Best solid state headphone amp under $1000

I have a pair of AKG 701 earphones that I'm using with a Schiit Audio Valhalla headphone amp with VERY nice sounding results. Before this I had a Musiland MD-10 DAC/Headphone amp and the music was very cold, and lean sounding. Seemed like everything had a metallic edge to it. The Valhalla was quite nice for way under $1000. Now the Valhalla is tube based but Schiit Audio does have a SS headphone amp called Asgard that you could take a look at.

good luck with your search.

I'm using it with a pair of audio technica ath-m50s, but am thinking to upgrading to a higher end sealed can, most likely Denon AH-D7000 or AT ATH-W1000x.

LLANO S-200 , very dynamic , loads of power , 2 Ohm stable , Tube like mid and highs. very simple two stage gain topology.

Blue Circle, hands down, the best solid state amp I have heard below $1000 and I have heard many of them. It is slightly warm and euphonic sounding but has great bass and wonderful left/right imaging. I would definitely go for the version with the high/low impedance switch.

I would avoid Rudistor...was not impressed at a meet by the sound given the price and have read a number of complaints about poor build quality.

Headamp makes great amps, but they subscribe to the straight wire with gain design approach. Not my cup of tea.

Mcondoon: Which others have you compared the BC amp to? Based on what I've read so far, I've been leaning towards either Blue Circle or Headamp