grenert

There seem to be quite a few speaker folk here, so I'm hoping you can help me out. I'm setting up an office system (pretty big office, but I don't listen very loud) and I would like to hear any suggestions you have. In another office I have some older Paradigm Atoms (I think V3) and a powered Paradigm subwoofer. It's nice, but I think it lacks a little treble and spaciousness. I don't want to get another subwoofer, so I'm looking for a set of monitors only. The bass response is less important to me than the treble and dispersion of sound. Something that doesn't require speaker stands would be preferable. The rest of the system is not definite yet, but I think I'll go with an Arcam CD73T CD player, Sony ST-730ES tuner, and an old Proton integrated amp (D540). Speaker budget is about $500. Thanks for any help!

I can't imagine a better fit for the description of "a good pair of portable (as in not massive sized), reasonably isolating bass emphasised phones" than the HD25-1. Make sure to replace the yucky stock pads with velour ones (available from Sennheiser). Actually, something in the back of my mind tells me that current models may come with velours as standard.

The Thinkpad forum at: http://forum.thinkpads.com/ is very, very helpful. Maybe someone there can figure it out.

My E500 (same earphone as the SE530) hiss/make noise with many players and amps. If your amp has a low gain option or an option to add impedance (like some of the Xin amps), these can reduce or eliminate hiss. Another thing to try is an inline device to add impedance between your earphones and the player/amp. I think there is something like that for the lower impedance Etymotic earphones.