atothex
1000+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2008
- Posts
- 1,062
- Likes
- 16
Hello all. I've been lurking here for the past couple months, agonizing over my next purchase. I've never bought any expensive audio equipment, and I figure quality headphones would be the cheapest entry point.
I love Jgonino's stickied headphone guide, but maybe it'd make more sense to divide the available headphones into tiers, instead of by price points. For instance, shouldn't the DT880 be with the K701 and HD650 despite being cheaper? Of course, such a division would require a general consensus on sound quality and such, so hopefully the more knowledgeable members of this forum can help me out. Would it be possible to lump every type of head/earphone together in 1 big list? I haven't read up on the EIMs or buds, so I have no idea where they should go. Let's give this a shot.
Tier 1:
AKG K1000
Audio-Technica L3000
Denon D5000
Denon D5000 Markl mod
Grado HP-2
Grado PS-1
Sennheiser HE90
Sennheiser HE60
Sony R10
Sony Qualias
Stax 4070
Stax Omega
Stax Omega 2
Ultrasone Edition 7
Ultrasone Edition 9
Tier 2:
Audio-Technica W5000
Audio-Technica AD2000
Grado GS-1000
Grado RS-1
Grado RS-2
JVC/Victor DX1000
Sennheiser HD650 Recabled
Stax SR-404
Stax SR-Lambda Signature
Stax SR-Lambda Pro
Stax SR-Lambda
Tier 3:
AKG K501
AKG K601
AKG K701
Audio-Technica W1000
Audio-Technica ESW9
Beyerdynamic DT880
Beyerdynamic DT990
Darth Beyer
Denon D2000
Grado 325i
Sennheiser HD580
Sennheiser HD600
Sennheiser HD650
Sony SA5000
Stax SR-303
Stax SR-202
Stax SR-X/MK3 Pro
Stax SR-Gamma Pro
Ultrasone HFI780
Ultrasone Proline 750
Ultrasone Proline 2500
Tier 4:
Audio-Technica A900
Beyerdynamic DT770
Bose Triport AE
Sennheiser HD595
Sennheiser HD25-II
Stax SR-X/MK3
Stax SR-Gamma
Stax SR-5
Tier 5:
AKG K81DJ
Grado SR60
Grado SR80
Sennheiser HD280
Yuin PK2
Tier 6:
Koss KSC75
Koss Portapro
Sennheiser PMX100
Ok, so I got lazy toward the lower tiers; I truthfully haven't really read up on them enough. This list is clearly nowhere near completion. I hope this illustrates the some of my logic, and I REALLY hope people would comment and contribute to proper tiering and placement. For instance, where would the Sony CD3000 go? Where do the earbuds and canals go?
Thanks for reading.
I love Jgonino's stickied headphone guide, but maybe it'd make more sense to divide the available headphones into tiers, instead of by price points. For instance, shouldn't the DT880 be with the K701 and HD650 despite being cheaper? Of course, such a division would require a general consensus on sound quality and such, so hopefully the more knowledgeable members of this forum can help me out. Would it be possible to lump every type of head/earphone together in 1 big list? I haven't read up on the EIMs or buds, so I have no idea where they should go. Let's give this a shot.
Tier 1:
AKG K1000
Audio-Technica L3000
Denon D5000
Denon D5000 Markl mod
Grado HP-2
Grado PS-1
Sennheiser HE90
Sennheiser HE60
Sony R10
Sony Qualias
Stax 4070
Stax Omega
Stax Omega 2
Ultrasone Edition 7
Ultrasone Edition 9
Tier 2:
Audio-Technica W5000
Audio-Technica AD2000
Grado GS-1000
Grado RS-1
Grado RS-2
JVC/Victor DX1000
Sennheiser HD650 Recabled
Stax SR-404
Stax SR-Lambda Signature
Stax SR-Lambda Pro
Stax SR-Lambda
Tier 3:
AKG K501
AKG K601
AKG K701
Audio-Technica W1000
Audio-Technica ESW9
Beyerdynamic DT880
Beyerdynamic DT990
Darth Beyer
Denon D2000
Grado 325i
Sennheiser HD580
Sennheiser HD600
Sennheiser HD650
Sony SA5000
Stax SR-303
Stax SR-202
Stax SR-X/MK3 Pro
Stax SR-Gamma Pro
Ultrasone HFI780
Ultrasone Proline 750
Ultrasone Proline 2500
Tier 4:
Audio-Technica A900
Beyerdynamic DT770
Bose Triport AE
Sennheiser HD595
Sennheiser HD25-II
Stax SR-X/MK3
Stax SR-Gamma
Stax SR-5
Tier 5:
AKG K81DJ
Grado SR60
Grado SR80
Sennheiser HD280
Yuin PK2
Tier 6:
Koss KSC75
Koss Portapro
Sennheiser PMX100
Ok, so I got lazy toward the lower tiers; I truthfully haven't really read up on them enough. This list is clearly nowhere near completion. I hope this illustrates the some of my logic, and I REALLY hope people would comment and contribute to proper tiering and placement. For instance, where would the Sony CD3000 go? Where do the earbuds and canals go?
Thanks for reading.