Thanks to a recommendation here in the forum, I was able to get my hands on a nice pair of
Sennheiser HD540 reference II headphones last week.
Now from what I heard is that headphone listening is a bit of an addiction in it's own right, and certainly
viewed as competetive to good speakers. (or more than that..)
The headphones are very nice & I believe they are rather decent quality,
but when I plug them into the headphone socket of my pre-amp,
they sound rather nice or ok-ish , but far from being a competition to my speakers.
So I thought there must be more to it then just that & I tend to believe the headphone out of my pre is not up to the task to show the full potential of those headphones.
What do you think...should the headphone out of the pre be enough to show full potential of ~better headphones ?
Or do you think I could make a considerable progress with a dedicated headphone amp?
And can you recommend one that offers great vfm ?
Absoultely new to the headphone topic, I'm grateful for a few hints what to do..
Thanks in advance !
Torstoi, I know the thread has moved on, but I’ve been thinking about your original post. Like you I’m moving into headphones after years of a speaker only system. I bought sennheiser hd 660s in October.
The headphones don’t outshine my speakers but they give me something different, which I find very useful.
The 660s coupled with an A&K sr 25 produce a very pleasurable sound.
My speaker system is much more extended at either end of the frequency extremes and probably more detailed, but it is easy for it to be less pleasurable.
The 660 system has no ambition to push the boundaries, it has a lovely tonal balance, it portrays different timbres really well, and it has a very smooth and even frequency response top to bottom. It is very intimate.
I tried the 660s with an ifi amp and although the separation and definition of individual instruments improved I found a hardness in the sound that made my ears wince- despite my admiration of the hi fi improvements.
And I’ve found my headphone experience is changing the way I listen to my speakers. I’ve repositioned them to reduce any hardness or exaggeration of frequencies.
Maybe I used to think it was about more bass slam and more treble definition, but now I find it’s about getting rid of glare or hardness or dryness or other sonic artefacts that push me away.
With headphones you really notice your ears wincing- but it happens with speaker systems too, even if you notice it less because they are further away.
So what I’m saying is, headphones might not be better than your speaker system, but I find they give you a different perspective, hopefully a really helpful one.
