Headphones? Anyone?

I have done a lot of headphone research and some listening of late.

Its very hard to choose on paper these days other than style maybe. So many good ones and headphone preference is a very personal thing.

I really like the Klipsch phones I have heard, both in and on ear. Seem pretty flat top to bottom but with bass that sounds more right to my ears compared to many phones. I bought the in-ear buds and those are quite good for the money as buds go. The on ear models sounded similarly good when I heard them.

I am still a Stax fan also for the combo of sound and low fatigue and have a pair of older Stax electrets. These are hard to find in US these days it seems but I would go out of my way for Stax electrostat headphones still if I were in teh market for a new pair. Most Stax require higher voltage than most phones and run off speaker outputs via custom transformer though, not off line level as with most headphone amps.

Sennheisers sounds compressed when compared to AKG. I own 600 and 702. I find the old Sen 280 more clear and open than the new ones.

Here's my list of recommended headphones:

Audio technica ATH-esw9a - slightly warm,organic sounding, good balance,portable,comfy, easy to drive.

Sennheiser HD600 - neutral sounding, good balance,comfy,better with an amp

Grado Alessandro MS2 - lively sounding and neutral. Good balance and less treble than the Grado SR series. Down side is not as comfy as the above headphones.

fischer audio fa-003 - similar in sounding to the Sennheiser HD600 but with more micro detail bigger soundstage and not as comfy as the HD600. One of the best bang fo the buck imo. Low in stock and takes a while to deliver to your door.

AKG 500/501 - excellent sounding and not very expensive ($150). Huge soundstage and natural sounding headphones. Could only find them on the used market. The down side is it's not very easy to drive, so an amp is a must.

Send it back to Grado...they'll repair it for less than you think