It seems that with all of these great headphone amplifiers (and the rise in the headphone amplifier market in general) there would be more stores carrying the higher-end gear.

I realize that a lot of this stuff is DIY-type equipment or strictly small-time shops... but isn't there some sort of annual convention or national amp competition where an ordinary schmuck like myself would have the opportunity to test drive a handful of the mid-tier ($700-$1200) amplifiers?

In other words...

It's going to be a while before I can afford to shell out $4800 to compare a MicroZOTL, EarMax Pro, Sugden Headmaster, Wheatfield HA-2, and Headroom Max against one another!

You could always GO to headroom......in Montana.

Or go to their NYC CES area (make up an excuse; "family vacation")...

Yeah, it's called your local headfi/wizer meeting. Looks like some other people are already doing that in other areas. In fact Flumpus over at Headwize is calling for one in Texas.

Yeah, Nikolai, check out Flumpus' post in Members' Lounge (General Discussion) forum, as he's interested in setting up a meeting in the Dallas area.

Speaking of T.H.E. show, it is going to be on in NYC again next year! This year I missed it and see ya there next year!

One show I never miss since 1997 except this year is the annual CES at Vegas. Problem is, the show is like a "zoo" (heard it's the same at NYC this year) so hard to audition. Plus, some manufacturers like Sennheiser matches Orpheus w/ $800 CDP (Sennheiser booth), HD600/Max w/ $80 portable CDP (Sterephile booth) almost every year.

The best way to audition? Buy second-hand gear cheap, if you don't like it, resell it at minimum or no financial loss at ebay (even gain sometimes). Or you can buy new at shows at significant discount which almost guarantee a profit if you keep it mint.

Next January if I go to CES, I probably do my part for this community and pool some orders and let manufacturer ship the goodies to fellow headwizers and headfiers below wholesale price.

Not Stax! I was very proud to see a beautiful Accuphase 55 sitting on their table (actually, two or three of them!). Now, that's what I call good Japanese electronics matching!