I'm not talking value for money here and any "I don't listen to headphones" comments will be hexed. At the moment, the best I've ever heard would be the Stax Lambda Nova Signature with the Stax SRM Monitor (Diffuse Field Equalizer and amplifier in one package). It's the only one to have ever really fooled me that a sound in a binaural recording was indistinguishable from real - on Stax Space Sound CD - the acoustic guitar playing to the right side fooled me into believing that someone was playing a guitar somewhere else and interrupting the talking I was listening to on track one. Scary. I bought that combination. The Mysphere 3.2 comes very close.
I was really impressed with Sennheiser Hd800s with the Sennheiser amp. Huge soundstage. But I haven’t heard a lot of what’s out there.
Currently this is my set up. Very nice: Synology DS116 NAS > Intel NUC7i7BNH Mini PC (Roon Core) > Chord 2Go/Hugo 2 (fixed line level) > McIntosh MHA200 Headphone Amp > Senn HD 800 S or Audeze LCD-X (2021) or Senn IE800 The Focal Clear headphones (original) sound nice in the above set up. The JH Audio Roxanne IEM's sound excellent in the above set-up as well. My recently acquired Mojo 2 comes close to the Hugo 2 above in sound. I use the Roon DSP preset for my Audeze LCD-X (2021) cans which sounds really good. I will experiment with the Mojo 2 "Ultra HD" Digital Signal Processing EQ for various cans.
I am not claiming there are state of the art, but the best I have heard is the Focal Elear and that was a few years ago. I have heard good things about the Focal Stellia, but have not heard them personally.
The Focal Elear were my first Focal headphones before the Clears. The Elears are nice sounding cans, for sure.
The best sounding headphones that I have heard, hands down, was a pair of Joseph Grado HP-1000. I owned them for a year or two, but I ended up selling them because I found them uncomfortable to wear (heavy weight with those awful Grado on-ear foam pads).
Interesting to look into the Stax SRM Monitor ... i have a couple of Stax HPs L300 Ltd, SR-X converted to pro bias by Moljnir and a Stax 353XBK energiser and the best i've heard are the Stax L300 Ltds, i have a few other cans MrSpeakers Ether, Audioquest Nighthawk, Ultrasone 8, Master & Dynamic MH40
The best I've heard were probably the Senn HD-800s. But this was at Axpona where I didn't have time to really listen. I hope this thread takes off as I'm looking to replace my Beyerdynamic DT-990s and would like some ideas. Right now I'm thinking either the latest LCD-X, or HifiMan Arya.
I can only comment on the headphones that I've owned so my Focal Clear Pro headphones are the best that I've owned. I feel no need to buy another pair of headphones again.
The SRM Monitor is nearly unobtainium then and now - I lucked into one on Ebay IIRC, in perfect condition. Birgir wasn't as pleased with the diffuse field equalisation as I am. C'est la vie. Most of these went to audio laboratories.
The three systems I have auditioned that I would like to have spent more time with are all electrostatic: 1. Sennheiser HE-1 2. Warwick Aperio 3. Stax 009 with Blue Hawaii amp and a Chord DAVE DAC (not 100% sure on the DAC, but that sort of level) All three are costly and have much to love about them. As the Aperio is a beefed up version of the Sonoma M1 I use, I'd probably give it the nod for ultimate sound-quality/neutrality. The HE-1 is by far the prettiest, and an interesting objet d'art. The Stax system being separates offers the most options with regard to changing/upgrading as the other two are closed systems -- though the Aperio can also be used as a high-performance pre-amp and DAC, so trumps the others in terms of value-for-money (if such a thing exists at these prices).
Those 3 are ones I would lave to hear, but decided not to because they are far too expensive to even be close to striking distance for me.
I'm not really a fan of headphone listening (lack of visceral impact is a big reason), but there are a few that are so good in other ways, they almost make of up for it. The best I heard recently, are the HiFi Man, Shangra-La Jr. with their matching tube amp. ridiculously detailed without being harsh, vanishingly low distortion. $8,000. At a much lower price, the Grado GS2000e are very good. I used to own a pair of their precursor, that I loved, but sold because I just didn't listen to headphones often enough. I believe they're about $1300. I was also pretty impressed with some 'budget' headphones in the Audeze lineup. I thought the LCD-2 for about $900 were really good. I haven't heard any of their higher end phones, though.
I have some Sennheiser 650s and some Sennheiser Momentum 2 ear buds. They have a similar sound signature that I do not like. To my ear, the music is veiled, the bass to flabby. Just out of curiosity, does the HE-1 have a similar (but presumably much better) sound signature?
And that's Mrs. Buchanan's final word on the matter!?!? The HE-1 is electrostatic, so different, and has been tuned to have deep bass which the 650 lacks. Although it measures very well (against the popular targets), I think it has a slight euphonic character in that everything sounds beautiful. The detail, etc., is all there, but there are no 'sharp edges' so to speak. If you have $60k of loose change rattling around in your pocket, you should give it a listen!
For me it’s Stax sr-007 and diy t2 amplifier. The only regret I have is finding out that most of my favorite music from 80s and 90s are not the best recorded materials. Well, it doesn’t stop me from having my weekly listening session of Mutant Cats From Hell lp.
Headphones have at least two advantages, Simoon: (1) A great headphone system is a lot cheaper than a great component system. (2) The room and all of the associated headaches is taken out of the equation. You tend to get more detail, but as you say, it lacks the visceral impact of a high-quality (and 10x as expensive) component system.
That was when they were cheap. Now they are $68,000! Stunning amount to spend on headphones, and there are at least two that are still more expensive. Focal Utopia by Tournaire – $120,000 Onkyo H900M 20-carat diamonds – $80,000 Won't be playing in that playground.
Do you own the SR-007 and diy T2 amp? Did you build the amp? Mad props to anyone who can DIY build an amp like a T2. There are deadly voltages in an electrostatic amp design like that. Anyone building an electrostatic amp like that has to know what they are doing and know their way around high voltages.
