Thinking of moving to a Headphone system, thoughts

Headphones can sound wonderful, but they just wear me out after a half hour or so. Even if they fit comfortably, they just fatigue me and get hot on my head, etc. I could never live with headphones for more than an occasional listen.

If you want incredible value, look at the Stax SR Lambda. Nothing dynamic is going to touch it in the price range. If you want a big soundstage for headphones, I'd look at the Stax Sigma or K1000. The Sigma doesn't come up for sale all that often, though.

I'm with Cruz123--headphones wear my ears out even after short periods of listening at low volumes. Last year I put together a great-sounding headphone rig (Antique Sound Lab MG DT OTL MK III, Sennheiser HD 600s/AKG K501s), trying to reach some of your same goals, but it just didn't cut it for daily listening. That said, the ASL amp is a fantastic value and a great match with the Senns especially if you do go this route.

I'd rather sit in front of my speakers at low volume any day. You might consider a near-field setup with a pair of good monitors (a pair of Spendor s3/5 go for not much more than a pair of Senns right now) and an integrated.

Ya, nearfields with a nice little integrated... good idea.

Nearfield with a nice integrated would be my preference.

I'd try Peachtree Decco with with either Magnepan mmgs, Triangle Titus or Comete, or OHM Micro Walsh talls.