Headphone amp and headphones... ?

I said "all you need to know". If you can't be very pleased with what's there, you will just confuse yourself further by scrounging around in the underbrush.

I suppose if you cared to limit yourself to their selection and their opinions then you could limit your resources to just one. You'd be missing out on some of the finest options in amps and headphones though. Some of the most respected names in headphone options are entirely missing from the Headroom roster. Just from the top of my head the 'AWOL list' includes such luminaries as Eddie Current, Leben, Luxman, Woo Audio, RSA, Meier, Yamamoto, EAR, Apex Peak, Audeze, STAX, virtually all pro IEM solutions like JH Audio, Ultimate Ears, Westone... I'm sure there are lots more I'm missing, as well as a very healthy and impressive DIY scene that has very serious contenders in amplification for headphones (Cavalli,Stacker, AMB b22 m-3, and others). Don't get me wrong, I think Headroom is a good general resource, but you'd be doing yourself a disservice to think the world of headphone listening is contained within those narrow boundaries of what they sell and support. The alternatives are no more "confusing" than what is offered there, and I've got no clue why you'd suggest that offerings beyond that one dealer represents "the underbrush". That's a very myopic view of headphone listening. It's like suggesting that someone interested in high-end audio limit themselves to the resources of a single dealer who happens to stock a broad selection of good examples and suggesting that that is all you need to know about the high end - it's all right there at, say, Underwood Hifi (actually Walter has a great cross section of good gear - but so do a lot of dealers), and one need not confuse oneself with the rest of the options out there. Granted, the headphone world is even smaller than the world of high-end and options are more limited, but its a whole lot bigger than Headroom's offerings.

I can't believe how long this thread continues. Lots of good information here. I doubt that someone who asks for
headphone advice on an Audiogon Forum is interested in DIY solutions. I only added my two cents about STAX as I have lived happily with them for over twenty years and never regretted it. STAX headphones don't have to be the only phones you try, just make sure they are on the list. Then
YOU decide.

I doubt that someone who asks for
headphone advice on an Audiogon Forum is interested in DIY solutions.

Yeah, you're probably right. The only reason I mention them is that DIY plays a much bigger role in the mainstream world of Headphones than it does in the world of speaker-based high-end. Some of the DIY offerings are certainly right up there with anything any of the larger manufacturers offer and sometimes excel any of them when paired with certain cans. I also mention it because DIY builds are often available on the used market, and there are some folks who make commissioned builds as well as those who build kits and sell them (like Rockhopper). One of my impressions of headphone addicts is that they are a more tweaky bunch, in general, than the speaker-based group you might find here.

Which Stax are you using now, Tonykay? I was very impressed with the O2, but other examples have not really impressed me nearly as much.

The Stax seem of course worth checking out, but they don't make it too easy with their peculiar cable ending and their apparent need for a high dollar headphone amps.

Has anyone tried the combination of the benchmark 1 DAC with the LCD-2? I am interested in hearing opinions.