# £200 headphones- suggestions please!



## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

Hello all techy people! :wave:

Looking to get my father a pair of headphones for his Christmas. Now, I know I dont want earphones, but I dont want to get him big bulky headphones like the Grado style ones.

He likes these (size and sound quality), but open to suggestions. :thumb:

Bowers & Wilkins P5 (from the Apple store)









What I want:

Style: Headphones (think on ear, not arround ear)
Budget: £150-£250


----------



## stewartmak7 (Oct 26, 2009)

Bose do head phones similar to above around 170. Or bang and olufsen


----------



## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

been down the B&O route myself and not too impressed with their headphones.

Are the BOSE actually any good?


----------



## chopper007 (Nov 9, 2010)

hi mate, i work as a freelance sound engineer and would recomend Sennheiser HD25's
nothing better and around £165 i think

hope that helps


----------



## msherry21 (Jun 24, 2007)

Anything by Sennheiser!!!

Michael.


----------



## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

chopper007 said:


> hi mate, i work as a freelance sound engineer and would recomend Sennheiser HD25's
> nothing better and around £165 i think
> 
> hope that helps


they do get some good reviews- thanks! :thumb:

Any knowledge of the Grado range anyone? Tempted by the 225i's myself.


----------



## JordanTypeR (Mar 13, 2010)

Not too sure if this is of too much use but I got the B&W Zeppelin iPod dock and the sound quality and clarity is second to none. I can only assume their headphones must be of a similar standard.

You tried websites like Stuff and T3 to see what they recommend?


----------



## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

JordanTypeR said:


> Not too sure if this is of too much use but I got the B&W Zeppelin iPod dock and the sound quality and clarity is second to none. I can only assume their headphones must be of a similar standard.
> 
> You tried websites like Stuff and T3 to see what they recommend?


nope- good idea though! :thumb:


----------



## msherry21 (Jun 24, 2007)

If you're looking into a Dock, then in all honesty, the Vita R4 is without a doubt thee best dock on this earth. I listened to loads including the Zeppelin when buying mine and nothing came close. Just my 2 pennies worth of course.

Michael.


----------



## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

You don't want bulk, but yet everything mentioned so far is just that due to the design!
What are they to be plugged into?
If it's an iPod with standard bitrate songs, then the higher quailty headsets will highlight lossy compression artefacts.

With ear/headphones being highly personal (looks, sound, comfort), your good intentions might be a poor idea in reality.
I'd like to suggest the ones I have in the Sales section, but all of the above still applies, and they're in-ear which I think is a more elegant solution, plus you don't need to have the volume turned up to compensate for background noises.


----------



## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

tbh to get the best of high performance cans you need a dedicated headphone amp: - 


AKG K701 you might be able to get a pair, but the K601 is probably more likely to fit the budget tbh 

or Sennheiser HD range although i doubt you will get HD650/800's the new release is the HD598 at 199.99 or HD600 at 249 personally the 600 is more well known and its reviews speak for themselves there's very little diff in the HD600 and the 650 if you can up the budget slightly you might get your hands on the 650 but then you could get the akg 701

what type of music are they going to be used for?


best advice though is to go and listen to them somehow and then look online for prices 

the b & w are good but most people have complained regarding the odd design being uncomfortable for extended listening.

it all depends how seriously you want to take it like detailing there is some really really good can kit the price for stuff though can be mad.


----------



## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

amiller said:


> they do get some good reviews- thanks! :thumb:
> 
> Any knowledge of the Grado range anyone? Tempted by the 225i's myself.


grados are nice but they can get uncomfortable as the pad sizing is a well known problem and uncomfortable listening is a slight problem with some grados

the 225i's have good reviews but my personal option would lean towards my current sets of either hd650 or k701. varying on my music taste 650 for more rocky stuff and 701 for classical.


----------



## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

amiller said:


> been down the B&O route myself and not too impressed with their headphones.
> 
> Are the BOSE actually any good?


my honest op. bose are shi*e to much bass for everything i've listened to but it depends on what you listen to, bose equipment is good if you like that but classical and rock stuff it murders tbh


----------



## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

PJS said:


> You don't want bulk, but yet everything mentioned so far is just that due to the design!
> What are they to be plugged into?
> If it's an iPod with standard bitrate songs, then the higher quailty headsets will highlight lossy compression artefacts.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the input :thumb:

Here's the dilema. My father is near enough 70, so he doesnt really want to pushing earphones into places where hair is growing thicker than on his head! 

He will be using them for mundane tasks like walking to the shops, washing the cars and a bit of gardening. With the greatest of respect (to those real die-hard audiophiles) he doesnt want some big massive 'cans' looking like some wannabe Eminem. :lol:

So, (and this was just my personal thinking) I thought that a headphone (on ear, not around) would be the best option. Something like the B&W ones I listed looked ideal and he has tried them and loved them. I just thought there may be something similar or better that i may not know about?

I appreciate that good sound ultimately means a larger headphone, but as you suggested, they will be used mainly with an iPod (pretty hip for 70 huh?! ) so I guess their ulimate quality isnt so important. He will however (and I have no doubt here) Google them as soon as he unwraps them and whether he can hear the difference or not, he will want to know that they are good 'phones.

Was that any help?! :lol::doublesho


----------



## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

Ninja59 said:


> my honest op. bose are shi*e to much bass for everything i've listened to but it depends on what you listen to, bose equipment is good if you like that but classical and rock stuff it murders tbh


Just spotted all your posts- some great input thanks. :thumb:

The biggest trouble I have is that my father, perhaps like most, doesnt like people (his children) buying things for him. So he would never go round shops listening to different sets as he wouldn't like the fuss. Maybe I can suggest it is me who wants them! :speechles


----------



## keano (Aug 11, 2008)

Have you looked at the Beats by Dre ones?

From the Dr. himself


----------



## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

amiller said:


> Just spotted all your posts- some great input thanks. :thumb:
> 
> The biggest trouble I have is that my father, perhaps like most, doesnt like people (his children) buying things for him. So he would never go round shops listening to different sets as he wouldn't like the fuss. Maybe I can suggest it is me who wants them! :speechles


biggest question what type of music does he listen to?

if classic (like me atm ) i have the akg's on...for a good, natural soundstage AKG are brilliant but i would try and push for AKG K701 you wont regret it they need some serious burn time though  (approx 250 - 300 hours) just checked on amazon uk and you can find them for about £210, although the place where i bought mine went from 225 to 350! they go up in value well  plus the K702 which followed it was killed off because more people continued to buy the 701!

im not saying the AKG are bad at bass/rocky music it just doesnt suit the sound stage they provide there are better contenders.

more rock styled then HD series from sennheiser fit the bill better less burn in time, can be cheaper.

oh as PJS said you feed poor quality music to them then they respond with c*ap tbh....


----------



## tom-coupe (Jan 17, 2009)

yeah iv listend to those beats ones and i think the quality on them is fantastic. maybe worth a look.


----------



## PJS (Aug 18, 2007)

If he's listened to the B&W ones, likes them, and they're within budget, then maybe his present is sorted once they've been purchased?
Oh, and a nose/ear hair trimmer might prove a useful and much needed stocking filler! :lol:


----------



## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

HD650









AKG 701









graham slee novo

just giving you a quick idea sorry my slee is in the pics lol got carried away 

the 701's whilst i think can be unusual at first but soon get better they "press" against your head quite abit...z


----------



## silverback (Jun 18, 2008)

imo bose and B&O are all advertising gimmicks and little in actual quality.had a pair of beyer dynamics which where lovely sounding and very comfortable to wear,had a pair of grado sr120`s (or could have been 80`s) that sounded lovely but couldnt wear them for more than an hour as the hurt my ears,AKG`s where very nice (cant remember the model num) and i have never owned a pair of B&W headphones but did have there speakers and they sounded wonderful.

like ppjs said,what will he be using them for as if its just mp3 music etc then thats way over budget.maybe a pair of cordless senns would do it if he wants a bit of roaming freedom ?


----------



## kirkn99 (Aug 23, 2006)

Many years ago I got a pair of HD 600s and an amp from these people

http://www.headphone.com/

although it's American it has lots of info / guides that I still find useful when shopping for headphones over here


----------



## banditbarron (Sep 1, 2007)

Dr dre every day of the week for me. The crisp quality is immense


----------



## TMM (Aug 30, 2008)

The problem with the high end AKGs and Sennheisers is that they require an amplifier to sound good.

Personally i'm a fan of the Audio-Technica range because they sound great without an amp due to their low impedance (around 32ohm, compared to other headphones with 150-600ohm). I have the Audio-Technica ATH-AD900 and they are fantastic.



banditbarron said:


> Dr dre every day of the week for me. The crisp quality is immense


They are alright, but overly bassy for some people, and there are better headphones for the same price.


----------



## banditbarron (Sep 1, 2007)

TMM said:


> The problem with the high end AKGs and Sennheisers is that they require an amplifier to sound good.
> 
> Personally i'm a fan of the Audio-Technica range because they sound great without an amp due to their low impedance (around 32ohm, compared to other headphones with 150-600ohm). I have the Audio-Technica ATH-AD900 and they are fantastic.
> 
> They are alright, but overly bassy for some people, and there are better headphones for the same price.


Bass can be turned down on most musical outputting devices :thumb:


----------



## adamck (Dec 2, 2010)

I have the Sony MDR-XB500's
They are very reasonable at <£40 now and i use them for DJing, very very impressed with them.
Extrememly comfy too!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001UE6P...de=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B001UE6PDG


----------

