Okay... Here are my thoughts after doing some listening...
The stock 460 seems to have a "thicker," more bass-heavy sound than the JW460 or 480. I think it could be better for when you need to punch something up, but the vocals don't have quite the same crispness as the others.
The JW460 sounds extreeeemely close to the 480. Maybe I've been to too many noise shows, but it's a tossup to these ears. They're both very clear and "present" sounding.
The Busman CK-1 is the obvious winner over the CK40 to me... The CK40's bass is out of control, and the vocals sound slightly muffled. In contrast, the CK-1b's vocals and mids are clean and detailed -- it sounds like I'm closer to the band...
Now I wish I could hear a CK-1b vs 483/463JW comparison
I thought I read somewhere that the 480 is transformerless while the 460 is not? Is that the case?
I own both the AKG 483's and the MBHO KA500 HN's and I LOVE them both. I will never sell either capsule pair They both sound amazing in front of my 722.
Bean, how would you characterize the difference between the two?