Which headphones in the $300 - $400 range would you say are the next step, after the 6XXs? I’ve looked into the Brainwavz Alara and the HiFiMAN Sundara, but both of them seem kinda, meh…
Is it even worth spending more than 300, or would it be smarter to just save to money and fall back to the 200-300 range instead?
I’ve been looking at the same up grades…there’s a lot of side ways options…better bass, sound stage, closed, open, mods, don’t need eq’ing etc but unless you have an Abyss Diana ,Stax SR-009s budget then try your 6xx’s with a Good Dac and a little Dot or DarkVoice 336SE tube amp, made a massive difference to my HD660’s. I use both Balanced and analogue outputs from my iFi Nano iDSD Black Label and enjoy every minute 
find a local shop with hifi you can sample and make some educated decisions. that said the 6xx are good cans but they do well with an EQ, so putting a proper stack together would be something to consider.
I would say nothing really is a step above the 6xx until you spend more money like the DT 1990 maybe. But for $300-400 you can definitely buy something different rather than a step above like a planar like a t60rp or something more fun more bass heavy like a Fidelio X2
1 Like
Many have stated and reviewers have said “Best headphones under 1000$”. I mean many.
So you might need to up the budget… a lot. For a lot better in overall department.
Some low budget headphones might have little better this and that but still.
Needs a big leap to the big boy toys.
Elex, maybe Aivas, doubt you’ll find an actual upgrade in your price range, rather just a difference in sound signature. Can always buy used though.
If I were you I would either try to find a different sound sig you would want to try, maybe something much more colorful like X00s or argons, or just save and buy from the 700+ price range if you want more of a direct upgrade. (or buy used $700-1000 cans for around 400-500)
1 Like
honestly, the upgrade would be to get some planar magnetics or electrostatics. planar’s are all over the price range so you may wish to consider getting something in the same price range as the 6xx, perhaps the Monolith M1060C (which can also be mod for open back).
