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New Headphone User

Due to family considerations, I recently bought a new pair of Sennheiser HD600 (with stock cord) for a great price here on AudiogoN. As my preamp already has a build in headphone amplifier, I did not have to purchase one. What a fantastic purchase! For $259 I have outstanding sound with no room interactions and I can listen however loudly I wish without disturbing everyone else. Also as a bonus, the sweet spot is a 10' radius.
I am posting this because I am actually shocked at the fidelity one can obtain in a pair of headphones that, relative to my system cost, is inexpensive. How many of you have headphones and what are your impressions compared to listening through your speakers?

David
david_berry
krell1's avatar
krell1
250 posts
 
Look into www.head-fi.com for a great headphone-only forum.
You would really appreciate an external headphone amp like the Headroom. I do 70% listening at work with my Headroom MOHR and Ety Er-4S, sounds great with the HD-600 too. It is much more cost effective to do an accurate headphone system than getting the same result from a loudspeaker simply because the acoustics of a room. Happy listening.
budrew
467 posts
 
I agree: get yourself an aftermarket cable (I recommend the Equinox by Stefan AudioArt) and a headphone amp (I recommend the Ray Samuals Audio XP-7, but there's lots of great choices out there -- depends on yopur budget and taste). The Stax set up is very nice too, but pricey. I really enjoy my headphone set up. It's more intimate with the music and you can hear all the details. The HD600s are my current fav.
danlib1
819 posts
 
Another note about the STAX-

I agree with Budrew about their expense when new....BUT I bought a complete STAX Classic system on the "Gon recently for under $700.00 ($1,500 retail). This was less than my HD-600's, 15 ft Cardas Cable, and Musical Fidelity V2 X-Cans Headphone amp, and outperforms that combo by a fair margin (for my listening tastes).

Other fine amps for driving the HD-600's that I've used include the Sugden Headmaster (It drove the HD-600's better than my Headroom Max) and the Gilmore unit.

Enjoy your journey through headphone mania!
inna
7,354 posts
 
Headphones are certainly good as a back-up, but they do not represent acoustic space in a correct manner.Second rate system regardless of what it can do right.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Enjoy the HD-600s (my choice as well), and check out Headfi.com. You will probably be amazed at what you can get from a dedicated HP amp.
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