Headphones!!!

[PITTM]

price range is key here. what are you looking to spend? I would say anything that is good quality and has an impedance>65 should be amped.

[spyderracing]

$200-250 +/-. If I could find the K-701's for a decent price I'd love to pick up a pair. Open to other suggestions however.

[PITTM]

go to www.northernsound.net for the k701s. they have by far the best price i have seen(they dont even post it):

$244.42

I havent seen anyone else come within 100 bucks of this price so i would certainly recommend going to them. At this point, I guess we have reached the limit of your budget. But if you still want a usb soundcard and are willing to spend more, buy the Headroom MicroDAC

[spyderracing]

Ok well the micro dac is a bit more than I want right now, I can wait a little while (next month) for source. What kind of amp would you suggest for the k701's? I've been looking at the hornet, but will something less pricey like the tomahawk or a portaphile drive them?

[PITTM]

spyder,

The tomahawk might not do the job as it was built for people using in ear monitors. I seem to remember the hornet being like 50 bucks more. The hornet is way worth it and absolutely owns the portaphile in terms of sound. I owned both for an overlap of about a month before i sold my portaphile and did lots of a/b listening. If you are worried about price, I imagine you could find a used one cheaper, especially since the initial price for them was $299. I know a lot of people have duplicates since the initial run was all black and they have since come out with a bunch of retarded chassis colors and people got a 2nd for that and often sold their black one for slightly less than the introductory price. In fact, looking at The Head-Fi For Sale section there is a portaphile selling right now. It is completely maxxed out so it should sound better than mine and is 225. I hope this helps. gl dude.

[Maulik]

I ordered my first headphone amp: http://www.meier-audio.homepage.t-online.de/arietta.htm Trip report to come. Has anyone purchased Meier amps via head-fi.org?

[Kneel B4 Zod]

[ QUOTE ]
1. Here. Assuming that when you say "noise cancelling earbuds" you mean "canal phones"

2. Celestion F15. A quick google search found a price tag of $113. You really should be spending MUCH MUCH more for speakers, but yeah, these are pretty sweet. I actually bought new bookshelf speakers YESTERDAY, they are Usher S520($400) which are just absolutely ridiculously awesome speakers for the price. just a recommendation for anyone else interested.

[/ QUOTE ]

are those Ultimate Ears super.fi 3 Studio better than the Etymotic ER6i?

[PITTM]

yes imo.

[cwsiggy]

PITTM -I'll be in the market for monitor speakers soon -
Do you think the Usher S520's are one of the best value monitors?
I have to assume they blow away the EPOS equivalents(ELS3's?)

I'm thinking a used set of Von Schweikert VR1's however at 500-600 is the real ticket?? They are always on Audiogon and always sell fast.

[PITTM]

yo dude,

as you can imagine, i did a lot of reading and listening before buying the ushers. The place i bought them at also had the EPOS ELS3's which i went there intending to buy. You really have to see them side by side and then you will just say, hmm, the ushers absolutely own the EPOS. The EPOS look like speakers you would actually see on a bookshelf being used as bookends. The Ushers are about twice as deep and 25% taller. Every component is a bit larger and beefier and the build quality is in a whole different league. I was way let down by the EPOS and fell in love with the ushers. I have read many reviews about the Ushers being the best value under 1k and i have actually been considering this company that mods them to make them sound like god speakers.

Regrettably, I cant help with the VR1's as i know nothing about them. What kind of amp are you using? I am shopping for a second one at this point but havent found the right amp/price combination yet.