[marios_mar]

For people wanting to buy a first GREAT headphone for home use while being money conscious. and to spare fresh headphone audiophiles save time on their decision and research here are my thoughs:

The Sennheiser HD580 and the Grado SR-60 are the best bang for your buck audiophile headphone.

For example some years ago the HD580 used to be the top of the line headphone from Sennheiser. (Like the HD650 is now)

Imagine in 6 years being able to buy the HD650 for 150 dollars! Will it be a bad headphone then?

And something similar is with the Grado SR60s too I suppose.

Only the Grados are somewhat cheaper and the Senns a bit better class though they are totally different headphones.

I hope this helps the newbies.

 

[lindrone]

I'm very tempted to agree, except that HD580 requires some decent amps before you can get its potential to really shine. So I would have to add $200 for amp on top of the price for the headphone.

Grados, on the other hand, don't need amps to get some decent sound of them (little more decent than HD580 without an amp, imho). So that's a good suggestion. Some people might get misconceptions about the ergonomics of "audiophile" headphones after looking at these though.

 

[Mindless]

IMO, HD600 is best bang for the buck for an audiophile headphone

And they dont really need an amp to sound good, but to shine, they need one.

 

[Tyson]

IMO, for closed cans, the Senn HD280's are the best bang for the buck, assuming you break them in for a LOOONG time with loud, bassy music, and do the blu-tak mod to them. I like them better than the HFI-700s I just sold, and would put them on par with the Beyer 250-250's I still own. After the breakin and mod the 280's actually had MORE bass than the 700's, and the initial nasal, congested quality is gone (they sound like utter, complete crap before the first 100 hours, IMO, and only sound decent from 100 hours to around 500, and after that they are spectacular for the $$).

For open cans, the 580's without question are the best bang for buck, considering you can get them so ridiculously cheaply nowadays. These are headphones you can pick up cheap and use right away with a soundcard w/a decent headphone output, and you slowly build a very high quality sound system around (an amp maked a big jump in performance, and so does a high quality source). It is unlikely that the 580's will ever be the weak link in your system, unless you start spending several thousand $$'s on your source and amp. . .

 

[dhwilkin]

Koss KSC-35 and Etymotic 4P w/ adaptor.

 

[NewSc2]

definitely HD580's. They were my first pair of headphones, and like the poster said above, even now I know they're not the weak link in my system (invested about $400 into my system so far).

 

[jesse_w]

On the note of HD580s and an amp, what are some good ~$200 amplifiers for them?

And is this a bad sign: I was listening to the 590s, 600s and 580s on a Linn Classik the other day... And the only pair I liked were the 580s o_O

-jesse

 

[KR...]

It was the Grado SR60 for me, which I still have. But, I think that the MS-1 is the best band for your buck at $99

 

[mxs1030]

sony cd-780 ( for $31 )
sennheiser hd-580 ( for $125 )

 

[00940]

agreed on the hd580 as first "audiophile" cans.

Only point to add is : you need an amp (an 30$ used cmoy will do) and a half-decent source (at least a 150-200$ full sized cdp) to get enough of it.

Otherwise grado sr-60 / senn hd497 give you more for the $ out of a crappy source.

 

[Music Fanatic]

I don't know what "audiophile" means in this context, but I think it is hard to beat the Sony V6 for high quality and low price.

 

[Shurenuff]

Quote:

Originally posted by Music Fanatic I don't know what "audiophile" means in this context, but I think it is hard to beat the Sony V6 for high quality and low price.

I agree. I'll always remember it as the first phone that got me hooked on this wallet sucking hobby!

 

[blessingx]

1. KSC35
2. MS1
3. SR60
4. HD497
5. HP170

 

[mister__big]

Does anyone have any experience with the HD580 + Xin Super Micro amp? Does this combo harness the best out of the HD580?

 

[mecano]

At USA is Grado MS1,Sony V6 and ety4s.At Europe AKG501 and Senn 580 but you ll need an amp for these two.
Also the ATH-A900.Excellent finish for the price,you get an elegant and nice sounding headphone for less than 200$.Not bad at all