Ever had that "Hard to imagine better sound" moment ??

no

Yep, quite a few times actually.  I remember listening to Tom Petty's 'Don't Come Around Here No More' for the first time on my setup and I was blown away by how expansive and detailed it sounded.

Money well spent...

no..never been 100% satisfied.

i need to try analog seriously

Magnepans.

Good planar speakers just.... disappear from the room. With the right acoustics you forget you're listening to a Hifi setup and not in the room with the musicians.

Headphones?

Never. Although I've never heard K1000s or R10s.

Yep, I get that with the K-1000 and HD-800.  The ESL-63s do it, too.  Always makes me happy.

With some recordings, my TPA Opus DAC, CKKIII amp, and HD580 headphones just sound great. There are times where I can't imagine better sound, even though my gear isn't that far up in level.

Perhaps I would get that feeling more often with better gear? kekeke

A great song coming playing at exactly the right moment does it for me. It doesn't matter if its coming from a tin can. Truth be told, my favorite and most frequently used listening rig is my car stereo which is complete crap by audiophile standards.

If not that, a good 2 channel speaker setup easily dethrones any headphone out there. I remember going to one of these room to room high end audio exhibits at CES a couple years back when I stumbled into a room where the guy just decides to crank the hell out of this really expensive speaker setup. At that point, I just concluded that there was no way any headphone was going to match how much more powerful and raw music sounds out of speakers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik 

Yep, I get that with the K-1000 and HD-800.  The ESL-63s do it, too.  Always makes me happy.

HD800 is the sexiest headphone ever...i would rather spend a day with it than with a girl

For Headphones/ amp, I'd have to say Bubu 1's, Headroom amp/dac rack and accessories driving his HD 800 phones is by far the best!!! I do enjoy my HD 650's and my "Chris Ivan" Tube Head/Pre-amp., "The Beast" .............The best sounding main system would be my Audiophile "Buddy", Larry's, Sound Labs and combined TOP SELF equipment makes one say the old Quote from Ray Andrews, of Cincy...."How Good Does Ice Cream Get"!!!   BUT, I do love my main system.......

My perfect moment is my W1000 and Woo Audio 6SE. I simply have not heard better vocal quality. It is astounding. Yes, the treble is a bit grainy. Yes, the sub bass is a bit weak. Yes, the mid range can get congested. But even with all those imperfections, I have not heard female vocals, acoustic and jazz music sound better than this.

I have been constantly searching for a headphone to trump this combination with the same vocal magic and so far to no avail. Somehow, headphones like the HD800, T1, W1000X did not capture it for me. Closed headphones just have a way of creating vocal intimacy with ease. However, headphones like the Denon D7000, W5000, W1000X  does not emphasize what the W1000 emphasizes.

Can't really say I've been 100% satisfied with anything I've heard, though lately I've been getting pretty close. Of course the recording is paramount. Synergy is important, too. The closest I've come was listening to the Dutoit/OSM recording of "Uranus" from Holst's The Planets. There's one chord in there (a blasting unison on E) that reminds me of a giant insect stinger when it arrives. I hit the ceiling the first time I heard it. I've never felt more convinced that I was actually in the room with an orchestra than when listening to that entire album, but especially that particular movement.

I've also had great results with some E.Power Biggs recordings, and any doubts I had about sub-bass extension in headphones promptly went away.

I've heard it said that perfection is not when nothing can be added, but when nothing can be taken away. I'll be happy with my cans for a while, then I'll do something dumb like put on an HD800 or T1, and then the lust will begin....

Listening to my K271's through my Little Dot I+ I can't imagine vocals sounding any better. I'm sure there are other areas that can be improved, but vocals are just too excellent sounding.

I haven't heard any high end stuff, so take that as you will.

HP1000 when I owned them and listened to them on Voltron's Singlepower MPX3 right before selling them...

And the Fostex T10, with it's fast, perfect tone.  I remember laying in bed listening to them with my ipod just floored by how real they sound.  Once I was sitting at my computer and in an album before the first song comes on, there's a sound like an oil heater clanging, and I looked over at the floor to my left at exactly the spot where I thought it was coming from.  I was amazed when I realized it was the headphones.  And I played it again, and even though I knew it was the recording, I still couldn't help but look at that spot to my left where the Fostex T10's were pinpointing the sound.  I've certainly never been fooled twice in a row by headphones. 

Most of my best moments are with speakers and have more to do with the song and the moment than the SQ

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nocturnal310 

HD800 is the sexiest headphone ever...i would rather spend a day with it than with a girl

You sir are a true head-fi'er! 

Joking aside I'll second Uncle Erik's opinion, it's happened to me with the 800 and K1K. But the first time I experienced it was when I listened an HE90, thats when I understood what all this was all about .