For AUDEZE planars? No Doubt. The AUDEZE LCD XC or X. It is incredible for the price. You cannot beat it. Price to performance that is the best headphone money can buy and I offer anyone to refute my opinion. 
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easy. Price to performance? Koss Porta Pro or equivalent. Stepping up, Sennheiser PX-100 or Grado SR60i
That’s not even considering the entire ultra cheap IEM thread.
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I’m answering this part in a second note.
Audeze – it depends on comfort and your preferred tone profile. Some are very heavy physically. I sold my LCD-2 Classic several years ago because it was too heavy and caused jaw pain. So, I won’t even address the audio aspects because the weight wasn’t a solvable problem. I don’t have recent Audeze experience and direct you to @Resolve’s reviews on this site.
You might also consider Dan Clark for planars too – they truly need a strong amp to perform well.
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Koss is great too. That would be a close runner!
My resolve not to spend over $1K on headphones may be weakening. I blame inflation. And the fact that it’s been over a year since I bought any headphones. And I’m recovering from that hernia surgery well enough to be cranky and bored. Not that that differs from my normal attitude…
I am considering an OPEN BACK full-sized headphone.
My budget is roughly $1500. That’s twice what I’ve spent on headphones before.
I am willing to consider used.
I listen to classic rock, Jazz, World, Classical (the entire range of “classical” except opera - ancient music, chamber, small ensemble, classical guitar, orchestral, baroque, modern). I’ll listen to folk, bluegrass, urban, and damn near anything except country music product.
I DO NOT repeat DO NOT want to start an upgrade path of my amplification and DAC. Existing stack is Schiit BiFrost2 and Lyr3 or modified STAX hybrid tube SRM-T1S for e-stats. I may may consider some future portable upgrade from my present Dragonfly and/or iFi xDSD original. Portability is a minor consideration.
I like the sound of the following, in approximate order. Hive Nectar eStat, HiFiman HE-560, Grado RS-1e, Senn HD-6xx, Senn HD-580, Grado SR-80e, Koss Porta Pro. Not listing IEMs. I own all of the above. I seriously disliked the sound of Audeze closed-back LCD-2 when I had them to audition.
I have not decided if I will spend money. I admit to being ZMF curious, as I do value craftsmanship. But see the budget above. I value extended bass and some slam, but am not a strong v-shape fanboy. I sometimes use ROONs EQ, and sometimes use what comes with Qobuz, but often don’t eq. I do NOT have the Loki in my headphone path at present. I do have a spare Loki. I use the Lokius at work in a speaker setup.
Any current headphone purchase is just a stopgap until I decide on speakers, which will take some time. I’m open to all suggestions. Note that the Lyr3 is single ended, and all but the e-stat amp are single ended or dual mono (iFi S balanced). Cables don’t do it for me. See above, I’m using Hifiman and Grado…
The headphones.com crew is welcome to PM me with tantalizing suggestions…
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My strategy is not different than yours. I’d love to demo ZMF, but haven’t found a chance. $3K goes a long way toward a lot of other stuff that I want more than headphones. Given my current hay fever I’m in no rush for changes I won’t be able to hear.
I’m using the HD 800 S out of OTL tube amps with slight bass boost for my serious listening. It has airy, expansive, and comfortable treble, and I find my tolerance for lower end stuff is fading. But, the 800 S is no bass or dynamic punch monster. Pre-inflation they could be had for $1,250, but are probably more like $1,400 to $1,500 on sale now.
I’m using the Bifrost 2 too. The Lyr 3 is pretty narrow and rounded off (gentle) versus my other tube amps. It’s collecting dust as I gravitate to my OTLs, but I can try the 800 S with the Lyr 3 over the next few days and report back. The wide 800 S may offset the narrow Lyr. I’ll do some back to back comparisons.
To my ears high impedance designs (Senn, Beyer) have far more nuance potential than my Clear. The Clear is great for tight, punchy sound but with critical listening it’s relatively grainy (versus airy).
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I’m always alert to a response from the pink frog with the crown. Over the years, I’ve come to consider your opinions and approach to be reasonably close to mine. Yes, the 800 S was sort of on my list. My Lyr 3 has the Treasure Globe tube, which I think makes it somewhat less narrow than the stock tubeage. My goal in getting the Lyr 3 was to have something that works well with both high and lower impedance loads and that has adequate power. I would appreciate your thoughts on the 800 S. The other obvious choice is the Focal Clear or Clear MX. Never had a Focal, but after finding a muffler positioned in a front wheelwell on some French car 2CV? Dauphine? can’t recall - I always wonder at French engineering.
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The ZMF Atticus & Aeolus would be under your threshold and even the Verite Open has been going for $1700ish used lately, less the for the Auteur. The Arya also recently got reduced to $1299. Since I have or have had all of them I can recommend any of them really.
The Verite open is something I want to hear. My biggest concern other than price is that over the years I seem to see many who have a pair saying that it gets less and less ear time. I get the feeling that people tire of them. Is this the case? Why are there many on the used market? Is it just someone wanting a different wood? How are they paired with my BF2/Lyr3 stack? Do they cry out for a Pendant?
Please address these questions. You’re right that my budget is arbitrary.
Extremely aligned with mine. I would trust generic’s pink frog ears over anyone else’s ears period. His tastes and detailed observations of each headphone are one hundred and ten percent aligned to what I have perceived and experienced. I have the utmost confidence that any headphone he recommends would certainly be agreeable to my ears in the exactly the manner that he might suggest. He’s da man! Or…, I guess he’s da frog!
I think between people getting other wood (myself included), as new limited versions get released or runs of stabilized wood it seems like that’s often followed by more coming onto the used market. The Verite has been around 4 years or so now and like everything in the hobby many move from one headphone to the next. I’ve used the Verite with a number of amps, and actually one of the best matches was the iFi Micro Black when I had it. I’m sure your stack is just fine. They’re great on the Pendant and other higher end tube amps but it’s not a necessity. My older headphones naturally get less and less listening time since the newer ones I acquire become more interesting because they’re the newest.
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Fwiw I don’t have a VO but I have a VC and they are my least used hp. The reason (at least for me) is that the VC does everything well so nothing stands out. In other words, it’s a bit too safe imo. And, when you start comparing them to other totl hps (which you can get around the same price in the used market) I don’t think they even compare in terms of straight performance and resolution. That being said, not everyone is looking for that (it’s still a good hp).
ZMFs in general are pretty forgiving of source gear so I think you’ll be fine on that front. Focal and Senn are pretty picky in source gear from my experience, so imo I’d have my source gear figured out first more than anything (which I’m aware you said you did not want to do).
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Sorry. Open back or closed for your preference?
He’s asking for open back suggestions
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So does anyone have any other thoughts? I guess I could read on if the Focal Clear MG is significantly better than the Clear. Waiting to hear more from @generic on the Senn 800S with my stack. I’d like to know if it shares or does not share the house sound of the 580-600-650 but with more detail, or what the qualitative difference is. Heard ZMF Fandom from @robo24, I might like the Aeolus, and the LTD Aeolus Canary is quite pretty. I do not mind a warmish sound. I guess there is a gap now until you get to the Verite. Meze doesn’t have an open back in my price range. I should be able to find STAX SR-007 MK2’s used in my price range. Possibly some older STAX SR-009 (without the S).
What else should I be considering? Grado GS-2000e is in the right range new, and still in range with Beautiful Sound pads.
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Is there a reason you want open back only? Sorry if you already explained and I missed it.
For about a year, I had the same setup as you (BF2, Lyr 3 with Treasure Globe), plus a Pendant, driving a Focal Stellia and a ZMF Verite Open.
My favorite combinations were the Lyr 3 + Stellia, or the Pendant + Verite. This would have been primarily playing rock, with a smattering of classical, but I remember how especially magical the Stellia sounded on the Lyr 3 when listening to Mozart’s piano concertos.
I know the Stellia is well over your budget, and is closed back, but Headphones.com has often had an open box model at a discount, or could perhaps cut you a deal on a new one. And they have a great return policy.
Alternatively, the Lyr 3’s synergy with the Stellia might extend to all Focals, in which case a Clear, Clear mg or Celestee might work.
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The only thing I have against closed back are the closed backs I’ve heard. Generally either low-end headphones or the Audeze LCD-2 Closed back that I despised so much that I made a terrible hash of the obligatory review. The only music that sounded good on them was Mike Oldfield’s Tubular bells.
Some other closed back might be perfectly good. But maybe I’m sensitive to the acoustic space created inside a closed back. That’s why I stated my headphone prefs in the first post:
I’ve modified the above so as not to leave out my old STAX, which I still love, despite their lack of deep bass. I greatly appreciate that you had the same stack as I do.
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The 109 should be available soon and I believe it should be inside your budget.
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Many of those headphones have a good amount of ear-gain - we’re talking at least Harman Target levels here. With that said:
ZMF Auteur
HiFiMan Arya Stealth
HiFiMan Original HE-6 (used, if you can find one)
HiFiMan HE-6 SE v2
Sennheiser HD 800 S
Focal Clear OG
Hedd Audio Heddphone (not sure if your gear would power it sufficiently or not)
If you’re a timbre-head, the ZMF and Senns sound more natural IMO.
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I’d like to see a clear definition of “ear-gain” I’m assuming it is that upper mid frequency bump one sees on @antdroid 's target. @Resolve also talks about it, perhaps referring to lower highs more than upper mids. If so, the GRADO RS-1e has less of the GRADO house sound than other models, and less still with the Beautiful Sound pads. Still, there is no lack of mid and upper mid.
I am perhaps a timbre-head, but even more a soundstage head. Not a fan of narrow soundstage in general.