[beowulf]

I really like the Sony MDR-CD3000 when it comes to soundstage (and much more). Those huge bean bag cups really offer great soundstage. That was an area where I noticed a great improvement from my previous Sennheiser.

I'd assume the R10 also excel in that department.

 

[kwkarth]

There are two headphones which excell in the soundstage department. The AKG-K1000 and the AKG-K501.

The K1000's do not reproduce the bottom octave of sound regardless of what anyone else tells you, that is a fact. They do not reporduce anything below 45Hz to speak of. They'll go to 30Hz, but as Greg Freeman has mentioned, at any reasonable amplitude, you will encounter serious modulation distortion.

The K501's are better than the K1000's in the low bass departmant, but they will not win any contests in the bottom octave either. If you're willing to put up with that limitation, you'll find no better imaging and soundstage.

Neither one of them is easy to drive, but the 501's can be driven adequately by any conventional headphone amplifier, whereas the K1000's require an amp capable of delivering 15 watts into 8 ohms. Or more exactly, 1 watt into 120 ohms.

For a partially closed can, I've not heard anything better than the Sony CD-3000., and the best part about the Sony's is that they do not require a headphone amp.

Cheers,
Kevin

 

[jodokast]

I second the K1000s just because of all this *talk* about that damned good sound stage.

*sighs*.........man, I need to get me one of those. All your descriptions.....egad! How am I going to pay for car gas this month?


*sighs..*

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Quote:

There are two headphones which excell in the soundstage department. The AKG-K1000 and the AKG-K501. The K1000's do not reproduce the bottom octave of sound regardless of what anyone else tells you, that is a fact. They do not reporduce anything below 45Hz to speak of. They'll go to 30Hz, but as Greg Freeman has mentioned, at any reasonable amplitude, you will encounter serious modulation distortion. The K501's are better than the K1000's in the low bass departmant, but they will not win any contests in the bottom octave either. If you're willing to put up with that limitation, you'll find no better imaging and soundstage. Neither one of them is easy to drive, but the 501's can be driven adequately by any conventional headphone amplifier, whereas the K1000's require an amp capable of delivering 15 watts into 8 ohms. Or more exactly, 1 watt into 120 ohms.

That being said, the K1000 is still able to bend the K501 over its knee and deliver firm, forceful smacks. Repeatedly.

 

[KR...]

Soundstage wise the AKG K1000 has to have the biggest most "big money speaker style" soundstage of any headphone due to it's design.

 

[Neruda]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nick Dangerous That being said, the K1000 is still able to bend the K501 over its knee and deliver firm, forceful smacks. Repeatedly.

Yeah, just like tubes always beat solid state amps.

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nick Dangerous That being said, the K1000 is still able to bend the K501 over its knee and deliver firm, forceful smacks. Repeatedly.

Nick, let's get real here... Among unconventional cans, K1000's are without peer in the soundstaging department, however, for "conventional" cans, the 501's are without peer.

 

[RMSzero]

Quote:

Duncan, it's doubtful that +/-4.5v will be anywhere near sufficient to power the 501s.

Do you mean the K1000s? The 501 is only 120ohms, and rated sensitivity of 94dB/mW. Headroom recommends their 4.5V TA to power it, which is half as much as the +/4.5v amps you make. I'm considering making these my next headphone purchase, so what's the real deal with them?

edit: Did some searching, and I did come across some people who put lots of power into their K501s. Is it really necessary?

 

[Nick Dangerous]

Oh well. I wasn't terribly impressed with the K501 (tested with Melos SHA-1), but perhaps other amps do it justice. I'll give them another try at the next meeting.

P.S. Neruda, I never said tube amps are always better than solid state. Frequently, yes, but not always.

 

[Jeff Guidry]

Quote:

Originally posted by Buddha I believe it is only one person that has made that particular comment... Fake soundstage... what next? "Prickly" velvet earmuffs.... no thats been done. Honestly the claims some people make denegrating the 890s are quite hilarious. Close your eyes and your three rows back from a slightly elevated stage in a small concert hall... now thats soundstage.

I'll have to make it two...from your posts Buddha I understand that you are probablly the most upbeat champion of the 890's. You apparently hear things in this headphone that I am unable to. The 890 to me has a soundstage that makes directional sounds sound EXTREMELY left or right, and anything perfectly centered sounds like its coming from isnide my head. It's very unpleasant, and crossfeed does nothing to help the problem.

The midrange detail you hear is not present to my ears, even after the required 100 hours of burn-in. I'm very glad you've found your purchase to be a good one, but I am glad someone was willing to trade a new pair of V6's to me for my 890's...

 

[fael]

the 890 confusion goes on

perhaps philips has slack quality controll?
the ones i own are great, im thinking about purchasing something more detailed tho.
later. much later. the 890s + petshopboys = fun.

 

[Buddha]

Quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Guidry The 890 to me has a soundstage that makes directional sounds sound EXTREMELY left or right, and anything perfectly centered sounds like its coming from isnide my head. It's very unpleasant, and crossfeed does nothing to help the problem.

My very first impression of the 890s was a "Wow! , the sound has moved outside my head."

Perhaps you had them on upside down Jeff...

 

[LTUCCI1924]

Buddha
HI: I find the 890s to be very relaxing and mild in my opinion. When i compair them to my 580s which are more detaild, and accurate I sometimes prefer the 890s just to relax and take it easy and enjoy that huge sound stage. But on those times when I really want to get down I always reach for my 580s. I think that it is useless to compair these cans because they are well just different. I am glad that I owne both of them and fell no need to get any other cans. I have been listening to easy listening music a lot rcently and find that the 890s are a pure pleasure for this music because this music is not real dynamic and thats where the 890s really shine. If one wants dynamics then put on the 580s. But it nice to just lay back and just relax and hear soft sound with a real big sound stage. I think that because of the cheep price the 890s get cut short a lot but whow cares? We who owne them know that the 890s are a good addition to our headphone collection.

 

[JML]

The ATH-W100 has superb soundstaging for a closed can,and the localization of items within the soundstage is phenomenal.

The MDR-F1 also has great soundstaging -- it is as open as the K1000.

 

[LTUCCI1924]

JML
HI: With respect. How much are the ath-w100 and how much are the sony mdr-f1? I have owned the mdr-fi and found them to be thin sounding very little bass and have to turn the volum up high so I could hear them. Now the 890s cost me 105.00 and over seas the 890s are even cheeper. I donot mean to disagree with you but for the price the 890s are hard to beat.