to the AKG K501s withouut a seconds hesitation. personally I like the way strings sound on my Ms-1s, but alot of people will say im past crazy for taht.
-greg

 

[SoundGoon]

I have and would recommend the Sennheiser HD 590's. They are very detailed and the soundstage is incredible. They are also drivable without an amp. Hope this helps and best of luck in the search

 

[vapman]

x2

 

[blessingx]

Ety ER6/6i

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

I'd recommend the Sony MDR-SA1000 or Sennheiser HD590. The latter is a bit bassier than the former, but both give a good soundstage and clarity for the price. They are both very comfortable and easy to drive as well. Get Sony if midrange is more important or the Senn if bass is more important.

 

[knik]

you can snag a used hd555 for less than 100usd. they are decent for classical with a better soundstage than the hd497 and the sr60.

 

[bismack]

Thanks for all replies!
Are there any comments on bayer dxt900 and AKG 240S? I am really waiting for a full search on famous phones.

By the way, because my sources are cheap products and I can’t afford to buy amp or sound card( also a laptop is hard to upgrade), I think the headphone should be driven as easily as possible. I heard senn 5*5 or 5*0 series are hard to drive to realize their full potential. Is that true? Also, the Sony MDR-SA1000 is 70 ohms, is that really easy to drive without an amp?

 

[funkadelic]

I have both the HD497 and the HD590. I love the HD590 for classical, it has quite a bright sound for a Sennheiser and the soundstage is wonderful. Really comfy too, but you would have to buy used in your price range.

The HD497 sounds great out of my iPod for Rock/Pop music but it doesn't sound too great on classical. Less soundstage and detail than the HD590's.

Simon

 

[afobisme]

i've tried the HD600, and i think those sound terrific for classical.. can't really recommend it, since i haven't tried all of the sennheisers..

 

[wae5]

I'm a very critical classical listener who uses Stax Lambda Pros and Grado SR60s as my HP benchmarks. Recently I've been on a delightful HP odyessy trying to dulplicate the SR60 sound in a portable system that must be so light and comfortable it seems to disappear. So far only the Apple iPod Shuffle (said to be the best sounding of all iPods) and the Koss KSC75 make the grade. Though I've only tried the AL 616s and found them uncomfortable, I've ruled out IEMs in general because I don't need acoustical isolation and I'm very sceptical any IEM ever really disappears. Enter the KSC75. Because of the surprisingly positive reviews (headphone epiphanies?) here I bought a pair at Radio Shack and promptly returned to buy two more just in case they really do disappear. Besides saying the KSC75s are amazing and comfortable (if you wear glasses you know how they feel) phones at any price, I'll leave it to you to discover if you wish all the wonderful reviews here at HF of the KSC75. They're by no means the best but for $12 you'll have nearly the best to judge all the rest.