thats some good reading material there tuberoller, hats off to you speaking of tube dependant, quick search on ebay turned this up : http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1943466873 its missing some 13 tubes and most probably is in dire need of restoration. but at that price can you go...

i thought i was firmly settled on goin with either zotl or maestro when i came across threads discussing vintage gear. its clear buying old stuff is always a bit of gamble, but the difference in pricing really made me think... if it was cd players we talkin about, then there are some...

after i had a pleasure of reading thru your comparison thread, its clear which of the two is more favorable... now there are few more questions to be answered before i take the plunge... firstly, you paired up the amps with R-10 which i would suspect shares much of sonical properties with...

how much of added cost are we expecting with ZoTL tuberolling? and btw, i noticed you seemed to praise the x-can v2 / cd3k combo highly. yet i suspect it falls short to ZoTL how are the mids on ZoTL? your reply gives me an impression RKV has the edge when it comes to overall smoothness. at...

well excuse me for my ignorance, never knew how much the cary cost anyhow as for the EMP, if memory serves me right, is known for leaner SS-ish sound compared to the RKV. not that i am dying for portability either... so how is the twinhead in comparison with the other two amps? general...

yeah it IS a blind faith purchase, there is no way i could audition a single one of listed amps cuz i would have to fly over to the states if i wanted to

headphones being in use : HD580/equinox, CD3K source(s) : Philips DVD 963SA DVD/SACD/Upsampling CD player, maudio revolution possible candidates: RKV/Impedancer ZoTL Carey 300SEI Twinhead neither cans get heavier usage, and i must admite i am a sucker for sweet midrange

while lookin around on a local heaphone BBS last nite, i stumbled on a trade offer involving a straight up exchange of dt931 and hd580. although i never gotten a chance hear what the recently acquired magic cardas had done to my senns, the talks of people finding dt931 more detailed and smooth...

from another post at head-fi i remember someone praising RKV for its lows, Zotl for its highs. can any of you tube gurus elaborate on more in depth and subtle sonical differences between the two tube masterpieces? and btw, RKV if memory serves me right, RKV is supposed to match well with high...

so here it is again... contenders: Berning microZOTL Audiovalve RKV MarkII (used).... $700 X-can v2 (used + homebuilt x-psu).... $200 MGHead OTL... $240 the gripe with MGHead is it purely sucks @ss when paired up with cd3k from all accounts. x-can v2 can be had with much less budget...

alright then, i am taking your input on source/amp/ic! <<budget has been toned down to 1.2k to compensate for cd3k purchase and whatnot>>

thx for your steady input hirsch... the problem here is that i am not entirely sure if i am really gonna settle for a x-can... sure tis no slouch, but either morreto or MGHead is supposed to beat it hands down with the senn, correct? headmaster is a no go for the sony from all accounts, doesnt...

hirsch : thats what got me thinkin in the first place; x-can reportedly is a good match with a cd3000, but a few notches downgrade for the hd580. instead of gettin an amp each dedicated to respective cans, i might as well get one amp that could drive them both quite well... andrzejpw : the SS...

ahhh... let me clearify my earlier post. 1.8k bit was about all i have in that piggy bank, but i dont intend to spend over $500 on an amp unless its a significant improvement over better deals (if they exist) that offer more bang for buck. $700 for EMP is already pushin it, sorta lets...

at first i was only saving up to get a MGHead for my belove hd580... then came the dreadful threads where the damned CD3000s were getting raves like there is no tomorrow a CD3000 could be had for around $275 or so (used), hell i thought i might give it a try - you know what they say, you never...