[Chone]

I currently have a pair of Senn 555's, my first real headphones. They are probably the best thing I have ever bought, but I've had them for a couple years and they're starting to show a bit of wear and I'm looking for an upgrade.

Seems like upgrading to 595's would be boring, but maybe they're the best choice for me. 650's would be great, but I think that's a bit too far out of my price range, and I don't have an amplifier in my setup, though I do plan on getting one sometime in 2010. Something around $200 that's a good value would be perfect. I'm flexible though, just don't think I can afford to spend $400 on 650's and I don't want to buy used headphones.

The stuff I listen to is mostly "indie" stuff. Anything between poppy electronic music like MGMT to more orchestral melodic stuff like Grizzly Bear and Sufjan Stevens. The hardest rock I normally listen to is stuff like Built To Spill, Modest Mouse and Dinosaur Jr.

 

[nullstring]

Shure SRH840 or Denon D2000.

Both are right in your price range, and both don't absolutely need an amp.
Although, I wouldn't recommend purchasing either without the intent to buy one.. but you do

the 595 is marginally, if any at all, better than the 555, so I agree with your decision to purchase a different phone.

 

[Chone]

those are closed right? is that much of a sacrifice? i like the natural openness of the 555's, but maybe that's more about them being way better than most headphones i've used before and no as much about the open design as i assumed. it won't be a big factor in my purchase if it's not that important though. i admittedly don't know much.

 

[nullstring]

oh, wow, I apologize; I don't like to be the kind of poster that makes useless posts because they don't take the time to actually look at the OP.

I completely looked over the fact that you want open phones.
Open headphones -do- tend to sound better than closed ones.

However, in your price range, the two best value headphones are still the SRH840 and the D2000. If open isn't important to you, I would still look into these two.

A used HD580 or used HD600 would also be in your price range if you want to stay open.
But those are more amp dependent.

 

[TopPop]

Used HD600... done. Right at your price point, and will sound good now, but will improve a great deal if you pick your amp correctly this next year.

 

[3602]

DT880 is "semi"-open, but it is more open than semi.
They're on sale at HeadRoom.