Wow .... €50K Headphones ... What next

Gosh, wasn't it Sennheiser that had another really expensive set of headphones with amplifier twenty five or thirty years ago? You know, the ones everyone said was the Best in the World. The more things change the more they stay the same.

Here is what the "New" $55K Sennheiser should be compared to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afkYRJU0Dlw

At a savings of over $40K!!!!

What is REALLY the best????

The old Sennheiser Orpheus (HE-90) is, to me, a terrific sounding phone. I bet the price of the new phones and that set are not too far apart after adjusting for inflation. It was crazy expensive then (something like $18,000), but, people will pay about $35,000 for a good pair and the amp today, so it has more than held its value.

That does not necessarily mean that the new phones will do the same or be held in as high regards. These days, there are plenty of new phones utilizing a greater variety of approaches that were not around in the past (e.g., planar magnetics).

As for the Stax 009 and Woo amp mentioned above, I have not heard that specific combination, but, I have heard Woo amps (to me, they have been consistently crappy) and I have heard the OO9 on the headphone amp I own (Blue Hawaii SE). The 009s sound pretty good, but, in some ways I prefer the 007s (Omega II, Mk. 1) and the Sennheiser HE-60. It is a matter of taste, with no ultimate "best." I could not argue with someone much preferring the sound of phones like the Audeze (I like them too, and they sound completely different from electrostatic phones).

Smart marketing ploy to raise Sennheiser above the rest. It got people talking, right?

The same reason media covers a restaurant who offers a $10k ice cream (a diamond is buried at the bottom). Now the competition around the corner may have much better ice cream but why are people running pass the corner to take pictures of the 10 grand dessert?

At least two owners of high end gear brand confined to me that unless the highest price of their product line is not above a certain price point, their products won’t get noticed (by some buyers). Sad, but how true!

As for me, I am always trying to find a product that equals or excels products in a higher price range that matches my systems and budget and/or through tweaking.