lot of great ideas here! some things to mull over though:
if you're gonna have a roomate, but wanna be able to rock out at all times with zero impact on the roomie: seriously consider one of the in the ear phones (as the above mentioned etys and shures). i sent my tube o phile daughter (her home rig is all tubes) to bennington college last year with grado rs60's, etymotic er4s earphones and a ray samuals xr7 headphone amp, as she wisely opted to keep the tubes in the safety of her room at home (college can be carazy). she ended up using the ety's a LOT as noone else could hear them while she listened. that xr7 amp can be found new for (485 or so from the ever tustworthy TODD THE VINYL JUNKIE) and used for less than 400 at headfi if ya keep looking and have some luck. it is AMAZING (and as you will see written at headfi over and over again it has unusual tubelike properties for a ss amp) also it is PORTABLE so you can use it all over campus and beyond. it also is NOT fragile!!! I've used a lot of high end amps, preamps and headphone amps over the years, and this is the only one i've heard that is at that level for so "little" money. it is just smokin'. i currently have a woo audio 3 with expensive nos tubes in it as a bedroom unit. it is a great tube amp FOR THE MONEY (it's just under 500 also; plus 150 for killer amperex tubs). i just borrowed my daughters xr-7 to compare it for fun. as sweet as the woo is; the xr-7 BLOWS it out the window. it is dead quiet, amazingly dynamic, extremely detailed and has killer imaging/soundstage slash headstage.
nope, i don't work for ray samuals or todd.
also: you might consider seeing how much the new shure /due out in may 2006/ e500 earphones go for (suggested retail is $500?). a bunch of very experienced folks have tested them and apparantly they set a new standard for earphones (people who love etymotics say these blow em away). another thought would be to get a pr of grado sr60's for 69 bucks and one of the current shures which cost less and are extensively reviewed/described at headfi. but a portable amp as good as the xr-7 will see you thru 4 years of anything with audiophile sonics! good luck!!!
if you're gonna have a roomate, but wanna be able to rock out at all times with zero impact on the roomie: seriously consider one of the in the ear phones (as the above mentioned etys and shures). i sent my tube o phile daughter (her home rig is all tubes) to bennington college last year with grado rs60's, etymotic er4s earphones and a ray samuals xr7 headphone amp, as she wisely opted to keep the tubes in the safety of her room at home (college can be carazy). she ended up using the ety's a LOT as noone else could hear them while she listened. that xr7 amp can be found new for (485 or so from the ever tustworthy TODD THE VINYL JUNKIE) and used for less than 400 at headfi if ya keep looking and have some luck. it is AMAZING (and as you will see written at headfi over and over again it has unusual tubelike properties for a ss amp) also it is PORTABLE so you can use it all over campus and beyond. it also is NOT fragile!!! I've used a lot of high end amps, preamps and headphone amps over the years, and this is the only one i've heard that is at that level for so "little" money. it is just smokin'. i currently have a woo audio 3 with expensive nos tubes in it as a bedroom unit. it is a great tube amp FOR THE MONEY (it's just under 500 also; plus 150 for killer amperex tubs). i just borrowed my daughters xr-7 to compare it for fun. as sweet as the woo is; the xr-7 BLOWS it out the window. it is dead quiet, amazingly dynamic, extremely detailed and has killer imaging/soundstage slash headstage.
nope, i don't work for ray samuals or todd.
also: you might consider seeing how much the new shure /due out in may 2006/ e500 earphones go for (suggested retail is $500?). a bunch of very experienced folks have tested them and apparantly they set a new standard for earphones (people who love etymotics say these blow em away). another thought would be to get a pr of grado sr60's for 69 bucks and one of the current shures which cost less and are extensively reviewed/described at headfi. but a portable amp as good as the xr-7 will see you thru 4 years of anything with audiophile sonics! good luck!!!