If you’re happy with your DAC and headphones (the biggest improvements in my opinion) then the next best upgrade I ever made was getting the ZMF Aegis headphone amp. It’s not cheap, but it sounds incredible. And the tube rolling options are pretty much unlimited. Additionally, the community thread on Head-Fi based on this amp is a wealth of knowledge and support. There they have covered a thousand different tube combinations, trouble shooting, equipment synergies, etc. Plus the designer of the amp participates frequently and is a wealth of knowledge as well.
help needed for new headphone system
It's time to focus on my headphone setup and need some help in figuring out how to proceed. It's for an apartment. Budget? It's flexible but let's start at $3-4k. I have Sennheiser HD650s that I paired with Schiit Modi and Magni, fed from a laptop or phone. The sound was too muted so I sold the Schiitstack and got a Qudelix which, to my surprise, was much better. I liked the ability to move around and the equalizer was helpful. It was Bluetooth, of course. Now I want to upgrade. I focused initially on the headphones and spent some time at Axpona listening to Meze and Audeze, mid-range offerings. In that setting I was unable to reach any conclusions and was left scratching my head.
I could add a Bluesound streamer with lps to replace the computer. I'm tempted to get another Schiitstack, maybe based on a Bifrost dac. Too many options.
I like to listen to female and male vocalists, blues, some vintage rock and Argentine tango. Nothing to loud. Not too analytical. I'm a fan of the BBC sound with Stirling LS3/6 speakers in my main system with Bacch4Mac processing. A little help with how to narrow this process down would be much appreciated.