[sburgoon]

I'm looking to pick up some new cans to replace my broken hd600's. Initially I'll be amping them with a battery powered cmoy amp I made (nothing special) but I will probably buy a better amp down the line. My options are as follows...

Denon AH-D5000

AKG K701

DT 880/990

Audio Technica a900

I can get all four of these for basically the same price... so that's where the advice comes in. It seems like the Denon is a great deal for $300, as is the AKG for $260, but I've read that both are very hard to amplify, so I'm curious if I might not get better sound out of the a900 even though it's a lower tier (from what I've read) model. Anyway, any advice would be great. Thanks!

-sburgoon

 

[REB]

Without an amp, I'd say you'd be best off with the a900. The others are pretty hard to amp from a small amp.

 

[olblueyez]

No Sennheisers?

 

[sburgoon]

No senns just because I already had the HD600 and I'm looking for something new.

I guess my question is, will a unamped (or under amped) Denon 5000 or AKG 701 actually sounds worse than the a900, or will it just not be living up to it's full potential (but still be comparable to the a900 until I get a better amp)?

 

[olblueyez]

701 unamped will make your ears bleed. Dont know about the Denon, they are low impedance but Im not sure how efficient they are. What kind of sound are you looking for? Your picks are near polar opposites.

 

[sburgoon]

Mostly just looking to hear something new, I'm not that picky about the type of sound. Hmmm.... maybe I should just man-up and buy an amp too. They aren't THAT expensive...

 

[olblueyez]

This is just my opinion but, amped or no, forget the 701s.

 

[myinitialsaredac]

I personally really enjoy the 701s but they do need a real amp behind them. They have the largest soundstage ive heard in headphones and resolve every minor detail into your head. Mids are liquid smooth, and the bass is a little bit lacking but articulate, highs sparkle and cymbals sound very realistic. Overall good phones that get my recomendation with the proper ampage. You could get a diy millet max around here for a decent price or I know headroom is having a sale on their millet hybrids which would likely work out equally well.

Dave

 

[bebekganteng]

i vote for DT880 2003 edition. great stagging. great sound..

 

[glac1er]

D5000 for $300? That's a bargain.

I can't comment about the D5000 since I haven't listened to it, but I do have the D2000.

Unamped or out of something like a CMOY, I prefer D2000 to any of those headphones above. If the D5000 is at least as good as the D2000 unamped, that might be the way to go.

A900 can be more enjoyable than underpowered K701s, DT880/990s, and K701s if you don't mind the mids, but to my ears the Audio-Technicas are a step below the D2000 amped or not.