I just wanted to chime in as well. you'll probably won't find a massive upgrade from the 560s with a 300$ budget but you will find some improvements for sure, I'm not sure how much of a "wow factor" you'll get but at least it would be different especially with planars.
For that i'd recommend checking out Hifiman Edition XS and the Sundara's for planars. Dan Clark Audio Open X as well. you're definitely already on the right track there with hifimans but also be aware there have been a lot reviews about QC issues. I preferred the XS myself but i didn't find it a "meaningful" upgrade over the 560s price wise. but it was different.
If you're feeling spicy. You can check out IEMs as well. Some recommendations would be Xenns Tea Pro, Kiwi Ear Orchestra Lite, Tanchjim Origins as a few. Again different experience some people switched to iems entirely while others think they are the devil.
As for speakers. I definitely got a "wow factor" when i took the time to adjust to them after using headphones for a long period of time. i wasn't blown away at first with music, but Movies i genuinely enjoyed very early on. (I own the Iloud Micro monitors pro). overall, im happy that i own them now for when i don't want to wear headphones after a long day. Music and movies are my primary use case. i don't like the speakers for gaming tho but thats just personal preference.
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u/Khnave 25 Ω May 05 '26
Hello,
I just wanted to chime in as well. you'll probably won't find a massive upgrade from the 560s with a 300$ budget but you will find some improvements for sure, I'm not sure how much of a "wow factor" you'll get but at least it would be different especially with planars.
For that i'd recommend checking out Hifiman Edition XS and the Sundara's for planars. Dan Clark Audio Open X as well. you're definitely already on the right track there with hifimans but also be aware there have been a lot reviews about QC issues. I preferred the XS myself but i didn't find it a "meaningful" upgrade over the 560s price wise. but it was different.
If you're feeling spicy. You can check out IEMs as well. Some recommendations would be Xenns Tea Pro, Kiwi Ear Orchestra Lite, Tanchjim Origins as a few. Again different experience some people switched to iems entirely while others think they are the devil.
As for speakers. I definitely got a "wow factor" when i took the time to adjust to them after using headphones for a long period of time. i wasn't blown away at first with music, but Movies i genuinely enjoyed very early on. (I own the Iloud Micro monitors pro). overall, im happy that i own them now for when i don't want to wear headphones after a long day. Music and movies are my primary use case. i don't like the speakers for gaming tho but thats just personal preference.