TL;DR is he found the Empyrean was the best upgrade for the HD 650. He also disliked the Aeolus (which I often hear sounds similar to the HD 650).
Does anyone else share his opinion? I’ve been trying to find a good upgrade to the for my 650’s, but haven’t been satisfied with anything yet. Like him, I also use my 650’s for primarily metal. I found the Elex to be a very minor upgrade and most of the time I prefer 650’s over them.
Wellll, so personally I wouldn’t say the empyeran is a close upgrade (it is an upgrade but I don’t think it’s that close tbh), but I would also say that there really isn’t a direct upgrade to the 650 unfortunately. Just wondering, what amp are you using?
I will try to find some place where I can audition them. I use a few different different amps, but I use the THX 789 for the 650 mainly. Why do you ask?
Have you ever tried the 650 on a nice tube amp? You also have an 800s correct? Both those headphones take very well to a tube amp. Also if you went with something like the empyrean you would also want to upgrade from a thx
if you have 650 and 800s definitely go for a good tube amp. My 6xx sounds pretty good on my RNHP, but is absolutely amazing off of my Hagerman Tuba, like not even a contest.
I haven’t tried a tube amp, but I was planning to get one eventually. I’d be more interested in using it for the 800S and HD 600. Does anyone listen to metal on tube amp though? Regarding an amp upgrade, I don’t think my hearing is good enough to appreciate a better ultra clean/linear amp like the HPA4.
Does anyone have a tube amp recommendation? I would prefer that it sound great with the stock tubes.
I own the Empyreans and wouldn’t compare them to the 650s at all really. I love them for their comfort and build quality above all else. The bass can get a bit thick for me at times, but when I’m in the mood for bass, I pick these. They are fairly easy to drive, and the THX 789 will power them sufficiently. I think it would sound better from a better source, but not 100% necessary like it would be for say the LCD 4.
yeah the Tuba would be my pick from experience, also works great with stock tubes. A cheaper choice but still good would be the Darkvoice but you would need to upgrade the tubes in that case because the stock ones are pretty low quality imo
it really depends on your budget tho, there are other good choices than can be had.
Yes rock and metal can sound outstanding on a Tube amp, if you pick one which is on the dryer side, distorted guitars are one of my favorite sounds on a tube.
How much do you want to spend, and what are you looking for in sound?
The Tuba is good for it’s price, and the stock tubes are fine in it, but there really is no limit to what you can spend on Tube amps and the $$$ do make a difference.
as @PushFaderCashCheck says early on in this thread, there are times when the vocals can get a little lost. If you listen to a lot of female vocals especially, I think I have better options, but there’s not much to dislike about the complete package
I would consider anything below a $1000, so the Tuba will be on my short list. Regarding a sound preference, I imagine I’d want a dryer sound like you suggested. I don’t have any experience with tube amps, so it’s hard to say. Did you have any other tube amps in mind?