[lantian]

No, I meant the regular HD 540 Ref II vs HD 540 Gold 300 ohm

That difference in my opinion is huge, either of the Golds are just a completely different headphone. Far superior to the 540 reference or reference 2. Imaging is complete, base is (for my tastes) is pretty much perfect, everything is. If I would not have the 600ohm version and would never have heard it either, only to have the 300ohm version. I would in no way driven to buy or get anything else more. In my opinion both golds have the exact same performance as hd800, every bit of detail is there. The base is less, and the soundstage is smaller while on the plus side they sound alive an the hd 800 do not.
All this is my personal opinion and experience, YMMW

 

[sennsay]

Mmm, I've never really got on completely with any of the 300 ohm cans I've heard, HD6xx included. As far as I've experienced so far, my 600 ohm Ref1s in their current configuration with pads and cable are generally superior to the lot, including the 300 ohm HD250 Linear 1s. If the 600 Ref Golds are as good as reputed and I can buy a pair, I may well consider them to be end-game headphones.
My Ref1s, with their wonderfully balanced, organic and alive nature are very hard to beat!

 

[GU1DO]

I can not quite put it in words for everyone to understand .As I would describe it the 600ohm version sounds totally alive to me(timbre, transients,imaging) and the 300ohm one is missing some of that liveliness and timbre is different. Weir that detail wise they seem identical. The 300ohm version is just different. As far as I can tell the first 5-8 thousand of reference gold's where 600ohm and the later ones are all 300ohm. Could be wrong but so far everything I have seen or have indicates it. 20 thousand where made in total.

my HD540G have serial 9500 and its 600 ohm , so i think the 300 ohm are after 10K

 

[lantian]

my HD540G have serial 9500 and its 600 ohm , so i think the 300 ohm are after 10K

Thanks for confirmation, was kind of thinking it may have been the case, but didn't want to talk bs. So far have 3 pairs, the 3315 and 3272 are 600ohm and 17226 is 300ohm version. Have seen 75xx something 600ohm and 123xx something as 300ohm. Would be amazing if more info where available about these old products.

 

[Greendriver]

Know this has been covered b4 but i need new pads for my hd540 ref and newly acquired hd250 2. Any recommendations. Need to be eurupean or british sourced pref.
Love both of the above cans although they are quite different in presentation. Most comfortable cans i have had.

 

[Greendriver]

Just testing my hd250s with my Samsung Galaxy S8 phone, using the Poweramp app. Lovely.
In case you're wondering, I haven't got a dedicated headphone amp. I don't really get on with them as they are impractical with my phone.
Edgar Froese sounds great (Stuntman)

 

[dakanao]

Put mine up for sale, to upgrade to the Gold. PM if interested

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

That difference in my opinion is huge, either of the Golds are just a completely different headphone. Far superior to the 540 reference or reference 2. Imaging is complete, base is (for my tastes) is pretty much perfect, everything is. If I would not have the 600ohm version and would never have heard it either, only to have the 300ohm version. I would in no way driven to buy or get anything else more. In my opinion both golds have the exact same performance as hd800, every bit of detail is there. The base is less, and the soundstage is smaller while on the plus side they sound alive an the hd 800 do not.
All this is my personal opinion and experience, YMMW

I haven't tried the gold so the only thing I can do is drool. Yet I'd still agree with you that the HD540 - or any other Sennheiser that I love - will sound more alive than the HD800. That doesn't mean I hate it.
The crazy thing about the Hd800 is its "binaural" sound, provided it's properly amped. I don't know what else to say about it. It's just a special and very strange experience to me.

That being said, when it's not properly amped, the 7khz peak will ruin all of your songs. Even if that peak is not there, it'll sound sterile. You know what I mean.

 

[dakanao]

So the slight graininess that was on my pair before, has now turned more in defined bright sparkle? It is 100% noticable, maybe the previous owner had almost no burn-in to them?

 

[sennsay]

So the slight graininess that was on my pair before, has now turned more in defined bright sparkle? It is 100% noticable, maybe the previous owner had almost no burn-in to them?

Quite likely true, you did get them in great nick, right? Also, if you are using the stock steel cable, it is somewhat more light and airy in the bass and very grainy in comparison to the Mogami, which is essentially grainless, smooth and even all the way from top to bottom.
I've had the opportunities to hear my Mogami/pleather padded Ref1s with a number of different amps in the last couple of weeks, from the A-gd R2r to integrated amps and home theatre gear and with each one they keep that signature alive and organic nature, plenty of bass in both power and extension. They didn't go brilliantly with a Sony model, though were ok - a drive issue into 600 ohms more than anything else, but for everything else they were sweet.
I too would trade the HD250s towards a pair of 600 ohm Golds! My HD250s have a slight rattle in one channel now, I suspect that the bass port may have come loose. Something to add to the list of things to be done.

 

[jon parker]

I was lucky to find a less-than-half-price, hand made replacement cable for my HD540. A very nice 4 core OFC
I thought there would be 'some' improvement but I was really surprised at how much of an improvement there was, especially considering the 540's are pretty much end game cans for me.
Its hard to explain exactly how the improvements are. Seems a bit odd to say that they say sound even MORE 'natural' than before! but they do. They seem fuller
The low end is much better. more defined
He sells 2nd's - Less than perfect cables...How I could afford this one! He is a UK seller if anyone is interested
https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/mavismodz6?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

 

[sennsay]

I was lucky to find a less-than-half-price, hand made replacement cable for my HD540. A very nice 4 core OFC
I thought there would be 'some' improvement but I was really surprised at how much of an improvement there was, especially considering the 540's are pretty much end game cans for me.
Its hard to explain exactly how the improvements are. Seems a bit odd to say that they say sound even MORE 'natural' than before! but they do. They seem fuller
The low end is much better. more defined
He sells 2nd's - Less than perfect cables...How I could afford this one! He is a UK seller if anyone is interested
https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/mavismodz6?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

Nice! I 'get' the change this has made for your listening pleasure The Mogami cable has had exactly the same effect for me on all headphones I use it with, it too is a quad core cable with superb shielding. 'MORE natural' is exactly what this cable brings/allows to be expressed and now we have another one you have discovered as an option to consider.

 

[jon parker]

Nice! I 'get' the change this has made for your listening pleasure The Mogami cable has had exactly the same effect for me on all headphones I use it with, it too is a quad core cable with superb shielding. 'MORE natural' is exactly what this cable brings/allows to be expressed and now we have another one you have discovered as an option to consider.

Sweet
I think the cable was £55 down to £20 !
I bought one and have another on the way. I think he slightly 'messed up' 3 in total
This is what freaks me out about this hobby - you find something that makes you cry at the level of pure, natural and beautiful audiophilification and then you find something else that makes it even better o_0
Lucky for me I am very poor

 

[Hofy]

Thanks for confirmation, was kind of thinking it may have been the case, but didn't want to talk bs. So far have 3 pairs, the 3315 and 3272 are 600ohm and 17226 is 300ohm version. Have seen 75xx something 600ohm and 123xx something as 300ohm. Would be amazing if more info where available about these old products.

Where ae the serial numbers located on these headphones?

 

[jon parker]

Where ae the serial numbers located on these headphones?

if you look for picture uploaded to this thread you will find photos of where they are (on the cup behind where the headband connects or/and stamped on the inside rim beneath the
pads) In general though 300 ohm models had '300' stamped on the cup - 600 ohm models had nothing stamped on the cup)