2. misc-audio
  3. 173276-169159

Advice on new headphone system please

     I'm buying a new headphone system.  I have a few combos I'm throwing at the community that are being contemplated.  These units will be new except for the Cambridge Audio CXU universal disc player I already own.  The system will be primarily used for red book listening.  I will be streaming with the Cambridge and a computer also along with copying a relatively large cd collection to high quality file.  A discreet streamer is in the near future.  Pre-owned systems are also an option.  This would save money which is always a plus.  These are the few systems I'm looking at.

     1)  Bryston BHA 1 headphone amp, Sennheiser HDV 820 headphones and either the Bryston BDA 2 DAC or the Cambridge Audio Dac Magic 200.  The Bryston DAC is on sale here.

     2)  The same system with the Rogue Audio RH5 headphone amp. 

     3)  I'm also looking at the Burson Conductor 3 Reference headphone amp, dac preamp.  I like seperates better though. 

     I take care of my mother, so closed back headphones are necessary.  I'm open to headphone suggestions.  I'm not crazy about planars yet will consider all suggestions.  Planars may be better with the tube Rogue.

     Interconnects are also needed.  The few I have are low quality.  I'm not into exotic cables.  Please advise on a set of decent RCA, Coaxial and balanced interconnects. A coaxial cable will be used from the cd player to the DAC, A decent set of balanced cables will be used from the DAC to the headphone amp.  A decent RCA is needed in order to use the DAC in the CXU.  I'd like to use this option too. I'm using the cables that come with the headphones for now as the headphones are expensive enough.  Still suggestions for balanced headphone cables are appreciated.

     Thank you for your time.     

     

paulg1966

Showing 4 responses by ghdprentice

ghdprentice
6,471 posts
 

Very sorry to hear about your injuries.

‘From your descriptions of the sound you like, see if you can find some Beyerdynamic T2 headphones to listen to. They among the most unique and natural sounding that I own / heard. While I listen to my Focal Utopia and Sennheiser 800s the most, because in absolute terms they simply out perform everything else. The Sennheiser are not trebly… in my system… they used to be in earlier incarnations of my system.

Also, consider not thinking about spending any money on interconnects… get the very best components you can. Then listen and enjoy… and at some point your finances can recover and then you can think about interconnects… as an upgrade and treat to really optimize your system.

 

Also, I am sure most folks found this true. It is really hard to do a one time purchase and done. It is hard not to learn so much from your initial repurchase that you want to trade or try different stuff to zero in on the sound you really want. But you have to start somewhere and the higher you shoot the less turnover you have.

 

I own or (owned) top level Denons, Sennheiser, Focal, UltaSonde Edition 8, LCD2, ADK, Grado… and some others. Grado can be relaxing. Denon (D9000) require massive power to get bass under control… then they are amazing.

ghdprentice
6,471 posts
 

I spent well over ten years developing and upgrading my headphone system to where it is now. There were many learning moments along the way for me (you can see my primary headphone system by clicking on my ID). A couple things, although headphone systems are very personal.

 

Be really carefull of overly detailed electronics. The headphones are right in your ear… high frequency noice and distortion go right into them. If your system is fatiguing, even in a small way, this is your problem. Over time I moved to all tube headphone amps after too many fatiguing solid state amps. Many headphones need lots of power… I chose Woo for my amps… I have used three for thousands of hours.

 

Look for high quality natural sounding DAC and streamer. A PC can work… but at some point in improving sound a dedicated streamer is necessary to get really great sound. They are built from the ground up to be quiet and high fidelity. Yes, they matter. It may not be intuitive, but they can make a big difference with appropriate other components.

 

ghdprentice
6,471 posts
 

Open headphones tend to have a much less confined sound and are less fatiguing from a heat and humidity point of view… I can’t wear closed backs for long periods of time.

 

But, open backs do little to isolate you from surrounding sounds and visa versa. If noise is a problem either way then closed back are necessary. Then, typically there will be times when you don’t need isolation… most of us end up with both.

 

ghdprentice
6,471 posts
 

Merry Christmas Paul. I am not sure I remember all your requirements. I don’t think your choice of The Rouge is wrong or bad in any way. But given some of your requirements you might look at the Woo WA22. Woo amps have a real natural, organic and detailed tone that it sounds like you are looking for. Although the Rougue would probably be OK.

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