Headphones

[Spotted Horses]

This seems appropriate:

It took some time to realize that is from the Onion.

[AnotherSpin]

I remember reading Bertrand Russell's critique of the "everything is in my head" theory (which goes back at least to the 17th century and George Berkeley). The point is you can't strictly disprove it, but you can come up with a lot of arguments showing that it is improbable and not a useful way of viewing the world.

Is Putin just inside your head? I can't prove he isn't (or that I'm not). But you can't make him disappear by not thinking about him. So if he is not a definite external object, he might as well be, for practical purposes.

And somehow you thought this was salient for a discussion of headphones.

Yes.

[AnotherSpin]

I remember reading Bertrand Russell's critique of the "everything is in my head" theory (which goes back at least to the 17th century and George Berkeley). The point is you can't strictly disprove it, but you can come up with a lot of arguments showing that it is improbable and not a useful way of viewing the world.

Is Putin just inside your head? I can't prove he isn't (or that I'm not). But you can't make him disappear by not thinking about him. So if he is not a definite external object, he might as well be, for practical purposes.

And somehow you thought this was salient for a discussion of headphones.

Bertrand Russell and you are undoubtedly right: the mind has countless arguments for this and any other case. Fortunately, mind is not necessary for life — just useful in certain situations. Practicality: a non-dual perspective makes many things easier.

Indeed, the mind often complicates what could be perceived simply. The mind is a tool, not a place to live — like headphones: you can put them on or take them off, but they are not your ears.

[drogulus]

    The only con with my new 'phones is they are not very philosophical.

[DavidW]

I recently bought the Hifiman Arya Stealth. I think that they are endgame. They are a subtle improvement on my Beyerdynamic DT1990 pro. Enough that they justify the purchase, not enough to warrant going further. They originally retailed at $1300. They are now $600. The soundstage and imaging are on par with speakers or frankly better. For example, when I listened to Barbirolli conducting Finlandia I could hear him shuffling the score and groaning at the front, and each row of the orchestra going deeper and deeper into the soundstage. It was equivalent to standing right in front of Barbirolli and hearing the concert play live.

I'm replacing my 1990s at home with them, and the 660s2s remain my office cans.

[Holden]

I recently bought the Hifiman Arya Stealth. I think that they are endgame. They are a subtle improvement on my Beyerdynamic DT1990 pro. Enough that they justify the purchase, not enough to warrant going further. They originally retailed at $1300. They are now $600. The soundstage and imaging are on par with speakers or frankly better. For example, when I listened to Barbirolli conducting Finlandia I could hear him shuffling the score and groaning at the front, and each row of the orchestra going deeper and deeper into the soundstage. It was equivalent to standing right in front of Barbirolli and hearing the concert play live.

I'm replacing my 1990s at home with them, and the 660s2s remain my office cans.

I have the HiFiman version one step below them which are the Ananda Stealth and would concur with what you are saying. The salient point is that these are planars and their ability to bring out subtle detail as opposed to headphones with dynamic drivers is well known.

[DavidW]

I particularly find that Arya excels at chamber music. I've been listening to a lot of Haydn, Schnittke, Mozart, and Shostakovich.

Just as I love orchestral music on my speakers, chamber is the perfect fit with these headphones (neither are bad at other things btw).

[Spotted Horses]

I've had the Shure SRH1840 headphones in my amazon shopping cart forever. (I think the closed-back SRH1540 is the best set of headphones I've heard and I've been thinking I should have Shure's flagship open back headphone.) And today I noticed that price has gone up 10%, from $500 to $550. Same price on other web sites where I shop for gadgets. Is this due to the bite of tariffs on China (where they are manufactured)? This is not good.

[DavidW]

I've had the Shure SRH1840 headphones in my amazon shopping cart forever. (I think the closed-back SRH1540 is the best set of headphones I've heard and I've been thinking I should have Shure's flagship open back headphone.) And today I noticed that price has gone up 10%, from $500 to $550. Same price on other web sites where I shop for gadgets. Is this due to the bite of tariffs on China (where they are manufactured)? This is not good.

Well, that is not as bad as the mom and pop shops have it. Smaller businesses that sell electronics still source their parts from China and then assemble and sell them without the economies of scale to help them. They have been forced to either triple their price for a slim profit margin or just stop selling in the US.

[Spotted Horses]

Well, that is not as bad as the mom and pop shops have it. Smaller businesses that sell electronics still source their parts from China and then assemble and sell them without the economies of scale to help them. They have been forced to either triple their price for a slim profit margin or just stop selling in the US.

It is so confusing. There is now a 10% tariff on everything from everywhere, but reciprocal tariffs, which were or were not postponed, and a more than 350% tariff on China, except electronics are exempt. So we are applying 350% tariff to cheap plastic toys from China because Americans demand to work in factories that make cheap plastic toys, but not iPhones? "A chicken in every pot" has been replaced by "only two dolls and 10 pencils for you."