A Rhetorical Thread: Rank the best headphone companies

[DavidMahler]

I expect this thread will include a lot of rhetoric and hearsay, so I labeled it that way. In this thread post your list of the 10 top headphone brands in order. There are many ways to do this:
ONE, you can do just by judging what you've read on head-fi, which brands seem to have the most flagships, which brands seem to get the most love, etc.

TWO, you can do it based just on headphones which you've had the pleasure of hearing and just use your own personal preference.

THREE you can rank just based on general house sound

FOUR, you can rank based on consistency, brands which are good all throughout their product line (not just flagships)


When posting you list/s, please label the lists according to which of these methods you used. Also post your personal music preference. As the OP, I want to void this thread of any accusations of people claiming that it is unfair for a person to judge a headphone brand even if they haven't heard their flagship. For instance, I have never even heard a Stax headphone, but I know they're prestige and value ranks very highly, so I will include them in my list should I use method one to rank

SO HEAD-FI......WHAT ARE THE TEN GREATEST HEADPHONE BRANDS IN ORDER?

 

[Head Injury]

According to this thread:

1. STAX
2. Sennheiser
3. AKG
4. Audio-Technica
5. Beyerdynamic
6. Grado
7. JVC
8. Yamaha
9. German Maestro
10. Denon

But there was so much fanboyism in there that perhaps it needs a reboot

My favorites (though I haven't heard many of them):

Grado for a fun but still audiophile house sound, simple design that's a popular DIY choice, and some of the best introductory headphones on the market.

Sennheiser, for making one of the best dynamic headphones around, a consistently loved mid through high-end product line, and some good low-end options too.

STAX, for offering the unique experience of electrostats, something most companies haven't touched, and even bringing the technology to portables.

Audio-Technica, for making some of the best looking audiophile headphones around, especially their portables.

Koss, for the great value of the KSC75 and PortaPros, and their lifetime warranty.

Hifiman, for "resurrecting" the orthodynamic headphone with the HE-5.

 

[paaj]

I'll keep it at four, but you can spend the ten points in a 4/3/2/1 way if needed:

Stax (4070/404LE)
AudioTechnica (ESW9)
Sennheiser (HE60/HD650)
Grado (RS1i/HF2/325i)

Loosely based on how I like the headphones I own/owned.

 

[baka1969]

It's an interesting idea for a thread. I'm not sure how much useful information it'll get based on your varied criteria. Even though you've asked us to qualify our answers. I've had 17 headphones since joining Head-Fi but not ten different companies. I've had more Grados than any. But a Grado isn't my favorite headphone. With the incoming HE-5LE from HiFiMan, I've had three of their headphones. One of which I disliked, one I like and I'm hoping one that could be one of my favorites. Does Symphones count as a headphone company? What about people that have owned headphones they didn't like? It's a tough question to answer without using a combination of several of your 'ways'. If that's used, how accurate is the data? I'm not trying to argue, I'm just trying to point out what I've noticed.

Peace,

 

[MrGreen]

Combination of from what I read (a little) and my own experience (most).

Top Tier: Etymotic (these guys are amazingly consistent), Stax (I've only heard the baby stax)

High Tier: Beyerdynamic (some models are too bassy for my taste but they are still quite high quality sound per dollar in my experience).

Mid Tier: AKG (the cheap end isnt much chop), Auditechnica (I'm not a huge fan of the AD700, but its pretty good. I haven't heard higher in the line than that recently. Theres a few really bad canalphones).

Low Tier: Sony (expensive in my country, inconsistent), Alessandro (There's something special about alessandro/grado. That something special makes me not like them), Ultrasone (not my taste...)

Value for Money Tier: Koss (KSC75 is still one of the best buys in audio. Also cheese phones.)

Crap Tier: Grado (penalised heavily for not selling outside the US at reasonable prices compared to alessandro. Not my taste ala alessandro), Sennheiser (IMO they have 2 good headphones [HD580 and HD600], even then they are a bit boring, ruin cymbal timbre, and are kind of boring to listen to. The lower end of sennheiser is pretty much "dont buy this" tier. I have not heard HD800, HE60, HE90), Skullcandy, WESC, etc.

The rest are virtually don't care tier for me. (JH Audio, Denon, etc)

(For the ranking, read them in order and stop at sennheiser. Ignore grado in the ranking, go by alessandro instead.)

 

[chinesekiwi]

Does this include OEM companies like Fostex?

 

[VALIENTE]

For me the two great headphone companies are Grado Labs and AKG. This is to show my support for my beloved Grado SR60 and AKG K701. I hope this two companies will produce millions of these two bright headphones! All the way!

 

[Mink]

Quote:

ONE, you can do just by judging what you've read on head-fi, which brands seem to have the most flagships, which brands seem to get the most love, etc.

Sennheiser
AKG
Grado
Beyerdynamic
Audio Technica
Stax
Denon
Sony
Shure
Koss

Quote:

TWO, you can do it based just on headphones which you've had the pleasure of hearing and just use your own personal preference.

Denon
Audio Technica
Sony
AKG
Sennheiser
Beyerdynamic
Shure
Grado
Koss

Never heard Stax though

Quote:

THREE you can rank just based on general house sound

Denon
Audio Technica (though pretty inconsistent in sound character)
AKG
Beyerdynamic
Sennheiser
Sony (though inconsistent in sound character)
Grado (if it comes to consistency alone this brand would win, but I don't like the sound...)

Never heard Stax and only heard 1 Koss and 1 Shure

Quote:

FOUR, you can rank based on consistency, brands which are good all throughout their product line (not just flagships)

Denon (Since all three top headphones of Denon (D2000, D5000 and D7000) seem to be very similar and I like their sound better than Grado and Sennheiser I have to rank them 1st)
Sennheiser
Grado (very consistent, but do no care for the sound)
AKG
Beyerdynamic
Audio Technica (big difference between ATH M40, A500, AD900 and W1000 to name a few)
Sony

Never heard Stax and only heard 1 Koss and 1 Shure

 

[Ra97oR]

TWO.

1. Audio Technica
2. UE
3. STAX
4. Sony (SA5000, CD900ST, not EB series)
5. AKG

 

[Uncle Erik]

1. Sennheiser. The HD-600/650, HD-800, Baby Orpheus and Orpheus are the best I've listened to, no question.

2. AKG. The strength of the K-1000 is what puts it here.

3. Stax. The O2 is wonderful, but I haven't been crazy about their other offerings.

4. Beyerdynamic. The DT48 is a real favorite and I have high hopes for the T1. I haven't heard the T1, but will decide whether to buy it at CanJam.

I'm not crazy about Audio-Technica, Ultrasone or Denon. I haven't heard any of those models that pushed my "buy" button.

Honorable mention to Sony and Grado. I do enjoy the SA5000 and R10, but the R10 is unobtanium. Likewise the HP-1000 models.

 

[swbf2cheater]

i place grado in the top 3 worst brands with bose and monster, i mean grado used that dirt cheap plastic on its cans, they are easily the most uncomfortable sets you can buy and require you to go out of your way just to make them usable, they use the lowest grade metal grill imaginable and are too into their own world to realize nobody cares about them looking retro, why is that cable so long if they are not monitors. Grado puts 0% into what its fan base wants, even bose and monster listen to their buyers

bose and monster are crazy comfortable and ever changing to fit the peoples wants and needs, even if their overall sound quality is crap as well, at least they put some effort into thinking about what people may want to use and how to make them comfortable. Grado boasts the worlds finest, but really could care less about what you think about their terrible quality products, headphones that really only are used for rock and nothing else until you get to the giga expensive grado sets, then you can use them for some jazz and make the occasional classical lol

for shame on bose grado and monster, none of you will ever be as good as sennheiser

 

[baka1969]

Quote:

Originally Posted by VALIENTE /img/forum/go_quote.gif For me the two great headphone companies are Grado Labs and AKG. This is to show my support for my beloved Grado SR60 and AKG K701. I hope this two companies will produce millions of these two bright headphones! All the way!

is that One Headphone Guy saying TWO headphones again?..... YAVALP

 

[jageur272]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swbf2cheater /img/forum/go_quote.gif Grado puts 0% into what its fan base wants, even bose and monster listen to their buyers

That's pretty much what Apple does... Their marketing strategy is completely opposite of almost every other major brand out there. Of course, both Grado and Apple have their rabid fanboys...

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swbf2cheater /img/forum/go_quote.gif for shame on bose grado and monster, none of you will ever be as good as sennheiser

I find this statement amazingly hilarious considering the quality of >90% of sennheisers line-up and the market saturation in which they partake.

Let's not talk about the price fixing they are taking part in either (HD800 enjoys a $1000 markup in Australia, despite the dollar being 93 US cents).

At most price points there is a headphone that performs virtually objectively better than one offered by sennheiser until you get into regions where personal taste becomes more of an issue.

If the big three headphones from sennheiser are truly worth all the praise there is for this otherwise dud brand, I look forward to hearing them. However, I know for a fact that a lot of praise also comes from the other three headphones I mentioned (600 etc) and I am willing to accept this, however as I have stated they are not to my taste.

Although I don't like the grado sound all that much, they are doing more things right more consistently than sennheiser

IMO, YMMV, etc.

 

[charliex]

Stax
Sennheiser
Grado
AKG