Sennhieser is overated junk. About as much bass as some cruddy Bose speaker. I'm just glad I chose a cheap pair of sony-v600s. The v600s were only $100 and handled 5 times the power. In the store I easily got popping noises out of these crap headphones at not even half of what the crappy Aiwa could handle. That Aiwa couldn't even phase the v600s. At least with the v600s you can actually feel the bass hit your ears. I would be suprized if those sennheisers even did 100db in bass. Don't buy these headphones if you want any bass. Also note the high Impedance. If high Impedance speakers are bad so are headphones. For the same price try out the sony v900s-Rated at 10 times the the watts of the cheap sennheisers and with much larger diameter drivers. I give these 2 star since headphones get much worse. Any headphone under $100 is unreasonable junk that can't even compare to the HD-545.

One of the best audio purchases I've ever made. The definition is incredible. The instruments sound live and I've heard the REAL lyrics of many songs for the first time. I listen to a wide variety of music, but mainly rock. The bass is the cleanest I've heard. It's smooth down to pipe organ frequencies without any of that tiring booming you get in the 100 hz range with some "good" rock headphones (ala Grado). To me, they sound better than the 580's. These cans let you hear the music the way it was intended to be heard. I love 'em!

COMFORT!
These are the most comfortable headphones that I have ever had on my head. I can wear them for hours. I routinely fall asleep with them on. I could never do that with my old Kenwood headphones, which caused me to get a headache after about an hour of use. The Kenwoods seemed to cut off the blood supply to my ears! The Sennheiser HD 545s fit "around" the ears. The phones are light and cushioned with velvet pads. I often forget that I am wearing them.

The Sennheisers perform on par with $5000+ reference speakers. The sound possesses treble detail to die for, a creamy smooth mid-range that makes vocals sound beautiful, and a full, rich, extended bass. This is my ideal sound balance. It flatters all genres of music! Imaging and soundstaging are excellent. The headphones image in front of your head instead of placing the soundstage between your ears. This resembles the way good speakers image. I am very impressed! Best of all you get the fidelity of $5000+ speakers for $100 (at www.jandr.com)!

Comfort *****

Build *****

Fidelity *****

Soundstaging and Imaging *****

Value *****

The Sennheiser HD545 is a great pair of headphones, and at the close out prices of $100 a bargain as well. I have had mine for about a year and a half, and love them very much. My dealer let me take home the 545's and a pair of 580's to try both. I found that on my home stereo, I prefered the 580, but only by a small margin. The portable CD player needs an amp for the 580's. I felt the price differential was more than the sound difference was worth. Owning an amp may have changed my mind about that, but I don't have the budget for an amp plus the better phones. I tried a pair of Grado 80's too. Not too bad, but damned uncomfortable and the sound was not as much to my liking as the Sennheisers.
One problem with the 545's (and it affects the 580's too) is that these phones can develop an intermittent connection between the cord plugs and the ear piece. Mine started cutting out after about a year. Opening up the earpiece and bending the small springs where contact with the cord plugs is made solved that.

comfort, sound quality

length of chord

When my wife started grad school I decided I needed a way to continue with my music. I bought these just because they seemed good for the price but I wasn't all that enthusiastic. Now that I have them I love 'em! Sometimes I listen to music on them even when I don't "have" to!

junk. High impedance, no bass. Buy speakers, headphones all SUCK. Cheapplastic little tweeters that are only 1 way. No crossovers or real bass.
Headphone Midrange thin and 120db only sounds like 100. Makes ears ring.
HD-545 sound like $100 bookshelf speakers that pop with any bass note over
100db. Only .1 watts RMS. Avoid all Sennheiser if bass is important.
Also avoid all headphones under $100. Don't listen to headphone frequency
response specs. A 20hz headphone is like a 50 or 60hz speaker. Listen
to 20-30hz car audio subwoofers. Can your 5-20hz headphones pump that deep
of bass? Obviously NOT.

I just purchased the Sennheiser HD545, these cans are precise. Detail, Detail, Detail. You could actually pick out each individual instrument in the soundstage. I thought the bass was extremely accurate. The voices were natural and not chesty or nasally. No toy headphones here. Get the soundtrack to "City of Angels" listen to track 2,it will move you. Ms. Morisette sounds incredible.The 545's imaging was awesome. My only complaint is the soundstage is too close,it should be in front of your face.

As with all Sennheiser products, these are outstanding. The clarity and dynamics are excellent, and listener fatigue is VERY low. I listen to a broad range of things, and the only thing that I've noticed is a slight wavering of midrange with loud, deep bass. This is a nonfactor considering the substantial amount of bass required to do this. I was surprised to make out backgroung conversation on Pink Floyd's Dark Mide of the Moon, and Queensryche's Empire. I have to say this is the most enjoyed $200 audio purchase i've ever made. They bring back memories of pressing my cheapo headphones tightly against my head as a child for that total immersion effect which the Sennheisers supply so easily, except these are a lot more comfortable, and they sound so much better.

Clear and concise. Practically no break in time needed. Perfectly balanced bass, mids, and treble.

If you like to listen to your music loud, and are getting headphones so that you can turn your music on loud without getting others in the room mad, don't get these. The sound is as loud outside of the headphones as it is in.

I was amazed by the preciseness of the headphones, just great to listen to any type of music! I like all kinds of music, and that is what these are good for. But, like I said in weaknesses, if you are getting the headphones so that you can turn your music on loud without getting others in the room mad, choose a closed-ear pair, not these.

I bought the HD 545 Reference just a month ago, but I wouldn't swap these for anything!
They're very comfortable to wear: excellent ear-encapsulation, velvet pads, low weight, padded band.
The definition and image is brilliant. The sound is truly comparable to high-range speakers: clear and full bass, smooth but not muffled middle and crisp and clear highs without screech.
The sound projection is somewhere between just behind the forehead and just in front of it.

I bought these for the equivalent of US$85.00, and they're a steal (most stores sell them for around $99.95). I use them at home, at the radio studio and at my DJ gigs (although the external sound insulation is not as good as some other HPs I used to own, but the comfort and sound quality more than make up for it).

Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em......