Sennheiser hd 555s
When you spend $100 on a product that is supposedly of "audiophile" grade you expect certain things. And at least in my mind "audiophile" or Hi-fi sound is not one of those things you should expect.
So when I got my Sennheiser HD 555s I was not expecting anything close to what I consider Hi-Fi. And let me tell they did not disappoint, there are MANY sonic flaws and colorations that even a noob with a noobs ear can pick out when listening too lossless audio.
With that said, I want to make it clear that I am in no way less then ASTONISHED for what I did get for my $100. To be frank they are better then my monitor 60s. I have NEVER experienced the stereophonic effect (on my dollar) to such a large degree. One of the first things that I noticed when I put on these head phones was that the colorations that where inherit to my listening room (the hum of my computer fans, the resonance that my windows some times generate, the rattling of my mirror etc...) are all with out exception gone. If feels as if I m listening to sound in a dedicated acoustically treated room. If feels as if I have removed a wall that was in between me and the music.
I m not going to lie and say the HD 555s are the equal of some of the better stereo systems(LSI speakers included) that I have heard. But wow I m so much closer then I was before. So close in fact that these headphones have changed my mind in regards to what I consider a good deal for an audiophile on a budget.
For the past two years or so from the Time I first heard a true High end system to today I have considered true Hi-Fi sound as something that I could never obtain on my budget or for that matter a budget several times my size until much latter in my life. After hearing the HD 555s for the past few days, I have changed my mind and I would urge any one in my position that could not possibly afford a Hi-fi setup or even for that matter a mid-fi setup to give the 555s a listen.
I can not stress this enough at $100 the Price/performance ratio of these headphones are much higher then any speaker that I have ever heard. And because of this they have converted me. I now Have my heart set on a good head phone amp, source and some sennheiser 600s. And for the first time I think it might be possible for me or any one for that matter to get TRUE Hi-Fi sound on budget as Humble as mine. If you want to get your feet wet and maybe try out a set of headphones the HD 555s will not disappoint.
One day I may come back to speakers, but at least for the time being all my listening will be done by the way of some quality head phones.
So when I got my Sennheiser HD 555s I was not expecting anything close to what I consider Hi-Fi. And let me tell they did not disappoint, there are MANY sonic flaws and colorations that even a noob with a noobs ear can pick out when listening too lossless audio.
With that said, I want to make it clear that I am in no way less then ASTONISHED for what I did get for my $100. To be frank they are better then my monitor 60s. I have NEVER experienced the stereophonic effect (on my dollar) to such a large degree. One of the first things that I noticed when I put on these head phones was that the colorations that where inherit to my listening room (the hum of my computer fans, the resonance that my windows some times generate, the rattling of my mirror etc...) are all with out exception gone. If feels as if I m listening to sound in a dedicated acoustically treated room. If feels as if I have removed a wall that was in between me and the music.
I m not going to lie and say the HD 555s are the equal of some of the better stereo systems(LSI speakers included) that I have heard. But wow I m so much closer then I was before. So close in fact that these headphones have changed my mind in regards to what I consider a good deal for an audiophile on a budget.
For the past two years or so from the Time I first heard a true High end system to today I have considered true Hi-Fi sound as something that I could never obtain on my budget or for that matter a budget several times my size until much latter in my life. After hearing the HD 555s for the past few days, I have changed my mind and I would urge any one in my position that could not possibly afford a Hi-fi setup or even for that matter a mid-fi setup to give the 555s a listen.
I can not stress this enough at $100 the Price/performance ratio of these headphones are much higher then any speaker that I have ever heard. And because of this they have converted me. I now Have my heart set on a good head phone amp, source and some sennheiser 600s. And for the first time I think it might be possible for me or any one for that matter to get TRUE Hi-Fi sound on budget as Humble as mine. If you want to get your feet wet and maybe try out a set of headphones the HD 555s will not disappoint.
One day I may come back to speakers, but at least for the time being all my listening will be done by the way of some quality head phones.
Monitor 60s, CS10 front
Monitor 40s, back
PSW10:(
H/k AVR 325
Sansui Tape Deck
Pioneer PD-5010 CD player
Sennheiser HD 650s
Maverick Audio Tube Magic D1 DAC
AMD Phenom II 940 @ 3.8 prime stabel
4 gigs 1066, cas 5
XFX 4890 1gig
Seagate 1tb 7200.12
Creative X-fI Titanium Fatal1ty
Monitor 40s, back
PSW10:(
H/k AVR 325
Sansui Tape Deck
Pioneer PD-5010 CD player
Sennheiser HD 650s
Maverick Audio Tube Magic D1 DAC
AMD Phenom II 940 @ 3.8 prime stabel
4 gigs 1066, cas 5
XFX 4890 1gig
Seagate 1tb 7200.12
Creative X-fI Titanium Fatal1ty
Post edited by MANSKITO on
Comments
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Glad you like the Sennheisers, I am a big proponent of them myself. Make sure you audition before you move up, because there are a lot of people that actually prefer the 555's over the 600's. Hell, I had a Creek OBH-11 headphone amp that I barely used because the headphone output on my NAD C320BEE integrated amp sounded better to me. However, the Musical Fidelity X-cans are really nice.
The HD-650's are my personal favorite, but they are not cheap. Online shopping is a beautiful thing; I got my HD-515's for $62 shipped from J&R and my CX-300 earbuds for $16 shipped from Amazon - Jeremy
Amps: Jolida FX-10, NAD 3045, NAD C320BEE, Sansui G-9700
Speakers: Polk Monitor 7A's, KEF Reference 104aB
Sources: ProJect Debut Carbon, Sonos streaming FLAC
