Quote: Single-ended.   To add to my impressions, I've been listening to Alison Kraus, and what really impresses me is the "emotional honesty." It doesn't seem right to say that the amp has "good vocals" or a "good midrange" because in a sense the midrange doesn't stand out as...

Got the Sonett.My first impression is the "speed" of this amp, sort of details on the high end and very tight bass. Bass drums are thrilling, not at all like any tube amp that I'm used to. I'm using Sennheiser HD580 'phones right now.

Getting my Sonett soon! I have been using a Headroom Portable Desktop Amp. I generally prefer solid-state, but I see people saying that the Sonett is not "tubey." Review coming up..

Quote: What does this mean? How can I fix it.

Quote: It's an NAD 5300. (A really, really old cd player from the 80's)

I don't think the distortion is in the recording... I listen to these same recordings on my speakers (Spendor S3/5), and no distortion. It is a really obvious crackling noise. It happens only during the loud parts, either things like orchestral climaxes or really loud/accented piano notes. But...

Quote: I think the ear can detect unmeasurable things.

I'm new to headphones. I just got a headroom portable desktop amp and K601 headphones. The problem is that there is a lot of distortion when the music gets loud (like classical music climaxes). Changing the volume on the desktop doesn't seem to make it go away, it just gets louder or quieter but...