Hello, I just joined, primarily for the audiophile products. Looking at purchasing the NHT C3 speakers for our new living room. Space is about 15 feet wide by 33 long and they will fire long ways. Space is just for general listening, music room with all equipment is downstairs, so hoping they will fill it with sound nicely. Cheers.
Mar 18, 2024
Clarity = 579s but not by a lot. Bass = 579s but not by a lot. Looks = depends on if you like black or silver. Soundstage = 558s by a bit. Comfort = 558s thanks to the extra foam on the top, but it's not a HUGE difference. The ear cushions are exactly the same. Overall sound = the 558s are slightly flatter and warmer. The 579s are slightly more exciting. We're not talking a big difference, they're both still 5xx Sennheisers at their core. The 558s struggle with faster music while the 579s sound like they do a little better with it. That's just to my ears. Weight = virtually identical (the 700 grams weight listed is wrong btw, it's well under 300 grams). Impedance = Close enough to tell people it's the same. Headphone connection = identical. The same 2.5mm locking cables work with both headphones. Ear cups = literally identical. In fact, you can buy 558 replacement cups and they fit on the 579s without any modification required. Gives it a fun black and silver two tone look. Foam mod = doable on both headphones, I can personally confirm. The foam isn't the same though. The 579s have thicker, harder foam. Likely why the bass is a little heavier. Removing the foam has the same effect on both. A slight reduction in bass, harshness, and clarity in exchange for a bit more Soundstage and a sweeter sound. Again, this isn't a huge difference, just a small one.
Durability = 579s. The outside grill is metal instead of plastic and there's no cheap foam cover on the outside. The headband pad is covered in leather which helps reduce hair oil from screwing it up.
Repair and mod = 558s . You can get into the 579s as easily as you can get into the 558s. However, the 558s have a replaceable headband pad. That's literally the only difference.
They are fairly close. Close enough that I returned mine to Amazon and kept my 558s because it wasn't worth $179 for the minor upgrade.
At $99 bucks though? Compelling for sure and I'm gonna think about it. Especially since my 558s are 4 years old and already on their their second set of pads.
The question is whether that improvement is worth $100 to those who already own the 558s. It probably isn't for most, including me, but if my 558s broke today, I'd buy these for $100 no problem over getting another pair of 558s.
Hell I'm still on the fence about the k7xx. My phone and sound card (Asus DGX) can only just barely drive them but they sound so good.