The "Ultimate" Portable SQ Complete System? - Page 2

The best portable setup is an iPod and the earbuds that it comes with according to how many people use that setup.

^ Yep.

Haha, I'm kidding on that top post of course!  As long as you have a good source (HiFiMan, Cowon, Sansa, then you should be set. If you have an iPod, get a nice LOD and a portable amp. Do some research on some ones with your preferred sound signature as well as your budget.

Amps aren't necessary all the time with Ipods imo. Sources like the Iphone 4, 3GS and Ipod Classic already have plenty of power and give out very good performance overall. 

well that rules the solo and just about all your other options out. these are very specialized devices, most are bought direct from the manufacturer, or other online sellers. You could probably wangle a regular idevice->amp combo and a set of T1, or sensaphonic customs, but no solo. i would go for the fostex HP-P1 personally anyway, it is at least equal on spec (in fact the measurements i've seen for the solo dont look that flash, though that was not near empirical evidence) and form factor is better,

You might even be lucky and find one in the EU, but you'll poay for it thats for sure, in fact expect to add a large amount to your final bill buying in the EU, enough to cover fedex shipping for the foreseeable future

As far as customs go, you can order through a couple of UK dealers, either HandHeldAudio for Westone and JHA, or AmpCity for UM. Bit more expensive but any problems and you post stuff to them rather than overseas, they do all the shipping etc.

The Fostex is a fairly elegant solution as it has the built in amp and two sound modes, it seems one is more suited for 'audiophile' stuff like classical, acoustic, jazz etc, and the other for more contemporary material. You can buy this from EU retailers. My main 'beef' with it though would be the battery life is fairly short, that said, as it's a double stack with an iPod not a triple-stack like the Solo and an amp would be, you could probably get away with a small portable battery pack which would bump it up considerably.

And Minerva.

As said though, dealing with non-UK companies is made a lot less painful going through official vendors here. You buy through them then, if you need refits etc you sent it to them then they do all the international stuff. More expensive but in the case of the OP if he's after an 'ultimate' set up money won't be too much of a concern anyway.