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Headphone Listeners?

I'm at a bit of a crossroads in my system building, and I'm looking for input from anyone who spends a substantial amount of time listening to headphones--and anyone who can't stand them for particular reasons, too. My current system is modest, as are my means, and having gotten tired of "upgrading" in incremental half-measures I've decided that I want to start gradually building around better gear that's worth keeping. The problem is that I'll be saving a long time to get the gear I want, and in the meantime an excellent headphone rig--and the sound I'm going for--is much more in reach.

I auditioned a pair of Sennheiser HD600s with the Antique Sound Lab MG DT OTL mkIII and LOVED it. It's exactly the sound I want: rich midrange, SET magic, a full bottom end, and slightly laid back highs. The listening I did was a revelation, but unfortunately brief. I'd like to hear from anyone who's spent a satisfying length of time using headphones for most of their critical listening. Since I occasionally use a pair of AKG K501s through my amp's headphone jack and find them a bit too up-front and fatiguing, I worry about listening fatigue being higher with headphones in general. Through speakers or headphones, I listen at 60 to 80 dB max. In my short listen to the Senn/ASL combo I felt I could listen for hours. What are the down-sides?

For context: My current system is an NAD C325BEE with KEF Q15 speakers, fed by a Sony Playstation One, Marantz changer, and Technics/Shure combo through a Cambridge 540P. I've paid a lot of attention to setup and as much room treatment as my wife will go for. The sound is basically satisfying, and aside from an occasional "hardness" in its sound that might still be the room its sins are mostly of omission. If I do go the headphone route now, I'll set it up separately and probably live with the system as stands for another year or more before I begin to upgrade it piece by piece.

If it helps, I listen to about 60% small combo jazz, 20% classical (evenly split between small and large scale), and 20% rock (mostly indie). Thanks in advance for sharing your experience. Are headphones another half-measure or one path to the promised land?
ablang

Showing 2 responses by ablang

ablang OP
165 posts
 
Thanks for your responses. To fill out my options as I'm seeing them now: I agree, Dave, that ultimately getting my speaker setup up to the quality of the headphone setup might wind up being my goal. And from what you both say I suspect I might be best off buying the tube headphone amp first (the Woo is new to me, but I just checked out the website and it sure LOOKS great) and getting the most out of my AKGs, with an upgrade to the Sennheisers later. I've given the AKGs at least a hundred hours, but I'm certainly willing to believe that the right amp and some more break-in could fill them out.

Soulbrass: My plan at this point has been to set up the headphone amp in another room with its own dedicated digital source. I'll probably start with the Playstation since I have it on hand. My feeling about the NAD and KEF combo has been generally the same as yours, and I especially found myself surprised at the capability of the amp and speakers when I got into vinyl--that they were able to convey its character so well. My Technics is the SL-D2 model, but the Shure is the M97xE. You may be right that the phono pre and digital source might be my biggest limiters just now--so though I know I'm on the speakers forum maybe I can ask you for the budget digital sources you'd suggest. I heard the ASL amp and Sennheisers with a Pioneer Elite DVD player, though I'm not sure of the model or price, and it impressed me as a part of the combo. Source might be the second or third step if I do decide to pursue the headphone rig. Were I to use the new source in my main rig instead, could I then hook up the headphone amp to the tape monitor loop?

Thanks again.
ablang OP
165 posts
 
Thanks again to everyone here for responding. I was lucky enough just now to snag the ASL amp on a classified posted today, so it looks like that's my first step into more serious headphone listening--it does seem to be the place where my dollars will stretch the farthest to get true high-end sound. My plan is to start with my AKGs and the Playstation as a source with a switch to the Sennheiser HD600s and an upgraded source soon to come. The Oppo's looking attractive, with the option of a DAC at a later date. Soulbrass: that 2-4 year old range for something swankier is good thinking--I hadn't realized there'd be some Musical Fidelity players at reasonable cost. Since I'm on the speakers forum after all I'll wrap it up with this: the Totem Model One Signatures I fell in love with will just have to wait till my income swells--it's 'phones for now!
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