Whats the Story w/ Headphones?

I would just like to add that the nice thing about the Stax electrostatic phones is that they are available with interfaces (which hook up to your existing stereo amp) or with their own dedicated solid-state or tube class-A amplifiers, many of which have two inputs and a direct bypass output. The latter approach seems to work much better than plugging a set of cheap phones into the headphone jack on a CD player or even a good preamp...

Sean, Lafayette headphones were my first exposure to the world of headphones. I can recall listening to Led Zeppelin way back when and being amazed by the stereo panning effects on "Whole Lotta Love" from Zepp II. I never knew that Lafayette made electrostatic phones, but I think it's cool that you have a working set!

I like the Stax 2020...I was very impressed as it was real close to the 3030 in sound. I got them here on the Gon for $425.00 and bought the 16' extension cable used for 35.00, I thought it was quite a bargian. Detail, resolution and warmness with outstanding tight bass are the Stax hallmarks in their stats.

How familiar are you with headphone listening? If you are not, I suggest you buy something for under $100 and see if you can justify spending more. It's sorta like the rest of high end: you probably didn't invest until you got your feet wet.

I, for one, cannot tolerate headphones for serious or relaxed listening.

Plato,
I've went through the Stax adapters to poweramps and prefered the active amp that connects through the line outputs.

I also dislike the wearing part of headphone listening, especially when the weather is warm. But there are times when my wife has a writing assignment with a deadline and I need to listen to something with guitars, bass and drums. That's when the Senn 600/Xcan V2 system comes in handy. And after a few minutes, I adjust to the feeling of my head being trapped in a vice and relax to the great sound.