worlds best headphones Sennheiser Orpheus ?

I believe those are no longer made...

Stax Omega II would be right up there, I'd think.

Cary CAD300SEI + Senn. HD600/650 is a pretty good combo too.

-Ed

I've heard (just the talk, not the 'phones) that the Sennheiser 650 is rather astonishing....

The world's best? You could definitely make that argument.
I've tried many other mid to high end headphone systems. None better the Orpheus. The headphones are a work of art, beautiful in both looks and performance. The amp also is a quality piece, although, I must admit, it does look like a retro high end German toaster.

You might want to ask over at http://www.head-fi.org/. The Orpheus is rumored to still be available under the right conditions from Sennheiser. It is an amazing looking piece of gear, sort of like an altar. Heh, at least I saw God when I looked at pictures. Depending on your tastes an Omega 2 with a Blue Hawaii is rather amazing and probably in the same league if you like electrostatics. The Sony R-10 is also a great headphone and rounding out the trimuverate of the top cans would probably be the HP-1000 series driven with the proper amplification.

I don't think there is such a thing. I own the Stax Omega IIs. They are unbelievably quick, detailed and transparent. With LP's, it is amazing to hear how small tics and pops come and go so quickly -- no overhang or resonance to draw out the sound.

But, they can sound very dry and analytical when source material or upstream components are not compatible. They are also not meant to be used at ear-splitting levels -- at some point either the headphones or the amp (I would guess the amp) compresses and stops getting louder.

The best I have heard them sound was with Audionote gear upstream. Smooth, warm sounding tube gear upstream would be best.

I've heard Koss electrostatics that sounded warmer and more foregiving, but they did not have the breathtaking speed of the Stax. If you want something that has a bit less of that in-you-head sound, the AKG 1000 is also worth a listen.

Sennheiser Orpheus and Stax SR 007 Omega II are by far the best earspeakers available. While the Omega is quicker and has got more dynamics and punch, the Orpheus is a bit more layed back but has got for sure the better (more beautiful) finish. Overall the Omega II is to my ears (musichian since the 80´s) the better choice. Compared both head to head for a week at home and choosed the Omega II. Source was a modified Ayre D-1X player.
Hope that helps. By the way: forget about the AKG K 1000, or the Grado stuff. Stax and the Orpheus are in a league by their own..

Quite frankly, this is a silly question. There is no "best" headphone just "different" sounding top-line units. Remember the word "best" is subjective to each person as each can have a "best" for them which may not be "best" for someone else.

With a name like "Orpheus", they gotta be good.

HD800's/650 + HA-160D
My dream setup.