I have just now bought this cd. Beethoven no. 9 by Fricsay. I am completly floored by  his interpretation. I recommend to hear it. Probably one of the best soulful interpretation of this symphony. 

Maybe I was not enough clear. Of course, Shostajkovich is not as pathbreaking, monumental figure in the history of classical music as Beethoven. On the contrary, certain extent he is the last representativ of a dying tradition. But I meant that Shostakovich in his music protrayed, reflected the...

Shostakovich was the Beethoven of the XXth century. Lived through horrible age, in the midst of Stalinist terror and also saw the II. WW. His work reflected the horrors, terror and fear of his age. Sometimes he used double speech and referred not only the tremendous crimes committed by one...

Interesting read. Very few of the highly regarded headphones survived this battle. http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/one-enthusiasts-take-top-line-headphones-state-flagships

You really should try a stax. None of the above mentioned headphones come close to a stax as far as speed, transparency and natural timbre concerned. 

My first headphone was an AKG 240. Than AKG 501, I did not like them. None of them were really comfortable and I felt that they had a boring sound. Than I bought a sony mdr-f1. I still have this. It is light and supercomfortable and especially in summer the only one headphone which allows good...

I do own and like stax. So, obviously, I may have a biased opinion. But I think when you use an expression like being on the analytical side means something negative like cold, uninspiring but detailed sound. If I would have to choose a headphone for such  a soundprint is the AKG 240, but it...

There is no headphone wihout divisive opinions. Lambda maybe a better option than sr-x 3, but also more expensive. But if you like natural timbre and sound most similar to real life music stax is the best option, especially if you are after music which is unamplified in real life.

600/650 is fine upgrade, but if you really looking for something different I recommend to try out a stax. You could buy around 300 usd an sr 3/5 or sr-x 3 with an energizer (you also need a real amplifier, but if you dont have you could buy for around 100 usd a decent vintage one) and you get a...

Search for a Sony MDR-F1. The most comfortable and lighterheadphone ever. There are always some on the sell section of this site. Open design, so in hottest climate is fine. 

I did like Sennheiser HD650 (driven by O2). Mid bass reinforcement and somewhat forgiving nature makes it wonderful for rockmusic (at least for me), while enough detailed not to be at loss at good quality recordings.

I ince had this product. This is a fine pro-audio gear engineered to drive similar headphones as the dt 990. So, in principle, this is fine and should be enough to drive your headphone . 

Tube amp is niche product. For 120 you wont get any good, or at least very unlikely. I would go for a solid state.  

Of course,the 1944 ninth by Furtwangler is one of my favourite recording of mine.