Sennheiser HD650

[Formerly YB-2]

Got home from our lunch on the water (Oyster Creek Inn - seafood plate for me - oysters & clams on the half shell, shrimp & a decent helping of crab) and the HD650s ($315 from Amazon) were on the patio (luckily, we have great UPS, Fedex & USPS delivery folks). Was surprised how heavy the box was. When I opened the outer box, the inner box completely filled it. Nicely packaged in a dedicated clamshell box with plenty of foam. Everything was in excellent physical condition.

Was wondering about both the weight and clamping force of the HD650. I found neither to a problem, though my understanding is the clamping force will relax a bit with time. I found the ear-cups to be quite comfortable during the ~1.5 hours I listened.

To start with, I listened to the opera broadcast on WRTI, 90.1 out of Temple Univ. Today it was the Chicago Lyric Opera singing "Eugene Onegin" by Tchaikovsky. The voices were excellent, with plenty of "umph" in this baritone heavy piece. Instruments were also nicely and clearly presented, but it is always difficult to tell how good they should or shouldn't be with a broadcast.

After ~45min of the opera (not one of my favorites) I put Jerry Lee's "Last Man Standing" in the CDP. Good tight bass, but a bit congested sounding in the mids (saxophone). With only an hour of run-time, this is not too surprising.

After the 1.5hr of listening with my chair moved over within 5ft of my amp I had enough of sitting there reading the new 'Stereophile', which also arrived today. Still no discomfort, so that was nice. I left the HD650s running at a moderate level so they will continue to break-in. Will listen a bit more later or tomorrow. Looking forward to the extension cable so I can listen in a more favored position. Will update and add pic's in the next few days. Will also spin some vinyl.