I was thinking about buying a pair of B&O headphones at the local dealer. That options are standard A8 in ear and the Form 2.

As my Beosystem is the '80s 6000/8000 type the older Form 1 fits the style of it.

What do you recommend to go for? And are some of the 3 pairs better for some use than others?

 

i won't dive into the technical sonic differences, i'll leave that for others. i have a8's and a pair of form1 and have used them w/ a 6000/8000 setup -and they both sound fantastic... i have not tried the form2.

i think the fundamental difference would be use and comfort.
if you are active and would use the phones for other pruposes such as w/ an ipod and exercise then the a8 is the way to go. if you are going to lounge and listen on a couch then the comfort of the "over the ears" style is hard to beat.

my form1 are very comfortable, the a8 become "bothersome" to me after a while.

I wouldn't! A8 are great as mobile earphones. I have all the other B&O headphones and none are a patch on my Sennheisser HD600s or Lee's Grado RS1s. I find Form 2s uncomfortable as the headband rests on your head and Form 1s, as well as no longer being available, are simply not that great! They are the best ones though.

By the way, I noticed a pair of Form 1s being used, upside down, by the Cat in Red Dwarf!  

A problem of both of them is that you can hear a lot of environment noise while listening to music. But if there is no noise, they are very good head-/ earphones.

What about U70s? I keep seeing mint pairs on eBay and am very tempted, particularly as I think they would complement my BM 8000 in style. I know the black leathery stuff will now have disintegrated, but do they sound as good as they look?

Have a pair of those too and I prefer Form 1s. The U70s  sounds fine but are not that comfortable - better than they look they are going to be though! - and again are not a patch on the HD600s.

It's time to make that ultimate headphone style statement in a way that B&O cannot hope to match.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,prepare yourselves for the Jecklin Float...... 

 

More seriously, I agree with Peter on the quality issue, I would personally keep an eye out on eBay for a vintage pair of Sennheisers.I use a set of HD535s I bought for a nominal sum on eBay with my Beocenter 7000and they are a very good match.

I love those!! I have thought about Stax headphones from time to time - but discounted them for similar reasons! Seriously though, a good pair of headphones give sound reproduction like no speaker. The perspective changes and they can be very annoying with a poor source, but one can really immerse oneself! I'll have to get mine back sometime....

Peter:

Have a pair of those too and I prefer Form 1s. The U70s  sounds fine but are not that comfortable - better than they look they are going to be though! - and again are not a patch on the HD600s.

I'll wait until a good pair of U70s turn up. I would use them occasionally, so as long as they're competent I'll be happy to go with them, as they'd complement my system nicely.

I have both the Form 1's and the A8's and I have to say I prefer the balance of the A8's. The Form 1's are very bright (and reveal a lot of detail) but suffer from, IMO, a bass that's much too light. The A8's still have a good top end but also have a bass that better matches.

However the Sennheissers and Grados mentioned by Peter are significantly better than all of B&O's offerings. The HD600's price can vary enormously on the 'net - some folk charging up to £249 while they can be rooted out for almost half that.

Play has them for £139 (free Del) - you may save even more if you search further.

Peter:

I find Form 2s uncomfortable as the headband rests on your head

Now I find that Form 2's can get uncomfortable but not from the headband, I find thay seem to press on your ear after a while. Saying that though I use mine almost daily.

 

 

Craig