You can tell these hardy Sennheiser veterans mean business. Metal construction gives a vice-like fit on your dome and speaks of their ineffably high-end sonics. You'll need an adaptor to plug them into an iPod; these are built to be part of a nice little home hi-fi set-up.

Sound is flat-out the best here; Across a full gamut of musical styles the HD 650s serve up smooth, subtly conveyed sound, but when you want them to kick out the jams, these metal mothers don some large-style boots.

The open-backed design leaks sound like a sonic sieve, so these are totally unsuitable for wearing on the tube, unless you enjoy "chin music" courtesy of your fellow passengers; Given that they're thus intended for long, immersive home-listening sessions they could also be more comfortable.

The Sennheiser HD 650s are a set of high-end, open-backed, over-ear headphones. The HD 650s implement their open-backed design in an aesthetically interesting way, covering the backs of the ear cups with a grey grate which offers barely any physical barrier between your sound and the world around...

The HD 650 has been Sennheiser's flagship audiophile headphone for several years now, but it is only recently that the firm decided to buck contemporary pricing trends to reduce the product's list price from around $600 to $500.

The Sennheiser HD650 has been around for a while and has certainly achieved a high reputation among both domestic and professional users. It's a smart, no-nonsense model with oval earpieces which seem to fit snugly on every head we tried.

T he HD 650 from Sennheiser is a class apart when it comes to looks as well as performance. It's not everyday that you see a pair of headphone so delicately wrapped with foam in a big silver box.

- Comfortable; - Excellent sound

- none

A stunning piece of kit that'll bring the very best out of your CD collection

Incredible sound quality whatever you throw at them; great build quality

Pricey; only for hi-fi nuts

An unusual feature of the Sennheiser HD 650 headphones is that the cables can be unplugged for easy replacement should the conductors ever fracture under physical stress in future years. They are quite thick cables, too, and three metres long, terminating in a 6.5mm plug.

Superb no-compromise sound; Very comfortable to wear; Main plug is 6.5mm; replaceable cable ensures long life

Sensitivity too low for some MP3 players

We approached Sennheiser's top headphones, the HD 650, with high expectations, as word of mouth for the product has been overwhelmingly positive. The headphones certainly look the part; the HD 650s' luxurious feel, the thickly padded headband and ear cushions, and the titanium-silver finish leave no...

High-tech styling; Extraordinary bass response; Extremely comfortable design

They're heavy and very pricey; Ill suited for use with the iPod

If you're like me, an updated version of a beloved audio product brings with it a number of questions. (It's even worse when a favorite musical group releases a new album.) Will it be as good as I hope? Will it maintain the "house" sound of the product I liked enough to purchase?

I was like a lot of audiophiles starting out. I had a below $100 pair of headphones and thought it couldn't get much better than that. I looked at headphones like the HD650 and thought their pricetag, which is a hefty sum to most, couldn't be justified.

High-quality warm sound signature; Good imaging; Comfortable; Replaceable parts

Not the best build; Clamp is too tight at first; Not for trebleheads or bassheads