Comments on Denon AH-C551 Earphones

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Russell Peto

12:53 PM on 28 October, 2009

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I have been slowly moving up the food chain of PMP headphones over the years and have just graduated to the AH-C551s (£59.95 in Richer Sounds) from my earlier much loved Sennheiser CX300s now sadly deceased due to my 3 year old daughter also loving them.





I would not describe myself as an audiophile, I have an iPod rather than a higher fidelity MP3 player for instance. However, I have found the AH-C551s to be a lovely listen, none of the sibilant treble as mentioned by @john_g and they have a wide warm bass range that may not be as accurate as the Grado SR-60s I listen to at home, but is very pleasing nonetheless. My point being that you don't need to be a particular aesthete to appreciate the improvement these represent.





Listening to "Green Green Grass of Tunnel" by Múm from "Finally We Are No One" they give a great sense of depth and intimacy without losing foreground detail which is perfect for the tone of the album. They are equally at home with something boasting a much wider range like "Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit from "Manners"; all bowel-moving bass combined with eye-watering falsetto both of which the Denons handle with aplomb.


(I should mention that it is a very good track despite my description!)





Maybe I am lucky, but the seals fit well and comfortably first time around which may contribute to my good experience. As there are 2 other sets of seals in the case I would be surprised if many people could not find a reasonable fit.





One slight negative point that I don't think is mentioned is that the cables for each ear are the same length necessitating these phones to hang down in front of your chest rather than being able to drape one behind your neck like the Sennheisers. This means they drag and catch a lot more and I find it a needless irritation.





As a side note I have found them to respond particularly well to use with the FiiO E5 headphone amp {also reviewed on this site}; filling the bass and giving just enough extra oomph that they don't feel at all forced.





So, I think that while definitely not an impulse purchase, for me they strike a good balance between markedly improving my audio experience and being too fussy for real world that makes them worth the money.