Wow!
Thank you everyone for your kind responses and thoughtful comments.
This morning, over breakfast I talked to my mother (carefully not to give away the surprise) about going to live concerts and such. I told her I always wondered why she enjoyed it so much and wanted to try out myself. I asked her what is so different about going to live concerts, what she enjoys about classical music and opera.
She mentioned that it was a combination of certain things. She likes to go to actual concerts because not only the sound is better, but because she feels more direct and intimate with the music. She mentioned that she feels as if they are 'playing for' her instead of 'listening to' them. Also, she likes the visual aspect as well. As she can actually see the conductor and musicians dive into their world, she said that it was extra treat. She also said that the reason she likes classical music is because of the depth of the music itself and the story it tells, not just the sound. She has been listening to classical since childhood so knowing the background of different composers and their life really enriches the experience.
Her hours are 6pm to 10pm~11pm and she works 7 days a week. It is quite difficult for her to take a day off because she is the only one who can close the store at the moment. I tried to find afternoon tickets from ticketmaster but they are quite rare.. they are available, the most good concerts are in the evenings.
So far, best option seems to be K701,K501,HD600,HD650,SA5000, HE-5, DT880. I will purchase between K701, HD600, and HD650, whatever I can get first from this forum =] and will go with Head-Direct EF5. It seems that to lower the cost on the amp, and trying all of the above headphone eventually to find the 'right' one is the way to go.
LevA has commented that speaker may be another choice I should consider, for various reasons and I do agree with that. I'm not sure what the experience between headphones and speakers are, whether there can be people who prefer headphones over speakers, or people generally agree that a good speaker will deliver better sound than good headphones.
If it is a matter of preference, I guess I should just start with the headphones and build my way up to speakers. Do speakers need different amps? or can EF5 support both headphones and speakers?
I live in Toronto and I am living with my mother atm because of work (closer, and saves much time on preparing lunch
I just checked her audio and she has Yamaha A-520 amp, Yamaha receiver/tuner for radio, and Technics CD player. The speakers are not that good, they were $50 tower speakers that my friend once bought from a flea market.
To upgrade from the current speaker system my mother has, is the amp sufficient enough?
If I spend 500 for headphones, 500 for the amp, and another 200 for SACD player, I can spend extra 1000 for DAC and speakers.
How important is DAC? are they a must? =]
My option 1. get whatever headphones (K701,K501,HD600,HD650,SA5000,DT880) I can get by Christmas from Head-fi (anywhere else?) + EF5 amp + PS Audio DLIII and the rest of the budget into CDs.
Option 2. Headphones + amp and the rest for her speaker system, and maybe a DAC if it is important
Thank you sooo much everyone for your very very kind support and warm comments =]
I should let my mother see this thread after Christmas!!
To show her that the end result was helped by many many people, not just me.
Cheers!
Rk