[noobnorwegian]

  B&W P7 is worth considering. I owned one before getting the TH600. Compared to the Fostex, the P7 is a little thicker with fuller mids, less v-shaped. P7 bass and soundstage aren't quite as good as the TH600 but in the same league IMO. Excellent bass extension either way. The P7 is also much sturdier and isolates well. 

They have the P7 in the same store as NAD HP50 (and PSB M4U 2), so I will check both of them out next time I have time. I heared the B&W P5 as I bought one for my brother at a discount. The P5 had overly recessed treble and a mid-bass hump and didn`t seem to extend to low frequencies. The rest sounded nice. The P7 is probably better, although they have the same driver. 
 
Both the PSB M4U and the HP50 looks strange though. HP50 with their strange shape of the headband and the PSB looks like a futuristic prop from terminator

 

[manbear]

 
They have the P7 in the same store as NAD HP50 (and PSB M4U 2), so I will check both of them out next time I have time. I heared the B&W P5 as I bought one for my brother at a discount. The P5 had overly recessed treble and a mid-bass hump and didn`t seem to extend to low frequencies. The rest sounded nice. The P7 is probably better, although they have the same driver. 
 
Both the PSB M4U and the HP50 looks strange though. HP50 with their strange shape of the headband and the PSB looks like a futuristic prop from terminator

Don't let the P5 scare you away. I thought it sounded like garbage too. The P7 is several leagues better. It has more subbass than midbass and plenty of treble--a mild V-shaped response. 

I thought the P5 and P7 had a similar driver, but not the exact same. Don't know for sure, but the sonic differences are huge either way. 

 

[noobnorwegian]

 
Don't let the P5 scare you away. I thought it sounded like garbage too. The P7 is several leagues better. It has more subbass than midbass and plenty of treble--a mild V-shaped response. 

I thought the P5 and P7 had a similar driver, but not the exact same. Don't know for sure, but the sonic differences are huge either way. 

 
I tried PSB M4U2, B&W P7, NAD HP50 and MM400 today. They were auditioning some speakers with techno music just next to the place with the headphones, so it was difficult to listen properly to them. The mm400 earpads are slightly small. But the major problem is that the pads are so shallow. My right ear was red after I tried them. Is it possible to replace the pads? For me it was hard to get the HP50 to seal properly are they did not follow the head/neck beneath the ear. Maybe because of the shape or because the clamping seemed to be more on top. The P7 had great isolation but were not very comfortable with the squared slightly small pads. I felt like adjusting them the whole time. When I listen to the mm400 and P7 I sometimes thought the bass was slightly too much, but this may be caused by the increased listening volume due to the background techno music. But as you said, the P7 is really different than the P5. Strange that they make so different signatures on these two. 

 

[manbear]

Have you considered any T50RP mods? It sounds like the more portable type headphones have pads that are too small for your preferences. ZMF headphones are awesome for the price and have big, deep pads.

 

[noobnorwegian]

I ended up testing mostly portable headphones since the hifi-stores usually have open back full size or portable closed back. The 4 stores I know of have almost no full size closed back. Often only Beyerdynamic models. I know that the more "general" appliance stores have some more brands with full size, and often more dj oriented headphones. Akg, Bose and especially a lot of Philips. But its hard to know which models to look into, since the crowd here seems to be very split. People listening to Philips A5PRO don`t compare them with headphones that I have heard. Maybe I should take a trips to an appliance store also.