Very good post with very true information and insight. 
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I could use a pair of new headphones for my gym, but my current headphones are doing the job just about fine so I would feel buyers-guilt if I buy new ones, should I get a new pair either way?
For context I won a pair of averege-quality custom headphones from a promotion Fiat 500C did and won a pair of their headphones, they served me well for almost 2 years, is it time for an upgrade?
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@Nephilim_81 and @pennstac - I bought my 7236 pairs from this guy on EBay - they sound awesome, and seller had good communication
It looks like at least some of the people using Eufonika amps are using these, so I’m thinking it would be fine, but the builder of the amp would definitely be the person to ultimately ask.
And yes, I’ve been using them in the WA22 primarily and also the WA2, but I keep swapping around in the latter - haven’t been patient enough to let either of my pairs of drivers really break in enough to decide what power tubes I’m feeling with them… No harm in a little extra tube rolling though 
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Concur. These tubes ship with the Crack and don’t sound good at all. I switched to 6AS7Gs and never looked back. I’ve never tried an expensive 6080, as these brands put me off the model.
My evaluation sequence for random vintage tubes:
- Does the tube whine or generate unpleasant artifacts? Bye bye.
- Is a “New Old Stock” tube actually terribly worn? I hear this through coarseness, random bass rumbling, and no high range at all.
- What is the overall tone balance? Warm, neutral, bright? Excessive?
- What is the speed/resolution? Creamy smooth can mean blurry and muddy.
- What is the harmonic profile? Audible? Dry, wet?
In my experience that’s the best predictor of how a tube will sound.
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Thanks for your reply about headphones with glasses. Since I posted, I purchased both the Hifiman Sundara and Focal Clear. They both work great with glasses. This forum was a great help to do the research and get headphones that match my preferences.
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Thanks - I have 4 6080 tubes, all RCA, but different vintages. There are 2 dual socket adapters which convert the socket to A2293’s. The prior user has 4 GEC CV4079’s to put in these, which was the previous owner’s way to obtain the unobtainium.
I am contacting the maker for additional information. Right now, I am just using the “stock” Russian tubes which sound pretty good. While I realize that sound can change significantly with an ideal tube set, I may wait to see if and when I upgrade my headphones (current candidates Senn 800S, ZMF Auteur Classic, or possibly Atrium) before I go more deeply into the rabbit hole.
Right now, it’s quite enjoyable with the HD-6xx, they sound better than they ever have. I’m getting some use out of the iFi xDSD (it’s small, has Burr Browns that I like, and a proper line out) as the DAC in the chain. I like to keep the L&P W4 in my travel kit. I also have the Sabaj that I could use.
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Wieslaw suggests trying an E88CC instead of the 6N1P and keeping the 6N13P as the output tube. And there we have it from the maker.
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I am trying to decide which to keep and sell between my LCD X and focal elegia…One is a bit more comfy, but the other does sound a bit better… Which would you choose?
That’s a highly subjective decision- one that we cannot choose for you.
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Keep which ever one you use more.
When I was divesting myself of ZMF cans, I had a hard time determining if I should keep the Eikon or the Verite Closed. In the end I kept the Eikon, if I had both in reach for the same system I’d pick the Eikon more frequently.
The Verite was undoubtedly the better headphone, but the system they were both on at the time didn’t really exploit the technical difference, and the VC which was Iron Wood was just much heavier and as a result less comfortable.
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Very, very subjective, especially since you’re comparing a closed-back dynamic to an open-back planar. Different cans, but they do have one common trait – wonky mids tuning that BEGS for EQ.
I’ve owned both of these cans and have spent ample time with both. I have sold both, but if I was forced to choose, I would keep the LCD-X 2021. They’re more versatile, take EQ better, have better bass and better balance across the sound spectrum – AFTER EQ. Plus Audeze’s build quality just crushes that of Focal.
Neither the Elegia nor the LCD-X 2021 sound right out of the box. So, if you don’t EQ, you might want to look elsewhere other than these two, IMO. Everyone’s ears and brains are different, though.
Good luck.
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I’d choose the LCD X because it responds better to EQ. You’ll have more versatility to tailor the headphone to your liking.
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I would keep both, as I do now only I have Elear instead of Elegia.
LCD-X for better bass extension, better detail and instrument separation.
Elear because of the more natural, livelier sounding instruments, better dynamics, and yet they are quite detailed, sometimes they seem more detailed in nuance, but maybe for the Elegia not all these pluses apply.
I EQ both of them, Elear even more for more engaging sound, LCD-X just a bit for mids clarity and bass rumble, I got that complex EQ for LCD-X can make sound even more unnatural or too aggressive.
Another plus for the Elegia is the closed design, which makes them more versatile regarding use cases.
But either way find your pros, good luck with your decision!
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Interestingly, this is about two different headphones that seem to have the same bass problem.
In both cases the question is what the headphones are capable of reproducing in the deep bass range.
Well, I say it depends on the recording quality.
I’ll give two examples in which both headphones reproduce the respective passages so cleanly, very deeply and grumblingly that you think you’re in the middle of a thunderstorm, with a corresponding grumbling in the stomach area.
Here from 0:28
Here from 0:08
While hip-hop, rave or dub-step recordings are often rather quickly produced and unbalanced recordings that, for whatever reason, actually no longer work properly with high-quality headphones.
I’ll give the following song as an example.
Here I’ll take the often praised Focal on board, which plays the recording hard as a hammer in the first two examples and starts clipping in the latter piece of music.
There is a good reason why I still have the following headphones in my possession, because they have the ability to wonderfully disguise such recording quality and give you back the joy of this music, right up to the desired trance.
I’ll try an analogy in the area of gastronomy. If you give a star chef lentils, potatoes and carrots, he won’t be able to make filet mignon with them, but only a usable lentil soup.
However, the street chef on the corner can most likely prepare a lentil soup dish more palatable because it is his daily business,
but with a filet mignon the street chef may lack the ability to prepare the dish to perfection.
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Unfortunately, in the modern music business it is often the case that everything is produced quickly and cheaply, especially in the pop sector, and the corresponding recordings sound miserable on high-quality systems, while they seem tolerable on the currently popular Bluetooth devices.
Dub-Step on a JBL boom box actually sounds catchier than on a high-quality B&W speaker.
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PS.:
A word about the often mentioned Hifiman Organic.
Yes it can do bass, not as clean and defined as the EmphyII and the E3, but yes it is capable of producing deep bass.
My personal problem with the Organic is:
He’s like that smart-as-nails student who always and everywhere wants to show that he can do it, even when there’s no need for it.
So I find its “intrusiveness” in the bass range of folk, jazz and blues a little excessive.
It simply overlays the subtleties of the remaining frequency range here and there.
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That was an excellent write-up sir, I agree, it largely depends on the music used and perhaps my comparing the E3 to the organic made the E3 seem low in bass, not hearing/feeling the sub/deep bass region in some recordings that the Organic did.
I have a quite a few (10+) test tracks for each headphone for the bass range, and I have noticed some perform markedly better on the E3, although I still quite enjoy a bass shelf under 45 hz.
I’ve realized part of what I attributed to bass was more of a tactile movement of air, typically produced by extremely fast drivers capable of high displacement. I got quite a bit of this feeling when listening to the Heddphone with it’s AMT drivers. Finally I have found what I’ve been chasing, for anyone looking for this as well I recommend giving the Heddphone a try.
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Love your picture illustrations. I’ve had a craving for a good lentil soup for about a week, and now I’m going to HAVE to indulge it. And Honey-boo-boo working it is classic.
So now let me know what you think of Arsenal in the Off Topic.
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I have the Sennheiser 660s headphones. Should I upgrade to the 660s II or get an equalizer? At my age I’m not quite sure what frequencies I’m missing a lot of. All suggestions are welcomed! 
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First of all, a warm welcome to this forum.
With the Sennheiser HD 660S and the HD 660S II you are addressing a very sensitive topic for me.
Before I/we can give you more detailed information, it would be good to know what age you are and whether and with which amp you work.
This makes the recommendations much easier.
Back to the topic of Sennheiser, I would consider myself a fan since the first generation of this manufacturer,
but unfortunately I have to say that not much innovative stuff has happened in the last few years.
This brand has the problem of having brought excellent headphones onto the market very early on and of having four world-class headphones with the HD 600, the HD 650, of course the HD 800S and especially the HE-1, which still stand out to this day .
After that, there was a lot of experimentation and actually improvements made for the worse.
The first mistake was to move away from the 300 ohms, which took the life out of the headphones because they sounded extremely exciting, especially on OTL tube amplifiers.
For me personally, both the HD 660S and the 2 version (different in nuances) sound very “boring”.
Personally, I would advise against buying the HD660S II.
If you want to stick with Sennheiser, I actually recommend the HD 600, 650 or even the 6xx as an upgrade & a cheap OTL tube amplifier for the total price of an HD 660S II.
Then you get that velvety, natural, lively sound that the 650 is particularly known for .
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There are also some other excellent headphones in the Senni’s price range that will open your eyes to new sound qualities.
First there is the Hifiman Sundara,
if you put this can on immediately after the HD 660S, it sounds as if you were in a room with the musicians and pushed aside a heavy insulating curtain,
suddenly everything appears much clearer, airier and more detailed, that is I think it’s called an eye-opening event.
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Another, very underrated, headphone that I can recommend without reservation is the iBasso SR-2 or 3.
This model is just fun, you get a stage, warm, lively sound, good imaging, and, thanks to the biocelulose drivers, fantastic drum and bass guitars response.
The iBasso is also very easy to drive.
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If you own an ifi DAC/Amp, I have another “exotic” tip for you.
The Grado Hemp,
this is certainly not a headphone that you should use as your only headphone, but it has its magical moments, especially the switchable xBass and 3D functions of many ifi products really make a difference with Grado cans and create magical musical moments, in particular for the older ones among us whose hearing unfortunately deteriorates due to biological reasons. (The Grado has slightly increased high frequencies)
———————
So you see,
there are a lot of choices that are at least equal, if not slightly superior, or at least interestingly different.
Audiophile greetings
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What @Lothar_Wolf said. I see you’re 67, you may or may not have lost much of your high frequency hearing. The brain is pretty good and compensating for a while. There are online tests that can give you a fair idea, or better yet consult an audiologist.
I was also about to suggest a Grado, or a similar headphone that is known for clarity in the high end. At this point, half of the forum is laughing at me and Lothar, because the Grados are rather divisive, as many of their models are - or used to be unpleasantly hot on the high end. The Hemp avoids this as does the RS-1e or RS-1x. When I first got my RS-1e, I thought it sounded much like my Sennheiser HD-6xx but with all around better clarity, soundstage, and detail. It also has better bass (no laughter please, fellow forum members) especially with ear pads from Beautiful Audio.
I don’t see much point in “upgrading” to a rather similar new model headphone, especially if you only have one primary headphone. Better to explore what else is out there, find something complimentary for different kinds of music.
And of course, welcome to our forum.
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Hello, and thank you for your detailed information. I’m 68 years old. I have the Alex Cavali Liquid Spark amp probably misspelled. I’m using the 660s with the amp I do have a pair of the 6XX from Drop. I’m open to different brands if they would be an improvement which I know everyone’s ears hear differently. The vocals on the 6XX are more balanced I can hear them better but, the highs are a little weaker than the 660s. I don’t know if maybe an EQ would balance things better or, if I need to upgrade headphones? I sure your appreciate your help!
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