Let's approach this a little differently...

[bluegrassphile]

You have a budget of $6000. What headphones and HP amp combination would you purchase? Why?

[CPP]

Like the other post in other threads, you are going to get a lot of opinions. I say go to a store and listen or find a dealer that can send you a amp and headphones to demo or has a 30 days return policy. Headphones are so different , what sounds good to one, might not fit your head. Etc... Comfort to me is high on the list and what is comfortable to some might not be comfortable to others, etc... A pair might sound decent but are uncomfortable, and then you have ear cup design, ear cup material that might suit one but not another etc.. Headphones are about as personal as one can get in audio after all its resting on your head or stuck in your ears. So many people buy headphones and end up returning them or selling them for a loss thinking well in a review MR Headphone or a guy on a forum told me they were great and liked them, I should to. Wrong !. Maybe you get lucky, maybe , Demo

[Randy Myers]

For me it is a simply answer. The Abyss Diana Phi and the HeadAmp GS-X Mini.

Reason why; amazing headphones that are among the best in the world but maybe the singular best headphone that also works very well portably. The HeadAmp amplifiers have a great following and I can over look the mis-information that was on their website because they are a young growing company. I would have purchased this combination if I had not came across the to good to pass up deal on the SimAudio headphone amp.

As was previously discussed there are many other good choices, but I believe in this thread you are simply looking for a single answer on which would I buy for $6000.

[bluegrassphile]

Randy, you've been such a good resource for me. I do appreciate it.

And, CPP, yeah comfort will be a major factor for me. I'll be listening a couple hours a day anyway. I'm actually excited to hear a great set of phones through a top notch amp.

[Randy Myers]

I do agree about comfort. The worst I have had, to me, were the McIntosh and then the Audeze. The Focal were ok, about the same as Sennheiser HD800, both good. The best to me have been the Mr. Speakers (Dan Clark Audio now) and my favorite are definitely the Abyss. I can listen to them all day at work with the A&K portable, or at home with the amazing SimAudio amp!

[W9TR]

I would start by asking about your use cases:
How many hours a day do to you intend to use your headphones?
Are you interested in portability, or will this be a fixed setup?
How important is attenuation of external noise, or as a corollary, how important is it to not disturb others around you?
What are your speaker preferences? Where do they swing? Wilson/Magico/Sonus Faber/B&W/Harbeth/Magnepan/KEF/MBL/etc/etc
Are you OK with the vagaries of tube amplifiers?

[Mike]

Focal Utopia 2020 with SimAudio Moon 230HAD.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Randy Myers]

I would start by asking about your use cases:
How many hours a day do to you intend to use your headphones?
Are you interested in portability, or will this be a fixed setup?
How important is attenuation of external noise, or as a corollary, how important is it to not disturb others around you?
What are your speaker preferences? Where do they swing? Wilson/Magico/Sonus Faber/B&W/Harbeth/Magnepan/KEF/MBL/etc/etc
Are you OK with the vagaries of tube amplifiers?

All important information. I believe most was discussed in the previous thread.