Review: Sugden Headmaster + Senn HD600 + Equinox

[Mackie 0]

Some time ago, lengcm left his Sugden Headmaster and Senn HD600+Equinox cable at my humble abode for audition and I'm supposed to post my impressions thereafter. I have to apologize for the late contribution but I reckon the following findings may still be useful as a platform for comparisions to the modded Headmaster.

 

To make it more interesting, I've also thrown in my arsenal of Beyer DT770/880/990 cans to the sessions. As usual, the following opinions are solely mine and by no means serve as a benchmark or agreeable to all readers. Here goes:

 

Track 1 > "Let Go" album by Avril Lavigne - "Complicated"

HD600+Eq : Airy, transparent and good separation noted throughout the rather complicated track with lots of energy and instrumentation. There's a tendency for this song to sound congested on lesser systems. Subtle and complementary playing of the synthesizer and guitar are well defined and vividly layered as heard between 2.57-3.05 mins. Some rocks tracks may be portrayed with sibilience but not this combination.

 

DT880 : Better bass punch and quicker recovery noted over HD600+Eq but just barely so. Airiness and separation is lesser with this pair of cans but carries the same virtue of HD600 in the sibilance department. Of note is a more upfront sound over that of HD600.

 

DT990: Better airiness than DT880 but still lesser than HD600. Separation is just a tad better than DT880. Bass punch is generally good while layering of HD600+Eq still reigns supreme. A very small degree of sibilance is portrayed with this pair of cans.

 

DT770: Overall bass performance is the most superior and kick drum sounds the most weighty of the rest in comparision. Major drawback is the rather narrow soundstaging but separation and layering are equal to the other Beyer siblings.

 

Track 2 > "American Life" album by Madonna - "I'm so stupid"

HD600+Eq: Very open sound and generally neutral across the musical spectrum. Guitars on both the left and right channels are very well separated by still coherent as a whole to the music. The slight panning of the left guitar is well captured and this subtle detail gives one a perception of the guitarist swaying to the music. Transparency akin to clarity, soundstaging and bass thumps are excellent.

 

DT880: Bass is tighter albeit impact of kick drums is lesser than the Senn. Once again, airiness and soundstaging is relatively reduced. As an eg, the guitar on the left channel is perceived to be at 10 o'clock versus 9 o'clock location on the HD600+Eq.

 

DT990: As expected, this pair of cans sounds more airy than DT880 but still marginal lesser than HD600+Eq. It has an equivalent of mid bass slam to that of the Senn and hence, more so than DT880. On the negative side, treble is a tad hot.

 

DT770: Best bass performance all round and certainly most enjoyable on this track. Vocals sound fullest amongst the rest of the cans on test.

 

Track 3 > "Play the music of Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto" album by Mind Games - "How Insensitive".

HD600+Eq: Guitar pluckings are clear, precise and liquid. Exceptional 3D soundstaging and layering. Forte of this pair of cans in the mid-bass comes alive with this track but there's a notable loss of deep bass information.

 

DT880: What the Senn lacks in deep bass is well portrayed with this pair showing better bass tonality and depth. Mids are as liquid as the Senn but the latter has better body and thus more involving.

 

DT990: Exhibits the same signature of DT880 in the bass department but imparts more air to the sound. However, mids are less sweet and full than both the Senn and DT880 but only slightly. The notable weakness in Jazz is its treble which is a tad hard.

 

DT770: Gives a closer portrayal of this Jazz piece than all the rest and offers the best insight to double bass performance. Basslines and boom are well defined and prevalent when it should be it. The only gripe is resonance of acoustic guitar strings can be rather hot sometimes.

 

Track 4 > "Rachmaninoff - Symphonic Dances" album by Eiji Oue conducting Minnesota Orchestra

 

HD600+Eq: Alto sax introduction at the 3.45 min mark has a lot of ambience and the accompanying woodwinds are very clearly defined and coherent. Moments at the 6-min mark comprises of a choral of strings accompanied later by bells, piano, harp, piccolo and flutes 2 mins later are clearly separated. However, general details and articulation seems to be glossed over. Soundstaging is very deep and wide. Climax at the 9-min mark carries a lot of bite and timpani at 9.30 min introduces the main theme with good impact.

 

DT880: Bells have greater extension on this pair but soundstaging is lesser to that of the Senn. Air flow of the sax (3.45 min) is less defined and the Senn carries greater body. Separation is not as good as the Senn as heard in the piano introduction which is sometimes masked by the accompanying strings. However, these findings are not the Archilles' heels of the cans by just relatively weaker to the very strong performance of HD600+Eq in larger orchestral pieces.

 

DT990 : This pair offers a better fight to the Senn in terms of soundstaging. Strings are clearer in this comparison owing to better treble extension. This pair also portrays low bass better than DT880 & HD600 as the rumbles at 2.00-2.15 min mark are more obvious. This pair also beats DT880 in terms of ambience and subtle details such as the air flow through sax. Strings and choral at the 6.00 min mark are heard with greater details and the most enjoyable of the lot. The pair also sounds best during the introduction of cymbals and timpani (9.00 min). DT990 is just a nose behind HD600+Eq in this race on classical music.

 

DT770: Hmm.......omitted from this test as it's just not enjoyable with this kinda music.

 

Other ancillaries used:

MF A3CD, Chord/Tara Lab RSC Reference Generation 2/Kimber Kable Silver Streak interconnects, X-feed, MAS power master, Audio Industries cones, BDR type 4 cones and SID.

 

Images:

http://sg.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mackie...&BCID=mackiepcm

Edited September 9, 2003 by Mackie

[Blues 0]

Very good reading material for me, mackie!

I'm suprised by your findings in the madonna's track.. 770 .. vocal sounds the fullest. Hm I thought 770 is a lil recessed and sibilant? hm but then again it might be the equipment matching(sugden ?) .

 

Looks like the 770 can fare pretty well with the bigger boys (880 , hd600 eq) despite its closed back design hm hm

well afterall it's the can that I had kept for the longest time, yet

Edited September 9, 2003 by Blues

[Mackie 0]

Updated with link to several images.

[Mackie 0]

I'm suprised by your findings in the madonna's track.. 770 .. vocal sounds the fullest. Hm I thought 770 is a lil recessed and sibilant? hm but then again it might be the equipment matching(sugden ?) .

 

U're right on your assessment and voice of Madonna is never full IMHO. However, in this case, the closed back design of DT770 helps to portray a fuller voice than the open and semi-open backed designs on this particular test track.

 

Once again, I reiterate that all findings are relative to the various cans on audition.

Edited September 9, 2003 by Mackie

[N@Z 0]

Sugden still with tags on the rear! Nice cables... I see the X-feed with the cone tweak!

[evil-zen 0]

slight OT: how about the sugden performing as a preamp?

[Mackie 0]

I did not undertake that test as there isn't a relative point for comparison. I reckon it won't be fair to compare the Headmaster with full sized pre-amps in a speakers setup. It's a pity I got the Cayin (also comes with pre-out) only much later.