What Headphones

[whaleway]

I am not sure what Headphones to purchase. I origionally wanted to buy the Sennheiser HD650 but am not sure that they are the right ones for my system. My amplifier isa Marantz PM6002 and my source is an Arcam CD73. I have been reading that not all amps will power these headphones properly and a headphone amp will be required to get the best out of them.

My question is I like these headphones but they are at the top end of my budget so I cannot afford to buy an additional headphone amp as a good one appears to be in excess of £200 so I was wondering what oher headphones would be more suitable without having to purchase a headphone amp. Opinions welcomed please

 

[idc]

Hi whaleway. Are the headphones going to be your main means of listening? What kind of music do you listen to? Is your budget about £225 since you mention the HD650s?

 

[Anonymous]

I have the hd 650 and you do need a amp for them to sing

May i suggest the hd 595 i found them to great for the price and easy to drive.

They are also super comfortable, With the money you save i would look to buy a amp in the future

 

[John Duncan]

Yup, no point in buying 650s if you're going to use the headphone output of a 6002 (no disrespect). If I was stuck at that budget and absolutely no more I think I'd rather have one of the cheaper pair of Grados (60i or 125i, though try them first for comfort) and a half decent can-amp.

 

[John Duncan]

Although reading your post again, I'd argue that you don't have to spend £200 to get a nice headphone amp - I'd be scouring a well-known auction site for a v1 or v2 Musical Fidelity X-Can, a Creek OBH-11 (two on there now around the 90 quid mark BIN), various Little Dots, Project HeadBox, yadda yadda.

 

[whaleway]

No they are not going to be my source of listening but I work shifts so listen quite a bit at night so they will get a lot of use. I grew up through the 70's so my favourite musical taste is prog rock but to be quite honest my taste is very broad so listen to what I like. The only exception is jazz which I just can't get my head around. I do like to try and buy the best for the money thay I have so if it means waiting a bit to save a little bit more then so be it because I want something that I am going to be happy with.

 

[Big Chris]

Well. I'm more than happy with my Grado SR125s used with my Arcams (And the Arcams I had before too, A CD72T & A65+)

They leak sound though, so if you're gonna be listening to music while someone else is in the same room watching Eastenders or some such, you're gonna be hearing the TV and they'll be hearing your music. Not ideal (I know from experience!)

 

[whaleway]

I have heard that the Grado's are excellent Headphones but the only comment tat people seem to make about them is that they are not the most comfortable of Headphones, other than that they have glowing reports.

 

[Big Chris]

I don't have an issue with them, but know why the bare foam pads could be an annoyance to others.

 

[idc]

As a fellow prog rock fan I would look to try out Grado and AKG headphones. My SR80s have great drive and AKG K702s loads of detail. Your budget will easily get you Grado SR125is and I found AKG K702s on ebay for £180 new but no warranty. Both should sound fine with the headphone out you have and then, if you really get into headfi look to invest in a dedicated amp. But if you are definitely going to be just an occasional listener I would try and listen to the SR60s or similar AKG priced cans. The last time I was in a Richer sounds they had both.