What have I done?????

Silly me! About 2 years ago I purchased a Maverick D1 Amp/DAC to get lossless Itunes to my main rig (TFM45/Sunfire Pre/Vandies). Initially, it wasn't all that I wanted, but after being broken in and getting my other equipment repaired/refurbed, I love it. Shortly after that purchase, I decided I wanted a pair of headphones that I could listen to my Ipod along with plugging in to the Maverick while my wife was reading or watching TV. I bought a pair of Sennheiser HD238's and have done a few mods on them I found on Headfi. They sound fine, never wowed me, did well with my ipod. As the OCD sets in, I decided that I wasn't using the Mav to it's fullest extent and started researching a good pair of phones. I was almost sold on the AKG K240II's with the nice case, 2 sets of pads, and 2 cords for $150. Then as I delved further I found the AKG Q701's, but they retailed for about $100 more than the K701/2's. More research and I found them on Amazon for the same price as the K's and ordered them. They say they need a lot of breakin time, so they've been playing on the Mav since I received them last Thursday. I've been listening most evenings and am, not only wowed, but WOWED!!!!! The clarity, separation, individual notes, sparkle, and the tight (accurate?) bass, all with out fatigue. I'm not a basshead, and if I had bass thumping in my phones, I'd have a headache in short order. Anyway, as I take off the phones and play the same music thru my main rig, I now feel I'm missing some of the detail and clarity. Last nite I flipped up the contour switch on my Sunfire pre and bumped it a click. I also put a quarter turn in the Vandie pots. It gave more of the highs, but the clarity and separation just isn't the same. Have I ruined my enjoyment of SMOOTH in my main rig with a $250 pair of phones? Along with all this OCD, I ordered some Opamps to roll in the Maverick, one for the DAC and one for the phone amp. I may put them in tonite and let them burn in. I'm blown away with these phones. Now, I do have to say that I've also been enjoying my office rig, M500, CT6, HRT MSII, Paradigm Studio 20's v3. I may try out the Paradigms in my main rig just for S & G's. I'm thinking that the tubes in the Sunfire along with the laid back sound of the Vandie's may be too smooth now? This whole audio obsession is like a ladder. Just when you think you get to the top rung, the ladder extends a little more and off you go. I need to get a part time job just to fund this crazyness!

I've done a search and found that a few have the AKG 701's and 240's and have great things to say. Do a lot of you use phones? I haven't utilized the phone jack on the CT6 or HR732. Not sure if they are in the same ballpark as the Maverick or have the ability to properly drive the 701's. Ok, enough of my longwinded rant. Just wanted to updated my system with my new AKG Q701's.

I love my 701s.

Face it you, are a lost soul now. Now you can start playing with more expensive tubes and cables to try and tweak you sound.

Honestly, as much as I love the refurb'd TFM-45, its not as detailed or musical as a Sunfire amp.

Honestly, as much as I love the refurb'd TFM-45, its not as detailed or musical as a Sunfire amp.

Didn't have to be said jjptkd.....didn't have to be said.

Here's a few pics of my 'headphone station' and the new home for my office equipment. I made the stand about 10 years ago for my HR732 and SDA/360 when they fed the whole house system.

Nice! Bet those would sound great with my Decc-o / 490t combo...

Honestly, as much as I love the refurb'd TFM-45, its not as detailed or musical as a Sunfire amp.

A new amp might be in your future. Into the kids college fund you go!

Well, I rolled in the new opamps last nite. The headphone side was awful. It was congested, no soundstage, uninvolving, just terrible. I don't know if opamps need burned in? Either way, I couldn't take it, so I popped the original back in. I tried out the DAC side this afternoon, and I'm not sure about it either. I'm going to a/b between my lossless files and the CD's. It is likely going back to stock also.