Good Headphones...What should I Get?...

Hmmm .. you remove room resonances for sure, but you also destroy the spatial information ... the music all ends up in your head.

I use headphones when I must be quiet, but otherwise I always listen with speakers.

For the $500+ that you'd spend on good cans and an amp I'd take this money and improve my main rig if I were in your position.

Of course, the headphones would not replace my main rig. The idea is to use them as a reference in regards to the source material played. Short of a dedicated listening room, I think acoustically I've done all I could to my listening area - I've learned to live with and enjoy the imperfections of my environment.

There are ways to compensate for the lack of spatial orientation when you use headphones. There are times when they are useful. They will not replace the effect of listening in a room with speakers. If you don't plan on using them alot, you may not want to budget much. A $150 set of headphones with a built in amp from your receiver may be all you want. That will buy alot of headphones these days. If you want a dedicated rig that will be used frequently, budget a minimum of $400-$500 ($200+ for the amp and $200+ for the headphones). I have heard $99 headphones that sound really good, especially if you are not going to listen to them for an extended time. Good luck!

GRADO. Don't forget the headphone amp. Spend as much as you're willing because IME they get better as you spend more. I super dig my SR225s.

I drive my Senn HD650's with a SI T-Amp via an ASL UHC with spectacular results. Prior to installing the T-Amp, I had planned to purchase a Singlepower MPX. I found a local headphone nut who happened to have a Supra on hand and invited me over to give it a listen. It's a great amp, no question. However, the following week, I picked up the T-Amp on a whim, and well, it comes frighteningly close to the Supra.

While I don't love the T-Amp with my speakers (4ohm, 96db), it really seems to shine as a headphone amp. The T-Amp drives the 650's easily, and they have great synergy. I highly recommend this combo. Of course, you need a way to connect the headphones to the T-Amp, this is where the ASL UHC (universal headphone connector) enters into the picture. It's passive, inexpensive and effective. However, I had much less success with the ASL when using my Korneff 45. The ASL seems to not infringe on the music at all with the T-Amp.

I'm quite pleased with this setup. Unfortunately, I don't think I've played it for more than ten hours tops. I have so much invested in my big rig, I feel guilty listening to the headphones. Plus, I just don't find much time to listen to cd's, and I have my vinyl set up connected to the Korneff.

Anyway, if you plan to spend a good amount of your time listening to headphones, don't settle, a great system can be had inexpensively. When I was shopping for headphones, I was able to audition side by side Senn 580, 600,650 and Grado 225, and 325's. The sales folks were really busy that day, and I think they just forgot about me, as I was upstairs in an alcove. I was able to listen uninterupted for about 3 hours. The 650's seemed to be the most dynamic, detailed, and open, with great image and outstanding (for headphones) soundstaging.

Good luck and have fun