And one more thing.... the LB is currently sitting next to my Bryston BP6 which I use for headphones ALOT, though I still plug into the LB just as frequently. And maybe that proves that I can enjoy expensive stuff also as the Bryston is the best SS amplifier I have owned. The 2 amps are a sweet...

OK.... and 1) I REALLY want to try a Melos - along with Decware it is one of the few left on my "must try" list. 2) I am just relaying what I have heard (and kept!!). I would suggest people be open-minded to the LB II, especially as mine is decked out. I am not a huge believer in power...

OK, well put, great..... I had the LB II on my desk next to a series of amps that cost as much as $1200 (a Cary pre) and the LB was the best with my 600s w/ Cardas. The best solid state was the GS1 and a CI Audio. And if you like tubes, it was the LB II upgraded with expensive tubes as noted...

It is less than you want to spend, but the LunchBox II is the best I have heard, having sold the GS1 among many pricey amps I have traded through. With an upgraded power cord and some snazzy NOS Mullards it is the best amp for my Cardas 600s that I have tried.

My 501s have been recabled with the Fitz Black Clover and I am a firm believer in the 601 pad-mad over the 701 pad-mod. The 601s get you just enough added body and do not muddy up the sound the way the 701 pads do. Tubes are also perfect for the 501s and my choice (even over MUCH more expensive...

My daughters! (they are the 2 little ones in the video below) YouTube - Dara as "The Cowardly Lion" in the Wizard of Oz - 2003

Anyone have any news on this. I LOVE my LBII and would like to give this a shot with the tubes I have accumulated......

I just posted a thread in the vendor review section, but I am really thrilled about this find so I thought I would reference the review here.... http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f92/sw...7/#post4792849 No realtion, just a happy customer with great NOS Mullards in the house!

I am pretty excited about this. I have one on order from Northern Sound and Light and 2 cables waiting to be tried - A Zu and one silver DIY cable from another headfier.

Started with an Airhead. Now have a Cary Pre and a GS-1. Lots in the middle, but that is the beginning and end (so far?) of the tale.....

At that price, for that music, I would say HD580, defoamed, with a good used after-market cable.

x2 for what Earwicker said. And yes, there is a mid-range. Blue Jean Cable makes very good not-too-expensive cables. Several DIYers can also help you out if you post exactly what you need. Even Fleabay has some reliable cable offerings. And though they make reasonable sounding...

Cary 2002 preamp, especially with Sennheisers.... as close to perfect as I have heard.

I have had the 3 popular D-Denons and I think the 2000s are the sweet spot for value. I know it is a minoriuty view, but I actually prefer the lesser quantity of bass and like the 200s a bit more than the 5000s. And, imo, the 1000s are in a lower league as they offer less resolution, less...

Really good and useful review! As a former short-term owner of those Denons who also has a stock pair and also has a pair of recabled 580s I will just point out that the Woven-re-cabled Denons are much more articulate and somewhat brighter than a stock pair. The clarity of those denons is...

I should add that this unit, the SLP-2002, does sound it's best when it is toasty - more so than other tube gear I have used. Leaving it on would mean the best sound is always immediately available which would be nice. And to be fair about the tube costs, there are a lot of choices in the...

Thanks for the quote. I have a Cary Pre-amp and I have been turning it on/off as I use it, typically just once or twice a day. I guess I will have to rethink this, though it seems odd to leave it on and it does generate some warmth. I am glad Cary thinks the preamp tubes are cheap -...

Hey Earwicker, how would you explain me???? How would you write off my enthusiasm for the headphone jacks on, for example, NAD and Nikko preamps when I am sitting here listening to a Cary preamp? The Cary sounds fantastic but that isn't nearly as helpful or interesting to most people as the...

I agree with Duggeh entirely. I think he was a little too subtle! But people just hear differently and/or have different subjective criteria for what they like in headphones. Knowing peoples' different headfi aesthetic is useful for integrating their comments into your own decision-making...

I am fairly clueless as to the insides of an amp and what the design and layout and wiring should look like. But some people referenced this "looking like a Cary" and I can offer my experience that is quite contrary to that comparison. I have an SLP-2002 Pre and need to open it up to change...

Hey GM! Both pairs I referenced had the earpad mod. However, prior to my doing the earpad mod on my stock pair (thanks to your generous provision of supplies!!) I did have a chance to compare the modded earpads to stock when i owned a pair of MarkL'd D5000s a few weeks back. The...

This week I had 2 D2000 pairs at my desk for 2 days. One was stock. the other was recabled with 18awg cryo'd copper. There was a HUGE difference between the 2. Unmistakeable. No one who was not legally deaf could fail to hear the substantial difference. I wanted to not like the recable...

I currently have on my desk a LD MKIV SE, a CI Audio VHP, and a Cary Preamp that the manual describes as having a "glorious sounding" headphone section. And I agree with TFarney! The best values I have seen in 1 1/2 years of this craziness has been the headphone jacks out of vintage gear...

If that question was to me..... The only mismatch was with my ears. The only way they sounded "right" to me was with massive EQ to get the mids somewhere near an appropriate level, and even then they were savaged by the bass.

Darths. I guess they have "impact"..... but I do not get why people want subwoofers on their ears at the expense of just about everything else. They do look nice......