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Originally Posted by GuyDebord  About the "best of the best" comment, do you guys think they are on the same league as japan's Shindo, Kondo (audio note), Leben, Audio Tekne or Airtight? or Convergent, KR, WAVAC, Western Electric, Atma-sphere, etc?
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I've only had the opportunity to hear a few of those, but I'll take a shot at them.
First off, X's comment is valid. Not many of those companies give you a direct tap off the tubes to a headphone jack, which is a big part of the allure to me and others.
I've heard my K1Ks from an airtight 300b, a Leben, and a brief listen on an Atma-Sphere. All were better than my Moth, but all of them were also more powerful, and the k1000 would really like more than 3 watts at 8 ohms, as brilliant as it is. I've never had any in my system, as a good look at me would tell a dealer whether or not I was serious about paying for a component with a hand-wired silver Tango transformer.
For headphone applications, however, Moth is right up there on top of the heap. The original Zana, impossible as it is to find (or ship at 102 lbs.) is said by those who have heard it to be the
best possible amplifier for the HD 600s. Alas, it is effectively unobtainable, without blackmailing Joel Marshall to give you his.
Where Moth generally excels is at quality for value, not absolute quality. I sincerely doubt I could find a better headphone/speaker amp for under $2000 than my Moth. I've heard a few others, and I prefer the moth to them all.
