Wow .... €50K Headphones ... What next

Rich people hording their money is far worse for the rest of the people than if they spent the money, even if it is for obscenely expensive luxury goods. That money that Sennheiser makes on the headphones is a part of its income that pays salaries, as does the margin that the dealer and distributor makes. The "waste" of paying far more than the phones are "worth" goes somewhere, it is not really wasted in the sense that it disappears and does nothing more.

I know that most audiophiles do not consider headphones as serious audio gear, but, to a growing number of people, headphones are their favored means of listening. A combination of transducer and amp that costs $55,000 in the speaker world is quite high, but, it really isn't that uncommon; why should it be any different for phones?

I would certainly like to hear them, even though I would never consider a purchase. I like their prior electrostatic offerings (HE-60 and HE-90), but find that their more recent high end offerings in dynamic phones to be wildly inconsistent (I really dislike their top of the line model). It would be interesting to see what kind of sound they pursue and whether they go for the mellower sound of their old electrostatic models or the lean, bright and hyper-analytical sound of the HD 800).

The old Sennheiser Orpheus (HE-90) is, to me, a terrific sounding phone. I bet the price of the new phones and that set are not too far apart after adjusting for inflation. It was crazy expensive then (something like $18,000), but, people will pay about $35,000 for a good pair and the amp today, so it has more than held its value.

That does not necessarily mean that the new phones will do the same or be held in as high regards. These days, there are plenty of new phones utilizing a greater variety of approaches that were not around in the past (e.g., planar magnetics).

As for the Stax 009 and Woo amp mentioned above, I have not heard that specific combination, but, I have heard Woo amps (to me, they have been consistently crappy) and I have heard the OO9 on the headphone amp I own (Blue Hawaii SE). The 009s sound pretty good, but, in some ways I prefer the 007s (Omega II, Mk. 1) and the Sennheiser HE-60. It is a matter of taste, with no ultimate "best." I could not argue with someone much preferring the sound of phones like the Audeze (I like them too, and they sound completely different from electrostatic phones).