There's a world of options out there in that price range and certainly some very good cans in the $1K range. The synergy between cans and amp is paramount and you should probably pick your amp to suit the headphones you choose. There is a VERY intimate connection to the kind of sound signature the headphones will yield, so screwing that up will mean the difference between potentially profound enjoyment, to flipping the entire investment when you discover you can only listen for about ten minutes before developing a headache because the cans you chose don't pair well with the amp and or just don't have a sound signature that suits your preferences. Headphones in that bracket can sound entirely different from each other and may suit different types of music better by design. I use the best all-around performer I've found in that price range; the Audeze LCD-2's. Other obvious candidates would include the HD-800's already mentioned, which are soundstaging champions but have a bit more of an airy sound to them, with a high-frequency spike that can really annoy some folks. Beyer T1's are also very popular, and Grado PS1000's are yet another in that range. Stax puts you into a different price bracket and are best suited by their own amps (or a more powerful amp in general) - they also have a unique sound presentation and signature and are also champions of soundstaging. You can find way more than you ever thought you'd want to know about this stuff on the headphone forums like Head-fi.org. Listening to headphones and listening to speakers are entirely different ways of experiencing music. You might also find you like one much better than the other. Have fun!
