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Originally Posted by Yellowjacket
I don't get it. I understand indulging yourself in consumer electronics, but the extent to which people do it on these forums...is the difference is sound between the HD600 and HD650 really worth the $400?
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IMO, there are people who love electronic toys and there are those who love music. I see two categories of people here:
1) People who like to buy headphones and amps just because they like to play with them and in most cases it becomes an obsession (hence the need to buy 2 Supermacros). Everyday is an anticipation for the next "big" thing in audio.
2) People who love music, and would like to hear the music they love with the greatest possible quality. Music is an important factor in how they live their lives.
The main difference about these two is that people in #1 get lost in their equipment instead of their music. They spend thousands of dollars on headphones and amps and end up listening to a 40 year old recordings from the 60s and 70s. For these people, the goal is to obtain the highest possible sound quality in an absolute fashion without respect to the music they listen to.
In contrast to #2, these people love music and would spend thousands of dollars in order to enjoy them... but unlike #1, they don't get lost in their equipment. The goal is to enjoy music, which doesn't necessarily mean the highest possible quality. Clearly, you don't need a 20-20khz frequency response to enjoy the Beatles.
I compare #1 to computer geeks who spend thousands of dollars to constantly upgrade their PCs, but end up in the end running Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer. The "thrill" is in the hardware upgrade itself, not running Microsoft Word or IE. So for some people here, the REAL enjoyment is in the hardware (headphones and amps), not the music that flows through them.
Is the difference in sound between the HD600 and HD650 worth $400? ultimately it depends on how much time you spend using these headphones and how much of a factor music is in your life. If you belong to group #2, and music is a big factor in how you enjoy your life, then $400 is a small price to pay in exchange for the added enjoyment. If you belong to group #1, the $400 may be worth it if only because it gives you something new to play with, and keeps you away from boredom.
If you don't belong to either group, then $400 is obviously a waste of money because you won't have any appreciation for the new headphones. That $400 could've gone towards home improvement, a new car, kids college savings, etc.
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My theory on this is based in consumerism. I've noticed audiophiles are rarely loners. They're on boards like this, subscribers to magazines, they have 'meet-ups', etc |
My theory on this is that people who frequently participates in these activities (meet-ups, magazines), are people who care more about the equipment rather than the music. The same way that computer nerds gather together to showoff their glow-in-the-dark computer case, or water-cooled CPUs--- they use their computers in fact, to play games, nothing that's worth the price of their hardware (e.g. figuring out a way to cure cancer).
I personally think there aren't any music artists out there talented enough to worth thousands of $$$ in audio equipment. The music industry needs to put out REAL musicians with REAL talent before I spend that kind of cash to listen to them--- not the likes of talentless artists like Coldplay, Kelly Clarkson, etc.
Which begs the question, just exactly WHO do you listen to with your $10k audio system?