04rdking- Obviously the sound of your pipes has not affected your (or your girlfriend's) hearing. One of the nice things about Kimber's products is their consistency. As you step up in their product line, you'll find all the same great qualities(transparency, freq extension, dynamics, great sound stage, etc), just more of it, and Kimber never rapes you in the process. I'm using the KS-1130's and have had everything between them and the Hero. When I was using a CAL Alpha/Delta combo, I had an Illumination Orchid and was in love with it too. Their interconnects/cables just do such a great job of getting out of the way of the music! It was strange how much better a 1M Orchid sounded than a .5M though(digital can be funny at times).