My epiphany was when I listened to my first pair of Senheisser HD515 headphones. I was at Bay Bloor Audio >15 years ago. They blew my mind and I purchased them on the spot. I’ve moved onto more exotic THINGS; however, I was surprised what non-crappy audio could sound like.
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- A decade ago: Bose QC15;
- A few months ago: SRH1540.
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Nobody seems to talk much about the SHURE line. It’s always there, often for specialty uses. What did you like about SRH1540?
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The first wow was the LCD-4
then came the Focal Utopia.
then the Abyss phi.
then the ZMF Verite.
then the MySphere.
finally the Raal SR1A.
i think i’m done.
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See the official thread for highlights on this can. It’s still a fast read.
Why I bought it? Two reasons:
- Tyll (former InnerFidelity) made a good review;
- Zeos said it was a boring can. Then, I took the what-if stock trader approach and decided to give the product a chance.
Later on, after purchasing a couple of more mid-fi cans (HD 600/58X/6XX and DT770 PRO), I discovered that I enjoy dark sounding headphones more.
I’m aware the SRH1540 is a very underrated can in the audiophile world.
Cheers.
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I prefer a warm signature as well (neutral/warm to be more accurate).
I think many people’s definition of warm often will include a lack of detail, but I don’t feel that warmth and detail are mutually exclusive.
Focal Stellia.
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Concur! Not mutually exclusive 
ZMF comes to mind…Focal Stellia…just to drop a few…
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Yup. (I added Stellia while you were typing!) 
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The Sennheiser PX100 did it for me. My dad, who loved his two-channel setup, asked me what the sound quality of my iPod was like. It hadn’t really occurred to me that my iPod could have offered decent sound quality, this having been at the beginning of this millennium and the glory days of 128 kbps iTunes downloads, so I was pleasantly surprised when I put aside the white earbuds and gave the Sennheisers a whirl. Two decades on and I’m still a fan of Sennheiser, although more recently it was the HD 800 that made me say “holy crap” (but not out of my iPod). I still have the PX100s, though, and the iPod still works (as do my dad’s QUAD 33 preamp, 303 power amp, and ESL55 speakers).
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PX 100’s are Sennheisers gateway headphone.
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yes, the top of a very slippery slope!
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Often times people choose between the PX 100’s and the Koss Porta Pros when they’re dipping their toes into the headphone waters.
It’s interesting that most leave behind the PX 100, but Porta Pro fans keep them, even after several ‘upgrades’.
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Without a doubt, my ZMF Aeolus. The second I put them on, it was pure bliss. It’s been a year now, and we are still on the honeymoon.
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The Shure 1540 and 1840 are my every day headphones. These phones in my opinion are seriously underrated. They get great reviews and are a great value for the money. Best phones I’ve ever had and that includes the:
Beyerdynamic DT 880,T90 and 1350
AKG 601
Sennheiser HD650 and Momentum
I listen predominantly to Classical music and these are the best for that type of music. They are so good that I’ve sold or am selling all my other Headphones and have no urge to buy any other. To me these phones offer a wonderful balance, soundstage and musicality.
They are also light weight and very comfortable and of course Shure delivers excellent quality.
I use the 1540 for pure listening pleasure. For a closed phone they are beautifully open sounding with a wonderful deep bass that’s there when it’s in the recording and a smooth high end that reproduces strings without grain. Great classical music headphone.
I use the 1840 for monitoring. Much better than the DT 880 that I used previously. It offers a neutral and more detailed presentation.
Check the reviews. These are very enjoyable headphones.
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Audeze LCD2 rev2 so much so I had originally sold them to try something else but ended up trading back for them a year down the road.
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Audio Technical AD900. Maybe like 15 years ago?
Detail and high were piecing. Thought something was wrong. Got used to it and loved them. Coming from basic headsets, was a big difference.
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HD600s back in around 2001.
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This happened to me this week (not for the first time, but it’s been a bit since the last). With the dt 880 600ohm. the beginning of this song made me take off the headphones to make sure it wasn’t my desk speakers. Honestly I didn’t expect too much out of them as I have several more expensive options. Had gotten them more for the advantage of sound stage + imaging in gaming. But they really wowed me for music too
Edit: on topic the first would probably be the X00 purplehearts, bass cannons will probably always be my favorites
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For me, it was when I received Hifiman HE-560 in 2016. It was like wow final headphones that gave me rich experience.
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The Hifiman HE 1000 V2 were the first high end headphones I listened to, since I’m still really new to this hobby. They completely amazed me with their spacious and immersive sound signature and ever since I’ve been an avid music listener via headphones. I’m too poor to own them unfortunately, so I bought a used pair of Focal Clears for 800 bucks instead. They wow me every day with their astonishing tonality, vocal presentation, detail retrieval and stellar imaging.
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