I think the key is to actually find out about what you're buying and get some word-of-mouth recommendations rather than relying on brand alone as a measure of q

I think the key is to actually find out about what you're buying and get some word-of-mouth recommendations rather than relying on brand alone as a measure of quality. I think the pro-audio industry is small enough that nearly all big players expand into the consumer region eventually. That doesn't mean that all their stuff is crap. I still think my Sennheiser HD-25s are some of the very best DJ monitor headphones, but they are a world away from the Sennheiser consumer stuff.