Owned these since Dec 08, they have since been replaced at the top of Sennheisers headphone line with the 800 series, at around 1K they are truly expensive, high-end headphones. I can't believe I spent 179, a few years ago, from play. I totally forgot what I paid for them. For this price they were a steal. This is so commonly regarded as a reference headphone that you require some kit to amplify this headset to its best, if your amp isn't especially good, a headphone pre-amp is a must, even if it is good people will still buy and own several pre-amps genre specific to their musical tastes, this headset had earned that level of praise.

There are forums, dedicated to replacement cables for the HD650. People so leet they ask why the supplied cable (the one I still use) wasn't upgraded to a better quality one to reflect the quality of the cans. A tiny fact is that this supplied cable is a small upgrade in performance over the older HD600/550 supplied cable which can be bought… more »

Owned these since Dec 08, they have since been replaced at the top of Sennheisers headphone line with the 800 series, at around 1K they are truly expensive, high-end headphones. I can't believe I spent 179, a few years ago, from play. I totally forgot what I paid for them. For this price they were a steal. This is so commonly regarded as a reference headphone that you require some kit to amplify this headset to its best, if your amp isn't especially good, a headphone pre-amp is a must, even if it is good people will still buy and own several pre-amps genre specific to their musical tastes, this headset had earned that level of praise.

There are forums, dedicated to replacement cables for the HD650. People so leet they ask why the supplied cable (the one I still use) wasn't upgraded to a better quality one to reflect the quality of the cans. A tiny fact is that this supplied cable is a small upgrade in performance over the older HD600/550 supplied cable which can be bought separate for around the 20 mark, and a worthy purchase. Cables that make a further difference still, not that I've witnessed it (as in, not tried), cost into their 100's. So to help you burn a bigger hole in your pocket, or maybe help squeeze out the last drop of performance from your HD650s, I'll name a few.

Zu Mobius: 1.5m, 423 dollars
Moon Audio, Blue Dragon V3: 5ft, 175 dollars
Headphile, Senn V2 Cable: 1/2m, 100/150 dollars
Russ Andrews HC1: 2m, 148.66 pounds
Cardass: 1.5m, 159.99 pounds
AudioArt Equinox: 154.64 pounds

I'd feel more tempted to buy a second headset, at the price of these cables, but they are out there for a reason. This headphone has great prestige with top-of-the-end audio kit owners, cables are a must for them. I don't think I'm quite there yet, but it's nice to know I can improve the sound sent to my 650s in many different ways. I may stay away from the Russ Andrews HC1 though, as I tend to have a lot of head movement when listening to music. It's protective sleeve is said to cause slight micro-phonics (noise of the fabrics movement). You can also buy mods from Headhphile to make your open-back headphones enclosed, with a wooden closure of your choice, to help increase the impact of sound. It could also help lessen the level of outside noise. I, on the other hand just use my set for CoDUO and the occasional late night movie.