vid
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2005
- Posts
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- 130
Got it at €130 which I deem reasonable when compared to HD-600/650 prices and performance.
Assuming the HD 600 are reasonably priced, which they aren't....
I keep going on about this as a sanity check, but while I haven't heard the HD 540, I have the HD 530, which I've seen people describe both as (a) better than the HD 540 and (b) identical to the HD 540. So I assume the HD 530 aren't much worse than the HD 540, in any case. I got them for 25 euros, which is about high-ish average for this model, and that's about what I'd reasonably pay for the sound. They do sound nice, and I like the timbre, but their problem is that they don't have the refinement you get in a planar magnetic of the same price and vintage - though some amount of modding is required. Even going up to 130, the Stax SR-5 go for about that much - you get electrostat sound that needs no modding and would be a better choice over the HD 530. Heck, you'll get a few pairs of the Sennheiser Unipolar stats for that money, and while they need lots of modding, they blow the HD 530 out of the water.
People will pay 100+ for these Senns if they want to, and I've indeed not heard the HD 540 specifically, but...