Advice on new headphone system please

Merry Christmas Paul. I am not sure I remember all your requirements. I don’t think your choice of The Rouge is wrong or bad in any way. But given some of your requirements you might look at the Woo WA22. Woo amps have a real natural, organic and detailed tone that it sounds like you are looking for. Although the Rougue would probably be OK.

I’m now looking at an amp advertised here.  It’s the Simaudio Moon Neo 430 HAD with built in dac.  Headphonewise the Focal Stellias would be a good combo.  Not having to buy a separate dac would open up room for the Stellias. Otherwise I really like the Woo Wa 22 2nd edition.  A dac would be necessary for this.  I would have to buy s used one here which I don’t mind at all.  Sennheiser 820’s look good for the tube amplifier .  I know I’m comparing a tube amp with solid state yet the Simaudio really caught my attention. Otherwise I’m going Woo/tubes.  I feel the Sennheiser’s would complement the tube amp and the Focal’s would only be affordable with the used Simaudio.  I do like the Focals.  Any comments would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

I have owned a number of headphone amps and stopped at the Simaudio 430HA.  Mine doesn't have the DAC, so I can't speak to the DAC.  The 430HA has a ton of clean power and will drive almost any headphones.  It's very neutral and detailed.  It has three inputs (including one balanced one), which is nice.  It allows me to listen to either my analog or digital source.  It has fixed and variable outputs, so you can use it as a preamp.  The volume control is one of the best things about it, it has 530 steps and allows you to precisely control the volume.  It also has high/low gain settings which are helpful for harder to drive cans. 

I have Focal Elex, Sennheiser HD 800, and Audeze LCD 4 headphones to name a few.  All very different, but the 430HA lets each of their strengths shine through and has more than enough power for any of them.  There's always something better, but once you get here, you're approaching the realm of diminishing returns.

Thanks Greg.  I’m seriously considering this amp.  It’s supposed to be on the slightly warm side of neutral?  This is important because I do not want a bright amp.  You mentioned neutral and detailed.  This is what I’m looking for also along with hopefully being on the warm side.  I know headphones make a difference too.  You also mentioned using the Focal eligia with this amp.  I’m looking into pairing this amp with the focal stellias.  I am stuck with closed back headphones with my living arrangements.  I’m used to closed back from my youth anyways.  I had the pioneer sx 680 receiver as my first stereo back in the days of my youth. I saved money from a newspaper route and cutting lawns as a 12 year old for this stereo.  I had the hpm 60 speakers. Anyhow, the headphone stage was half decent.  Nothing like a dedicated yet back then it sounded good.  My father had a set of acoustic research headphones and I had old Sonys.  They sounded great too.  I was just reminiscing about this system as I came across vintage systems online.  Off topic yet fun to think and talk about. This was the vinyl days.  I’ve been missing that warm analog sound vinyl produces.  Kind of expensive though.  One more question Greg.  What dac do you use with this amp?  Thanks again.