Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
(123 customer reviews) 216 of 226 people found the following review helpful
Excellent, but what did you expect?,
July 22, 2004 Alex J. Avriette "Alex Avriette" (Arlington, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sennheiser HD 650 Headphones (Electronics)
So headphone.com calls them "simply the world's best headphone." I can't speak for the Grado or AKG contenders. I can say that they're better than my Sennheiser 590's, and that is shocking.
Which leads me to my first (and probably most important) point about this headphone. They cost a lot. A whole lot. Sennheiser has many units, including the 580, 590, 595, 600, and 650 (among many others), which could be construed as 'reference' quality. You'll spend about half as much on one of the 5xx models as you will on the 650. So if you were to ask me whether the 650 is *twice as good* (that is to say, it costs more in proportion to its increased capability), I'll tell you no, probably not. I might just not buy them, given the decision again. Perhaps if the price came down a bit.
At any rate, they are really a superb headphone. The sound is really incredible. You never really realize what you're missing in a recording until you've heard it through a set like this. You...Read more
142 of 148 people found the following review helpful
Quite an experience - but you need some patience at first,
September 24, 2005 MartinP "MartinP" (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sennheiser HD 650 Headphones (Electronics)
As a lover of classical music I am a confirmed headphone listener. No set of speakers will offer the same amount of detail, most living rooms will add acoustic distortions, and many of us are not lucky enough to be able to play Mahler or Shostakovich at full power on a daily basis without getting into trouble with the neighbours.
For years I have been very happy with the Sony CD1700, an excellent headphone which is my point of reference for evaluating the HD650. The rest of my hifi set-up consists of a Marantz cd7300 CD player, PM7200 amplifier, and Musical Fidelity X-Can v3 headphone amplifier (a mandatory commodity if you intend to spend serious money on a headphone like this one). Also, I invested in the Cardas replacement cable for the HD650.
It is often said phones like this one need a 'break in' period. I used to regard this merely as snobbish audiophile technobabble - but found it to be actually true. Initially, I was less than pleased with the sound of...Read more
139 of 149 people found the following review helpful
NOT THE BEST CHOICE FOR CLASSICAL,
May 10, 2006 Paco Rivero "Henry" (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Sennheiser HD 650 Headphones (Electronics)
COMFORT: (Grade, B). The earcups are relatively deep, but not deep enough for ultimate comfort. Even after years of use, they don't let me forget that I have headphones on. On the other hand, the 650 feels much better than headphones with shallow cups that squash your ears (and make them sweat). The velour earpads can be replaced, which is good because they do wear down and attract dust. The ultra-soft, velvetlike velour is much better than pleather.
BUILD QUALITY: (Grade A-). The interior of the padded bridge is made of a hard, flexible metal that won't be cracking or breaking any time soon. The plastic bridge will break if you stretch it too much, so if you want to make the 650 less tight adjust the flexible metal NOT the plastic. The phones are sturdy without being heavy. After dropping them hard three or four times, they finally did require repairing, though. (One of the drivers got dislodged.) Still, these are very sturdy phones and don't feel cheap.
SOUND:...Read more
