Hello there.
First of all, since this is my first post here, greetings to everyone here from the lovely little Austria over here in Europe
In the last weeks i read through the whole HE-400I thread here, and the LD 1+ thread,
got lots of information, but still some questions left.
A little bit to my background first.
I have a dedicated Stereo-System in my living room and was a speakers only guy up until now.
I have Audio Technica ATH-M50 for around 3 years, but only for portable use with my FiiO X1.
I really like to listen to my stereo system, but since i am a father of a 1 year old boy, i cant listen like i used to anymore.
Mostly because of not disturbing him while playing and not waking him up while sleeping :-D
Beacause of that my CDs and Vinyls dont get the attention they deserve anymore,
and i want to change that, so some headphones need to get here soon
Since here in Austria we are some kind of "Hi-Fi no-mans-land" in terms of not having much chance to try gear
i kind of have to rely on impressions on the internet, like here on head-fi.
The question about the headphone is actually decided as a pair of HE-400i (with the new connectors)
is already on the way to me.
I was already leaning towards them because of many reasons (allrounders, planars, not too hard to drive, etc.)
and when i saw a great offer (450€ new instead of the here asked 599€ msrp) i just pulled the trigger.
But that still leaves the question of amplification.
I just shortly got myself a Schiit Magni 2 as start item, mainly to use with my M50s while i wait for the 400i to arrive,
and because i think that its a solid amp for a good price.
BUT (ah, there it is) i always wanted to get into tubes, so i looked around for something to fulfill that need of mine.
And i found something, named the Little Dot 1+.
I have read mostly good about it, and the tubes for it are relatively cheap,
so seems like a good start to get into that cracy tube world.
The only problem that i have is that i fear of the 1+ holding the 400i too much back
and not allowing it to perform on the level that it could.
As an example, i have read multiple times here that the 400i is to the TOTL headphones somwhere about 75-80%
in terms of sound quality, but for a much lower price, hence big bang for the buck.
My question is now, what amp, if not the 1+, would be able to make the 400i perform to around 80% of their potential
without bleeding my wallet too dry?
I have searched long, but i didnt really find an alternative to the 1+ that was both available and not too expensive,
so i hope to get some suggestions here
Please keep in mind tho that everything from outside of the EU will cost lots more then the $ pricetag
due to delivery, taxes and customs.
As for the budget, i cant really define it exactly, but im really a cheap person, so probs not much more than 200-300€.
Some more informations that might help you:
Sources:
Project 2 Xperience Turntable with 9cc-evolution carbon-tonearm and Ortofon Cadenza Red cartridge
running through a Project Phono-Box DS
Atoll IN-80 CD Player
Pioneer N-30 network-player and Samsung TV both running through Micromega-MyDAC
All of the above connected to Atoll IN-100 amp and via tape-out to the Magni-2 (and in the future to some other amp)
Music:
pretty much everything from Metal/Rock over Trip-Hop to Neo-Classic, solo-piano pieces and slow/doomjazz.
only thing i never or very rarely listen to is classic/orchestral and country.
I hope this is not too long and bothersome for my first post, but i think the more information the easier
If i forgot something you need to know just tell me and i will provide.
Greetings, Hirschi
[rule]I LOVE my HE-400i, thinking of possibly upgrading to the HE-560, but the HE-400i seriously outclass anything else I've ever heard at the price, until you get up to LCD-2, SR-009, and HD-800. 
