Best sounding headphones you have owned?


At one time I had gone through Shure, early Stax, Audio Technica electret condenser....and more.

What have you owned in both expensive and inexpensive headphones that gave you pleasurable listening?

 

jusam

JM Audio XTC 2.5s here. I feel John could charge double and they’d still be worth it given his tuning services. Really one of the best high-end bargains I’ve found.

I see quite a few mentions of the Hifiman Susvara and HE1000se but no mention of the HiFiMan HE6se.  Just based on price I would have thought that fell squarely between the two.  I have the HiFiMan Ananda's but as my stereo system has gotten much better I almost never listen to headphones anymore.

I recently changed the cable on my iBasso SR-1's to a 6nines Silver Plated OCC cable & I am absolutely head over heals Gaga in lust/love with these headphones..
 I've spent a lot of time & $ over the last year driving hundreds of miles to Austin,San Antonio & Houston auditioning TOTL's from Audeze,HiFiMan,Focal & Sennheiser..I've still yet to hear ANYTHING that has the naturally organic tone of the iBasso..Honestly they sound like iBasso invited a pair of Harbeth M40.1's, a Cary Audio 300SEI amplifier & an un named,Class A,KT88 Ultra Linear amplifier to a motel & threw a drunken orgy,culminating in the birth of a step child with the voice of all the angels in heaven..
 They don't need a special tube amp to thrive either..As a matter of fact,they are NOT really suited to a tube amp that is voiced to be warm & tubey,they would sound like an older Conrad Johnson tube amp then,syrupy & sloppy...
They ABSOLUTELY LOVE Class A Solid State..​​​​​​ Driven by the headphone out from my SimAudio 240i or a Topping DX7Pro DAC/Amp,they simply drip & oooze tonal color & saturation..
 They don't have quite the massive standing & imaging of the Sennheiser HD800S,or the super deep slamming bass of say an Audeze LCD-3/5,or the razor sharp,super extended treble of an AKG studio headphone,what they do have is a balanced tone that makes them a superb all arounder,favoring no specific style of music & giving hour after hour of fatigue free,blissful listening...
 I know I know,everyone hears differently & I'm coming off as if my sub conscience desires have over ridden my analytical brain but I am NOT easily impressed or swayed by any piece of gear,be they audio,video,amature astronomy,automobiles,whatever...It's SOOOO very rare to find a piece of audio gear that,with a bare minimum of tweaking(changing the cable),can compete with the absolute best of the best...I would pay good $ to get a few golden ears who own TOTL cans from ANY manufacturer together for a blind listening session with these headphones..I have ZERO doubt,more than one of them would walk away shaking their heads after finding out what they were actually listening to...

@bjorn154 ,@ yakbob & @pastorbob ,I am curious,which type of drivers are you so enamoured with,the Beryllium or Bio Wool?
I find it interesting he offers a Bio Wool driver as I just posted a fanboy type reply of my iBasso SR-1’s which use a Bio Cellulous driver & I wonder how his Bio Wool compares...

@freediver, mine are beryllium drivers with John’s warm yet detailed tuning. I’ve not heard his bio wool drivers so I cannot offer a comparison. I can say the beryllium drivers sound fairly neutral from top to bottom. Not too warm, not too detailed.