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I think you are missing the point Stan is making. All amplifiers that are designed to be 'transparent' sound the same . That isn't really up for debate anymore it's just a fact that that some people can't seem to grasp even given the evidence to support it. Now it appears you have found an amp that isn't transparent and you prefer the sound, that is also fine and nothing can compete with a listeners subjective taste. Even if your new amp actually sounds the same as an O2 if you were to blind test yourself it doesn't mean that the new amp doesn't still sound better to you. If we want to think the expensive fancy tube amp sounds better then it will. My advice to someone looking for an amp with the HD600 would be to get one of the many, cheap transparent amps available if they want to hear the HD600 shine as a clean , clear window into the music that extracts the maximum from the recording . This is how I prefer to hear the HD600 And It also suits my subjective taste . It sounds fantastic to me this way. Now that's not to say that someone else may prefer a coloured sound from the HD600 via a tube amp or a poorly designed SS one. only they can work that out for themselves but we have a duty to make the difference clear when it comes to recommending amps. It's easy to recommend a transparent Amp but it's impossible to recommend a flawed amp that changes the sound or influences bias based and price /looks/ weight etc! Only the end listeners experience can decide that for themselves.
Good to know that you're such an authority on the topic that you can single-handedly end the debate. You must be very intelligent.
Consider the possibility that the current set of audio measurements might not be the end-all-be-all in terms of determining audio "transparency" and don't tell you everything about an amplifiers sound. Consider that there are other characteristics that are more important to determining sound quality rather than THD tests on a dScope.
Again, I'm sure the O2 sounds great to anyone who has already predetermined it as "transparent" and has yet to compare it to anything better. That used to be me. Since this is an impressions thread, I'd like to add that what CADCAM said. When I owned the O2 I also felt it sounded grainy and slightly harsh. I tried other amplifiers with the HD600 and I found big improvements in overall clarity. Those amps did, in a sense, offer a greater window into any given recording and sounded more "transparent" for lack of a better word. My other problem with the O2 was lack of dynamics, big and small.
This thread is starting to get off topic. James, feel free to start a thread in Sound Science called "HD600 + O2 most transparent evar FTW" where we can continue this debate. I'll be along there shortly to comment, unless I forget....