Headphones - Senn HD 800 or Grado RS1i.......

Scottmac - do you live near Portland, OR. If so you can listen to those and various other headphones at 32 Ohm. There are probably other resources in major cities. Or try doing what ThomasTrouble did and buy both and return whichever you do not prefer before the trial period ends. As you can see from Thomas responses, there are no hard and fast rules that say everyone is going to necessarily prefer one over the other, and $ don't necessarily buy "better" in some cases. To me the ultimate cans have been the 800's, and nothing I've heard comes close as far as staging. They do not sound like 600's at all to me. I'm using a tube amp too - a Woo WA6SEM. I'd bet the Cary would do a fine job with either choice. I'm way into female vocals though not much into electronic chill (honestly don't know what that is). To get some info on the PS1000, go over to headfi.org - here's some reading for you - again, bag of salt applies, just like it would here or anywhere. Plenty of useful info that can be distilled there though. Let us know what you do.

Thanks for the link Jax2. I live in Seattle and will have
to see if anyone carries these two cans.

I am curious what you are using for a headphone amp and
if you have had the chance to listen to the Cary or
the Naim Headline. I already have Naim gear and like
different perspectives in music. So, I guess I need a
set that is compatible with both the Cary and Naim.

Scottmac - If you are in Seattle, as am I, I'm pretty sure Definitive carries a Grado and Senns....not positive though...I haven't been to Stereo Row in a long time. 32 Ohm has it all and great amps as well. Here's a feature on them.

I use a Woo Audio WA6SE maxxed-out. It's a very good pairing with the HD800's but I'd be willing to bet the Cary would be great too. Do you know how much power output the headphone jack has on that? The downside of the HD800's is that they really demand a good amp (again - though I have no direct experience to say for sure, I'd bet the Cary would be up to the task). I'm not sure that the Grado would be as demanding - It is certainly easier to drive. I've never heard the Naim headline and don't know anything about it. I assume it is SS since it is Naim. In general I've tended to prefer tube amps, but not as a rule. With the kind of investment you'd be making in one of those cans, I'd definitely take the time to compare them directly with the kind of music you like listening to and see which one floats your boat (or if either do). Being in this region, you have no excuse not to. There is a headphone meet coming up very soon put on by Headfi.org members. I've been to one before, just a few months ago. They are a nice group of folks - very diverse, ... more so than the range of folks I've met via Audiogon. It may be worth your time to go check it out - you may hear some things you've never heard and really like. You can tell Gil I sent you. It's only about two weeks away. You don't have to bring anything at all with you - some folks come to listen and socialize. Most bring their headphone rigs, and there's all kinds of systems there. I'm sure there will be at least one HD800...probably a Beyer T1 too (another good candidate for fans of Rock who want the refinement and detail of a really good headphone). I did not see any Grados PS1000's at the last meet though. If you really want to listen to one find a dealer that has both like 32 Ohm.

Your Woo Audio looks interesting. Are you using the
Sophia tubes? I used to have the Sophia mesh 300b's
in my Cary and it was the most glorious mid range
I have ever heard coming from my Cary. However, this
faded after about 50 hours. Possibly too much juice for
the mesh plates.

Unfortunately, I do not make it up to Portland very often.
Looks like 32 Ohm would be the place to go.

Thanks again for the useful information.

Your Woo Audio looks interesting. Are you using the
Sophia tubes? I used to have the Sophia mesh 300b's
in my Cary and it was the most glorious mid range
I have ever heard coming from my Cary. However, this
faded after about 50 hours. Possibly too much juice for
the mesh plates.

Unfortunately, I do not make it up to Portland very often.
Looks like 32 Ohm would be the place to go.

Thanks again for the useful information.

I did try the Sophia for a few weeks...maybe a month. I did not like it, but I was using Grado GS1000's at the time (very different from my current HD800's). I found it tended to soften the dynamics...not sure if that's a good description. It seemed to slow things down to some degree.

I'm currently using an EML 5U4G mesh in the Woo and that works very well for me.

I used to have 300B SET amps in my speaker system which I used for around six years - loved them. Nothing could beat WE 300B's in those amps. The newer Svets were pretty good too, but the WE's were king. I tried the Sophias there and really didn't like them at all, but this was in entirely different amps than yours.