The Best Audiophile Earphones headphones and Amp

O2Mk.I and BHSE are worth investigating although the wait for the BHSE is approx 1 year.

Gopher: good point about the budget... Having said that, I do not expect the same type of crowd here as head-fi. Not only referring about the average age, but also (it correlates though) about the wallet size. I think people who have invested into a high-end loudspeaker system including room treatment will typically have sufficient funding for a good headphone system...

Matjet: the Orpheus is no longer manufactured. Lucky enough, you could find one used for 6-8kUSD I believe (you'd still need an amplifier which I believe would also run into 5kUSD, no less). I did not listen much to it, but basically I am not sure it is good value considering the C32 is just around the corner (and likely a very serious contender).

Stax C32 is projected to cost between 300 and 500kJPY which is 4 to 6kUSD at current rate. But again, with some Stax distributors being a bit thirsty, it could go north of that in Europe or the US... Release is targeted for "spring" which, by Japanese standard, could be March-April time frame.

Some information about the design found here: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/520391/tokyo-fall-2010-headphone-festival . My listening impressions here: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/531743/new-listening-impressions-of-stax-c32-prototype

Arnaud

I would love to listen to the Stax C32 when it is released and compare it to some other high-end headphones. I will have to find a Stax dealer in the my area (Ma.) who carries it.

Tonykay 02-05-11: Used units on Audiogon are safe bets. Stax headphones are hard to damage-I've been using mine for about 20 years and they still sound GREAT!

Ditto!

If you want to consider a used pair of Stax's, you should be aware that original Stax replacement earpads can be obtained from Audiocubes2.

The earpads are supplied together with a replacement for the piece of foam that covers the electrostatic element. A couple of years ago I replaced the pads and the foam on my mid-1980's Stax Lambda Pro's, because the foam was disintegrating. They continue to work as new, after 26 years.

Regards,
-- Al