given a budget of $500

[evil-zen 0]

this is just a friendly poll to find out what you think regarding the GIGO (garbage in garbage out) or speakers/headphones train of thought. let us just assume that all the headphones are driven well and has no lack of power when used on the source built in headamp. i am inspired to create this poll after reading several articles on stereophile, online magazines and other forums.

 

my personal choice would be $400 headphone + $100 pcdp given what i think of my equipment. ie i will choose ety 4s/beyer 880 on a cheap but good pcdp over sony e888->amp->source.

 

on this forum and other forums, i noticed that many people will recommend a newbie with limited budget to get a good source first for eg. a marantz cdp and a cheaper headphones for initial use.

 

on the other hand, i do not agree on such philosophy. I will recommend him to get a higher end pair of cans and use it on whatever source he has at the moment, no matter if it's a mdp, cdp or mp3 player. i started out on a pair of AKG 501 on my pcdp. along the way i added an amp and a cd deck. the sound of my headphones remained essentially the same but was on a slightly higher level on the upgraded system.

 

what do YOU think? i hope all the 'experts' out there will not bash me and turn this thread into a flame war. this is just a friendly poll.

 

oops can mods help me edit the 2nd option to $300 cdp? thanks!

Edited April 30, 2004 by evil-zen

[Q00 0]

i think the 2nd option is the best trade off for that budget as most 'good' cans are around the 200 mark and 300 can get you a decent cdp or better yet, a good 2nd cdp!

[CRESCENDOPOWER 0]

I chose option #2. I would probably look into some lower impedance phones though.

[Mackie 0]

I chose option 2 as it should yield the best balance of price outlay and sound quality upon time of purchase. If one has an intention to upgrade to a better pair of cans in the near future, I will choose option 3. It's wiser this way than to spend money on upgrades of both source and cans later.

 

Evil-zen: In the earlier years of this game, most abide by GIGO but in recent years, I noticed some of the crowd who own speakers setup prefer to work backwards ie, buy expensive speakers and then work backwards while reducing the budget allocation along the way. Although I disagree in the perspective of economics, hey, what's right or wrong is merely separated by a thin red line.

[Blues 0]

Option 2 for me.

I walked the exact same path as zenny. I started out with a senn eH2270(eons ago) .. for use on my pcdp. Then got myself an amp, then cdp. Then decent IC.

 

[cmk 0]

2 is the closest to my portable rig : $235 for the PCDP and $90 for the PX200 and I'm happy.

 

For a bit more on the cans, you shd investigate the Grados if they(MBD) are not sooooo fussy with auditions and maybe a portable mint meta var.

[RawHit 0]

I chose the option 2, but given the fact that most people end up upgrading their system at some point of time I would say options 1 and 4 have a better upgrade path.

 

 

[N@Z 0]

I chose option 2, comments similar to Q00's. However for this price range the ety+good pcdp will come close. It's all down to the practical needs of the individual (portablilty, ultimate isolation).

[evil-zen 0]

but when someone wants a good sounding rig, i will ask him to buy a pair of good headphones first rather than saving up for source and using it with crappier headphones. in such a way, he can enjoy better sound from the start rather than enduring it with crap phones.

 

yeap and another point is that diminishing levels for headphones i think starts at maybe $300-400. i agree with rawhit that paying more $$$$ for headphones or cdp offers better upgrade options. but which one will sound better? of course option 1!

[RawHit 0]

yup and the $400 phone will also let you know that your $100 source is not going to cut it and make u upgrade

[N@Z 0]

In the case of the etys it works as they are fairly forgiving of source but when using other full sized headphones with similar price ranges it is less convincing as the flaws of the source will be revealed. YMMV of course as this is based on my experience.

[RawHit 0]

In the case of the etys it works as they are fairly forgiving of source but when using other full sized headphones with similar price ranges it is less convincing as the flaws of the source will be revealed. YMMV of course as this is based on my experience.

Gotta agree with that. Etys manage to sound very good out of almost any source.

[red_ryder 0]

I chose option 2 also. That's essentially my upgrade path as well. Bought the Beyer 931s from Mackie, and listened to them through a dvdp + home theatre receiver. Enjoyed great detail, but sound was very bright coming from the dvdp. Few months later bought the Spark HA-1A. Soundstage widened up, and I started to enjoy that distinctive tube sound. Finally, 2 weeks back I bought an NAD C542 cdp. That to me was the greatest improvement. The bass on the 931s deepened, brightness was gone to be replaced with a warmth that left a big grin on my face. Most of my old cds just sounded so much better.

 

So although I would agree that getting a good headphone lets you enjoy better sound first, I have to admit that the greatest sonic improvement for me was when I upgraded from a dvdp to a $600 cdp.

[Mackie 0]

The bass on the 931s deepened, brightness was gone to be replaced with a warmth that left a big grin on my face. Most of my old cds just sounded so much better

 

So...........finally wave goodbye to complaints about the cans' brightness when in actual fact, it's something else. Good for U.

[Rameish 0]

I voted 200 headphone and 300 CDP esp if you get a marantz cdp as they do come with a decent headphone out. 200 can buy you some nice cans like the Grado SR80 (S$170) that happens to work well with marantz as it uses the same op-amp as the Grado RA-1 amp (NJM4556).