The past couple of week has been busy to say the least . . . ! Ronded off on thursday with the PC going on the blink, panic to coaxe the old laptop to run with programs it was never designed for, still cant get the email to work:doh: Typing this, its displays is two or three letters behind my fingers! Ho-hum, Friday was a 'chill' day, go look at some headphones, drive 100 miles to the nearest shop with quality phones on display to listen to.
Divine Audio provided a listening experiance, shifted round one of its studios so that we could sit in comfort, fresh cups of coffee, we had the run of the shop, left to our own devices, no presure, in a sea of headphones to try for as much as we liked.
The criteria, £100-£200, each pair, required two pairs, me and Hazel my partner, Hazel is disabled and has a small head, creating problems? Started with Grado 80i then the 125,dipped into Sennhizer, tried a couple of Audio Technica, including the AT 500x . . . OK, the 125's were top of Hazels list for fit, we both agreed the sound was good but a little analitical for our tast, towards cold at the top end?
About to take our leave with a 'think about it Chris, thanks for your time'. By this time the twin output headphone amp we had taken with us was causing problems on one output? . . . Chris poped in just as we were on the point, 'what about these' he said, waving a pair of NU-Fource HP-800? . . . 'They were deliverd new this morning, I have no idea of the correct price, I've not even listened to them, they are that new'. OK, one output is working so befor we go. I listened for no more than a minute, passed them to Hazel, she gives the thumbs up. Explained to Chris we were not happy with our amp, no probs, grabed one from the shop says he.
To cut the story, we were there another hour, playing musical headphones, the fit for us both was perfect. Sound was to our liking, KO Chris, how much . . . :? We continued listening, Chris had to look out the paperwork, £119, he came back with.
Sold to the lady and gent wearing the giant ear muffs! . . .
100 mile drive home, hard for me these days. Been listening all afternoon, after sorting the very old 'original' Pro-ject Headphone amp, it had come cheap from a heavy smokers house, stunk of nicotine! Anticipating the worst, I striped it, could find nothing, so, washed the case and carfully with cotton buds cleaned the inrards, phonos and jacks with iso-propolen.
So far so good, I have no idea about headphones, the NU Force HP800 are closed back, aluminium alloy casting, we chose on sound and cumfort alone. I am an an ex audiophile, dating back to the 70's/80's, prefering valve amplifiers, studio monitor speakers, overblown base is not my thing, strong powerful tunefull base and musicality is prefered. This is what the HP800 deliver, a suprising soundstage considering their closed back, they fit the voicing we like perfectly. Infact, as we run them, 3 hours so far, they are mellowing, but retain detail, base is very tight, extended and detailed.
Something I noticed this afternoon, listening to a favourit track, removed the phones, turned up the volume on the PMC speakers, the sound 'voicing' was almost identical. Image and air was better on speaker, but this is only a £120 pair of phones. Sparked the thought, how would a quality, high end, audiophile pair of open backs sound, £500 + ?
So as a review, perhaps the above does not tell you much? However, what I am trying to convey, at £120, they fitted out budget, my finicky audiophile musical apreciation, to me they are valuse for money+++.
CJSF
Divine Audio provided a listening experiance, shifted round one of its studios so that we could sit in comfort, fresh cups of coffee, we had the run of the shop, left to our own devices, no presure, in a sea of headphones to try for as much as we liked.
The criteria, £100-£200, each pair, required two pairs, me and Hazel my partner, Hazel is disabled and has a small head, creating problems? Started with Grado 80i then the 125,dipped into Sennhizer, tried a couple of Audio Technica, including the AT 500x . . . OK, the 125's were top of Hazels list for fit, we both agreed the sound was good but a little analitical for our tast, towards cold at the top end?
About to take our leave with a 'think about it Chris, thanks for your time'. By this time the twin output headphone amp we had taken with us was causing problems on one output? . . . Chris poped in just as we were on the point, 'what about these' he said, waving a pair of NU-Fource HP-800? . . . 'They were deliverd new this morning, I have no idea of the correct price, I've not even listened to them, they are that new'. OK, one output is working so befor we go. I listened for no more than a minute, passed them to Hazel, she gives the thumbs up. Explained to Chris we were not happy with our amp, no probs, grabed one from the shop says he.
To cut the story, we were there another hour, playing musical headphones, the fit for us both was perfect. Sound was to our liking, KO Chris, how much . . . :? We continued listening, Chris had to look out the paperwork, £119, he came back with.
Sold to the lady and gent wearing the giant ear muffs! . . .
100 mile drive home, hard for me these days. Been listening all afternoon, after sorting the very old 'original' Pro-ject Headphone amp, it had come cheap from a heavy smokers house, stunk of nicotine! Anticipating the worst, I striped it, could find nothing, so, washed the case and carfully with cotton buds cleaned the inrards, phonos and jacks with iso-propolen.
So far so good, I have no idea about headphones, the NU Force HP800 are closed back, aluminium alloy casting, we chose on sound and cumfort alone. I am an an ex audiophile, dating back to the 70's/80's, prefering valve amplifiers, studio monitor speakers, overblown base is not my thing, strong powerful tunefull base and musicality is prefered. This is what the HP800 deliver, a suprising soundstage considering their closed back, they fit the voicing we like perfectly. Infact, as we run them, 3 hours so far, they are mellowing, but retain detail, base is very tight, extended and detailed.
Something I noticed this afternoon, listening to a favourit track, removed the phones, turned up the volume on the PMC speakers, the sound 'voicing' was almost identical. Image and air was better on speaker, but this is only a £120 pair of phones. Sparked the thought, how would a quality, high end, audiophile pair of open backs sound, £500 + ?
So as a review, perhaps the above does not tell you much? However, what I am trying to convey, at £120, they fitted out budget, my finicky audiophile musical apreciation, to me they are valuse for money+++.
CJSF
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