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In Reply to: RE: Best all around headphones? posted by MusicHead 2 on August 27, 2011 at 10:12:01
I have a pair of discontinued AKG k1000's, and they are fantastic. They are hard to find, but still for sale if you look around. Probably around $1000, but you save money on getting a separate headphone amp if you already have a speaker setup that you like, because you can use the amplifier you already have. Of course they aren't portable, but if you were planning on listening at home anyway, they're worth looking into.
I haven't heard them, but the Audeze LCD-2 gets amazing reviews, and also has fantastic measurements. Also around $1000, but new and easier to obtain. You would need a headphone amplifier for them though. They are planar, so they are basically like Magnepans as headphones.
For a bit more the Sennheiser HD800's are excellent. $1400 new, but really great. Some people like the Audeze more than the Sennheisers though.
If you don't want to spend so much (you did say 'best', so that equals expensive), try a pair of Sennheiser HD600 or HD650s. Those will get you well on your way to fantastic headphone sound, particularly if you aren't enamored with the Grado sound.
Best of luck!
Aaron.
Follow Ups:
K1000's (my personal favorite) are great. Some would even say they beat out the most expensive electrostatic earspeakers or headphones on the market - especially as an "all around" performer. However, the K1000's are dipoles and so they can fall a little short on deep bass at times. They sound pretty solid down to 40 hz. or so, and are like the headphone equivalent of a high quality standmounted monitor that requires a subwoofer for deepest bass. Electronica, pipe organ, or Rap music are not always well served by the K1000. Because of deep bass limitations, they may not be the top pick for "best all around" headphones. I am lucky enough to own a pair of the "bassy" K1000's (low serial numbers, boosted bass compared to later production) and I feel that low bass output is barely strong enough to cover certain recordings. Bass quality is superb but bass quantity is slightly lacking.
They are a moving coil design not a planar and the only issue is if they break what do you do. Harman is the worst for service and try to get AKG in California to answer anything
Edits: 09/09/11
In the particular sentence you are referring to, Orpheus was talking about the Audeze LCD-2 headphones and they are indeed "planar magnetic" headphones, typically called "planars". No one in this thread has referred to the K1000's as "planar" headphones but even if someone had done so, the word "planar" can be used to describe ANY flat device "...situated in a flat plane or having a two-dimensional characteristic". Someone might refer to K1000's as "planars" simply because they are basically flat and they would be correct in doing so. There is a difference between "planar" and "planar magnetic", even though most of us are used to referring to planar magnetic speakers as simply "planars". FYI.
Edits: 09/11/11
These are special headphones.
I was fortunately to hear a pair driven of some Bottlehead amps (300B output tubes, I think) at a head fi meetup. Fabulous.
Second the AT-M50's.
Hard to do better for $150 .
They don't excel at anything but they sound good.
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