Hello

Just thought I'd drop a line to say hello. I've been lurking for a week or two and enjoy the site. 

I received my HD650's this christmas as a joint present from the family and despite them being only 50 or so hours burned in, am really enjoying them. The improvement in them day by day is quite amazing. The veil is gradually going, and I can now listen to orchestral recordings without getting angry with them. Got a Fiio E7 arriving in the next few days as a stopgap until I can afford something a little finer, although I understand that the E7 does a good job with the 650's for the money. Currently surviving with the DAC/headphone amp of my edirol ua1-ex, which was bought more as an input device than an output, but for a £25 device does a remarkable job. 

Before the 650's I had an inherited pair of Philips HP890's, the headband of which broke due to the flimsy build - still might consider a repair job but the Sennheisers will make that job seem like a less important. Just did a comparison and I can now hear the inadequacies of the Philips.

I think my dad is a little fed up of me coveting his Stax SR-2's though. They still blow me away every time I hear them. 'You look good to me' by the Oscar Peterson Trio never sounds as good as in those. He's got a couple of spare capsules hanging around too... 

Cheers, 

Rich. 

Right - seriously better hold on here. My dad's staxes are from the sixties, and he told me they're the second model they brought out. I then looked at some wikidepia (or suchlike) for the model number, and concluded they must be the SR-2, which seemed to fit with what he told me. Although, I've not been able to find a pic on the web that looks exactly like these - having read Ischabible's reply, I went and investigated in a little more depth  and discovered that they might be a contentious issue. Whatever they are though, they are flipping amazing.  

I'll find out more from my dad. 

The 650'd are great but *very* critical of the amps I use to drive them. So I'm looking for the best option within a reasonable price range. I know there's been a huge amount of discussion about this in the past, so I'll go over all that first. 

Have a fine new year all :)