[ricks584]

I agree; I wouldn't buy one without the stepped attens. Would be pointless to buy one without them, as presumably the buyer is going for near state of the art. However, I do a lot of volume adjusting during my listening, and I'm sure the stepped attens would still be a royal pain. Anyone know if the rubber band would work with them?
What I might really need is a dual concentric stepped atten.
OTOH, with headroom's 30 day trial, I could at least try the Blockhead out.
I'd love to compare the HD600/Blockhead setup with an Omega setup. I've been a big fan of electrostats and their great midrange for many years, and owned a number of speakers and cans of that design. But I'm listening now to the Max and HD600's, and it seems to me that dynamic designs have come a long way. There just seems something "right" about dynamic; maybe it's their often better balanced/better bass quality.
Think I'll take my time and check out some of the alternatives for awhile. If anyone has any further recommendations or suggestions, I'd be most appreciative. Thanks for all the input so far.

 

[Geek]

I agree with you on the dual mono thing. It's really finicky with one volume pot per channel.

However, if you get stepped attenuators, it's incredibly easy to balance the channels; you're adjusting in PERFECTLY balanced 1.5 dB steps. That's an extra five hundred dollars but it ensures the benefits of total channel balance with the no-crosstalk design of the blockhead.

I think that for the current going price it's definitely worth it, especially with a good front end, HD600s and the custom XLR cardas cable. Put an audiophile recording into that rig and you'll notice a substantial difference and never think of the HD600s as inferior to other dynamic phones anymore.

Cheers,
Geek