[RJ Hythloday]

http://www.head-fi.org/products/category/amp-dacs  I'm curious what happened to the first 3 places in ranking?
 
I currently have MDR-V6 and will probably get AKG-K702 for my next hp's  I listen to a lot of classical, also quite a bit of live music, I have tons of grateful dead, led zep, tull, Hendrix, etc.  My collection is almost entirely .flac some up to 24-192.  Most of my listening is at my laptop, I've got a decent starter home theater, but can only listen on it if the family is out of the house.  I also use audiogalaxy to stream my .flac collection over my phone.  HTC EVO, the MDR's sound fine and will probably continue to be my out of the house listening head phones.
 
I'm not entirely sure if I want a tube amp like the G3 or project sunrise, or if I'd like something portable w/ a DAC also.  Any recommendations?   This is for my entry into the headfi world, and might take a while to get another past the wife.  I'll be getting one of these as a birthday present for myself in a few weeks.  The project sunrise is really a bit out of my price range, the G3 is right there but I could go a little higher for the right piece. 
 
After rereading some reviews the QINPU A-3 looks like it might be a good one, I really like the MP301mkII but it's a little too high. 

 

[65535]

http://www.head-fi.org/products/category/headphone-amplifiers
 
 If you scroll down you'll notice that the category is ranked as a whole and the subcategories are just snippets from the whole of the rankings. 
 
It's a little confusing at first, but it makes some sense. One thing I always do when comparing units is to try my best to find reviews that review all the units you're interested in, rather than going off public ratings blindly. A lot of users may not have compared their unit to others and just liked the unit itself. Never the less the information is a good starting point with some follow up.
 
I'd say look into a DAC/Amp to start with just to get yourself a basic all around system.
 
Consumer electronics don't usually have DAC's that do 24bit flac files justice, I know how it feels to want to jump into things, but if budget is a real concern, hold off until you can get a solid unit to start with. You'll lose money right away when you go lowest rung then get the itch to upgrade. 
 
That's my opinion of course, and I wish you the best of luck.

 

[wdahm519]

If you like classical, a pair of well burned in K701's (or K702's in your situation) do very well with a Bijou (DIY) tube amp.  You'll need a good DAC too.  I'm using an Opus DAC (DIY as well) and I highly recommend it.  If you've got the bones, a K701/2 with a Buffalo II DAC and a Beta22/Sigma22(PS) set up would be amazing as well.