So my brother came over for dinner tonight, after we were sitting in one of my listening rooms playing some music he brought over and he noticed the headphones I have been using, a pair of Kickers I bought really cheap, tried and fell in love with... SO he has $1400 pairs of Sennheisers and I said give them a try, I hooked in my amp and plugged him in, at first he thought they were tight {we have big heads} but that goes away, then I turned them on and he was amazed. They are pretty impressive, I also have a couple high end sets of senns and 2 pairs of b&w's {5's and a pair of 7's} and I use the kickers, lol...
I also have a cheap pair of panasonics I like to use, but not sure of the model number..
Well anyway, I think I paid around $75 for my kickers a couple years back at an audio show, my brother looked up the model number and found a company selling them on ebay for $35.95 shipped!!! Others must know about these because that seller sold over 100 pairs!!!
Kicker HP402B Cush Over Ear Headphones Black | eBay
I figured I would share my experience with them incase anyone is looking for a decent set of phones for short short money... I had 5 sets of headphones down there so we all {me, my brother, and my neighbor} all tried all of the sets, it was actually a good time if you could picture that, my wife even poked in and listened for a bit...
Anyway heres what I came up with, my brother liked the kickers over all 3 and John preferred the p5's first then the kickers {he is a classical music guy and loved the p5's mids}.....
Comparing them to beats {not sure what model, they are my sons, cost around $200}, senns hd 598's {I don't remember what I paid for these, I think right under $200}, and B&W p5's {again under $200}...
vs the beats, my sons beats have a pretty decent low end but thats honestly all, I am not crazy about how they fill your head with bass and the top end is just lying there lifeless, the kickers low end is all of what the beats are except better, so seeing how that is their strongest point, I have to say they hands down beat this $200 set...
vs the 598's- OK, so to comparing the kickers to these 598's is not really fair, first these were over $300 even though now you can get them for around $180, second these are open backed so not much noise isolation which is why I wear headphones, lol... BUT they have a really nice sound stage, as do all the open back senns I have ever listened to, so in that aspect they are a step above the kickers, but the kickers stay with them in all other categories, they have a better low end... The kickers are quieter {outside noise wise but again that is because of the different design}, they have just as nice of a high end and I prefer the kickers midrange over the senns... For watching tv I prefer the 598's for their sound stage, but for music I use the kickers...
vs the p5's, this is pretty esay, I like the p5's for their midrange I have yet to hear a better midrange on headphones, there is just something about how these sound that I like, BUT the lows are soft, and the highs can get fatiguing in very long sessions, honestly I am being hard to please there, because the highs are nice, just if I had to pick at them, I would mention fatigue, this could be because of the "on ear" style of that unit though...
Comparing the kickers to the p5's I prefer the p5 midrange, I was not surprised by that, but the lows and highs are much better in the kickers, hands down on the lows, and they both have decent highs...
The kickers are all there, if you want to give them a try that ebay auction is cheap, my brother just bought a set tonight, I may pick up another set too.. I own a pair of 650's and a pair of HD 700's I bought second hand they are really nice, but I am not crazy about them for music...
My brother has 2 pairs of HD 800's which gets you in $3000 land {he bought them from a studio that he bought some subs off of, he only paid $500 for both pairs!!!!}, and I have used them, they are awesome I will not compare these kickers to them by any means, my 650's and 700's are nicer too, but I don't use them and since my wife has been home I have been using phones much more often, I grab the kickers, maybe because I don't care to leave them out in the open where the kids can grab them or they get sat on once and a while because they were affordable....
Well thats all I got, check them out and try em, I can't see you being disapointed..
