[adydula]

Its really amazing to me to see RAAL jump into the headphone fray....there are sooooo many headphones out there now it makes your headspin. If he is really going to do this he is taking a risk for sure IMO.

That said I being a headphone addict would indeed like to see what he comes up with.

Today there are several models above and well above the $1000 mark, with many, many more below the $1000 mark.

I would bet 90% of heahphone owners buy at or below the $1000 mark...and then some.

Looking over all the information on all these cans for years has a lot of parallels to speakers, with each manufacturer touting
their goodness and how the next model is better or different than another.

Many folks with headphones make the analysis that you dont need to spend $50,000 on headphones to have a great experience
but those $50K cans sure do sound good...

I compared cans to speakers many times, but the speakers always win out "to me" in overall presentation and all the rest. While some headphones do a really good job of reproducing music accurately.

Many vendors come in and offer a new headphone, like Oppo, and then after awhile just dissappear...

If Jim comes up with a headphone I would be the first one in line to try them!!

But I hope he just stays focused on what he is doing now, with offerring some of the best loudspeakers in the world!

Alex

[greenhouseman]

I'm not really asking Salk to make headphones... instead, have any of you found headphones that you find "match" Salk sound fairly well?

Thanks.

Oppo headphones with Oppo HA-2 headphone amp =  extremely positive listening experience

[adydula]

Its sad OPPO is going, going.....away.

Alex

[theater_lover]

A little update for those who are interested.

I tried the NAD Viso HP50.  I had high hopes considering the reviews and the price, but they just sounded muddy to me.

I then tried the Adorama HifiMan HE-560 v2.  Overall I liked the sound, but they were a touch crisp / clinical and the headband was terrible.

Lastly I tried the Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro.  I like these.  They don't have the spaciousness of a planar, but overall everything sounds "good".  They are also built like a tank (vs. the two above.).

So for now, that is what I am sticking with.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Grbluen]

A little update for those who are interested.

I tried the NAD Viso HP50.  I had high hopes considering the reviews and the price, but they just sounded muddy to me.

I then tried the Adorama HifiMan HE-560 v2.  Overall I liked the sound, but they were a touch crisp / clinical and the headband was terrible.

Lastly I tried the Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro.  I like these.  They don't have the spaciousness of a planar, but overall everything sounds "good".  They are also built like a tank (vs. the two above.).

So for now, that is what I am sticking with.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

So how about the match to Salk speakers? That's what we were talking about, right?

[dB Cooper]

That's very hard because there isn't a Salk 'house sound' per se IMHO- the different 'families' (Song, SS, Exotica just to name a few) use different drivers and voicings and have quite different overall signatures.

[DMurphy]

The various speakers certainly have different drivers with different dispersion patterns and extension, but the basic voicing is as close as I can get it.  To that extent, I really think there is a house sound.  Which hopefully is neutral.

[Saturn94]

The various speakers certainly have different drivers with different dispersion patterns and extension, but the basic voicing is as close as I can get it.  To that extent, I really think there is a house sound.  Which hopefully is neutral.

Having heard the SS10, HT2-TL, SS8, E3, and SongTower, I would agree with this.

[dB Cooper]

I have heard all the abovementioned speakers too, and while they are all close to 'neutral', all sound distinctly different from one another. FR plots don't reveal everything about what lends a speaker its 'signature'. Does an SS, which has a dipole loading in the mid and highs, really sound the same as a monopole Exotica (for example)? Not to me.

[DMurphy]

I have heard all the abovementioned speakers too, and while they are all close to 'neutral', all sound distinctly different from one another. FR plots don't reveal everything about what lends a speaker its 'signature'. Does an SS, which has a dipole loading in the mid and highs, really sound the same as a monopole Exotica (for example)? Not to me.

No, but that's not because the voicing is different. 

[Grbluen]

I'm only two days into the break- in, but the Denon AH-D5200 seem to be a good match. They have the same balanced, listen forever quality like the Salk speakers. Not even close to monitor type headphones.

Don
Original Song 3