[Sam-fi]

I want to share with everyone. My new little slice of audio bliss. My HD600s are being run by the Trafomatic Head One (OTL amp) and W4S DAC1. Really these have to be some of the best headphones made. Just crisp, dense, musical sound. It gets my toe tapping in seconds and I always listen for longer than I intend.

Sam

[Douger]

Congratulations!

[ryno]

I'll agree with you on the HD600s. I brought mine to RMAF '11, the kilo buck phones might have been better, but not 4x better. I'm not running the level of gear you have, pure 20 dock with lossless and a crack, but I feel no need to go better. I'm lusting after the Hifiman 400's for the living room however.
Ryan

[dB Cooper]

Thinking about the HD600 myself. According to HeadRoom, it has been discontinued, so I guess if I want them I better not wait too long. This would leave a "hole" in the Senn line between the 595 and 650; interested to see what they might fill that hole with.

[saisunil]

A lot of audiophiles prefer 600 over 650 for linearity ... they are close in performance anyway ...
Buying used headphone is not a bad idea - either hand-wash the ear pads or buy a new set and wipe clean the rest of it ... you loose less money this way

One gets better performance by upgrading the cable though ...

[Sam-fi]

I've tried the equinox and cardas for my hd600s still my favorite cable is the HD650 cable. It adds a little detail and body and still has excellent musicality. The others might have extended the highs and lows a little more but the HD650 cable has a better grasp of the musicality. When I listen to rhythm tracks it really sounds like sweating grooving cubans moving the beat, not like a recording of that.

The HD600s really respond well to better equipment on the front end.

Sam

[hibuckhobby]

May have to try the 600's, I keep going back to my 650's with tubes.  Hope
to sample a Traformatic sometime at a gathering.
Hibuck....

[Guy 13]

I'll agree with you on the HD600s. I brought mine to RMAF '11, the kilo buck phones might have been better, but not 4x better. I'm not running the level of gear you have, pure 20 dock with lossless and a crack, but I feel no need to go better. I'm lusting after the Hifiman 400's for the living room however.
Ryan

Hi Ryan and all Audio Circle members.

I just read your post
and something came out of it,
that I always wanted to write on Audio Circle.

For me it's a kind of a law,
if you want
(Not only audio stuff everything from kitchen knives to automobiles)
something twice as good or that is two times better,
you have to pay four time the price.

Of course, this statement is not very precise,
but it's to let you know that when you get into the very high end products,
like the HD800 you pay a lot more to get a little more.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that you don't get your money's worth,
It's just to say that the little extra you get from the high end stuff, does not offer a good price to quality ratio.

Is there any Audio Circle members that can say/confirm that you get
three (03) times the sound quality out of a HD-800 at 1,500USD
compared to a HD-650 at one third the price 500USD.

If any one can say that, please step forward and make yourself heard.

Guy 13   
 

[hibuckhobby]

Hi Guy,

Having heard both, I would say "no" it is not three times better.   There is no doubt that it 'is'
better, but what one person hears as a huge difference may well be insignificant to another.
How does one quantify "three times better"?   It will be different for each person.

The 650 is warmer and more lush sounding.  The 800 has less midbass, but will go deeper on a
good amp.  It has far more width to the soundstage, although the 650 is not bad there either.
Once one gets to the 650 IMO, you pay more and more for incremental improvements.  Both
phones will sound great with classical and acoustic jazz.  For rock or metal the 800 is a bit more
in your face with the highs and more analytical sound.   

At the end of the day, your personal preferences in sound reproduction will determine which one you
prefer.
Hibuck...

[ryno]

I guess I didn't word it very well. I should have said, it's not better enough for me to spend 4x the money. I wasn't trying to define 4x better sound quality.
Ryan

[saisunil]

Guy it is not about headphones - but high end audio in general or for that matter most hobbies ... law of diminishing return kicks in ...

For me - I could not live with HD 600 even after adding a kilo-buck cable and other tweaks ... why because the sound-stage was too narrow and the experience was lacking in realism for me ...

I have HE-500 now - the experience is clearly better - much better for me ...

Having said that ... one could easily live with 600s with after market cable and call it a day ... it is a good phone ...

[Sam-fi]

My perception on the matter is that each time you double the price with audio equipment you get a significant 20% increase in total sound reproduction. It's an exponential curve. The hd800 is something I intend to listen to one day - right now for my situation I'm ecstatic.

[Guy 13]

My perception on the matter is that each time you double the price with audio equipment you get a significant 20% increase in total sound reproduction. It's an exponential curve. The hd800 is something I intend to listen to one day - right now for my situation I'm ecstatic.

Hi Sam-fi and all Audio Circle members.

I agree with you on the :

First doubling of the price, you get 20% increase in quality.

May I ad that in the second doubling,
you get only 10% increase in quality
and then, the other doubling you get only 5% in quality increase
and that applies to many different products,
not only to audio products.

Of course the 20% is not equal to everyone.

Of course the 20% and all the other numbers are just a numbers,
pretty difficult to put numbers on something that is very dependent
on each personal preferences.

Excuse my English,
but I am sure you get my point.

Doubling the price to get something that is 20% better,
I don't have real problem with that,
but it's the second and subsequent doubling that are difficult for me to swallow.
 
Guy 13