@JaZZ, in a general response to your recent posts: While I might agree or at least sympathize with your idea(l)s to a certain degree
in theory, they have no relevance to me
in practice. I certainly am what you sneeringly call a "consumer", listening to music for the sole purpose of my indulgence. Also, your choice of headphones (the HD800 and the HE1000 are about as removed from what I look for in a TOTL headphone as possible) suggests to me that our preferences are vastly different, so I guess there's not much to add really. I will, however, say, that I question your dogmatic approach as I feel it becomes apparent in your posts. To me, it often sounds like you are chastising yourself as much as others in a way that appears positively manichaeistic (being a fellow editor, you'll be familiar with the term ...
). What I'm saying is, I feel your frustration, but I think it might be homebrewn to a degree. It's a hard life being a purist. Especially when you're using a device -- now get ready for this -- that I hereby claim colors sound in a way that lets it land on the bright/strident/digital side. Clean should not equal lean.
Now, I can't speak for others, but what I am attempting by adding an amp to the chain that is possibly a little bit on the warm and "beefy" side of things, the Violectric V281, is countering these shortfalls of the Hugo that are quite apparent to me, which allows me to keep the quirky little bugger for the time being. I call it
correction. Since I apparently do not value "transparency" quite as highly as you, I'm more than happy to sacrifice a smidgen or two of the stuff for what I consider great sound as I hear it. Call it synergy, if you like. In any case, it works for me. You chose a different path, and I wish you good luck on your quest for absolute truth.