Headphones

I have the senn 580's. I think overall they are the best I've heard. I do note that they have their drawbacks. They tend to sound a little 'too smooth'. Sometimes they are also a little 'too good' and tend to overpower you with detail. I find that at work I sometimes prefer listening to my old sony v6 studio headphones. They just have a relaxed quality and are a little easier to listen to as 'background' music. Some other bad characteristics of the 580's are that they tend to sound loud to others in the vicinity, and they don't have any sound deadening ability. You hear EVERYTHING going on the room around you. The sony's are much better in this respect.

I own Senn 600s now and have had 580s and Grado 325s. I love the 600s. They are much more comfortable than the Grados, and I think more sweetly detailed as well. I found that the Grados had a bit of grunge that never allowed them to open up like the Senns. The 600s are a good step up from the 580s as well. I have used the Senns w/ Musical Fidelity xcans v2 amp, and it is a very transparent experience, though with out as much bass slam as you might get with one of the more expensive headroom amps. Good luck!

..this would come under the "For what it's worth" catagory.. I had worked in the audio industry(?) at one time, and had several Stax of note.. I then had a pair of Audio Technica electret condenser headphones...and have never liked any better. Sold them long ago, and had tried the top end wood body Grado...but nothing got me into the music like those old Audio Technica's.... A friend had said that Stax had the same model, and that Stax may have made them for Audio Technica.
This may be of little use, but does anyone else have any experience with the AT or Stax Electret Condenser models?

I own Seinheiser 580 and have listened to the 600 (which are much better than the 580). I do not have any experience with the Grado. As to a headphone amp, either headroom amps or melos tube. I really like tubes with headphones. However, I would recommend something a little different. Stax headphones, preferably with the tube option. On the used market you can find them near what you would spend on the 600s and a good amp. I recently bought a pair of Lambdas with the solid state amp for $450. If you plan to do a lot of listening with headphones, the Stax are really the most enjoyable over a long period of time. Great clarity and detail and not so "headphone" sounding. One thing to keep in mind they are "free air" headphones--so others in your vacinity will hear some music from them.

Sorry to stay off the subject, but Whatjd, I still have the AT electret headphones. I have not used them in years, but once upon a time I was very very smitten. Very engaging headphone. The problem at the moment is that they almost require that you have a balance control, since the manual tells you that one channel will likely be louder than the other, and mine do this to a certain degree. Bought them around 1980, but never a problem. Just thought you might be interested.