SteveG

Thanks for the link gepardcv - very useful I actually looked at the Elears already. Taking a deeper second look nearly every review (both professional and amatuer) I've found really raves about them - I think these will be at the top of my audition list.

I cant thank you all enough, lots of really helpful advice. My decisions aren't made, but I feel a bit more confident that I can at least concentrate on certain areas over others. Next step is a sly visit to a decent dealer and do some auditioning - I just hope I can resist the yellow ones with the sound better stripes Last question - whats a realistic asking price for a set of minimally used 325i's with new foam pads? Thanks again folks, Steve

Thank you all for the help. I've just revisited the Amazon page to grab the link for those Stax, and the price has jumped from £695 to £1447 - although they are still Japanese Imports. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/STAX-SR-007A-Electrostatic-Earspeakers-Japan/dp/B0013D3BPE I live in a semi-rural area of the UK where PC World and Maplins are considered 'Hi End' - visiting a 'proper' hi-fi shop isn't out of the question, but it is a bit of a trek. I'd like to have a short list before I went as I'm too easily swayed by a convincing salesman with a good pitch ! ("These phones have nano-quantom technology and they're yellow - for gods sake man, yellow with 'sound better stripes') At the moment I'm leaning towards the HD800 as I know I like the Sen sound, keeping the Bifrost and getting a new amp. I do have a couple of very newbish questions that I hesitate to ask, but am going to anyway as you've been so helpful. Firstly, I run an optical cable straight out of the motherboard (MSI z170 Gaming Titanium) into the DAC. Am I right in thinking that fitting a dedicated soundcard with optical out would have no beneficial impact on the sound quality? Secondly - do the actual drivers in headphones 'wear out'? If it takes time for 'phones to burn in, that means the drivers output changes over time. If the phones are many years old, has the sound been subtlety changing for many years? And finally - is the HD800s a big jump over the standard HD800 ? Thank you again.

I don't know whether to feel sad I'm stuck with a donkey, or relieved that its not just me that thinks that STAX SR-007A MK2 are on Amazon for £695 ($937) - something along those lines? @mwl168 I'm not even sure how I'd go about answering that question. I like the warmth and richness of the Senns, but sometimes I think the bass could be a little tighter, a bit more controlled - and the Grados do have some lovely highs, up around the 12k range. A wide soundstage isn't that important to me - with the equipment I'm used to I don't think I've ever experianced a truly accurate soundstage, so I'm not missing what I've not known. (Although I'm happy to be blown away if its affordable ! ). I'd prefer to stear clear of DIY. I diy'd some speakers a few years ago, and even with the help of the guys at Wilmslow Audio I've never managed to shake the feeling that I didn't do things quite right and things arent as good as they could be !

Hi All, Firstly, the hard part............. My name's Steve, I'm 50, and I Know Nothing About HiFI. There, I said it, I admit it wasn't easy, but I feel better for getting it out in the open . I've had a set of HD650's for over 15 years - which I really like, but I've recently started to think they're sounding a bit tired. They get used every day, and for long periods at weekends and holidays. They are coupled to an original Schiit Asgard amp (serial number somewhere in the 700's), and a Bifrost DAC from the same period. They are connected via optical cable to my computer, and fed flacs. I listen to all types of music - (both country and western - j/k) - except classical and rap. Everything from Alicia Keyes to Alice in Chains, Macy Grey to Motorhead and Pete Tong to The Platters. About 10 years ago my Wife bought me a set of Grado 325i's - which I've hated from day one. I didn't get rid of them because neither of us has ever earned a great deal, and the cans were the first bit of expensive (to us) audio gear she bought me, so they have sentimental value. Every 12 months or so she remarks that I don't listen to them much anymore - so I dig them out for a few weeks and I try really hard to like them. I fiddle with audio eq profiles, read about mods. sacrifice small animals to the audio gods....... but I still hate them, they make my ears hurt. They actually do have lovely bass and an airy sound, but its covered up by that horrible upfront midrange. EQ'ing the midrange back abit just means you lose the 'airyness', and they sound......dirty? So, I've been quietly putting a few quid away here and there, and at the moment have around £1200 to upgrade my kit. I figure that my last upgrade was around 15 years ago, so if this upgrade lasts 20 years, at that point I'll be beyond caring about hifi (haha). With that in mind, it's likely to be my last upgrade, so I want it to be a good one. I'm in no rush to buy, I can keep saving and its my big 5-0 in a few months, so the family will want to buy me something nice (I need time to drop them hints though ) I'm asking for advice because up until this point I was simply looking at the most expensive kit I could realistically afford - maybe Sen800's and something costly from Schiit or Lehmann - but after reading the thread on here about the build quility of the new Schiit units I realise whatever limited knowledge I had is massively out of date. I'm toying with the idea of buying a better amp (would the bifrost still be ok as a dac?), that would hopefully make the Grado's sound better, and then upgrade the cans a few months down the line - is that sensible? Or am I flogging a dead Grado shaped horse and I should just get a new amp & phones in one go? Any thoughts you might have would be really, really appreciated. . Thanks for taking the time to read this Steve