I bought a pair of HD600's about 4 months ago and what a whole new world! Even though I have a good set of speakers, there is no room interaction to deal with. Amazing level of "musicality". As far as an outboard amp, Musical Fidelity puts out the Xcan for ~$300 or, of course, Headroom amps for more money. I believe that the consensus is that most CD player/preamp manufactureres add on headphone amps as somewhat an afterthought and are not that good. My Sonic Frontier Line 2SE preamp has the Headroom op amp with the "imaging processor" in it. Very good, however, I have not compared it to others.
Whats the Story w/ Headphones?
Because of several issues right now I am looking to get a pair of good headphones. Is there that much difference between them, I assume there is. I have been reading about the Seenheiser HD 600 (Class A in Stereophile) the newer HD 650. Also the Grado RS 1 (also Class A ). I dont mind spending that much but are they really worth it. Do you have to have alot of other equipment w/them? H/S amps, cables? I just want a decent sound,on all music. Would it be a waste just to plug them into a CD Player. Any advice on the subject or reviews on any headsets would be appreciated!!