JJ's Year 12: First Year of the New HT in a New House

[DBlackGT]

Forgot to mention Headroom puts the HD448's in their top 10 list.

Link

[JJ]

So what's your current can roster, then? I'm interested to know.

[DBlackGT]

As of right now it's these:
Sennheiser HD650
Sennheiser HD448
Sennheiser HD228
Bowers & Wilkins P5
Klipsch S4

[DBlackGT]

Here's a pic of my little headphone setup. It's nothing fancy but it sure puts out some great sound.

[Intamin]

JJ, the new pics of the place look great! Now that you've been there a little bit, how are things sounding, and are you able to tame the light with all of those windows?

[JJ]

Originally Posted by DBlackGT

Here's a pic of my little headphone setup. It's nothing fancy but it sure puts out some great sound.

You kidding? That's great! Whats the Marantz gear I see there??

And I've heard nothing but great reviews about the p5s - how do you compare them to your other cans??

[JJ]

Originally Posted by Intamin

JJ, the new pics of the place look great! Now that you've been there a little bit, how are things sounding, and are you able to tame the light with all of those windows?

Alex, I put up $600 worth of vertical blinds on these 4 big ass windows, but even then, I'll never have pitch darkness like I had at my old place in daytime. But since my place faces east, around 3pm, it gets decently dark for movies. But ibstill prefer nighttime. To me, it doesn't sound bad at all. Once I get my panels and my Dynamo operational again, ill be able to say in detail. But it's great, honestly, no complaints. Only catch is the open plan double height layout means pretty much the whole house hears what I'm seeing...hence needing cans for weekdays.

[DBlackGT]

Thanks! The CD player is the CD5004 and the amp is the PM5004. I'm in the process of building a little Hi-Fi station right next to my desk in my office. It's still a work in progress but it's coming along. My next purchase will either be a pair of Paradigm Atom speakers or a dedicated headphone amp (but as of right now that Marantz does one heck of a job pushing my cans!).

The P5's are just ok in my book. They actually sound good they just aren't meant to be a Hi-Fi set of cans. When paired up with an iPod, mp3, computer, etc. they sound great...probably one of the top sounding non-amplified headphones I've heard. However, ownling and listening to headphones like my HD650's it's hard listening to anything else now. Another thing that brings them down is their price. For that money you could get a pair of Grado, Sennheiser, etc, and a little portable amp like the Fiio E7 and be way better off then the B&W's.

All in all they are a nice pair of cans. They're built great, look amazing, and sound good. However it's hard to justify spending $300 on them when there are so many other options out there. I'm still in the return period for my P5's and it looks like they'll be going back. I've had them for 3 weeks now and there's nothing (so far) that I've heard that makes me want to keep them.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Hey JJ,

Thought I'd put in a plug for the Shure SRH840 cans (closed design) that I bought last year. Gets consistantly great reviews and the price is reasonable . Here's some specs, pics and reviews from the Headroom site.

[aces high]

Originally Posted by DBlackGT

Thanks! The CD player is the CD5004 and the amp is the PM5004. I'm in the process of building a little Hi-Fi station right next to my desk in my office. It's still a work in progress but it's coming along. My next purchase will either be a pair of Paradigm Atom speakers or a dedicated headphone amp (but as of right now that Marantz does one heck of a job pushing my cans!).

The P5's are just ok in my book. They actually sound good they just aren't meant to be a Hi-Fi set of cans. When paired up with an iPod, mp3, computer, etc. they sound great...probably one of the top sounding non-amplified headphones I've heard. However, ownling and listening to headphones like my HD650's it's hard listening to anything else now. Another thing that brings them down is their price. For that money you could get a pair of Grado, Sennheiser, etc, and a little portable amp like the Fiio E7 and be way better off then the B&W's.

All in all they are a nice pair of cans. They're built great, look amazing, and sound good. However it's hard to justify spending $300 on them when there are so many other options out there. I'm still in the return period for my P5's and it looks like they'll be going back. I've had them for 3 weeks now and there's nothing (so far) that I've heard that makes me want to keep them.

Nice Marantz gear, you don't see many people with the Marantz IA's, I have the pm8003 and the cd 5003 and for a while used the Paradigm v6 Atoms with it. I would definitely look at the Series 7 Atoms or better yet the Studio 10's if you like Digms and it's in the budget. I've used the Studio 10's, Studio 20's and currently the S2's with this system, anything more than the Studio 10's and it starts to work the amp pretty hard and making it run really hot at even half way up the mv dial. I haven't tried out any headphone's with this system but recently got a turntable and it sounds pretty good.

[Intamin]

Originally Posted by JJ

Alex, I put up $600 worth of vertical blinds on these 4 big ass windows, but even then, I'll never have pitch darkness like I had at my old place in daytime. But since my place faces east, around 3pm, it gets decently dark for movies. But ibstill prefer nighttime. To me, it doesn't sound bad at all. Once I get my panels and my Dynamo operational again, ill be able to say in detail. But it's great, honestly, no complaints. Only catch is the open plan double height layout means pretty much the whole house hears what I'm seeing...hence needing cans for weekdays.

That's quite the damage on the wallet for something that isn't fun at all to buy, but I'm glad they're working out well. Good luck on the cans; I enjoyed the Grado SR-150s I had for two years in college, although they were terrible with noise leakage.

Originally Posted by DBlackGT

Thanks! The CD player is the CD5004 and the amp is the PM5004. I'm in the process of building a little Hi-Fi station right next to my desk in my office. It's still a work in progress but it's coming along. My next purchase will either be a pair of Paradigm Atom speakers or a dedicated headphone amp (but as of right now that Marantz does one heck of a job pushing my cans!).

The P5's are just ok in my book. They actually sound good they just aren't meant to be a Hi-Fi set of cans. When paired up with an iPod, mp3, computer, etc. they sound great...probably one of the top sounding non-amplified headphones I've heard. However, ownling and listening to headphones like my HD650's it's hard listening to anything else now. Another thing that brings them down is their price. For that money you could get a pair of Grado, Sennheiser, etc, and a little portable amp like the Fiio E7 and be way better off then the B&W's.

All in all they are a nice pair of cans. They're built great, look amazing, and sound good. However it's hard to justify spending $300 on them when there are so many other options out there. I'm still in the return period for my P5's and it looks like they'll be going back. I've had them for 3 weeks now and there's nothing (so far) that I've heard that makes me want to keep them.

I had posted asking Woody for his thake in the B&W thread, so it was nice reading yours. Thanks for the honest insight. They sure look nice, shame they don't sound as good as some similar offerings.

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by John72953

Hey JJ,

Thought I'd put in a plug for the Shure SRH840 cans (closed design) that I bought last year. Gets consistantly great reviews and the price is reasonable . Here's some specs, pics and reviews from the Headroom site.

$200 ?!?!

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by Aerodude73

$200 ?!?!

LOL! Ok, ok, so maybe more than what some would spend, although in the world of high-end these are but mere entry-level cans. The SRH440's are like half that price, but then you sacrifice quite a bit.

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by John72953

LOL! Ok, ok, so maybe more than what some would spend, although in the world of high-end these are but mere entry-level cans. The SRH440's are like half that price, but then you sacrifice quite a bit.

Hey John - Yea, I'm sure they're Incredible & work/sound amazing, & "perhaps" once I'm working FULL-TIME again, I'll revisit this. It'd be nice to watch a movie after 9 or 10pm with somewhat decent Volume. How is the overall performance? (LFE?, Surround effects?)

[DBlackGT]

Originally Posted by Intamin

That's quite the damage on the wallet for something that isn't fun at all to buy, but I'm glad they're working out well. Good luck on the cans; I enjoyed the Grado SR-150s I had for two years in college, although they were terrible with noise leakage.



I had posted asking Woody for his thake in the B&W thread, so it was nice reading yours. Thanks for the honest insight. They sure look nice, shame they don't sound as good as some similar offerings.

Yeah no problem. It really is a shame they aren't spectacular, I wanted them to be. If they were in the $100-$150 price range I'd probably end up keeping them, but at $300 I can't justify it. The bass is deep but sometimes boomy, they have a slightly muffled and muted sound, and they lack transparency. In the end B&W should have focused more on the sound quality and not the sheepskin leather, designer like carrying case, and exquisite style.

[DBlackGT]

Originally Posted by aces high

Nice Marantz gear, you don't see many people with the Marantz IA's, I have the pm8003 and the cd 5003 and for a while used the Paradigm v6 Atoms with it. I would definitely look at the Series 7 Atoms or better yet the Studio 10's if you like Digms and it's in the budget. I've used the Studio 10's, Studio 20's and currently the S2's with this system, anything more than the Studio 10's and it starts to work the amp pretty hard and making it run really hot at even half way up the mv dial. I haven't tried out any headphone's with this system but recently got a turntable and it sounds pretty good.

Thanks for the info. Yeah I've had my heart set on those Atoms for a while. I've read the reviews on Stereophile and Hometheater mag and they say they just can't be beat for the price. In fact the writer said he hasn't listened to his $10,000 pair of speakers for a month after reviewing the Atoms. Paradigm makes solid products...I'd love to go with the Studio 10's but should my upgrade itch get to me, I'll probably go for Atoms and a headphone amp. BTW I love the Marantz gear so far!

[DBlackGT]

Sorry to hijack your thread here JJ.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by Aerodude73

Hey John - Yea, I'm sure they're Incredible & work/sound amazing, & "perhaps" once I'm working FULL-TIME again, I'll revisit this. It'd be nice to watch a movie after 9 or 10pm with somewhat decent Volume. How is the overall performance? (LFE?, Surround effects?)

I only listen in 2-Channel, and in that application they are just right for me. The bass is all there -quick, not muddy or thick, and not excessive either. The mid-range and upper mids is what makes these cans shine, and since I listen to a lot of voice recordings that is an essential attribute. They say there is a slight roll-off in the upper end, and that's probably true, but I haven't yet noticed it myself. All in all I'm super excited with them.

[Aerodude73]

Thanks John.

[JJ]

Originally Posted by Intamin

That's quite the damage on the wallet for something that isn't fun at all to buy, but I'm glad they're working out well. Good luck on the cans; I enjoyed the Grado SR-150s I had for two years in college, although they were terrible with noise leakage.

I had posted asking Woody for his thake in the B&W thread, so it was nice reading yours. Thanks for the honest insight. They sure look nice, shame they don't sound as good as some similar offerings.

Yeah. The worst thing about it, is that when I move, I can't take them with me, they won't fit anything else but these 9'6 x 7'6 windows. *(&@%#& But they were important to save power and for comfort.

Shame about the P5s too - not that they were ever in my price range, but from all the glowing critic reviews, I assumed they were something else. But I do wonder about B&Ws switch to "lifestyle" type design. Like the Zeppelin. In any case...

Originally Posted by DBlackGT

Sorry to hijack your thread here JJ.

Heck, keep it busy. It's been distraught as of late.

John and D, I've now reading as much as I can about these 4, since what I pick will come from this group:

- Senn HD555, Grado SR80i, AKG K240, Audio Technica ATH-AD700. Thanks to Zip for finding me the local Grado dealer, I'm going to go check them out. I barely remember what the HD555s sound like, I think I kept them for all of two weeks. Perhaps I can find local dealers for the AKG and Audio Technica, let me get on that.

But as it is, I'm at a dealership, having some car issues. There's never enough $ to go around.

Oh, and Good Morning all.