Sennheiser HD 580 Consumer Headphones

fast shipping.. just as advertised. Could go cheaper on shipping charges though...... .

I have a pair of $1500 Magnaplanar 1.6 QR speakers that I can't crank often because I don't live alone. I have had these Sennheiser Headphones for about 6 years and they are an amazing value. Incredibly detailed and spacious, comfortable and reliable, and Sennheiser has very reasonable replacement costs for cabling. Of discontinued Sennheiser headphones these are classics.

Any complaints? Only one: The bass is natural, but I would like a tad more. Other than that, these are natural, uncolored sound. You can listen for hours on end.

I do not believe the Sennheiser headphones are in Sennheiser's cataloge of products. However, they are very, very similar to the HD600 and HD650 headphones for anyone reading this to consider my appraisal worthwhile when considering these three Sennheiser models. Being 300 ohm phones, the HD580s should be a relatively easy drive for amps designed for or have the ability to drive them. The are an open back design and are circumaural so they will fully cover over your ears not ON them like Grado headphones. Being an open back, they do not reduce or attentuate outside sounds, however, because of the open back design, their sound is very clean, open and very, very smooth when listening to CDs through my Meridian 562 DAC, California Labs Delta CD transport and Antique Sound tube headphone amplifier. The HD580s have a somewhat more of an intimiate sound and may not quite have the three dimentional quality of say, Audio Technica's ATH-AD700. When compared to my Grado SR80, the HD580 is a little less forward with voices and upper midrange, equal in bass authority, with the HD580 having a somewhat smoother and less strained upper registry. The primary difference between the HD580 and the 600 and 650 has primarily to with the frame being plastic on the HD580 and metal on the upper end models. I recommend these phones highly, especially because you can sometimes find good used examples on eBay for a fraction of their original price.