That is true, the amount of hardware to pick from today is crazy.   This is a bulky portable setup but when I'm on the road i'll end up working in the hotel room until late and having some home comforts (HD650s) makes it much easier :)

As requested

Due to work traveling commitments I have just built this:   * HD650 * O2 Amp * iPod touch * Cables * Suitable neoprene bags from ebay to carry it all in   Whole thing under $1000 and makes living in a hotel so much easier!

+1 for stv014 This thread was about why recordings are sold to consumers with missing data. There are so many tracks that are ruined by the loudness war it's not funny. Hopefully one day it will return to how it should be.

Yes, sadly if your source is clipped the the data is lost. If only we could get hold of the master recordings!

I have no idea how much they are worth, ill do some research and try and find a fair number to take them off your hands if you would like.

I have been unable to take out a pair of Motorola (rebranded Sylvania) 6SN7s, a joy to listen to and not expensive at all at about 30 bucks.

Jebus!  I just googled that and checked out their website.  Now, I'm not one for s**t-canning things that I have no personal experience with but I'm pretty sure putting anything additional in the signal chain is only going to remove something (e.g. low/high pass filters) or add something (e.g...

My opinion is that any headphone should have a removable cable, especially if its portable.  Its inevitable the cable will break before the drivers so when spending several hundred dollars I would prefer to not have to fix with a soldering iron.     However, when/if the cable does need...

Interesting questions.  These are the only 2 headphones that I have ever owned so my experience is limited sorry.   I would say the t70 are much more analytical, and by which I mean, they highlight issues in recordings much more than my HD650's.  This however really makes classical music...

Disclosure: I have the t70's and hd650's. Both are very enjoyable and I find the t70s extremely good for classical music where I find their reproduction of the music extremely detailed. My t70s are used on my office rig as they are closed but I still find their soundstage acceptable. Some...

Yup, swap the tubes and see if the lost channel stays on the same side. The Woo adaptors come open really easily, just an allen key and you're in.  If you have a multi-meter you can check each male pin to its female side to see where the issue lies.

Exactly what redcat2 said.  No need to jump straight into the expensive tubes either, my first few buys were $10 to $20 pairs and started to try and pick up the subtle differences between different types.  After I found a tube type i liked (6SN7) i then started looking at different manufactures.

Closed too, would be good for my office rig.   Thanks for all the input guys.  I will be crunching the numbers on the weekend for the tax return so if the gods are nice there might be 2 different sets coming my way, if they are not nice, its beans on toast for the next month :)

We have a late entry into the ring!   They are the most expensive out of the pick - What do they bring to the table over the rest?