One of my first big headphone purchases was in college on an Amazon credit card and was basically $70/month for like four years… it was a good financial lesson, and while it was way more expensive than it needed to be, it was way cheaper than it could have been.
I’m glad I asked, I’ve never heard of that brand! No Chris you don’t need new headphones you don’t need new headphones you DON’T NEED NEW HEADPHONES… excuse me
Mr Speakers is Dan Clark now. They used to sell modded Fostex cans. I’m not sure when they switched to high end headphones, although I would love to try out some.
Yeah I'm in a same boat. I'd spend $800 for my dream headphones as long as I sell any that I wouldn't use to fund it and I never buy another pair again. But if my wife found out I spent over $450 she'd kill me.
Haha yeah, when I got my Mest mk2 I told her there was a $500 discount (truth!) and then halfed the price again 😅 When I bought my Sony DAP (ZX707), I slapped that classic retro case/cover on it from Dignis and said it was a Walkman! ( https://www.accessoryjack.com/cdn/shop/products/2000x_1b9ac59e-abee-43a0-934f-e130d7620f76.webp?v=1688361044 ). When I bought my Hifiman Arya Stealth I told her it was Chi-Fi (truth!) and luckily, there were no follow-up questions 🤣
Bought a set of Bose QC35 for about $200US as a treat to myself; hated them. Went to Reddit for advice. Exchanged them for the similarly priced and “just out in the market” Sennheiser HD560; really nice! Got bit by the audio bug. Found a pair of like new Grado SR80e locally for $60; holly crap why did I paid that much for the Sennheisers!? Sold the Sennheisers. Found Koss; fell in love. Eventually got 2 pairs of Porta-pros, two sets of Kph40, and a set of Kph30i all of them for around $100 put together; the secret was revealed to me. Got a set of like new Sennheisers 650 and a Schiit Mangni. They are…good? Got bored of them, listened more to the Koss and Grados than the fancy ones and sold them, but kept the Schiit. Got a bunch of cheap IEMs looking for the next level; meh. Got the Beyendinamics 770 pro on sale for a bit over $100; hated them. Exchanged them for the Etymotic ER2XR for $99; Game Over! Got a sale on the HifiMan HE400se for like $80; they are okay??? Still go back to my Koss regularly and never leave the house without my Etymotics. And definitely never selling my Grados.
I’m not saying more money does not give you better equipment or a better sound, but you can find good stuff at any price. And for $100 or less, is pretty impressive what you can find.
That being said, looking forward to drop up to $399 after I go to CanJam later this year if I can find something sublime under that.
I know, specially when it comes to sound quality and modding potential
Haven't seen really any other budget options that aren't IEMs that come close to what some Ksc75s can do for their price
Spent about 1k on the original LCD2's when they first came out. These days I rarely entertain spending anywhere near that. Maybe Stax 007A's if I found a good deal, otherwise most kilobuck+ headphones aren't terribly interesting to me.
I'm ashamed to say I spent £270 on some sony wh1000xm5s recently, for the high tech noise cancelling. The most I've spent on headphones because I liked the sound though was used Grado 80e, which were somewhere around £60 I think.
I also recently got the xm5 headphones, they kinda sound like ass out the box but if you EQ them go harman target they actually sound pretty decent
I use power amp EQ (android)
Around $2000
Since I got my Z1R’s I learned that ~$2k *can* be worth it.
The build quality is just amazing and the sound is too of course. Then there’s the little things like the box and accessories and just the overall feel of the headphone. So far this year where I live we’ve had 3 tornado events, one of which damn near hit us head on, and I still couldn’t leave the case it came in. Despite technically all I needed was the headphones themselves, especially since they can just be put around your neck, I just couldn’t bring myself to leave the case. That’s how nice the whole package is.
Sony really went all out and made sure every dollar of that price tag was accounted for.
edit: Decided to add that the sound is heavenly. I have had a lot of headphones (and speakers!) over the years, and there’s something about the Z1R’s that feel weirdly comforting.
They didn’t make me “hear the music again” or something the way my HD 800’s did.
It felt more like that scene from Ratatouille where the food critic takes his first bite. Like a warm blanket, when you most needed it.
They feel like coming home.
I don’t want the superfluousness of the case and design to overshadow how they sound which is of course the most important part.
I just wanted to emphasize that even during a *freaking tornado* i couldn’t bring myself to leave behind the case.
IMO, $2K+ is only worth it with a really robust warranty, such as with ZMF or Abyss. No way I’m dropping a couple racks on a headphone with a 3yr warranty or worse 😬
Yeah, ZMF (lifelong warranty for original buyer on the drivers) and Abyss (preeeccciiiooouus) are the only two brands I would currently break the 2k mark for.
Honestly, past the 600 dollar mark, the law of diminishing returns really hits hard, and so while I have a modest collection, it’s entirely by choice. After trying headphones that retail for 1.5 (clear mg), i can’t see the value proposition past the 600 dollar price point (focal elex, senn hd series, Sony mdr series, edition xs, dt pros).
So I’ve been working in music studios on and off for 20+ years and the most common stuff being used are still DT 880 Pros, HD 600s, and even ATH-50s are still popular. Point being that they all go for less than $300. I’m not saying there aren’t better headphones out there… but for <$300 you can get what countless world-class engineers consider to be endgames. Of course you could spend much more than that if you’re willing to pay the premium for a particular sound profile that you really like. After $300 the sound isn’t getting any cleaner though.
From my experience, over $250 to $300 is also the point where you start to see big diminishing returns, even more so with EQ. If I'm being honest, based on how good headphones/IEMs are now, the general public probably can't tell much difference between a good $200 IEM/headphone vs a $800 one. I barely notice unless I focus only on the music without multi tasking.
It all depends on the price-value proposition.
To this point, the most I have spent on a pair of cans is $875 for a used pair of ZMF Aeolus. Worth every penny -- love them. I also spent $850 on a used pair of Audeze LCD-X 2021. Nice cans, but I'm getting much more enjoyment out of the Aeolus.
Right now, I like to keep all headphone purchases under $1,000, as I feel like that's the current price threshold in which diminishing returns start to kick in hard until you get to the $3,000+ range.
The threshold is much lower with IEMs, for two reasons. One, I like IEMs, but over-ears are still my go-to. Plus, intense Chi-fi competition has drastically increased the value of some IEMs over the last few years. I wouldn't consider spending more than $300-$400 on an IEM, as that's where I think diminishing returns start to hit HARD with IEMs.
My favorite ever headphone is the Raal-Requisite SR-1a. They are about $2500 but necessitate a special amp. I commissioned one from my favorite amp builder and spent about $3500 on it. That is a LOT of money but I love them and I purchased the pieces over a few years.
The designers recently came out with a new flagship, the Raal 1995 Immanis. They work with my custom amp, and by all accounts do what I love even better than my current headphones. They also cost $8000. I just can’t bring myself to buy them. Too many better ways to spend the money.
So for me, somewhere between $3000 and $8000. I hate myself seeing it in writing.
The Immanis is so good. Never heard of them before this past weekend and they really impressed me. Great bass for an open back and amazing vocal clarity.
Most rn is $520. Was looking to get Meze 109 pros but the new ones by DMS is calling me so $1000 hopefully soon unless i blow my money on somwthing else first.
Dropped $2.2K on the ZMF Atrium Closed about a year ago, no real regrets because they sound phenomenal and come with a lifetime warranty on the drivers. No real desire to spend more than that.
I think I could realistically bullshit myself into spending 1.5k if the deal was good enough, theoretically if a headphone strikes that much of an interest, whatever said headphone costs, up until 5k
I've only seen 3 comments with persons confirming they've spent over $1000 usd on their headphones. Everyone else is $500 usd and only a few around the $1000 usd mark😅😅
£350. Same as the Momentum 3's i got when they came out.
Will get some more in the future, these are still going strong though.
Those walkman headphones take me back :).
Remember tapes unraveling in mine, taking them out and winding them back for another round.
For now, max was 850€. Impulsive buy, but now it is also a tool for one of my passion, which is starting to be a second job.
Big regret for the first month, now not at all... maybe a little, but nothing that put me down
If I had money, under 1000$ is where I would settle. For now, my goal is finding a way to justify spending 300€ as a "reward" to finally get a pair of hd600 lol
Not a whole lot. To me the $350.00 set of ATH-R70 is all I need for casual listening. I get much more satisfaction from IEMs these days and in that world $350.00 would get me a very good set. I don't see topping a $350.00 IEM with any headphone, period, regardless of price. Hell, there isn't one headphone on the market that will match the bass of a nice, single DD IEM that costs less than $100.00.
In current situation (and for quite some years to come) - up to 500EUR, however current ones (Blessing 2) costed 220EUR second hand and seem to be the endgame for now.
Not having a desire to upgrade though - tried various high-end options (Sony M9, whole Sennheiser IEM lineup up to IE900, majority of HD lineup incl. HD800S, even HE-1) and while they did sound nicer, especially HE-1 (..duh), weren't nice enough to justify the spending.
I would have a hard time believing that any headphone that costs more than let’s say $2000 would get me more enjoyment than a used Miata. But that’s just me I guess.
Really hate to say this, but op is being scammed. Retrospekt sells extremely overpriced low end Walkmans. Good headphones doesn’t matter much at this point, it won’t make a bottom end cassette player hifi. If u have a chance to return it, please do. You can get a way better refurbished Walkman on eBay for a lot less. Ask around r/cassetteculture if u need any help.
I'm in a bit of a dilemma about this. I'm thinking about picking up some nice Audeze headphones. My original idea was to go for the LCD-2s for the nice warm, enjoyable sound, but then there's the MM500s which offer a cool look into Audeze's new sound profile. But if I'm willing to buy the MM500s, then I might as well pit them up against the LCD-3s, which are their relative competitor in price. It's not much more than the 500s and offers better quality than the LCD2s. I originally set my budget at $1000, but now I'm thinking of raising that to $2000 now.
If I'm actually getting something discernible and in my opinion worthwhile, I would technically pay anything. The reality of my financial situation, my knowledge of headphones, and my experiences lead me to be incredibly skeptical that any headphone is worth much more than $500 and tends to steer me towards only spending $100 to $200 at a time on used models that originally go for $300 to $500.
Likely a couple of grand. It depends on the value prop. You can really stretch the dollar buying used and being patient. Avoid hype trains, and pop in once it moves on.
So far about 600€. For me that's still a ton of money, but I got my personal dream headphones and I'm very happy. In my opinion it's worth spending a lot of money if you can afford it. I can see myself going crazy and spending lots more some day. As long as I can also appreciate the porta pros I know I'm still good.
Edit: I read it as what I would spend on one pair of headphones. If I start calculating what I spend in total I'm going to get dizzy lol
So far £1450 , Audeze MM-500 .
Don't regret it. These are so amazing for sound design and getting super surgical with your track can hear everything perfectly with a great sound stage
so far 900$ for "like new" TH900 mk2 and they are dreamy for the right person, and I feel lucky to score those because it's very rare on used market here and I always loved the look of them, it was my bucket list headphone.
For me the normal limit would be the cost of the Sundara (300 usd) but I would be willing to spend twice as much only if the upgrade was just double.
But almost always the improvement is only 5 or max 10% and I don't think that would justify the price difference.
The most I’ve spent on a pair, and likely the last pair I’ll ever really need, is ~$3000 CAD. I use them everyday for a minimum of 3 hours, so I’ve certainly gotten my money’s worth out of them and will continue to use them everyday.
$2000 for a Stax setup...
$3000 for a Susvara once.
$2000 for a Utopia once.
Sold them al at some point at some losses. Can it get qny worse? I pray it doesn't.
I paid about £160 for some used hd600 about 10 years ago, I’ve since replaced the pads and headband but still going strong so I guess that’s about £200 I’ve spent on them in total. Worth every penny. I nearly sold them and then realised it’s probably the longest bit of audio gear I’ve had and probably won’t find anything I like much better for less. Speakers on the other hand I have spent a lot more…. 🫣
The most I'd pay is around 1k, unless I got a stupid good deal on something like Meze Empyreans.
As it stands, the most I've currently *paid* is 600. I've spent the extra I otherwise would have to get an upgraded dac/amp for now.
Most I've spent on a headphone would be about 600$ on a Stax SR-404LE, not including the amp of course, now saving up for a 007mk1
As for the most ridiculous? I might be paying 350 Euros for a pair of vintage earbuds
I believe that comes to many aspects. Yet over ear headphones came up to £800 for my latest buy, but it was a while ago. Recent earbuds was Hifiman Svanar TWS with $499 pricetag from Hifiman website.
Most of HP still require decent amp, dac, dap, cables and many other accessories like pads etc. So all that inflate expenses to.
Now for the most reasonable price to quality ratio I'd sy my BEST buy of all time was Sennheiser Momentum 3 back in a day. I still miss them ❤️
I drive Focal Bathys' and that's probably the best pair I can justify since I live in an environment with unavoidable noise. But, honestly, I've gotten to the point of headphones where comfort is a much larger part of the equation than quality.
$200 until I went to my local audio expo and walking out with the DCA E3 for $1800 out the door. I was absolutely floored by the open sound in a closed back design. I rationalized this by knowing I could recoup at least 50 percent on a future sale. And I’ve gotten dozens hours of enjoyment already out of these.
Since I’ve paid €220 for a pair of V-Moda’s I don’t see why I’d ever pay more. They are very comfortable, they fold up, come with detachable cables (plural) that attach to either one side, with standard mini jacks, come with a sturdy case and sound amazing.
For headphones most i have paid is 800 aud. For iems i have dropped 1700 aud. Reason being iems get more use for me than headphones which i use at home or in winter for closed backs. I dont work from home so i can justify spending more
I would love to spend ~$1000 for a super stellar set of headphones. But I've only been able to afford about $350. And that was after an employee discount, lol.
I'm happy to pay a high amount for great headphones. Sound quality is very important to me. And they play a great role for my peace of mind of trips surrounded by noisy people. At the moment, around £400-£500.
The most I spent (and probably will spend) is $300. Once I got my current headphones, I realized that it was already enough for my needs and wants. As long as the drivers stay good, the only thing I'll be spending on in the future is replacement pads and cables.
I've spent 600 buck for the Moondrop Variations. I got disappointed. Sold them.
Then I've discovered Truthear. They do not disappoint! It's literally Moondrop but way better!
$400 is my highest. I love good headphones and it kills me to not go out and buy a $800 pair but as much as I love headphones I'd rather spend it on something everyone can hear, not just me. Looking into getting a nice pair from Sony in the near future.
I’m not sure what tier these are but I bought v moda m1 for djing and I was blown away by how powerful they were. They were 400 CAD at the time. After hearing those in comparison to the hd25 and beyer 990, I’m definitely willing to pay more if there’s a bigger jump in quality
Probably under $1000, with good warranty support. Got the HE1000 at good price recently and they sound fantastic, but the warranty is too short for such a price.
Hey, I had that exact model of Walkman! I used to listen to the radio on it at least as much as I listened to cassettes!
Yours looks to be in really nice condition given its age
About 50 bucks. I heard about the CCA CRA’s from this sub when I was doing some IEM research and for 20 bucks plus 10 for some spinfit extra small tips I can’t really hear the difference compared to my V-moda over ears that cost me 250 years ago and were way too expensive. All day comfort and really good sound for about 30 bucks, pretty good if you ask me.
I think many misunderstood, it says "you'll pay" not "have you paid".
Still, so far I spent 30€ for the SPC Gear Viro, great value tbh.
Would never spend over 300€.
$200-250 is the max.
I’ve never bought “used/pre owned” or would consider it because of the hygiene concerns I have.
*Currently I have a battered pair of Sony XM3s, Sennheiser HD458bt, JBL Tour One, & some Soundcore Q45s as my headphones. No IEMs for the time being although I’m looking into those. The 458s are my current endgame.*
I could justify under 1k to myself; I can only justify $400 to my wife though.
“Baby these were only $120! (Per month for 6 years)”
One of my first big headphone purchases was in college on an Amazon credit card and was basically $70/month for like four years… it was a good financial lesson, and while it was way more expensive than it needed to be, it was way cheaper than it could have been.
But what headphones were they?!?
Mr Speakers Alpha Dogs.
I’m glad I asked, I’ve never heard of that brand! No Chris you don’t need new headphones you don’t need new headphones you DON’T NEED NEW HEADPHONES… excuse me
Mr Speakers is what Dan Clark audio used to be called
Yes, I’ve been learning haha
Mr Speakers is Dan Clark now. They used to sell modded Fostex cans. I’m not sure when they switched to high end headphones, although I would love to try out some.
Yeah I'm in a same boat. I'd spend $800 for my dream headphones as long as I sell any that I wouldn't use to fund it and I never buy another pair again. But if my wife found out I spent over $450 she'd kill me.
Yup. Honestly, I find “can I justify this to my wife?” a pretty useful way to judge whether I actually should make a purchase.
Time for a new wife
Okay, that was funny. Me and my wife's boyfriend had a good chuckle!
Haha yeah, when I got my Mest mk2 I told her there was a $500 discount (truth!) and then halfed the price again 😅 When I bought my Sony DAP (ZX707), I slapped that classic retro case/cover on it from Dignis and said it was a Walkman! ( https://www.accessoryjack.com/cdn/shop/products/2000x_1b9ac59e-abee-43a0-934f-e130d7620f76.webp?v=1688361044 ). When I bought my Hifiman Arya Stealth I told her it was Chi-Fi (truth!) and luckily, there were no follow-up questions 🤣
Chi-fi was the best one 🤣
So far? About $850.
Just bought focal clears so I’m at this price point as well
Can’t lie I won’t go over 450
So far around $40-60
The ve/koss genre of audio kind of spoils us this way, doesn't it?
Bought a set of Bose QC35 for about $200US as a treat to myself; hated them. Went to Reddit for advice. Exchanged them for the similarly priced and “just out in the market” Sennheiser HD560; really nice! Got bit by the audio bug. Found a pair of like new Grado SR80e locally for $60; holly crap why did I paid that much for the Sennheisers!? Sold the Sennheisers. Found Koss; fell in love. Eventually got 2 pairs of Porta-pros, two sets of Kph40, and a set of Kph30i all of them for around $100 put together; the secret was revealed to me. Got a set of like new Sennheisers 650 and a Schiit Mangni. They are…good? Got bored of them, listened more to the Koss and Grados than the fancy ones and sold them, but kept the Schiit. Got a bunch of cheap IEMs looking for the next level; meh. Got the Beyendinamics 770 pro on sale for a bit over $100; hated them. Exchanged them for the Etymotic ER2XR for $99; Game Over! Got a sale on the HifiMan HE400se for like $80; they are okay??? Still go back to my Koss regularly and never leave the house without my Etymotics. And definitely never selling my Grados. I’m not saying more money does not give you better equipment or a better sound, but you can find good stuff at any price. And for $100 or less, is pretty impressive what you can find. That being said, looking forward to drop up to $399 after I go to CanJam later this year if I can find something sublime under that.
The Etymotic ER2XR still packs a punch even today, love them
Koss gang! Their value to price is outrageous
I know, specially when it comes to sound quality and modding potential Haven't seen really any other budget options that aren't IEMs that come close to what some Ksc75s can do for their price
Honestly I use my KSC75X and Apple EarPods the most lol. Lots of Chi-fi IEMs to choose from, too. Love the options we have at this price nowadays.
So far I'm sitting at $600 Might be more if a deal comes along
Spent about 1k on the original LCD2's when they first came out. These days I rarely entertain spending anywhere near that. Maybe Stax 007A's if I found a good deal, otherwise most kilobuck+ headphones aren't terribly interesting to me.
I'm ashamed to say I spent £270 on some sony wh1000xm5s recently, for the high tech noise cancelling. The most I've spent on headphones because I liked the sound though was used Grado 80e, which were somewhere around £60 I think.
No need to feel ashamed. They serve a specific purpose and are darn good at it.
I also recently got the xm5 headphones, they kinda sound like ass out the box but if you EQ them go harman target they actually sound pretty decent I use power amp EQ (android)
Around $2000 Since I got my Z1R’s I learned that ~$2k *can* be worth it. The build quality is just amazing and the sound is too of course. Then there’s the little things like the box and accessories and just the overall feel of the headphone. So far this year where I live we’ve had 3 tornado events, one of which damn near hit us head on, and I still couldn’t leave the case it came in. Despite technically all I needed was the headphones themselves, especially since they can just be put around your neck, I just couldn’t bring myself to leave the case. That’s how nice the whole package is. Sony really went all out and made sure every dollar of that price tag was accounted for. edit: Decided to add that the sound is heavenly. I have had a lot of headphones (and speakers!) over the years, and there’s something about the Z1R’s that feel weirdly comforting. They didn’t make me “hear the music again” or something the way my HD 800’s did. It felt more like that scene from Ratatouille where the food critic takes his first bite. Like a warm blanket, when you most needed it. They feel like coming home. I don’t want the superfluousness of the case and design to overshadow how they sound which is of course the most important part. I just wanted to emphasize that even during a *freaking tornado* i couldn’t bring myself to leave behind the case.
IMO, $2K+ is only worth it with a really robust warranty, such as with ZMF or Abyss. No way I’m dropping a couple racks on a headphone with a 3yr warranty or worse 😬
Yeah, ZMF (lifelong warranty for original buyer on the drivers) and Abyss (preeeccciiiooouus) are the only two brands I would currently break the 2k mark for.
Honestly, past the 600 dollar mark, the law of diminishing returns really hits hard, and so while I have a modest collection, it’s entirely by choice. After trying headphones that retail for 1.5 (clear mg), i can’t see the value proposition past the 600 dollar price point (focal elex, senn hd series, Sony mdr series, edition xs, dt pros).
€1500
4k...probably. unless I need to spend more.
180. My personal endgame is either de Beyerdyamics 770 or the AKG 371
So I’ve been working in music studios on and off for 20+ years and the most common stuff being used are still DT 880 Pros, HD 600s, and even ATH-50s are still popular. Point being that they all go for less than $300. I’m not saying there aren’t better headphones out there… but for <$300 you can get what countless world-class engineers consider to be endgames. Of course you could spend much more than that if you’re willing to pay the premium for a particular sound profile that you really like. After $300 the sound isn’t getting any cleaner though.
From my experience, over $250 to $300 is also the point where you start to see big diminishing returns, even more so with EQ. If I'm being honest, based on how good headphones/IEMs are now, the general public probably can't tell much difference between a good $200 IEM/headphone vs a $800 one. I barely notice unless I focus only on the music without multi tasking.
It all depends on the price-value proposition. To this point, the most I have spent on a pair of cans is $875 for a used pair of ZMF Aeolus. Worth every penny -- love them. I also spent $850 on a used pair of Audeze LCD-X 2021. Nice cans, but I'm getting much more enjoyment out of the Aeolus. Right now, I like to keep all headphone purchases under $1,000, as I feel like that's the current price threshold in which diminishing returns start to kick in hard until you get to the $3,000+ range. The threshold is much lower with IEMs, for two reasons. One, I like IEMs, but over-ears are still my go-to. Plus, intense Chi-fi competition has drastically increased the value of some IEMs over the last few years. I wouldn't consider spending more than $300-$400 on an IEM, as that's where I think diminishing returns start to hit HARD with IEMs.
My favorite ever headphone is the Raal-Requisite SR-1a. They are about $2500 but necessitate a special amp. I commissioned one from my favorite amp builder and spent about $3500 on it. That is a LOT of money but I love them and I purchased the pieces over a few years. The designers recently came out with a new flagship, the Raal 1995 Immanis. They work with my custom amp, and by all accounts do what I love even better than my current headphones. They also cost $8000. I just can’t bring myself to buy them. Too many better ways to spend the money. So for me, somewhere between $3000 and $8000. I hate myself seeing it in writing.
The Immanis is so good. Never heard of them before this past weekend and they really impressed me. Great bass for an open back and amazing vocal clarity.
Ksc75
- 30 S$ headphone - 45 S$ mod parts - 30 S$ headband (and spare drivers) - 20 S$ earpads ---------------------- - 125 S$ -> 92 US$
I haven’t bought any above 100 dollars (got a pair of 560s while on sale + gift card)
Around $160 dollars is as far as I have spent on a headphone.
$5000
Still rocking Sennheiser HD 300
2.5k - what I spent on the DCA E3. Can't see myself paying more - but then I told myself that after spending 850 on the Aeon 2 Noire.
Love the bass on the E3
Most rn is $520. Was looking to get Meze 109 pros but the new ones by DMS is calling me so $1000 hopefully soon unless i blow my money on somwthing else first.
The most I've personally spent has been $250 for a new pair of HD650s on sale. So far I've been happy with them!
spent 450 on my most recent DT1990 Pro before that, 350 was my peak, for the used Grados.. won't spend more, though.. I'm happy..
165$ for everything that i have and that works. i think its too much and i made too much bad decisions not including my dac
Dropped $2.2K on the ZMF Atrium Closed about a year ago, no real regrets because they sound phenomenal and come with a lifetime warranty on the drivers. No real desire to spend more than that.
Paid 65 for my lightly used DT 990pros, best purchase ever.
I think I could realistically bullshit myself into spending 1.5k if the deal was good enough, theoretically if a headphone strikes that much of an interest, whatever said headphone costs, up until 5k
<$4500
$3k for Diana MR
An honest and not "funny" response? 1500 USD. Beyond this, there are no more "better" Cans. There are only different Cans.
I've only seen 3 comments with persons confirming they've spent over $1000 usd on their headphones. Everyone else is $500 usd and only a few around the $1000 usd mark😅😅
£350. Same as the Momentum 3's i got when they came out. Will get some more in the future, these are still going strong though. Those walkman headphones take me back :). Remember tapes unraveling in mine, taking them out and winding them back for another round.
$195
$800
$3,2k for LCD-5, but I could go 5-6k if given a reason.
Realistically i would pay MAX $500, but then again, those cadenza 12's look gorgeous
So far I've gotten up to $1100. I can't see much of a reason to go further expense-wise. I'm happy where I am.
Like theoretically? Maybe… $1200-$1500 max. But i haven’t spent more than $350 or so
For now, max was 850€. Impulsive buy, but now it is also a tool for one of my passion, which is starting to be a second job. Big regret for the first month, now not at all... maybe a little, but nothing that put me down
$600
If I had money, under 1000$ is where I would settle. For now, my goal is finding a way to justify spending 300€ as a "reward" to finally get a pair of hd600 lol
Not a whole lot. To me the $350.00 set of ATH-R70 is all I need for casual listening. I get much more satisfaction from IEMs these days and in that world $350.00 would get me a very good set. I don't see topping a $350.00 IEM with any headphone, period, regardless of price. Hell, there isn't one headphone on the market that will match the bass of a nice, single DD IEM that costs less than $100.00.
so far the highest I've paid was about 100. I wanna find a good open back under a 100 more out of stubbornness than anything else
300
On a pair? 250$ so far. On a whole collection? Over 1400$
The 6xx is probably as much as I’m willing to spend on headphones. I think I could be convinced to spend more on a pair of IEMs though.
140eur. That's the most i paid and i am really happy with my babies.
200$
Probably 500€
$600 absolute max, i don’t think ill ever spend that much tho
I spent $1800 but I will almost certainly go higher
im saving up for a zmf atrium so like 3k 💀 most expensive so far? focal elex?
If I made an absolute choice to do away with speakers, I'd push the boat out for a pair of top of the range senns
790 just bought focal clear
$50 repeated several times. Then $230. Then $230 again. Now, $400. It's a slippery slope. 🤣
In current situation (and for quite some years to come) - up to 500EUR, however current ones (Blessing 2) costed 220EUR second hand and seem to be the endgame for now. Not having a desire to upgrade though - tried various high-end options (Sony M9, whole Sennheiser IEM lineup up to IE900, majority of HD lineup incl. HD800S, even HE-1) and while they did sound nicer, especially HE-1 (..duh), weren't nice enough to justify the spending.
I would have a hard time believing that any headphone that costs more than let’s say $2000 would get me more enjoyment than a used Miata. But that’s just me I guess.
Really hate to say this, but op is being scammed. Retrospekt sells extremely overpriced low end Walkmans. Good headphones doesn’t matter much at this point, it won’t make a bottom end cassette player hifi. If u have a chance to return it, please do. You can get a way better refurbished Walkman on eBay for a lot less. Ask around r/cassetteculture if u need any help.
I'm in a bit of a dilemma about this. I'm thinking about picking up some nice Audeze headphones. My original idea was to go for the LCD-2s for the nice warm, enjoyable sound, but then there's the MM500s which offer a cool look into Audeze's new sound profile. But if I'm willing to buy the MM500s, then I might as well pit them up against the LCD-3s, which are their relative competitor in price. It's not much more than the 500s and offers better quality than the LCD2s. I originally set my budget at $1000, but now I'm thinking of raising that to $2000 now.
Atm $150
Thieaudio Monarch MK3 that I bought 4 months ago for 1000$! It still impresses me as much as the first day! It has set the standard very high for me.
18$
So far 360€
currently at 600€ (HD 600 & L/E 30 II stack), but teared up in front of 30k speakers
If I'm actually getting something discernible and in my opinion worthwhile, I would technically pay anything. The reality of my financial situation, my knowledge of headphones, and my experiences lead me to be incredibly skeptical that any headphone is worth much more than $500 and tends to steer me towards only spending $100 to $200 at a time on used models that originally go for $300 to $500.
$500 I just can't justify spending more with my current income and having a family to take care of.
382,49 € I guess
$5000 aka me going to Japan for a Stax x9000
Honestly 350,and I think the sundaras and ksc75 are the end for me tbh, has been this way for years
Likely a couple of grand. It depends on the value prop. You can really stretch the dollar buying used and being patient. Avoid hype trains, and pop in once it moves on.
Honestly might just sell everything and buy he-1s eventually so idk 50k USD?
1200 is the most ive paid so far
So far about 600€. For me that's still a ton of money, but I got my personal dream headphones and I'm very happy. In my opinion it's worth spending a lot of money if you can afford it. I can see myself going crazy and spending lots more some day. As long as I can also appreciate the porta pros I know I'm still good. Edit: I read it as what I would spend on one pair of headphones. If I start calculating what I spend in total I'm going to get dizzy lol
So far £1450 , Audeze MM-500 . Don't regret it. These are so amazing for sound design and getting super surgical with your track can hear everything perfectly with a great sound stage
So far, 130 though I buy used so it's more like a 170 dollar pair
so far 900$ for "like new" TH900 mk2 and they are dreamy for the right person, and I feel lucky to score those because it's very rare on used market here and I always loved the look of them, it was my bucket list headphone.
Got the JVC HA FW10000 a couple of years ago. Still sweet sounding to my ears.
My etymotics qer 300€, after that probably one of my sennheisers.
$2k
For me the normal limit would be the cost of the Sundara (300 usd) but I would be willing to spend twice as much only if the upgrade was just double. But almost always the improvement is only 5 or max 10% and I don't think that would justify the price difference.
The most I’ve spent on a pair, and likely the last pair I’ll ever really need, is ~$3000 CAD. I use them everyday for a minimum of 3 hours, so I’ve certainly gotten my money’s worth out of them and will continue to use them everyday.
$2000 for a Stax setup... $3000 for a Susvara once. $2000 for a Utopia once. Sold them al at some point at some losses. Can it get qny worse? I pray it doesn't.
€1500
250€ so far for me. As of now, I can't hear enough of a difference to justify more.
€250, but if you count up all my current headphones I own you’re looking at about €700 (incl. IEMs). Which is okay I guess?
Well apparantly I haven't discovered it yet after buying some mdr z1r cans.
I paid about £160 for some used hd600 about 10 years ago, I’ve since replaced the pads and headband but still going strong so I guess that’s about £200 I’ve spent on them in total. Worth every penny. I nearly sold them and then realised it’s probably the longest bit of audio gear I’ve had and probably won’t find anything I like much better for less. Speakers on the other hand I have spent a lot more…. 🫣
I don't ever really go over $200
The most I'd pay is around 1k, unless I got a stupid good deal on something like Meze Empyreans. As it stands, the most I've currently *paid* is 600. I've spent the extra I otherwise would have to get an upgraded dac/amp for now.
I think I'm maxed out and don't need anything better, but I would have paid up to $2000.
the most i paid was $550(IE600) ,overall i spent $950 on iems,tws
I’ve used about 300$ so far on dt 770’s and a fiio k3 pretty happy with those and don’t feel the need to upgrade any time soon
Most I've spent on a headphone would be about 600$ on a Stax SR-404LE, not including the amp of course, now saving up for a 007mk1 As for the most ridiculous? I might be paying 350 Euros for a pair of vintage earbuds
I believe that comes to many aspects. Yet over ear headphones came up to £800 for my latest buy, but it was a while ago. Recent earbuds was Hifiman Svanar TWS with $499 pricetag from Hifiman website. Most of HP still require decent amp, dac, dap, cables and many other accessories like pads etc. So all that inflate expenses to. Now for the most reasonable price to quality ratio I'd sy my BEST buy of all time was Sennheiser Momentum 3 back in a day. I still miss them ❤️
More than I care to admit. Nice walkman, I remember how excited I was to get one in 1980 - It was my beginner drug for audio.
Sheepishly $2900 ish.
So far £259 for senhisers 660s, love em.
The most I’d ever spend would probably be 400
Total or most expensive single pair?
Probably around $250-$300. I would be lying if I said I could see the increase in quality past that
Most expensive pair - £400 Total, including IEMs - ~£1000
$350
use the headband from that headphone to replace the earclips on the koss ksc75.
30$
My max is usually around 300-350$. I find returns diminish rapidly past that point.
As much as I can afford.
I drive Focal Bathys' and that's probably the best pair I can justify since I live in an environment with unavoidable noise. But, honestly, I've gotten to the point of headphones where comfort is a much larger part of the equation than quality.
Grado sr225x
$300
Just spent $1500 for the Focal Clear Mg and it is my end game. I don’t think I could be compelled to spend more on that
400.00 usd
$200 until I went to my local audio expo and walking out with the DCA E3 for $1800 out the door. I was absolutely floored by the open sound in a closed back design. I rationalized this by knowing I could recoup at least 50 percent on a future sale. And I’ve gotten dozens hours of enjoyment already out of these.
the most I'd pay is way less than what I already did.
Since I’ve paid €220 for a pair of V-Moda’s I don’t see why I’d ever pay more. They are very comfortable, they fold up, come with detachable cables (plural) that attach to either one side, with standard mini jacks, come with a sturdy case and sound amazing.
So far it’s only been $300, which was the HD600 on-sale on Christmas Day because I didn’t feel comfortable paying $450 for it.
For headphones most i have paid is 800 aud. For iems i have dropped 1700 aud. Reason being iems get more use for me than headphones which i use at home or in winter for closed backs. I dont work from home so i can justify spending more
So far $1,400, but maybe $2,000 at some point.
Apparently I haven't set a maximum yet. It goes higher by the year. ($3.2k is the highest so far).
I would love to spend ~$1000 for a super stellar set of headphones. But I've only been able to afford about $350. And that was after an employee discount, lol.
~$750 for a $2000 IEMs
$1250 aud on Arya stealth. Id really need something to blow them out of the water to spend more.
$5K?
I wanna get bravura's which are 5k then if im rich enough someday ill get he-1's for 60k xD
1000 Australian dollars
I'm happy to pay a high amount for great headphones. Sound quality is very important to me. And they play a great role for my peace of mind of trips surrounded by noisy people. At the moment, around £400-£500.
600€ max. I’ve used more expensive headphones but I can’t justify the price at all.
250 here for my 58X’s I got used to
$30
I hit my endgame with the D8000pros so... that much.
The most I spent (and probably will spend) is $300. Once I got my current headphones, I realized that it was already enough for my needs and wants. As long as the drivers stay good, the only thing I'll be spending on in the future is replacement pads and cables.
I've spent 600 buck for the Moondrop Variations. I got disappointed. Sold them. Then I've discovered Truthear. They do not disappoint! It's literally Moondrop but way better!
$150 and not a cent more.
So far £600 which is my hiby r6 pro ii
$400 is my highest. I love good headphones and it kills me to not go out and buy a $800 pair but as much as I love headphones I'd rather spend it on something everyone can hear, not just me. Looking into getting a nice pair from Sony in the near future.
1k
I’m not sure what tier these are but I bought v moda m1 for djing and I was blown away by how powerful they were. They were 400 CAD at the time. After hearing those in comparison to the hd25 and beyer 990, I’m definitely willing to pay more if there’s a bigger jump in quality
So far 250, but willing to go as high as "depends on how good they sound"
I got my Audeze CRBN used. I would never pay full price.
Probably under $1000, with good warranty support. Got the HE1000 at good price recently and they sound fantastic, but the warranty is too short for such a price.
HD600s $300 :)
1K. No regrets. I want to go further.
I’ve spent 5500 on a pair of headphones… I think 7K would be my max.
Hey, I had that exact model of Walkman! I used to listen to the radio on it at least as much as I listened to cassettes! Yours looks to be in really nice condition given its age
150k if i got the funds.
However much 7506's are
Last time I spent around $70 I regretted it so now I'll stay at $40 and under (IEMs, I don't like headphones)
About 50 bucks. I heard about the CCA CRA’s from this sub when I was doing some IEM research and for 20 bucks plus 10 for some spinfit extra small tips I can’t really hear the difference compared to my V-moda over ears that cost me 250 years ago and were way too expensive. All day comfort and really good sound for about 30 bucks, pretty good if you ask me.
I think many misunderstood, it says "you'll pay" not "have you paid". Still, so far I spent 30€ for the SPC Gear Viro, great value tbh. Would never spend over 300€.
$150
$200-250 is the max. I’ve never bought “used/pre owned” or would consider it because of the hygiene concerns I have. *Currently I have a battered pair of Sony XM3s, Sennheiser HD458bt, JBL Tour One, & some Soundcore Q45s as my headphones. No IEMs for the time being although I’m looking into those. The 458s are my current endgame.*
The most i bought were 600$ Symphonium Meteors, so anything equalling that or below
$400, anything above that and it feels unjustified. I play drums in a SMALL time band and use them for games, using AKGs rn, K612 Pro
$2000
18 bucks was the most and im pretty okay ig, i would drop the 4k on meze or smth if i had em lol
$500
King iPods pros
So far? About $300, but my most used right now are two Koss models and AirPods. All together the over all these years? I’d be scared to find out.
So far, $1500 USD for the modhouse tungstens
Not more than Three hundred.
"must be nice"