[saisunil]

SR60 is not nearly as transparent, dynamic or have as much quality and quantity of bass as SR225i - some people just love their SR60 ...

[eclein]

I really like my Ultrasone's and these little AKG's I picked up are surprisingly good, thats what got me started thinking which is a bad thing probably....I'll probably start collecting them now. I've read a bunch of reviews about the SR60 that were very positive so I'm pumped to hear them. I'm sure as with all things in this hobby there are better more revealing choices out there but budget dictates inexpensive to start.

[BobM]

Don't forget the head amp you will need to drive the better headphones. The two should ideally be matched for each other. There are tons of experts over on the forums at www.head-fi.org that you can consult on these things.

In fact, they've got quite an active classified section over there where you can get a sweet deal on just about anything you may be looking for, and then some.

[Bigload]

I made some final decisions and UPS showed up tonight with a set of Sennheiser HD800's, and set of Shure SRH840's, and a Mogami Gold 10ft extension.  I had to know the difference between a set of really expensive cans and a set of moderately priced, but highly regarded cans.  This will be a horrible and brief assessment after listening to both for a single evening, but...  The Shures have more punch and more bass definition and sound really good all around.  No real complaints at all.  The Sennheisers just sound amazing though.  They have an open and spacious feel with a great soundstage.  Tone and clarity are amazing to me.  Bass is just a little reserved which is fine for most of my music listening.  One of my tests was watching some Blu-ray disks of Deadwood.  For this, I plugged the Senns directly into my Onkyo TX-NR5007 and set it to Stereo DTS Surround Sensation.  I have to tell you that I thought I had turned on my HT speakers and had to pull off my cans to check.  The Senns just sounded incredible here.  It was just as if my cans were not even on my head and instead my 7.1 Salk/Van Alstine system was in full stride filling the room with high quality sound.  But it was just the Senns.  I also worked pretty hard to find any difference listening to both sets with and without the extension cable.  I just cannot tell a difference with the cable.  So what to do???  I absolutely have to keep the HD800's for the HT/main listening room.  The Shure's are on my head right now playing directly from my iPod and they are sounding pretty darn good too.  So I think they have to stay too for the iPod, bedroom, exercise room, etc.  And from what I could tell, the Mogami cable is a real keeper too.  If you want to spend the cash to squeeze out every drop of quality you can, I think the HD800's do that.  If you only want to drop a couple hund on a really fantastic sounding, seemingly underpriced set that does much more than just an adequate job, the Shure 840's do that quite well.  The Sennheisers absolutely sound better (and you pay for it).  The Shures must just be the bargain of the century. 

[eclein]

Where did you purchase yours from????The Senns

[santacore]

I pulled out my HD800's, after letting them sit for a few months. I have to agree with you Bigload, they are very nice sounding cans. A little lean in the bass, but otherwise very strong performers. One day I'll try them for home theater.

[Bigload]

Where did you purchase yours from????The Senns

Bought everything from Amazon.

[eclein]

Thanks Bigload. I'm not gonna getting them anytime soon, I'll have to stick with used cans for now...I did grab a Fiio E5 headphone amp off amazon for like $22 and although its not as powerful as I thought it would be it adds just enough umpf to the sound of my AKG K430's and I eagerly await the Grado's which are due Fri, Sat,.....I love gadgets and this little E5 is the same form factor as an ipod shuffle, a little clip on gizmo....I'm enjoying these toys.

[Bigload]

So far most of my listening has been plugged into my Van Alstine preamps for music, or into my Onkyo TX-NR5007 for HT.  However, I did spend about 30 minutes today listening to the Shure 840's directly from my iPod and I was pretty amazed at how well it sounded and how much volume it would produce. 

[eclein]

I spent about 30 minutes paying attention while listening with the E5 and I think I understand what the deal is with these little amps. Its not about volume and more about big wide and deep sound stage, I was walking around my apartment listening to my AKG's and was enjoying the big sound, like sitting in front of speakers. I dig it!!!

[giantsteps]

 I've heard most of the headphones mentioned above. For the best value I still favor a Stax Lambda Nova Electrostatic on the used market.



Frank 

[eclein]

Frank- how much would a used pair run??

[giantsteps]

Frank- how much would a used pair run??

I've been lucky to find a few here and there ( the usual suspects..Ebay, Audiogon, Canuck,etc) for musician friends and family.You have to be patient. My best guestimate nowadays would be 100/150.00 in shitty (cosmetically) condition to roughly 250/300.00 in mint condition.


Frank

[eclein]

Thats something I could actually, possibly, save up and do...Thanks. I've been looking at the Stax Earspeaker website and was looking for someone that sells them but found it to difficult so I gave up...I'll keep my eyes open though...Thanks!!!

[giantsteps]

Thats something I could actually, possibly, save up and do...Thanks. I've been looking at the Stax Earspeaker website and was looking for someone that sells them but found it to difficult so I gave up...I'll keep my eyes open though...Thanks!!!

Frank