The mini transport sure looks good! Good luck! I'm waiting for their LARGE cd transport project : D

I prefer listeningto my phones on my normal listening levels for a couple of month. It could be my ear get accustomed to their sound, or they actually sounded better. Maybe you just need to spend more time?

I'm curious how many of you leave your solid state gears on 7/24 and reasons please.

I guess normally they don't route over the ears

Normal.

I haven't bought 701's yet and really don't know how I'll decide if I had the cash

IIRC it's 32 ohm-Impedance. not sure about the price

Did the link just expire? or someone got it?

yeah, I think nad has a small all in one unit. ============ and, here it is. NAD Electronics :: C715 Compact Music Systems it seems exceed your budget though ============ and it is probably the same thing as TEAC CR-H277i TEAC Consumer Electronics Reference Series and a Onkyo...

I never listened to a K601, but my K340 and K501 both sound decently on tubed amp (custom built). Good thing about portable amps is that you can also use it with the line out from your MD players (some are pretty decent). so you don't stuck with a desktop setup The price of a USB dac range...

I guess this is the correct forum, just the title maybe a bit confusing. Before You list your current source, I will try to make some assumptions.(sources can be ipod, cdp, usb dac, etc) I don't know any tubed portable amp, so I guess you're looking for non-portable. Then, it will depend...

For $400 you have plenty to choose from (some used) Cambridge Azur 640c, Nad C542 (One on FS forum now), ....and Music Hall CD25.2. : p I'm not sure how good are the transports of these CD players, but by themselves they are decent sources (from reviews).

Koss pp on my laptop...

Aren't they 600ohm? IMO You need a good amp for both 580s and 650s to sound good. But, everyone just hear different things; the best thing to do, is listening to them and do a comparison by yourself. Then decide if a amp is needed.

Also look at Cambridge Audio Azure 640c. It is often compared with Nad C542, and is usually in the same price range for used equipment. It seems on Head-fi, many people prefer the Music Hall CD25.2 to CA and NAD. Though I never compared them.