From what I've been reading, people with small ear canals seem to have a bit of trouble getting canal-type 'phones to fit properly. With no way to test out before buying, I'd like to know what the safest bet for someone with small ear canals is. Price can be left completely out of the equation.

i have small ear canals and ears that don't like headphones. comfort matters, so i opted for the shure e5s after reading a lot of discussion on these boards about various shure and etymotic models. my ear canals are so small that i still don't get a perfect seal on the shures, but i am very happy with the sound, since i usually use them away from noisy situatios anyway. people say they are better for rock than classical, but i listen to both (including opera) and find that they do very well by everything i, at least, listen to. since money is no object in your case, however, why not check out the thread on the ultimate ears ue-10 pro?

Shure sells various types of cone foamies in different sizes... Ety might as well, but I havn't seen any of those. Sony EX71s have 3 different sizes.

Hell man, anything that comes with various replaceable sizes can fit small ear canals.

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usually the size of your ear canal should not be an issue if you are using foamies because the foam expands in your ears and tends to fill any space. Shure provides different sizes of foam and flex sleeves. Etymotic also provides different sizes of foams . I truly believe that fit is not an issue, but in case there is an issue because of confort, etc you can get custom ear molds made to use with your earphone, that way you have a perfect fit everytime. I recommend the ER4P earphone by etymotic.

I believe Etymotic also offers different sizes of silicon plugs. The last ones they sent me were so small I couldn't even wear them.

Thanks for the responses. I was worried that the "small" size plugs may still be too big, but it seems I'll be alright.

I have small ears and I found the standard Ety ER4 tips (both rubber and foam) too uncomfortable for any extended use. For some reason, when I tried out the Shure line, they were all very comfortable (both foam and rubber tip). Perhaps it was because I had the correct size tips on the Shure headphones but it once you find the correct size it should be a comfortable fit.

ety's come with standard foamies that are 13 mm diameter.
I belive you can get 11mm diameter foamies too.
After sometime i have realised that i quite like the silicon tips they are easy to clean fit just nice and are easier to take out plus you can take them in and out again and again without having to wait for the foam to expand to natural shaoe before putting them in again.
In short silicon tips rock!!