sonenelson

So, I bought the Sennheiser HD 650's .I was going to buy the 555's but then decided what the hell I'll start my collection with the 650's.

So far coming from a pair of $20 headphones, I'm not blown away. they sound nice but the power handling seems to be lower then my cheap ones and I thought the 650 bass was supposed to be special?, although it's getting better as I break them in.

my current setup:
PC onboard sound card/FLAC/winamp/windows media >>>> Optical cable> to older sony home theater receiver > ( To HD650's )


what is my next best investment?
my first obvious thought is replacing the receiver I would like to get something in the 3 figure range that I can move to my bedroom??? I haven't really started looking yet but i'm ready to buy something.

My next idea is, now that I have something decent to play with I would like to upgrade the cables and then modify upgrade the cans themselves.
the cables I was thinking of doing myself and spending about as much or less then I bought them for (+/- $320). but I'm not sure of the value of cables; if $300 will even make a difference if I should spend more or put it all towards amp/preamp setup?


I don't know if I could have bought something better for the money. it was an impulse buy. but I'm not worried about that I'll try a different brand when I have my other components upgraded.

Thanks for the advice!

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The Mad Mule

Hello. I hate to be a pessimist, but I don't understand why you went for the HD 650 when you don't have a proper setup for it in the first place. The HD 600 probably would have been a better choice for you; many agree (including me) that it is balanced better sonic-wise than the HD650, and is easier to drive. It wasn't until I listened to the HD 650 through expensive (talking about a $1000+ amp here, but not meaning to stereotype quality by price point) equipment that it truly started to sound sublime.

The best way would be to purchase a great (not decent, great) DAC, and then a nice amp for it. Head-Fi has loads of threads talking about the HD 600 and HD 650. I'd say you should be looking at spending $600-800 for both of them. But distribute that money evenly between the two.

Last but not least, don't even bother upgrading the cable. Seriously, whether you believe in cables making a (positive) difference or not, they should be the very last thing you "upgrade" to, because by far they will give you the least amount of a change/improvement.

Hope that was helpful to some degree, and sorry if I sounded abrasive. It's true that having better headphones do make a huge difference, but they can only sing so well when they're being fed through some real crappy equipment.

sonenelson

@mad mule, I don't mind honesty, thanks for the quick response.

Yes, I agree. I guess I didn't make myself clear. I have been planning on, and just started upgrading all my crappy old stereo equipment. I have been waiting for the new Emotiva Umc-1 preamp to upgrade my home theater.

Are there any current/new suggestions for a headphone amp that I can run off a home theater preamp or something that's going to be versatile, closer to $600 and something I can move to other rooms/setups as I upgrade?

I know there are lots of reviews and such to search through but if anyone knows of a sale or wants to throw there 2 cents in, Cool!

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xguntherc

Yup. Great cans but u need amps and all the proper equipment. Enjoy em either way. I want those or some AKG702 next

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chinesekiwi

*cough* Any DT880 = better *cough*

DT880 600 ohm > DT880 '03 > Regular '05 DT880 250 ohm (all different drivers despite being all named 'DT880')

If the AKG K702 is anything like the K701, which I have read that it is = it will be very picky amp wise + not to mention it's 'odd' comfort + screwy extreme left, extreme right soundstage. Sennheisers can be amp picky as well, with the well reported (and I've experienced) 'Sennheiser veil'.

If you've got a decent amp, DT880/600 over both the HD650 and HD600.

HD600 > HD650 for me as well (tried both).

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sonenelson

In gerneral - this community has gotten pretty worthless on non OC topics... just MY opinion as of late. thought I would share.

@chinesekiwi - although your post is interesting, I didn't know about the DT880's, you didn't answer any of MY (op's) questions and what the other poster said wasn't a question or on topic enough for a response. but thanks anyway.



Okay... one more time before I give up.


I bought the best sennheiser's in my price range (hd650's) because I could and I wanted to, and with only limited research before my end purchase I'm still happy with what I got. I will try another brand next.

does anyone have anything to say about a possible amp; new or on sale, prebuilt or kit, that would go nicely, not perfectly, with the hd650's for around $500? it will likely be moved to another room later when it's replaced with something over the $1000 range

Thanks.

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What I love about Forums is that they're fluid, interactive, current and I can get opinions from real people. So please, don't persecute me for asking questions we both know I could eventually search out through google

!!~AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE OC Club~!!

BigDirty

LittleDot MKIII tube headphone amp. has preamp outs. sounds great. under 300usd

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