[kyrie]

c=Considering their price, they'd better sound better than the 580s! It should probably compare fairly with the 600, at that price, though with the difference sound signature. 580 will probably still remain the best bang for the buck, though.

 

[NetRunner]

Well.. They didn't need to change the design of 650, because it's marketed more with the sound, no? (Of course not totally forgetting the looks..) Also the buyers of 650 more likely have heard the 600 (or heard of), possibly owened too, and the same looks, means it's just a sonic upgrade and people don't have to wonder if the looks have to do with the enhanced sound. Also the look is assosiated with the good rep. of 600.
The 500 series then is more for the general public that cares more for the looks (and price).. Clearly all the new phones are very similar: different colors, grilles and 595 having little more detail. So, part of 515 looking so bad is to encourage buying something more expensive. (Possibly the grill also degrades the sound like in 580 vs. 600 *but maybe with purpose now?

*)

*BTW wonder if the phones still look just as good with the headband expanded..*

Anyway, my feeble attempt at beating the bush.. *around?/new cans?*

Not like they could just sell 650 a lot; too expensive so they need new economy horses too..

 

[Alex Altorfer]

Hey Louis,

Quote:

Originally posted by LTUCCI1924 Hey ALEX: How are you? ALEX you better hold on to your hat. I spoke to a tech at sennheiser and he heard the 595 and told me that they are a upgrade to the 590 and that he thought that the 595 sounded very good up to the 600. I will not say that he also said that he liked them better than the senn. 600 because I don't wont to start any trouble. But I can't wait to get them. I think this is why they will cost at senn. 289.95 He also told me a few other things about the 595.

I'm fine dude. And you, how are you doing? Surviving the cold weather up there? It's been mighty hot down here. Oh, I'm pretty confident the 595 is an improvement over the 590s. Whether it will be an improvement over the amped 580s is a debatable issue. Actually, the notion that the amped HD 580s are better than the amped 590s is also debatable and there are those among us who will passionately argue in favor of the 590s. It just so happens that a greater number of posters have concluded that the HD 580s sonic potential can be extended further than the 590s given proper amplification. I assume this to be true though I have not myself directly compared the 590s to the 580s. Given this assumption there is a chance that the 595 could still not have the HD 580s amplified sonic potential. Again, this is all speculative and it could well be all bunkum.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[LTUCCI1924]

.

 

[Tim D]

They look like they are descendents of the 565 Ovation series. This could be quite promising as the 580's were also descendents of those series, while the bionetics just came out of the blue.

 

[Alex Altorfer]

Louis,

Quote:

Originally posted by LTUCCI1924 ALEX HI: You may be right but thats the problem with the 580 600 that at 300 ohms they need a good amp and a good source but then might sound better. The 590 can use almost any amp and any source to sound very good. I had the 580 and they were very good sounding but were hard to drive with a Meta42 and then paid about 185.00 fore the Equinox cable but they were still to laid back fore me. When I bought the 590 they sounded a lot more upfront but still had the great senn. sound. But to each their own. The senn. headphones are great cans no matter wich one one gets.

Yeah. Some have claimed the Equinox cable makes the 580s even MORE laid back and relaxed, albeit more detailed and with wider soundstage. I hear the Equinox cable for the 590s does wonders to those cans. You must know this from personal experience. I originally had the intention of getting the Creek OBH-11 SE with the HD 590s but ended up with the Rega Ear with the HD 580s. A fortunate twist of fate this turned out, as I'm very happy with this setup. I'm drooling over the Meier Oehlbach upgrade cable though. It seems to be priced very reasonably and if it's worth it I'll surely get it in a heart beat.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[Joe Bloggs]

I think they look okay. Just hoping the funky looks don't interfere with the sound...

I like how they're using metal grilles again. Could cut down on resonance. All that plastic on the other hand...

Quote:

They look like they are descendents of the 565 Ovation series.

Ah, that was my first thought too. But it doesn't look like there's much similarity apart from the grilles.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

.

 

[scottder]

Wow LTUCCI1924 diving right in eh? Of course you'll let us all know what you think, right?

Scott

 

[LTUCCI1924]

.

 

[scottder]

Good luck with them, hey at least they look cool (IMHO)

Scott

 

[Joe Bloggs]

 

[scottder]

BTW, is it me or does it look like those cables only go to one earcup (meaning not compatible with HD600/650 replacement cables).

Scott

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

I, too heard them at the show. They sounded great, but a show is a horrible place to listen so I reserve the right to be totally wrong on that. The cable does go into one side. The headphones are actually quite low profile on the head, it's hard to see from pictures without a head in them. The most interesting thing to me was that the drivers are angles toward the ear inside the housing. After talking at length to Katrin (product-line marketing) and Axel (the designer) I found myself quite impressed with the number of factors taken into consideration in the design. I think they are going to be a benchmark product as it looks like they will cover a range starting at $99, and it seems like the performance is going to be quite good.

I'm not concerned with the bail being only on one side, though I haven't investigated the mechanism personally, I have seen the attention to detail Sennheiser practices especially regarding the materials and mechanical properties of their phones and it is typically outstanding.

FWIW, AKG has also just released a couple of new cans at the low end (K71 and K101) that are pretty good. I think we are in for a decade of very competative product developement or Sennheiser is going to race ahead as THE quality headphone maker.

 

[Earwax]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tyll Hertsens I'm not concerned with the bail being only on one side, though I haven't investigated the mechanism personally, I have seen the attention to detail Sennheiser practices especially regarding the materials and mechanical properties of their phones and it is typically outstanding.

Bail? What's the bail, is it the sliding size adjustment?

Also, when are the 555 going to be available? I'd like to see a picture of these on a real person.