Very nice job on the comparisons and fwiw, it agrees completely with my own opinion, owning the V200/V800 combo and having compared them with the Conductor on my HD-800, HE-500 and HE-6. For the 6 neither combo brings out the best but otherwise, yeah, the Vio's are more laid-back, darker (although that's not the exact term I'm looking for). Unfortunately for me, with most of the classical music I listen to, I prefer a lighter/faster/more airy touch. So I ended up owning the 'wrong' stack
. Never compared with the Leben and I've become a bit gear-tired over the last year, nowadays I listen mostly to my HE-6 plugged into a FirstWatt F5 clone being fed from the V800. Hard to imagine anything bettering that setup (with the HE-6, I hasten to add).