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Dear Ola,

> The sound Im looking for is an open and brillinat sound with a tight deep
> bass. I like the bass to be powerful but not boomy.

> The headphones I have looked at so far are Sennheiser HD600
> and Philips HP1000.

> Would I encounter problem when trying to drive certain
> headphones with my 20 year old Luxman L-230?

> The headphone output is connected to the same powerstage as the speakers would be via
> a 470ohm resistor.

A few years ago I visited the Sennheiser laboratories and had a
long conversation with the guy that designed/developed the
HD600. He explicitly told me, that the phone was intended to be
driven from a headphone output with a low output impedance.

By personal experience I agree. This phone does sound rather
boomy, warm and ill-defined when this impedance is increased. I
therefore honestly don't have the feeling that the HD600 would
be a good solution.

The HP1000 is a nice phone but not as refined as the HD600. It
has a rather dark sound. I no longer sell Philips as I have
found their service to be rather lacking.

> Have you got any recomendations in the pricerange 100-200
> euros? Preferably nearer to 100.

One of my personal favourites is the Beyerdynamic DT440 at EUR
130,-. It provides good neutral sound, is easy to drive
(portables!) and very comfortable. I'm not sure how it performs
at an increased output impedance though. The phone is also
rather heavy.

Another option would be the DT860 at EUR 200,-. Normally a
rather bright sound but at increased output impedances treble is
tamed and the phone sounds well balanced, clean and fast. Bass
is not very strong but fast and well-defined.

No true other recommendations in my program.

I hope this helps,

Jan

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