Headphones you have owned

[davidscott]

When and what were your impressions? I started in around 1982 with some AKG 240 sextettes. Maybe the best sounding phones I ever owned. Girlfriend's cockatiel destroyed the cables so I had to move on.
1983 Sennheiser HD 420 a little light weight sound wise but so so comfortable.
2005 Sennheiser 201s when the 420s started to fall apart. Just ok
2010 AKG K240s comfortable sound ok but nowhere near the old AKG sextettes.
2014 Grado sr60i - best sounding phones since the sextettes.
Finally some Panasonic RP HT21s for walking and pc listening surprisingly decent sound and the most comfortable yet.
No phones much over $100 and some cheaper but a pretty good mix.
You?

 

[speakerman39]

JBL S500 & currently JBL Elite 700! Oh, and some cheap Sony's years ago. Kinda new to the headphone thing.


Cheers,

Phil

 

[Joe B]

Oppo PM-2 and Beyerdynamic T 1 gen 2. Both are very comfortable and sound excellent. The Beyerdynamic headphones have the edge over the Oppo's. I'm currently using a Marantz HD DAC-1 to drive my headphones, but I'm eyeing a Sim Audio Moon 230 HAD as an upgrade. With a headphone based system it's much easier dollar wise to approach a high end audio system than it is with a high end 2 channel system.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Koss Pro-4AA
Koss Pro-4AAA
AKG K-240 Monitor (Made in Austria)
AKG K-240 Studio
Sennheiser HD 600
Sennheiser HD 650
Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Wired:
Koss KSC75
Fostex T20RP mk1
Fostex T50RP mk2
Shure SE425
Sennheiser HD201
Sennheiser PX 200 II
Sennheiser HD 558
Sennheiser HD 600
AKG K712Pro [Made in Austia]

BT:
Sennheiser PXC 550
Samsung Level On

 

[rojo]

In-ears (the ones worth mentioning):
thinksound ts02+
KEF M100

On-ears (the ones worth mentioning):
KEF M500
Parrot Zik 2.0 (Bluetooth)
Philips Fidelio M1MKIIWT/27 (M1 Mark II? I bought them for my daughter to use at elementary school.)

Over-ears:
Mr. Speakrs Aeon Flow Open

The thinksound and KEF ear buds sound great. The thinksound buds may not be the most detailed, but they have satisfying tuning that makes every genre sound pleasing. I could use a bit more sub bass from the KEFs, but otherwise they offer great detail and tuning.

The KEF M500 on-ears are muich more comfortable than they look, but they could use more clamping force or something. They fall off my head if I tip my head forward. The Parrot Ziks have an outstanding sound once they're dialed in via the app, but they are heavily dependent upon said app. Also, the felt inside one of the ear cups is detaching and there's no way to put it back. The Philips cans also have a nice sound -- surprisingly nice for the $39 I spent on them open-box on eBay. I'mma turn my daughter into an audiophile if it's the last thing I do.

The Mr. Speakers headphones are outstandingly comfortable, but their tuning leaves a lot to be desired with a pronounced midbass emphasis. Nevertheless, with their response flattened by my miniDSP HA-DSP with a small house curve and some subtle crosstalk added on a delay, their sound rivals anything else I've ever heard on my head or in front of it. Still, because of the measuring and tuning required to get this sound, I hesitate to recommend them to anyone else.

 

[davidscott]

Koss Pro-4AA
Koss Pro-4AAA
AKG K-240 Monitor (Made in Austria)
AKG K-240 Studio
Sennheiser HD 600
Sennheiser HD 650
Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro

You have some old school stuff there.

 

[davidscott]

Wired:
Koss KSC75
Fostex T20RP mk1
Fostex T50RP mk2
Shure SE425
Sennheiser HD201
Sennheiser PX 200 II
Sennheiser HD 558
Sennheiser HD 600
AKG K712Pro [Made in Austia]

BT:
Sennheiser PXC 550
Samsung Level On

Sadly the new AKGs (including my K240s) are no longer made in Austria

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

You have some old school stuff there.

I no longer have those old Koss phones. I don't miss them either.

 

[Jeepers]

Pioneer Monitor-10 : 1977 - 1988
Beyerdynamic DT880 : 1986 - present

 

[Bucknekked]

Fellow Headphone Dudes,
I give you the best rated headphones in about 1976 by Playboy magazine. The Stanton Dynaphase 60.
I don't know of a bigger set of cans ever sold to the American public. They were truly ginormous.
But, they were freakin' awesome. You could lose your hearing with these. They got loud.

The sound was pretty good across the board for 1970's technology. I bought a set and loved every minute of them. They did suffer from a few shortcomings. One of them was that damned coiled cord.
The same damn coiled cord that irritated and caused all of us to hate phone cords in general.

 

[Andrein]

Oppo PM-3. Absolutely live them. The sound is so clear, a lot of bass.

 

[snakeeyes]

Sennheiser HD 599

 

[Grant.M]

I own a pair of Koss headphones from the 80’s (don’t remember the model), and a pair of Sennheiser HD598’s. I love my HD598’s, nice neutral sound and really comfortable, I wore them almost everyday for a couple years.

 

[davidscott]

Fellow Headphone Dudes,
I give you the best rated headphones in about 1976 by Playboy magazine. The Stanton Dynaphase 60.
I don't know of a bigger set of cans ever sold to the American public. They were truly ginormous.
But, they were freakin' awesome. You could lose your hearing with these. They got loud.

The sound was pretty good across the board for 1970's technology. I bought a set and loved every minute of them. They did suffer from a few shortcomings. One of them was that damned coiled cord.
The same damn coiled cord that irritated and caused all of us to hate phone cords in general.

Never saw those but thanks for the picture. When I bought my first set of phones back in 1982 Stax were considered by many as State of the Art (Man I love that SOTA phrase). Couldn't afford them so I purchased AKGs and Senns. Did you ever get a chance to compare those Stantons to and Stax phones?

 

[Bucknekked]

Never saw those but thanks for the picture. When I bought my first set of phones back in 1982 Stax were considered by many as State of the Art (Man I love that SOTA phrase). Couldn't afford them so I purchased AKGs and Senns. Did you ever get a chance to compare those Stantons to and Stax phones?

David
No, I never tested or tried the Stax. Too rich for my po' blood. The Stantons were as far up the food chain as I could reach. Its interesting because I knew at the time that I couldn't afford the speakers I wanted or the type of audio source and power needed to complete a hi end system. But, I could get some really great headphones and even the low cost products could power them and sound great. Headphones became a poor mans remedy and solution to great sound.

I have been enthused by great sound since I was a kid. Headphones were an early solution to not having a ton of money. I remember the first time I strapped on a set and played an album: Closer to Home by Grand Funk Railroad. The "I'm your Captain" song. It was a revelation. I have been hooked ever since.